Search the Community

Garrett Searcher Spring 2019 Issue Overlooked this one so here it is.

Minelab decided to emulate Garrett and put together their own group of social media “stars” called the Detexperts. I thought it was a good idea since social media is where most of the action is these days. I am not talking just Facebook, but also YouTube, Instagram, etc. The thing is I figured when Vanquish hit the streets we would see all sorts of activity from the Detexperts, and there has been nothing. Zilch. I would have thought Minelab would send them all a Vanquish or something to roll out a social media blitz. Ironically it is people who jumped on the early buy at Dick’s Sporting Goods that are posting all the videos. I have to admit I am puzzled by Minelab’s marketing at times and can’t really figure out what the whole Detexpert thing was all about. It seems like something they just started and then promptly forgot about. Maybe they just wanted to hand out a few free t-shirts and that was it.

I bought my Simplex + from a dealer and when this same dealer has the Vanquish I may buy it too . For the cost of one detector just last year I can buy two now for maybe less money. Whatever I buy it won’t be coming from a Sports store. I can see me asking a sales person all the about the Vanquish and them reading off the box on what it had to offer. I feel that the major cause of a detector finding it’s self in the dark part of a closet is because of no help after the sale. Some years back my mom like going to garage sales and ever so often they would have a detector. The best one I got for 5 dollars and it still had foam in the battery box . I’m one that don’t have to need a detector to buy it. I find myself the enjoyment of just having it . It has nothing of being better than one other that I have but just the claim to fame that I have have it in my hot little hands. I’m the biggest kid you will ever see in a candy store where metal detectors are sold.. Chuck

Anyone know of any shops doing cyber monday specials?

Take a look. https://www.garrett.com/sport

Hi, all! I just wanted to mention that in the spirit of the Holidays, Steve's Detector Rods will be giving away one carbon-fiber complete Equinox shaft (upper shaft and lower rod), AND one carbon-fiber Equinox lower rod, to two lucky U.S. winners. Two separate drawings will be held on Dec. 18, one for the complete shaft, and a second for the lower rod. Entry into the drawings is completely free, with no purchase required -- and the entry period is open from now, through 11:59 PM on Sunday, Dec. 15. Additionally, ALL entrants into either drawing will qualify to receive 10% off of any item purchased through Steve's, for the entire month of December. For additional information, including details and eligibility, please visit Steve's Facebook page, at https://www.facebook.com/stevesdetectorrods Thanks! Steve

How to make your great find even better. Submit in the monthly finds contests below and get free stuff or at least a moment of fame! Fisher http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/finds.htm Garrett https://www.garrett.com/hobbysite/hb...e_find_en.aspx Minelab https://www.minelab.com/usa/community/success-stories White's https://www.whiteselectronics.com/fi...-find/ XP https://www.xpmetaldetectorsamericas.com/real-finds

Looks like their trying to compete with Flextronics with a for hire electronics manufacturing plant: http://www.ftpcircuits.com/ FIRST TEXAS PRODUCTS ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING Modern manufacturing equipment, capable processes and a highly experienced workforce allow us to meet your requirements for quality and on-time delivery at a world-class competitive price. 786 PRODUCTS CREATED 984K+ GOODS SHIPPED 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION 17 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Thank-you Minelab for sending this out. For some reason the store where I purchased my Equinox would not honor the RMA that Minelab issued for a replacement arm cuff. So Customer Service sent out one directly from the U.S. Boy was I surprised when I opened the package and found the entire assembly. Kudos!

