My Monster Experience

[AU_Solitude]

So I rolled the dice and picked up a Monster even though I am well aware of the potential coil problems. I know Steve, Chris, and many others who are vastly more experienced than myself have reviewed the detector but I thought I'd document my first six hours of use here as I am more of a novice. 

Things I Like:

1. Build quality - most of the photo's online make this almost look like a child's toy, fortunately, that couldn't be further from the truth and I really love the cam-lock system. Not quite as portable - or quickly deployed - as say the SDC, but I can break it down and fit it and the SDC in a 30L weekend pack. Very adaptable.
2. Automatic ground tracking - As a fairly new prospector I love this for one reason - it eliminates the human element of error. I can use old standbys like the GB II fairly well, adjusting with my thumb as I go, and doubtless manual ground balancing is an edge under certain circumstances, but occasionally my mind wanders and needless to say I know personally I'm not getting optimal depth 100% of the time with manual ground balance.
3. Speaker volume - love the adjustments here; I can dial it down when in the middle of nowhere or crank it when working near water (Headphones see below.)
4. Iron/Gold Probability - I dug probably 200+ targets in six hours, the only time the discrimination was off initially was on a few square nail bits, and it pegs very strong gold on graphite hunks. All hot rocks I encountered swung to the iron probable side occasionally crossing over a little.

Things I don't like:

1. Lack of 1/4" headphone jack - I like using headphones and while I can get an adapter for the 3.5, my favorites are 1/4" and it's just one more cog in the works to bug out.
2. Threshold - this is going to take some getting used to. I actually ran most of the time in auto+ just to get some noise.

 

All in all I am happy - I'll probably honestly keep this as my sole gold VLF and sell off the others. It's still a new machine, but I have not experienced any of the falsing or bump issues that seem to be so prevalent here on the web. I have ZERO issues with tracking out targets - as long as you maintain a wide, slower, swing speed over the target it doesn't seem to be an issue. 

 

[Steve Herschbach]

I think reports like yours are more valuable these days than reports from somebody like myself. Good, dispassionate reports from regular owners of detectors, pro and con, are always welcome and I wish more people would take the time and effort. That being the case I really want to thank you for a well written, concise report!

[AU_Solitude]

5 hours ago, Steve Herschbach said:

I think reports like yours are more valuable these days than reports from somebody like myself. Good, dispassionate reports from regular owners of detectors, pro and con, are always welcome and I wish more people would take the time and effort. That being the case I really want to thank you for a well written, concise report!

Thank you Steve!

[Steve in Idaho]

Every time I go out I find gold. I still have not had any falsing problems yet. I keep my coil wire tight against the shaft and I push the coil through a lot of brush. If I hit the coil cable to hard it will false. I love this machine  My poor old GB II thinks that I have abandoned it. I cannot wait to go out again. 

[D&P-OR]

Good report, thanks for posting it.

[Tom H]

On 9/10/2017 at 9:17 AM, AU_Solitude said:

Things I don't like:

1. Lack of 1/4" headphone jack - I like using headphones and while I can get an adapter for the 3.5, my favorites are 1/4" and it's just one more cog in the works to bug out.

I bought one of these 1/4 to 1/8 adapters off of E-bay and it works great!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hosa-Balanced-1-4in-TRS-Female-to-Right-Angle-Stereo-3-5mm-Male-Headphone-6-Inch/361854866806?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Tom