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Chuck, If I were you, I'd give up on the notion of nugget hunting with the Tarsacci, because I tried it, but with the stock coil. There were nuggets there that were subsequently found with the Monster, small & large coils, most finds with the small coil, and the TDI SL I tried the Tarsacci about 6 times and miraculously in mixed mode I found a 2 grain piece about on the surface with a high tone. But there should have been a lot more hits because the nuggets were there. And that's why I bought a Tarsacci. I never did try it in tracking, but I think most smaller nugget hunting requires a high frequency machine. Just get a Monster and don;t use automatic much. Their instructions are crappy--see U-tubes and talk to experts. Joel

Aaron I think what you said is so true in I’ll tell you when I want you to know and now go off not to bother me anymore. I know it’s going to the correct email address but I’m not going there again. Buying a detector is in its own way like buying a car. I wouldn’t go buy the same car that I bought two years ago. Well buying a detector is the same in with nothing new why put out money for same thing you had before. I really hope Tarsacci company enjoys not making a profit because that’s what it’s coming to if somebody don’t wake up and realize they need us the customer. Detector stuff I still wish you the best of luck on your talk. If you were there and both of you when to the restroom at the same time and he was in the next stall and he was out of toilet paper he may talk with you then if you won’t give him some if he won’t talk with you. I say whatever it takes . haha Chuck

All I can say is I’ve yet to hear a word from anyone from Tarsacci company. I still wonder how many Tarsacci are in the field other than us three here . Chuck

Dancer I’m like you in I have other detectors with coils that will work but I’d still like to have one for the Tarsacci. For what it’s worth I haven’t heard back yet from anyone from Tarsacci company. Chuck

Chuck, I believe we have come to the point where we have to, as they say (" We gotta read the room") Tarsacci isn't interested in new sales. This guy must have something else going on to be bothered. As for me, my Tar is my #1 go to machine for beach, water hunting, fields. If I need a smaller coil for trashy areas I go to a couple other machines that fill the bill.

I just sent a email to the powers that be if we can plan on a new updated Tarsacci coming out soon. I also ask the question if maybe we could see a elliptical coil coming out in the not so distant future. I myself would like to give the Tarsacci a try at nugget hunting and I can’t do it with the stock coils that’s available now. If and when I do hear something back I’ll pass it on here. The Best To All! Chuck

Agree. It may really be too late for the US manufacturers to get back in the game. There are also niche players in the US with interesting and different approaches to detector design such as Tarsacci. But they are small and niche so difficult to gain any significant market share or make a splash except for a few dedicated fans.

Yes, the yellow switch is the Mode switch. If your pair had the Audio Limiter it would be black. It's a shame they won't work. I remember reading Equinox/Minelab is odd on wired HPs. They may make a pair specifically for the Equinox 900 if you call them. I wouldn't take for mine on the Tarsacci & Vista X.