There is some stiff competition right now in the detector industry. We saw Tesoro go away recently, and I expect more consolidation to come. I also expect First Texas to be a survivor. The electronics industry in large part depends on economy of scale. Yes, you do need to innovate or like Tesoro you eventually die for lack of new product. But manufacturing cost is a big part of the game, especially as regards global competition. And there is no denying now detecting is long past being a U.S. based industry. First Texas has been taking some flak for slow introduction of genuinely new product, relying more of repackaging existing product for some time now. What many may not know however is that they have been investing heavily, and the big investment by far was in a new state of the art manufacturing facility. From http://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-releases/25974-first-texas-products-corporation-to-invest-7-2-million-on-new-el-paso-facility "December 2015 EL PASO, Texas - Both the El Paso City Council and County Commissioners Court approved economic development incentives that will spur more than $7.2 million in private investment by First Texas Products Corporation, a leading consumer electronics company with domestic and international reach. Approval for the incentive occurred by the City Council on December 8th and the Commissioners Court did the same on December 14. First Texas, which is currently headquartered in El Paso, will construct a new facility in the Mission Valley (1120 Alza Dr.), resulting in the retention of over 50 jobs which have an average annual salary of $65,331. The new facility will strengthen and expand the company's commitment to manufacturing high quality metal detectors for industrial, security and recreational purposes as well as high performance night vision devices for military and civilian markets. Per the incentive agreements with both the City and the County, First Texas Products Corporation is eligible to receive the following incentives package: City of El Paso: A ten year, 50% real and personal property tax rebate totaling $256,019 A rebate on the City's portion of the sales tax, up to $12,000 Possible waiver of building permit costs, estimated at $21,700 El Paso County: A ten year, 50% real and personal property tax rebate totaling $159,570.65 As part of the incentive agreement, First Texas Products Corporation is expected to begin construction within the next 12 months, with the certificate of occupancy being obtained within the next 24 months." This facility has been completed and is now in operation. And in a stroke of luck, I doubt FT anticipated when that article was written in 2015 that trade wars and tariffs would add an extra bonus to their decision to invest in El Paso. A peek inside the new FT state of the art facility So what does this mean? We already know First Texas makes metal detectors and night vision products. Now they have excess capability to sell. Check out the new FIRST TEXAS PRODUCTS ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING website at http://ftpcircuits.com/ Take some time to explore that website and think about the capability described there. "First Texas Products Electronics Manufacturing understands the dynamic nature of the electronics marketplace. We offer a full range of PCB manufacturing and assembly services to fit all your printed circuit board capability needs. One-stop printed circuit board manufacturer and quick turn PCB assembly solution. Serving OEM customers for many years in a variety of markets offering PCBA, wire harness, electromechanical assembly, build box and full system integration. We also offer auxiliary services - environment testing, conformal coating, machining, packaging and labeling. One-stop printed circuit board manufacturer and quick turn PCB assembly solution. Offering some of the most advanced PCB technology and convenient services found in the industry: Full Spec PCBs, Small Quantity - Quick Turn PCBs, Custom Spec - Quick Turn PCBs, Highly Specialized Precision PCBs, & Large Scale Production." plus... "International Fulfillment Services - We are process and results driven distribution warehouse having experience with hundreds of companies globally including online marketers. Let us seamlessly be an extension of your company; manage orders and inventory like it was our own. Release your order - we pick/pack and ship using our best shipping rates. Kitting, labeling included. We have been in the procurement business for 25 years. We have the contacts and the pricing history to kit your job at a reasonable cost. Don’t hesitate to inquire about how First Texas Products can help you focus on sales and the development of your business." and finally... "First Texas Products Corporation is a consumer electronics company that manufactures metal detectors for industrial, security, and recreational purposes. The company also manufactures and distributes high performance night vision devices for the military and civilian markets. First Texas Products Corporation began operations in 1999. Today it operates more than 11 separate companies, exports to more than 110 countries and provides 397 jobs of which 254 are in El Paso. First Texas Products Corporation offers its products through retailers and dealers throughout the U.S, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Asia, Middle East, Africa, and Australia." And that my friends is why First Texas is not going anywhere. They can crank out detectors in large volumes at very low cost. How do you think I can see a pile of First Texas detectors, good detectors, at Costco by the pallet load selling for $99.99? Take engineering costs out and basic manufacturing cost is very low for these pod on a stick models. The only area First Texas probably struggles with is the old legacy devices, like the old Fisher CZ models and the Gold Bug 2. Basically hand made compared to the newest models, lower volume, which means higher component costs, and therefore they can only sell for as long as the prices can be kept high enough. With the new competition coming online many of these older models are doomed, it is just a matter of when. And I have to wonder about something like the new Fisher Impulse AQ - does it really fit with the low cost high volume business that is FTs bread and butter? I guess only time will tell. One thing I am very sure of however, is that First Texas will continue to be a player in this industry, probably for longer than I will be around.

