Nokta Double Score Or Legend?

[gilgsn]

Hello.

New here, first day posting 🙂 I don't even have a detector yet, will order one in a few days.

I am hesitating between the Double Score and the Legend. Here in France it's a 100-Euro, $110 difference. I am thinking that being my first detector, I might not need all the settings of the Legend. Am I wrong? BTW I do live near the coast, though the beaches here are rocks, except the artificial ones where tons of sand has been dumped.

How useful is the iron/non-iron indicator on the screen? Are all the extra tone settings a must? So far I am slightly leaning towards the Double Score...

Is there anything else to consider? Is performance pretty similar? Would my lack of experience make the Double Score a better choice?

Thank you, and merry Christmas!

Gil.

[markinswpa]

Welcome to the hobby. Buy once, cry once.  I say Legend. And don't forget the price is going up after the 1st of the year. The ferrocheck works really well on the Legend to about 6 inches or so. I agree you don't need all the extra settings right now but as you progress in the hobby you will come to appreciate the versatility it offers as opposed to looking to upgrade if you would go with the Double Score. The Legend is pretty much a turn on and go detector so I don't think there would be much difference between learning either machine. Good luck. Mark

[gilgsn]

Thanks Mark, I was worried the Legend could be confusing, but I am pretty tech-saavy, so maybe I'm worrying too much..

Gil.

[JCR]

Mark is exactly right.

[wltdwiz]

im of a different thought

i went with the double score i like the simplistic approach & it works great for me .

ive been detecting for over 50 years & last xmas i ordered the Legend but for me too many settings & extras i dident need.

this xmas i ordered the double score & im delighted with it , its a keeper . simple ...

your needs may be different

the double score checks all my boxes..

[Digalicious]

I completely agree with Mark as well.

You're tech savvy, and ask good questions. As such, I suspect that if you bought the Double Score, you would soon yearn for the extra features of the Legend. One example of that, is Ferrocheck. Ferrocheck is only available on the Legend, and it's an amazing feature to have when hunting in iron.

Since you're new to this, then either way you go, I suggest starting out with only 50% sensitivity, and preferably the smaller 9.5x6 coil.

 

[gilgsn]

Thanks guys! I do like the ferrocheck scale... Still haven't decided yet. I even considered the X-Terra but decided to put it in third place, for various reasons.

Why  small coil? 9.5 looks pretty small.. Better separation?

The only setting that eludes me, from reading the user manuals, is the iron filter. I posted about that..

Ya'll have a good one 🙂

Gil.

[Digalicious]

Gil,

In trashy areas, the 11" round coil can be overwhelming for a newbie. That size of coil will allow a lot more signals to come through, compared to the 9.5x6 coil. If you want to forgo the 9.5x6, then just keep the sensitivity fairly low until you get used to things.

Both the Double Score and the Legend have an iron filter, which is also known as an iron bias control. It's a critical setting for getting maximum unmasking of nonferrous targets in ferrous trash. 

Take for example a nail on top of a coin. A high iron filter setting will allow the full ferrous signal to come through, thus overriding the nonferrous signal, and missing the coin. A low iron filter setting will suppress the ferrous signal, thus allowing the nonferrous coin signal to come through. 

A high iron filter will setting will eliminate most iron falsing, but miss a lot of nonferrous targets that are masked by ferrous objects. Iron falsing is when the detector gives a good nonferrous tone and nonferrous  ID, on a ferrous object.

A low iron bias will unmask much better in iron. The caveat is that the lower the setting, the more prone the detector is to iron falsing. Ferrocheck really helps in determining if iron falsing is occurring. 





 

[gilgsn]

Thanks Digalicious, much appreciated. I did understand that on the bottom end of the iron filter, falsing was eliminated, but did not quite understand the filter's behavior on the top end. I got that non-ferrous targets were possibly no longer detected with a high iron filter, but did not get that the iron was "let through." So your explanation clarifies things, and the need to find the right range.. I would get then that one needs to set the iron filter just high enough to reduce falsing but not too high as to not miss non-ferrous targets. Now, what happens when the iron filter is high, there is a non-ferrous target but no iron around it? Is the IF then inconsequential?

I'll look into the smaller coil, thanks. I might have to wait a bit before getting one, but I'll remember your advise on sensitivity.. I guess manufacturers include larger coils for depth, but I don't really want to spend all my time digging deep holes anyway, LOL.

Gil.

[Digalicious]

You're welcome.

You're correct with, "I would get then that one needs to set the iron filter just high enough to reduce falsing but not too high as to not miss non-ferrous targets".

You're also correct with, "What happens when the iron filter is high, there is a non-ferrous target but no iron around it? Is the IF then inconsequential?".  In somewhat of a contrast, the reason a low IF can cause iron objects to identify as nonferrous, is because even the very low conductive properties of the ferrous object will be "allowed" to come through.