Here is part 2 from the original interview Keith and I did w Dimitar. Part 1 Here Aaron. In part 1, we discussed how Dimatar got into metal detecting and designing detectors, his origins with Fisher, and the Tarsacci’s Salinity and Ground Balance features. In part 2, we talk more about the Tarsacci’s unique MDT technology. However as you’ll see, just like any other inventor, Dimitar is very cautious when discussing his “intellectual property”, and is one hard “egg” to crack! Aaron - Okay, so how about we talk a little about the “roots of the technology” of Tarsacci? Dimatar - Well, the “roots of the technology” is a on going problem and not related to Fisher or any other companies cause, its different. And this is why it is in Patent Pending, the patents are applied, and I’m just waiting when their released. The patents are applied here in the US and in Europe. Aaron - You’ve applied for International Patents? Man,,that’s EXPENSIVE! Dimatar - But, I have too! Because if you don’t do that, and you don’t invest in that direction, sure were talking about high expenses, but this also has to be added into the unit cost. Keith - Yes! Dimatar- And somehow, I need to get a reimbursement for my investment. But, it’s a hobby and I enjoy it and when this will happen, I do not know....Ha! But, I’m enjoying detecting, I enjoy designing metal detectors, I enjoy solving this challenges. Aaron - It’s very unique to find a metal detecting engineer who ALSO enjoys detecting, you know? Keith - Yes that’s rare, that’s REALLY rare! Dimatar - And...I’m LISTENING to the community! I detect for myself and every one of us has a different style, EVERYONE. Theres no universal recipe, you can give guidance, but to give magic settings to cover every place, such a thing does not exist. This is why I always advise the customers, you have initial settings which will help you to start. Once you understand the machine, start learning and listening to it, you’ll find your own way of detecting. Aaron - Yes, agreed. Keith and I were just discussing something very similar, in regards to learning the Tarsacci. Before I sent him the unit I told him: “Now listen, when I first started using this machine, I really didn’t like it! It’s totally different than anything I’ve ever used. I took me 30-40 hours until I REALLY started to enjoy using it! But, since your a better hunter than me you’ll probably figure it out A LOT sooner.” Then today, Keith tells me: “Yeah, you know what?I didn’t start figuring out what was going on with that machine until about a good 40 hours! Dimatar - HA! HA! Keith - Well that’s cause the audio is so much different than what I’m used too! It has a compressed audio.... Dimatar- Yeah! Keith - But if you listen inside that compression, THERE’S A LOT GOING ON. Dimatar - Speaking about that compression... Keith - Theres A LOT of “resonase” goin on in that BEEP. Dimatar - That’s correct, and there’s a reason for that! Let’s say, uh, a lot of times people ask: “how do you set up your threshold”? In the old days, when you had the pure analog technology, you always set up your threshold to the sound level. In this way you start to hear the very weak signals, and it’s up to the operator to decide, hmmm...is that a signal is that a noise or whatever. And a lot of times...you just guess. And at the same time, when you have a very shallow target, because of that, the sound level is very high, and it blows your ears. This is why I started thinking, well it doesn’t matter if you have a shallow target or a deep target, you have to be able to hear both targets, with a reasonable, comfortable sound level. And this is why I compressed the sound, for that reason. And this not by accident, it’s for a purpose. Keith - Yeah, i see it now, and it makes sense. And, to be honest with you, when I first ran it, I thought: “man, Dimatar don’t know what he’s doin!” Dimatar & Aaron- HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Aaron - Same with me, I felt EXACTLY the same way! I said to myself what in the world is going on with these sounds and I can’t believe I bought this thing! Dimatar & Keith - HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Aaron - However, I was determined to learn that machine. When I went hunting, I only brought the Tarsacci. So that way, If I got tempted to quit and got frustrated, wouldn’t go back to the car and grab the Equinox. So it was only by sticking with it, learning the sounds and the settings I started feeling comfortable with it. Then after a few hours I really started noticing things, for example, I was hardly ever digging small foil anymore. That’s a BIG plus for a park hunter, especially if you want to find small gold. Dimitar - Large foil you will detect, because large foil falls in the category of low conductors Aaron - And thats fine. If I have to dig a large foil once in awhile no big deal. Dimitar - And that is just the physics, we cannot invent new physics! LOL! Aaron - Now the Tarsacci’s small foil rejection was the main reason that I kept using it in the park, especially when I found my first piece of gold with it. This was a 18kt earring, in the foil range, I wouldn’t have normally dug with the Equinox, however