My First Bounty Hunter Ever! Time Ranger Pro

[Steve Herschbach]

I have to admit to being an elitist snob. Way back decades ago I formed the impression of Bounty Hunter as being low cost, almost junk. Plus some of their physical designs are kind of laughable. That did change over the years but it came in useful when I was a detector dealer and Walmart came to town. Bounty Hunter was the "Walmart Brand" and so when people asked about them I went with the flow. "That's just the low end Walmart stuff - you can do better than that." It worked, and mainly because lots of people thought that way.

First Texas eventually purchased Bounty Hunter and has been sliding variants of some Fisher models into the Bounty Hunter lineup. I've always liked the First Texas 19 kHz models, and when the F19 showed up in new Bounty Hunter clothes at with a lower price I finally bit. There is not much to say about the detector itself, since it is just a Fisher F19 or Teknetics G2+ in a different package These are well known models with a long track record, so no need for me to do some kind of new detector review. Long story short I always wanted a F19/G2+ but thought they were overpriced, at one point costing more than an F75, and in fact many online dealers are still selling the F19 for $799. The new price lower price at $399 and the blue/black color scheme got me over the hump. Interesting note. The red bottom of the stock coil is not a coil cover, it is the actual bottom of the coil! No scuff cover is included but arm rest strap and a couple velcro coil cable straps are included. 

I ordered a new NEL 3.5" x 6.5" DD coil to go with the new detector. It did come with the scuff cover.  I as much got this to run the coil as the detector as they are a good match in dense iron/trash. Total weight with NEL 2 lbs 9.5 ounces.

The bottom line is Bounty Hunter is slowly changing and there are definitely a few of their models worth a look these days. I'm still a little amazed I own a Bounty Hunter, but fact is it's a nice little unit and I like it. If nothing else I think it's a sharp looking detector.

Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro Data & Reviews

Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro with stock 7" x 11" DD

Time Ranger Pro with NEL 3.5" x 6.5" DD "Snake" search coil

Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro Features

[Noah (FL)]

That’s excellent Steve!!  Hope you get along with it.  I actually ended up getting an F19 today too. A few weeks ago I was talking with my neighbor and his brother.  Long story short metal detecting came up, and his brother said he had one that was given to him by coworkers when he retired to Florida.  He didn’t know what brand  it was and never even opened the box. I had forgotten about it until my neighbor stopped over this morning and handed me this box.......brand new F19 and he wouldn’t even take a penny for it!!!  A little silver lining to these cloudy days!!

Hopefully they find us lots of treasure!!!

[Steve Herschbach]

Wow, that's a smoking deal! Is that the 5" x 10" on there?

I have tons of time on the Gold Bug Pro, one of my favorite all time machines really. When the F19 came out I kind of wanted the extra features but they were crazy expensive at over $800, and I knew darn well it was just an upgraded Gold Bug. The extra features are nice but don't make it any deeper or more sensitive. I did buy a used camo version just long enough to play with it, but was not really a fan of the camo so I sold it. But I'm quite familiar with the machine and how it performs.

Whats crazy is there are still lots of places advertising the F19 for $799 😱

Anyway, I already know I like the detector and I got a deal on mine also. It's actually a great little unit in the dense ferrous with that small coil, and the ferrous volume will make it even sweeter. Mainly though I like the grab and go simplicity of the model, it just seems a good fit for how I detect, and great all metal circuit. The only problem is it might be awhile before it gets many hours of actual use.

[Steve Herschbach]

On 4/16/2020 at 6:59 PM, phrunt said:

Interesting the red is the coil base and not a cover, also disappointing.

Kind of odd, I wonder what the rationale was? There is no decal on the coil so maybe it makes it easy not to mix it up at the factory - they have a lot of coils that look just like that. I'll probably round up a skid plate that will cover the red up.

And just in case anyone was worried, what with this being a Bounty Hunter, the coil connector is the screw on type, not the push on used on many BH models. So any Gold Bug/F19/G2 series coils will work on the Time Ranger Pro.

The side rubber door/plug protects a 1/4” headphone jack only, not the dual setup with 1/8” jack as featured on some models. That’s just fine by me.

The whole thing comes in a tiny box, with the control pod not mounted on the rod for extra compact shipping. That’s one reason I wanted the S rod version, it breaks down really small. Two screws and a minute to mount the pod. I might replace the Phillips screws with wing nuts to make it even easier with no tool required.

