Where Might I Find A Whites TM808 Detector That Works Ok?

[tvanwho]

for cache hunting...Tom V--Indiana

[Geotech]

Facebook Marketplace

eBay

Various detector forum classifieds

Also try metaldetectordistributors.com, Ettore used to be one of the biggest movers of the TM808 for White's. Maybe he still has NOS (unlikely) or refurbs or trade-ins.

[tvanwho]

what does Mr Geotech use for cache hunting in the woods or desert?

[Joe D.]

   XP Deus 2 Xtrem Hunter is the most recent "kid on the block" for cache detecting! See the 808's occasionally on Ebay, but functionality is a gamble!🍀👍👍

[Geotech]

On 12/5/2025 at 5:36 PM, tvanwho said:

what does Mr Geotech use for cache hunting in the woods or desert?

Depends on exactly what I'm looking for and exactly the ground conditions. Generally I'd probably prefer a PI with a 1m coil if obstacles aren't plentiful. Maybe a TM808 if maneuvering is difficult. A TF900 or old TM808 with cave mode (pure TR) if I want to do ground mapping.

[tvanwho]

When Garrett bought out Whites Electonics, did they stop making all the Whites machines? Just wondering if they still have the TM 808, or would service it? Another guy on this forum offered me a Discovery 900, which seems to be a copy of the TM 808? He wants $600 for it. What do you think?

Also, how do you dig a 3 foot deep hole in a rocky wooded area? A serrrated edge relic shovel maybe and a campers saw for tree roots I am guessing?

Does anybody make an electronic probe like a tile probe , that would signal  if it hits metal down deep? I used to have a probe that would do this but it was for coins. I think it was made by AH Electronics back in the late 1970's. Heck, I went treasure hunting once with Allen Hametta, who owned that company, when he was living in North Carolina.

I map dowsed a treasure site, we went there armed only with a magnetometer, no shovel, and my Electroscope Model 20. I am still kicking myself all these years later. We found nothing but when walking outta the woods, I happened to turn my head for no particular reason and out the corner of my right eye, I saw  2 rows of depressed circles in the forest grass the size of 5 gallon bucket lids.  We were looking for buried cooking pots of gold coins. Being the idiot I was back then, I did not call Allen over to investigate the circles until 2 years later at a dowsing club meeting, I mentioned it. He was hopping mad at me needless to say. Been back there several times, never saw the circles again.

[Geotech]

The early TM808 (with cave mode) was a copy of the TF900, which was a copy of the 3D Electronics model created by Jim Karbowski (Bigfoot coil fame). The later TM808 was a 6000/D Series 3 repackaged. The only detector Garrett continued was the GM24k, but they should have also continued the TM808 and the TRX.

To dig a 3 foot hole in rocky soil, go to your local high school and get 2 large football players. Seriously, if you are cache hunting the guy who buried the cache probably did not dig a 3 foot hole in rocky soil, either. Tree roots are another issue, they may have not been there when the cache was buried.

Hametta is (or was) still selling probes under the name Intex Systems. I have a couple of them. The only other similar device is the Gold Spear made by a guy in Sweden (guldstrom.com). It has up to a 2 meter probe you shove in the ground, if it contacts metal it beeps. It's made for sandy stream beds, you are unlikely to have success in rock ground.

[tvanwho]

Thanks, I found Intex systems. Looks like he has a coin probe like I had at one time and a digging trowel with metal detector built into the sharp tip, electronics and battery in the handle. If anybody could make a 3 foot tile probe with detector in the tip for cache hunting, it would be Allen. Unfortunately, all items are sold out and there is no way to order anything on the Intex website and his Contact Us Form refuses to accept my email of tvanwho@yahoo.com and no phone number or email address to contact him either. I give up. 

 

Is that Garrett Depth Multiplier thing any good? Are they even still being made? I just got Charles Garretts book on Cache hunting. Best book yet on this subject. Maybe I better dig up my copy of Treasure Hunters Manual number 7 by Von Mueller if I can find it.

[tvanwho]

Well, Intex systems contact form won't accept my email address and no phone number listed. I stumbled around and found he now lives near Oswego,Illinois, maybe? My old welding shop owner lives close to the address.I will write and see if they can do me a favor and look him up.