the Tarsacci banged on it quite hard! Dimitar- Yes, and this can be demonstrated quite easily. I sent Aaron a small cardboard, about 6” x 2” and I had glued very small foil pieces on it. And you do the Salinity Balance to this cardboard, and the foil disappears. But, at the same time you can throw in any target you like, doesn’t matter, behind this foil and the detector will detect it because the foil does not exist anymore to this detector. Keith - Is that technology....you say it’s not pulse and it’s not VLF...but, it doe’s a lot of things like a pulse machine does.... Dimitar - Ahhh...yes, yes you can say that! Heh, heh...But it is NOT a pulse induction machine! Keith - Because I can take a pulse induction machine and turn the delay up on it, and get rid of foil... Dimitar - Yes.... Keith - And it will give some kind of see-through...with the targets under it, but....yours does it better. But,,,I don’t understand your technology. Dimitar - Heh heh heh! Keith - Is it pulse in a frequency or is it, or is it like a VLF frequency or is it... Dimitar - It’s a continuous...it’s not pulse it’s not VLF. I’m taking advantage of both technologies and...it’s the way and how the signal is manipulated, how I transmit the signal a combination of both. Keith - It has some pulse behaviors to it! Dimitar - Ah....yes, and theres a lot of things... Keith - Even when the ground feeds back feeds back and stuff, it runs like a pulse, in my ground... Dimatar - Yes! Keith - you get a little bit of ringing going on,,, Dimitar- LOL! Keith - It acts just like a pulse a lot of the times! Dimatar- Yes! Keith - I know it ain’t a pulse, but acts like a pulse...A LOT! (Please double check this statement) Dimitar- Ah,,,the main driver for this technology was the ability to ignore mineralized ground and...salt environment or fertilized environment. These are the oldest disturbances which are coming from the targets and they are magnet. This is the main difference... Keith - I think when you put mineral in the mix, the target sounds better. Better than the target lying on the top of the soil. For example, sometimes when you take the target out of the ground, it might be a buck shot or a pistol ball, sounds better in the soil. Once you get it out,,,I can still hear it, but it don’t sound as good as it did in the ground... Dimitar - Yes! Because especially in your area, your conditions, the ground is mineralized, and this mineralized ground actually helps you enhance the signal, this is why. Keith - Yeah, hmm. That’s crazy! Dimitar- LOL! Keith - But with a VLF, ya know...your fortunate to hear stuff like that in my soil, and small targets and,,,,that one just BANGS on them, ya know? But a VLF in my soil, I don’t ever dig small stuff. I mean, I dig small stuff but once I get in bad dirt, I don’t ever dig little buck shot, pistol caps and things like that, I just don’t dig them. I know their their, just can’t dig them. But, the Tarsacci finds them, when I go to those places , it finds all sorts of other small targets. It doesn’t matter the frequency I’m on neither, I could be on 6.4kHz, and it STILL heres little small targets... Dimitar- Yes. Keith - It doesn’t act like a VLF doing that...a VLF, usually needs to be up on 20kHz...to hear a 1” deep small target, ya know? But the Tarsacci could be up on 6.4kHz, and hear a 6” deep small target, it doesn’t behave like a VLF! Dimitar- No, because it’s not pure VLF! LOL! Keith - So are those REAL frequencies? Dimatar- Ah,,,they are.....LOL! Keith & Aaron - LOL! Dimitar- And there’s a reason for that, because, again I’m a relic hunter. In Bulgaria and in Europe, the silver coins are VERY desirable! And a lot of times, my silver coins are more expensive than gold coins. Keith - Oh yeah! Dimitar- This is why the 6.4 kHz is introduced, to be able to detect large silver coins. 9 & 12kHz, they are designed to handle, high to mid conductors like relics, and what I’ve found out is 12kHz works really well in red clay. I like it better than 18kHz, especially in the area where I am. And the 18kHz, it’s there just to be able to detect very small, fine targets. Keith - Hmm, yeah the 18kHz, I thought that once you go up from 6.4, to 9 & 12, there’s a slightly higher pitch in the frequency of the target too... Dimitar- Yes! Keith- Yeah, and if your listening really close, the pitch of the frequency go’s up as the frequency go’s up.... Dimitar- And also, when you go in the higher frequencies, it actually increases your I.D. capabilities, for the lower conductor targets. This is how it helps you, it’s a trade-off. Keith- Now on the I.D., I noticed when it’s,,,like when I have a bunch of nails in the ground... Dimitar- Uh huh.. Keith- ...and I have a target in their, like a cuff button. Dimitar- Yes. Keith - With a VLF detector, I will get what I call “target averaging”. Where I’ll get 5 nails and a cuff button, but the cuff button may read 25 on a I.D. machine... Dimitar- Yes. Keith- ...but the VLF platform, the nails will pull that down, to say a 10 or a 15 I.D. Dimitar- Yes. Keith- But I’ve noticed on the Tarsacci, even with those nails on top of say, the button, the I.D. is almost exactly the same, as the button by itself. Dimitar- The