Revolutionary Detectors Over Time?

[Aureous]

16 hours ago, phrunt said:

I think our appreciation for Steve's input and what he's done for detector users does go a bit under appreciated, perhaps because everything he asks for doesn't become reality but he is on our team.  I'm relatively new to detecting but some of the things these manufacturers do leaves me wanting to smash my face on a brick wall, they seem so brilliant in some ways and so stupid in others and I'd imagine it would be so much worse if it wasn't for people like Steve steering them in the right direction.

TRUTH! Steve has been instrumental in applying actual field knowledge to several company's products...which is absolutely critical. I know from personal experience with 3 diff detector company's that too many 'yes men' have too much influence and field testers advice can be ignored. I know for a fact that many of JP's suggestions have fallen on deaf ears at Minelab. Basic weight reduction strategies for the GPZ7 is one glaring example. Without the high profile field advisors like Steve, Gerry and JP, much of what is obvious to us, becomes irrelevant nonsense to them. 

To this day, I am stupefied that all manufacturers don't have dedicated IT staff to interact with the customer base via Forums and social media. Both they and we could learn a lot from each other.   

[Steve Herschbach]

On 12/2/2022 at 12:26 AM, phrunt said:

The notable missing one to me is the Whites/Garrett 24k

The 24K was basically done when I got my hands on it. There were a lot of them like that, where I really did not do anything much but check out the final product, so I did not list them.

Kind words Simon, thank you. I've certainly lost many battles, but I sure did some good also. I worked very long and hard on the Equinox project, so have some pride in that. But out of it all, it's probably that tone selector switch on the TDI that tickles me the most. That is a direct result of my contacting Eric Foster to see if it was possible, and then it got voted into the final product. Nothing like it to this day on any other PI, and I wish Axiom had it. But it is hard to implement on the dual channel detectors, while it was trivial to do with TDI being a single channel PI.

[Steve Herschbach]

14 hours ago, Aureous said:

field testers advice can be ignored

I just posted saying a similar thing, then saw this. Yeah, it can suck at times. I swear half what the testers say gets ignored, as they already have critical decisions decided - before even asking!!! The engineers have pride of design, and hard to tell them this or that is no good. I learned long ago to pick my battles, but that does mean smaller issues go overlooked or just not fixed. I really can't talk about specifics, but I'll risk just one for example. That rubber door cover on the GPX 6000 headphone outlet. Opened from day one by itself, still opens by itself. But that is the way of all the rubber doors on all detectors and audio modules. It's a flawed method, plain and simple. They either open by themselves, or break off sooner than they should. Fingers crossed on the Axiom rubber doors, but I'd rather screw on caps or plugs. But that's not pretty, and costs more, so we get rubber doors that don't work or break instead. Not the end of the world, detectors still work, but annoying when we are paying top dollar for this stuff.

[glacialgold]

Gotta say, the responses here have been nothing short of awesome! I'm both awed and amazed at the length of experience users here have, along with the variety and depth of machines used.

I'm still a rookie, but I am experiencing maximum fun running the Equinox 800 and Nokta Legend, testing them out against each other in my local parks and school yards. (I have some minor gold fields available which can yield flakes and tiny nuggests at shallow depth, but we'll get to that later.) No major finds so far, but I have dug out up some silver and jewelry.

Cheers to detecting in 2023!

[Ogliuga]

In my experience and in my kind of hunting, XP has given me great satisfaction, first D1 and now D2. But machine that in any case intrigued me the most is Blisstool V6, a real beast that needs to be tamed: bulgarian analogic single tone. Another machine that I loved is the Nautilus DMC 2B. Loved also V3i but it’s too cumbersome and slow, in my opinion. Talking about P.I, my 5000 is definitely fine even if has been dormant for months..

[Jeff McClendon]

I know this topic has not been responded to in almost a year. 

Since that time the Manticore and Equinox 700/900 have gotten into a lot of users hands.

I have nothing further to say about the Equinox 700/900.

I am definitely enjoying the Manticore, Deus 2, Legend and the Equinox 800.

I recently picked up an E-Trac at a ridiculous price for nostalgic reasons and since I had never used one.

