Just Picked Up A Modified Teknetics Mark 1 LTD

[George Kinsey]

One of my all-time favorites. Nice.

[J-ROB]

Saw that on the Bay and was tempted...even though I already have a mod Mark 1 on a White's shaft, an un-modified Mark 1, and a Mark III...none of which I have used in years and most of which I should pop on the classifieds. But, yeah, those were great machines.

As I recall, my Mark 1 with the depth mod resistor change got 11" air test on a Quarter with the 7", an inch or inch and a half over stock.

Seems that that ebay unit was outfitted with old black Bounty Hunter coils. Meant to ask Paul about that but never got around to it. The Tek 10" was white and somewhat different in form factor and the stock 7" was a solid disc. Included a pic for nostalgia content...

The mod that needs to be done in this century is to replace the 12 AA system with 3.7V rechargeables or some other LIGHTER configuration!

 

 

[George Kinsey]

48 minutes ago, J-ROB said:

Saw that on the Bay and was tempted...even though I already have a mod Mark 1 on a White's shaft, an un-modified Mark 1, and a Mark III...none of which I have used in years and most of which I should pop on the classifieds. But, yeah, those were great machines.

As I recall, my Mark 1 with the depth mod resistor change got 11" air test on a Quarter with the 7", an inch or inch and a half over stock.

Seems that that ebay unit was outfitted with old black Bounty Hunter coils. Meant to ask Paul about that but never got around to it. The Tek 10" was white and somewhat different in form factor and the stock 7" was a solid disc. Included a pic for nostalgia content...

The mod that needs to be done in this century is to replace the 12 AA system with 3.7V rechargeables or some other LIGHTER configuration!

 

 

Paul is an Old Friend who sells on the Bay. He does great work. I have a normal red LTD that my friend will mod for me. Has the Red coil. George. 

[TheDeepseeker]

I didn't realize until joining this forum that there were, and still are, so many US metal detector manufacturers.

Do you restore your purchases and use them George? Or are you more interested in the historical aspect and keep them as a kind of museum collection?

[George Kinsey]

2 hours ago, TheDeepseeker said:

I didn't realize until joining this forum that there were, and still are, so many US metal detector manufacturers.

Do you restore your purchases and use them George? Or are you more interested in the historical aspect and keep them as a kind of museum collection?

Most of my detectors I will or have used in the past 56 years. I like a good mod by someone I know and trust. I revisit many for a second time. as all seem to work a little different. But most of my arsenal, take me back to a time in my life when I hunted virgin sites with friends, some who have passed away or others still with us. We grew up poor and when I made some decent money my obsession took over. I have over 60 favorites now. I want to sell them but when I do I miss them.  When it is my time to pass, my only partner now will have to back up the truck to take them away. Enjoy the adventure. George.

[TheDeepseeker]

Thanks for sharing that with us George, and you know that strikes a chord with me also. I find mostly nothing of value when I go detecting, but there is something deeper than looking for gold every time I go out.

I think it's that once I'm away from civilization, things look just like they did when I was a kid gold panning with a long since departed great uncle or fishing with my late father. Often times on the way home at the end of the day I get a little depressed, even if I've had a lot of fun during the hunt. Sometimes I wonder if it's the result of listening to a threshold all day, or perhaps leaving behind all those rediscovered memories that made me feel young again. I started a family late in life (I'm 62 but didn't become a father until 43 and then 47) and for a long time there I forgot about all of those things I used to do when I was a kid.

One of my biggest buzzes just a few years ago was when detecting in Moliagul here in Victoria (not far from where the Welcome Stranger nugget was found). I heard something from outside my headphones other than the threshold, so took them off my head to listen to what it was.

There must have been a house or a camper some way off from the forest who was playing Credence cranked up. Nobody to be seen as far as the eye could see in all directions. At that moment in time I was a kid again and man it felt good.

[geof_junk]

I could not sell my old VLF detector (Garret ADS, Whites 6000, Whites Aus. Goldmaster, and Whites Eagle) because I felt like I was betraying them for the great service. So I gifted them to people that would look after them.

[Bob S.]

The Teknetics Mark I was one (probably still is) of my all-time favorite metal detectors in 1985. I liked it so much I did an uncompensated field test/review of it when it debuted in the magazine I wrote for... I felt that strongly about it. I found an incredible amount of silver coins and gold rings with it over the time I used it. My hunting partners would get mad at me for bringing it on our days out!... The TID worked so well in light to medium minerals, I used to leave all the pennies in the ground and take the silver! In some hunt areas I knew the difference between a clad dime and a silver dime by 2 points on the display. My best day with the Mark I was on May 18th, 1985. I found 18 Mercury and Roosevelt silver dimes, 2 Standing Liberty silver quarters, 1 Walking Liberty silver half, and a large 14K gold class ring! This morning as I reached for my finds log to write this, I was shuttered once again... I opened it to the exact page and day I started using the Mark I!

Sadly, as years went by, it became too heavy to swing all day so I made a belt mount leather platform harness for the control housing until I could no longer even handle that. In later years, I would reminisce by phone with George Payne about the Mark 1 and how I so wanted him to design a miniature version of it for me. He told me that the Mark I was designed with totally off the shelf components instead of using custom IC's to keep manufacturing costs down. That is why the housings and battery requirements were so large. The meter ID resolution was so accurate and stable for it's time. George Payne holds many metal detector patents and is a lot responsible for what we enjoy today. I'm sure he is retired by now. When I was talking with him, he was working in the logging industry designing special metal detection circuitry to locate embedded nails in huge trees to avoid expensive saw blade damage. At the time, he wanted little to to do further with hobby metal detectors. He even sent me a copy of the original Mark I schematic which I still have to this day. Those were the days my friends!

[Rick N. MI]

I liked the needle meters. They locked right on the target.