reason for that it’s....again, I like to hear everything when I detect. Keith - Yep! (Please double check this paragraph, I made some corrections, so it could be better interpreted) Dimitar- I don’t like the machine to average too much. And I like the machine to be FAST! And even you can try, and this machine has...an instantaneous response time. What this means is, if you have a big target, and you put this target very close to the loop. This is how you test the response: You swing the loop over this big target, and you immediately go over a deep target, and you can hear it, immediately! Keith - Yes. Dimitar- This means if your passing a big target, and right next to it you have a deep target, and most detectors have a verrry slow response time, and if you have this big signal, it will mask the deep signal, but with Tarsacci , you have a immediate response. And this is why the detector is very fast! Keith - Yeah i noticed that, I can lay a piece of plow point or piece of big iron down, and I can hear a small target laying right next too it. Dimitar- Yes. Keith- I don’t know if there’s any other machine that does that? Dimitar- And this is thanks to this fast response time! Keith- Even when the coil when is engulfed in iron, or like when a big piece of iron is under the coil at the same time, it can still hit the small target right beside it. Dimitar- Yes, and theres much more going on in the brain of this machine, and... Keith - Awe yeah, you can tell, I can tell, it’s no joke! Yeah, there’s something goin on! Now the VLF can’t do that, the VLF would get swamped by that large iron target, the “halo” off of it, and not being able to see that, I don’t care how fast the machine is! Ya know like a DEUS, it still can’t do it, it’s too swamped by the iron signal, it’s shutting the coil down. Dimitar- Yeah. Keith- I can’t shut that coil down! Dimitar- But again, there are limitations, you can’t expect this to happen always! Another thing that is true, and you’ll discover, let’s say if you have tin from off tin roofs, and it’s the same on the beaches. Now this is how I discovered, I had a customer on the beach, and he had a different brand metal detector. And he eventually bought a Tarsacci, but this is how we demonstrated. We started detecting, at one point he said: “I have a very large target”, the sound of the target was loud, and very strong. So I passed the Tarsacci coil over his target and I could hardly hear it, and told him: “No, this is nothing.” So we began debating, so I said: “Let’s dig it!” And we dug it, and it turned out to be a big piece of iron, which was verrry heavily rusted. The iron was starting to disintegrate, the sand around it looked like red clay from the rust. So, what the Salinity Balance does is helps you to see through this environment. And because I was on the beach, the Salinity Balance was set up, and you’ll see through these iron pieces. If it’s solid iron, none of the machines will see the target because there’s no way, because the field won’t go around and you won’t have anything to generate from the target. I’m not talking about this condition. Keith - Yep, there’s something goin on there! It sees through iron...not all iron, but certain types of iron it sees through. Like the oxide iron... Dimitar- The more rusted the better! Keith- Yeah! Aaron - I’ve found working in my 150yr old site that it works the best with the heavily oxidized, decomposing iron the best. Dimatar- Yes, thats correct! So when you have moisture in the ground, and you mix it with all this stuff, it looks like Georgia dirt, this is what happens. Keith & Dimatar - LOL! Dimatar- This is what it is, you have a lot iron oxide, A LOT of iron oxide in your dirt and unfortunately....this probably what 70% of the world is like. It’s normal. Keith - Oh yeah...iron ore is everywhere. Aaron- So since your originally from Bulgaria, an area that has some of the oldest artifacts in the ground, especially the thin hammered coins that are highly sought after,, Dimitar- Yes. Aaron - Was the Tarsacci designed especially with those coins in mind? Dimitar- When you design a detector, let’s say you have a group of targets, doesn’t matter, new or old targets, to the detector it’s a target. And if the thin small hammered coins, are desirable targets, you design the detector to be able to detect these coins. And since there are plenty of these types of targets, this is why you have 18 and 12 kHz, and you can find these targets at greater depth. Now, since were talking about the Salinity Balance, in England, coke is a big problem. And a lot people may say, “yes, I understand what coke is, but I never dig a piece of coke”, which is not true. And this is a big problem, you see it on the forums, everyone talks about it. And sure, some of the detectors you can mask the coke, I’m not talking about anything else, you’ll not see, you’ll not detect the coke. But...once you have a target behind it... Keith- It’s gone... Dimitar- Yes, its a different story. Aaron- Right. Keith - Yeah, it’s gone, and the targets gone too! Dimitar- Yeah, and this is why, thanks to the Salinity Balance and this new technology, this is why this detector works like that.