I do have some experience with the CTX3030 and Explorer ll and also a little time with the baby E-Trac, the Safari. 

I can see the attraction by some for those FBS/FBS2 detectors. In the right conditions they would probably work well as in milder soil and fairly normal to sparse target density. 

I have done three head to head comparisons in the last 3 days using E-Trac/Manticore, E-Trac/Legend and today E-Trac/Deus 2. I used the same park where there is enough sun to keep the ground thawed, and where target density is not too bad. Iron mineralization meter on Deus 2 is half to 3/4ths full. I searched an area about 20 by 60 feet each time.  I flagged 4 really deep high conductor targets using the newer SMF detectors that I thought were around 8" deep. I was correct in that assessment each time. I also subjectively counted the 2 way hit targets that I would have dug if I had time and was allowed to dig all targets. I was basically hunting with enough iron target IDs rejected on each detector to silence ground noise. All four detectors had 11" coils.

On all three plots the E-Trac usually got clean hits on around 30 targets. I had to redo the first comparison because I simply could not hunt this ground using Auto Sensitivity and had to switch to Manual. I had Auto Sensitivity on +3 and it never got over 12 on this ground. I could run Manual at 16 to 18 and I got a lot more target responses especially on the flagged deep high conductor responses. The 12 flagged targets turned out to be 10 deep US Wheat pennies and 2 thicker chunks of aluminum and they were in the 7 to 9" depth range. E-Trac hit half of those targets cleanly, gave very iffy responses on two more and was completely silent on 4 of the Wheat pennies. 

By comparison, Manticore, Legend and Deus 2 even running at conservative sensitivity levels hit between 60 and 80 targets in those 20X60' plotted areas. Since I used them to find the deep flagged targets, they obviously hit those well too.

So, I am going to once again give Minelab's Multi IQ all the credit it deserves. The recently made Manticore, Legend and Deus 2 would not exist in the form they are today if the Equinox 600/800 had not been released about 5 years ago. That detector changed my metal detecting life and truly made metal detecting both fun and very rewarding for me after cycling through SOOOO many VLFs trying to find even one that worked well enough for me to get even good results.

Had I used an E-Trac seven or so years ago, I think I could have done very well with it for shallower coin and jewelry hunting. But at least where I hunt, it simply cannot compete with the Equinox 600/800, Deus 2, Legend and Manticore.

Thanks Minelab for being willing to move on from BBS, FBS and FBS 2, to Multi IQ which is much more versatile and effective at least where I hunt and on the targets that I like to find from sub 0.1 gram nuggets to coins to relics and to jewelry both micro and honking big.

 

 

[Lynk]

Spot on, Jeff. In fact, I recently picked up a used 800 and now have two.  If you find the right seller and price, they are really great values and still very relevant.

[F350Platinum]

I probably would be half as prolific if I never came across this forum, I have a lot to be thankful for since I first bought an Ace 400 to look for nails after a roof job. I suspected it to lead to more, but never imagined how much more.

I've made quite a few friends here and expect to be here for quite a while, it's the only forum I signed up for. I hope I have contributed to others' skill as well.

Allow me to humbly cast my vote for the Deus 2, it brings so many revolutionary facets to the hobby such as extreme light weight, completely wireless operation, and for me the tightest ID range of any machine I've used, sadly not enough but a wonder to me. It has its quirks but none of the other detectors I've used are anywhere near as versatile, nor "fit" me the way the Deus 2 does.

I will nod to the Equinox 600, in its simplicity it was a killer for me, I still use it from time to time but its use is reduced the more I learn the D2.

Thanks go to you all for the help and kicks in the butt as I go on. ?

[UtahRich]

The big difference makers for me? I started back in the mid-70's with a TR.

Teknetics Mark I back in the mid-80's.  Super accurate Target ID AND Audio Target ID, Manual Ground Balance. Notch ID

Minelab Explorer XS in 2000 and several years later the Etrac. Deep, accurate Target ID, great at sleuthing out coins and tokens

Minelab Equinox 800 - Opened up the low and mid-conductors in the shallow water for me and continued being deep with accurate target ID. Cutting the weight and being 'mostly' water proof.