I guess Tesoro is still alive. https://www.tesoro.com/IDS/ids.html

I reached out to Jimmy through his website for Discovery Tours. http://discoverytours.us/ Here was his response: Hi Walter, We are still doing our Discovery Tours to England. In fact this was our 29th consecutive Year .I have personally missed participating in the tours for the past 4 years for "health issues" ....I turned 89 years old this year, but I hope to make at least one more trip if I can get a better handle on health. Meanwhile, I do all the paperwork from here. Get the participants, collect the funds, keep all informed of details and handle the return of the finds to the participants when I get them back from David and Trish in UK. So the only difference is that I don't get to participate in England. I hope to make one more trip at some point when health improves....but age is not on my side, sorry to say. Our website is still active and David and Trish keep it up to date with pics and finds and info, as always. If you are interested in a future trip.........let me know and I will keep you on my mailing list. Best regards, Jimmy Thanks! Walt

The issue with counterfeit metal detectors is getting bad. eBay in particular is full of them. Amazon not as bad but they are there. If you Google for lowest pricing, you will find scammers. Be careful buying used now, could just be a front for a scammer. Fake Gold Bugs Destroyed It’s pretty simple. Metal detector products generally have enforced minimum advertised prices. That’s the price you see most often and at all the legitimate sites. It’s the price I list in the Detector Database. Anybody pretending to be a dealer and selling the item for significantly less is likely to be a scam. Either accept that you have to deal with legitimate dealers selling at the higher prices, or find yourself a scammer selling for less. If all you care about is finding the lowest price on the internet, you WILL get ripped off. Well, not really. It’s voluntary. I am deleting all the links to these rip off sites when people post them. Outfits like King Detectors or Alibaba. The links below list a lot of them. I don’t mind identifying them by name but I do not want to advertise for them with links. Just accept that they are out there. Thanks. However, there can also be scammers selling at the minimum advertised price and really making a killing. All manufacturers have lists of legitimate dealers on their websites. You want to stay safe, stick with those. Just a tip however. They can sell for less than the advertised prices... just call them and find your best deal. Tell them you don’t need the “free stuff”, you just want their best deal. Genuine Bounty Hunter Metal Detector Dealers Genuine Fisher Metal Detector Dealers Genuine Garrett Metal Detector Dealers Genuine Minelab Metal Detector Dealers Genuine Nokta/Makro Metal Detector Dealers Genuine Teknetics Metal Detector Dealers Genuine XP Metal Detector Dealers (U.S.) Genuine XP Metal Detector Dealers (International)

Wow, This is some great news for those folks who have been patiently waiting for a Holiday Promo. Minelab just announced their Christmas Promo and there are 3 Gold Detectors to take advantage of. So if you have a favorite dealer who has always been there for you, then please go back to them. But if not and or you want to try a dealer who actually used the gold detectors and offers training, lets talk. Gerry's Detectors in Boise, Idaho (me) has them in stock too. Remember, I also offer the 3 Days Field Training for FREE with a GPX, SDC or GPZ-7000 purchase and yes you get the 19" coil with the 7000. My next training is at Rye Patch, NV and I do have 2 openings at this time. Holidays Promotions Sell Sheet Oct - Jan 2020.pdf Minelab Equinox 600 - FREE Minelab 6" DD Searchcoil included Minelab Go Find 66 - FREE Carry Bag and Digging Gloves Minelab GPZ 7000 - FREE 19" Searchcoil included Minelab Gold Monster 1000 - FREE rechargeable battery included Minelab SDC 2300 - FREE pair of Waterproof Headphones included As a VET myself USMC, don't forget the 15% Military Discount for you VETS or even active military. You have earned it and I'll make sure you get it.