Ridgerunner, I appreciate it but I'm not a dealer. I just love the hobby and enjoy learning more about the people behind the machines. I like to spread the information about all detectors...but I'm trying to focus on a couple of "the little guys" in Nexus and Tarsacci. I may also have something coming from one of "the big guys (or gals)" in a month or two...Nokta.

You could see that the Tarsacci was a well made detector when I got mine. I had said at one time I’d never sell my Tarsacci because I really liked it. The problem I see is when a detector company don’t come out with something new and if they do have it but don’t talk about it they not long for this world . That’s why I was happy to get half price for it. Detectorstuff if the next Tarsacci is a cat’s meow I’ll buy back into it and I’ll buy from you. The Best! Chuck

Well, I have no delusions of grandeur, but I will do my best. It's about timing and working around "life" stuff that pops up. I need to finish the Nexus interview first and then hem up Dimitar to finish the Tarsacci stuff.

This is like watching grass grow and I don’t believe my heart can take the excitement of what the new Tarsacci will have to offer after the interview. Detectorstuff I thank you for your time spent and I hope it’s worth it. Chuck

There have been numerous threads posted on this subject by experienced detectorists. I always read such posts with great interest as many of my best sites are in some pretty hot red iron ore dirt. About 15 months ago, in an effort to learn and be more successful, I built a test bed using the same mineralized red dirt I hunt in. This test bed has been very educational and helpful. In addition to learning how each of my detectors perform, and how setting adjustments effect that performance, I have noted something unexpected that stood out that can prove to be useful. That is the Ground response signal. It is well known that at a certain depth, coin size targets start to blend into the ground. The coin goes from a good signal & TID, to an iffy signal & poor TID, to gone. The higher the mineralization the more rapid this happens. The ground has swallowed up the coin. What I noticed in my testing is that the coin is still detected, it just reports as a ground signal. Using the Legend, with Disc A you can hear this response. On the swallowed coin it is a good, repeatable report with a solid center & good strength. The TID is a solid 1 and the depth meter will fill. The response from actual ground noise is much weaker and has no center, may or may not give a TID and doesn't show on the depth meter. Having a good Ground Balance is best but this still shows itself running GB at 0. TID 1 must be accepted not notched out. I suppose this behavior is similar to the old way of hunting in All Metal and listening for the Threshold to null over a deep target, just a mirror image. Perhaps like using reverse discrimination on an early TR detector or running a reverse pattern on something like the Etrac. Irregardless, it seems to work consistently and well. The Tarsacci MDT 8000, Vista X and Anfibio Multi using the EUD function also will report these types of masked targets but they do it differently than the SMF Legend and not as distinctly. The next thing I did was to take advantage of the Legend's adjustability and make a special 6 Tone pattern in Field mode M1. I set the first Tone Break at 1 & gave it a nice noticeable high tone with decent volume. The second tone bin runs 2-7 with my normal low ferrous tone & volume. The other bins are set for higher targets. This set up may be possible using other detectors also. Using this pattern, the coin that is swallowed up by the ground gives a good alert & the TID is a solid 1. You can still monitor the actual ground noise, nails still report as iron and other targets give their respective tones. It works well even on trashy sites. In my test bed, the Legend will give a good response on targets at 6,8 & even 10 inches using the 6X9.5 LG24 coil which is surprising. I have only used this special pattern in the field for a few hours. It seems to hold good promise. I did learn that a deep nail will still give the tell tale double hit down the barrel. Also that less that coin size targets give a noticeable weaker response, so the proportional modulated audio works well. There is still more to learn here and time in the field will tell. I think this has good potential to find deeper coins that are masked by the ground and thought others might be interested and want to try it in their mineralized soils also.