[Noah (FL)]

8 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Wow, that's a smoking deal! Is that the 5" x 10" on there?

Yeah, it’s the 5x10.  Not really a fan of camo detectors but for the price I won’t complain.

It is definitely a great light weight grab and go machine, After doing some testing and playing around in the test garden yesterday I think this should  be a nice jewelry hunter!!

 

[GB_Amateur]

Wow, Steve, your write-up is so vivid it feels like I just got a new detector!  😁  Nice to see/hear a grizzled veteran detectorist get excited with a (near) entry level detector.

I had to do a double-take with your photos since (particularly the blue color) it looks a lot like the Teknetics Omaga.  No surprise since the Gold Bug family was a spinoff of the Tek Delta family (starting p. 11), on the outside.  (7.7 kHz vs. 19kHz being one of the big differences, as most know)  If I recall you are going to use your BH-TRP for jewelry hunting in parks.  I look forward to your posts on the finds it (err, you) make.

12 hours ago, Noah (FL) said:

I actually ended up getting an F19 today too. A few weeks ago I was talking with my neighbor and his brother.  Long story short metal detecting came up, and his brother said he had one that was given to him by coworkers when he retired to Florida.  He didn’t know what brand  it was and never even opened the box. I had forgotten about it until my neighbor stopped over this morning and handed me this box.......brand new F19 and he wouldn’t even take a penny for it!!!

Well, there you go, Noah, stealing Steve's thunder by beating his deal by several hundred dollars.    I'm sure you earned it by being a good neighbor.  What kind of detecting are you going to use yours for?

[Noah (FL)]

1 hour ago, GB_Amateur said:

 

Well, there you go, Noah, stealing Steve's thunder by beating his deal by several hundred dollars.    I'm sure you earned it by being a good neighbor.  What kind of detecting are you going to use yours for?

I wasn’t trying to highjack the thread😂😂 just saw his post when I was gonna post about my stroke of luck😬😬

It will probably get used in turn for relics and jewelry hunting, hopefully some gold prospecting if I ever get the chance?? It’ll definitely be living in my van so I always have a machine handy when needed!!  Street and old building tear outs can be a limited opportunity, and I’ve missed opportunities due to not having a detector with me.  

[Steve Herschbach]

All FT 19 kHz fans welcome here! 

This is a detector that favors people who like a good threshold based all metal mode and those who focus on low conductor non-ferrous hunting. The machine does extremely well on small targets. If it has a weakness it is large silver, like quarters. It’s good but not great on large high conductors. Superb however on small silver like European hammered silver and the like. U.S. park coin cherry pickers will find the two tones and notching options to be limited but sufficient. I love this machine for the simplicity of the all metal mode with displayed target id, or the two tone ferrous/non-ferrous operation with highly adjustable ferrous break point, combined with the low conductor/small target focus. This makes it a great gold nugget, jewelry, relic, and U.K. field hunter. U.S. park hunters who chase silver will probably want to look at other options.

I added a mini review here...

 

[GB_Amateur]

13 minutes ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I love this machine for the simplicity of the all metal mode with displayed target id,...  (emphasis mine)

Just to be clear, the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro still shows the ground phase in its (large, centered on screen) digital readout and you are referring to the 'speedometer' pseudo-analog dial across the top of the screen?  Or did FT finally listen and put the TID in all-metal mode in large digits in the middle of the screen, similar to the F75?  (To be clear to the unfamiliar reader, the Gold Bug family of detectors has always shown the digital TID when in discriminate mode.)

 

[Steve Herschbach]

8 minutes ago, GB_Amateur said:

Just to be clear, the Bounty Hunter Time Ranger Pro still shows the ground phase in its (large, centered on screen) digital readout and you are referring to the 'speedometer' pseudo-analog dial across the top of the screen?  Or did FT finally listen and put the TID in all-metal mode in large digits in the middle of the screen, similar to the F75?  (To be clear to the unfamiliar reader, the Gold Bug family of detectors has always shown the digital TID when in discriminate mode.)

No, they still use the stupid speedometer that I have to squint at while wasting that huge number on a phase number I could care less about. Not a single functional difference between this and the F19 that I’ve found yet. A real mar on an otherwise excellent design. Changing that would mean actually changing something other than the decals.... way too much to ask apparently. I’ve been bitching about it for the last ten years. Reality is probably not too many people care. How many people hunt all metal while eyeballing target id anyway? I’m probably a rare one there.