On Rob’s forum he has listed the different items Minelab is giving away free with different detectors. Minelab Equinox 600 - FREE Minelab 6" DD Searchcoil included Minelab Go Find 66 - FREE Carry Bag and Digging Gloves Minelab GPZ 7000 - FREE 19" Searchcoil included Minelab Gold Monster 1000 - FREE rechargeable battery included Minelab SDC 2300 - FREE pair of Waterproof Headphones included I’d have to say the best to me would be the Equinox 600 with a free 6” coil. Chuck

Came up an hour or so ago. http://forums.whiteselectronics.com/ Jim

To Whom It May Concern . I’ve been around maybe as long as you been making detectors . I purchase my first detector from you White’s back in 1966 . At that time you were selling BFO detectors and discrimination was unknown at that time. That was okay with me being I was young and strong. Oh that detector made me the treasure hunter I wanted to be and before I stepped up to the next White’s detector that one had paid for it’s self . Yes it had paid for it’s self more times than I can remember. I sorry as we get older we start to ramble. My last detector I purchase from White’s was the MX Sport. For over a year it got more air time than I’ve ever had. This was from one problem and then another. I have to say White’s was always willing to correct any problem. The Sport has a weight problem like lots of detectors that’s waterproof in the past . Now that’s all okay in the past but it don’t work today . It’s so many companies offering products that run circles around anything you have on the market . It’s going to be a sad day when the very best detector is coming from another country. The trouble is that’s the case right now. I want to say my next detector will be a White’s but I don’t believe that to be true. I don’t need to tell you what you need to be producing because all you need is look around you. It’s as plain as the nose on your face on what it’s going to take to make White’s great again. I thank you for hearing me out and I hope my letter will not fall on deaf ears . Your Truly Chuck Anders

I see the Minelab GPX 4500 is being discontinued. If the price goes down is it worth it to pick one up or has what replaced it that much better? Perhaps a premium will now be asked for the remaining new GPX 4500's? Is now the time to buy??

Minelab has opened an assembly plant in Ethiopia! https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/ethiopia-gold-detector-devices-assembly-plant-launched/

Seen this on Chris's forum. Strange that it is only the SDC and the Gold Monster. http://arizonaoutback.ipbhost.com/topic/14406-minelab-price-increase-coming/

and he needed to confirm my address to ship my repaired compadre back to me. I sent in my compadre, I think it was last October, for warranty work. Then, two days later I read that they had laid off all their employees. Hadn't heard a thing since and wasn't overly distraught since I hardly ever use the compadre and I had a new equinox. But, out of the blue yesterday Vince calls and says he put a new disc pot and a new coil on my compadre and is sending it home. So if anyone else here had shipped one for warranty work and thought they might never get it back because the company went under there's still hope. It seems he's still working on making good on all the warranty claims as long as they were made before they decided to call it quits. I'm actually now looking forward to getting that little compadre back! I never did use it a whole lot, but it has found me two gold rings.

From the Minelab Facebook page: "Have you been on the new Minelab website: WWW.MINELAB.COM ? We've given the site a modern and fresh layout while making it easier to find key details. Browse product information, learn about accessories, read user-submitted success stories or locate your nearest dealer. Did we also mention it's now translated into 16 different languages. Let us know what you think of the new design in the comments or send us a message."

They still around? Wonder if they will start building new machines since Tesoro is out of the picture?

http://tour.circlepix.com/tour/titan/?id=5586726&reg=true&_seoAddress=715-White-Spar-Road-Prescott-AZ-1019921#.XOBKoshKiPo