Thank you for the stand you put on the Tarsacci.

That's a great bunch of silver and nice gold ring. Tarsacci did well. I'm waiting for the snow to melt so I can try my Tarsacci.

That is some good hunting. Glad you are out with the Tarsacci.

The Tarsacci is a niche detector and some avid beach detectorists feel it is very close in performance to SMF detectors. The F19 can run pretty stable on the beach with little need to reduce sensitivity extensively, but at 19 khz operating frequency it is probably not as deep as SMFs on high conductors. But I haven't really heard if anyone who would take an F19 or equivalent over a Nox or similar SMF. HTH.

From the User Guide, Xterra somehow identifies "residual salt response" and assigns a "0" TID using it's "specialist salt noise rejection configuration", whatever that means. It looks like the main difference between Beach Profile 1 (Wet and Dry Sand) and Beach Profile 2 (Underwater and Surf) is Profile 2 has a higher default recovery speed. Black sand is more problematic without the benefit of Multi-IQ, as your only recourse after ground balancing is to reduce sensitivity. Salt balance capability is not solely limited to simultaneous multifrequency detectors. The Fisher F19/Technetics G2+/etc single frequency machine is known for its ability to balance well in salt sand and the Tarsacci MDT 8000, a multiple selectable table single frequency machine is specifically designed to have a salt balance adjustment separate from its ground balance adjustment. So it can be done, with some limitations. The Xterra Pro user guide can be downloaded here: https://www.minelab.com/usa/metal-detectors/x-terra-pro

How about this. So we really don't know how many Tar's are out there. (I've never seen another one other than mine). Than how many of the Tars owners have moved on to the next little World Beater? Now how many of us are ready to shell out $$$$ for a Tarsacci with a few enhancement's? That dosent leave many of us. Like there are a few suggestions if came about would not result in one extra find, Alot of these dreams, change this add that. Well most of us already have another brand collecting dust in a cubbert with these fiddle faddles. These changes (some would be nice) are not going to increase sales by much if anything. What would , is some good advertising promotions. Remember solid, durable construction, extractable long lasting batteries . Ability to handle affects of salt. Relatively simple to use. It's a tool, its not made for every type of hunting, no machine is. You think the inventor knows that , bet he does. Don't know about Tarsacci, but current sales pay for any research & development for most products. So that brings us back to what's the biggest problem, Advertising, ads, videos a little Splash. Successful marketing. I brought up alot, of things I don't know much about, but I believe that's where things are laying for the moment.

The Tarsacci needed a better stand to start with but it’s not too late to correct that problem on the next Tarsacci.. Chuck

This is another something I’d like to see and that’s make the ID from 0 to 99 . This would make the Tarsacci numbers reading about the same as other detectors using the same numbers setup. Lowering the price of the Tarsacci wouldn’t make me mad either. That’s just something else to think about. Chuck

I’d like to be able to notch out what I want not with the plus are minus that we have now. I’d like to be able to adjust the tones volume. On this I’m talking about when in discrimination the tone is more like two clicks more than a tone . I don’t see this problem in mix mode. Please don’t go with a internal battery. That’s the first thing I like about the Tarsacci is I can take the battery out. People may think it’s great with the battery inside their detector but with my Tarsacci I can take the battery out and forget it for as long as I want. Like others on here I’d want a smaller coil. I’ve always found the trouble with a large coil in a high trash area you get too many targets under your coil at one time. I’m not saying a small coil is going to resolve your trash problem but it helps. Chuck

At the end of the video he said Tarsacci has a lot of problems. Anybody know what they are?

The Tarsacci should be able to do better but I am at a loss to make any suggestions other than lower Sensitivity to 2,3 or 4 max and give Dimitar a phone call.