You've got a classic there!
The Fisher 1260-X was the first 2nd derivative motion discriminator, introduced May 1982. That discrimination method, whether in circuitry or in software, is still the foundation of single frequency discriminating metal detector design. all the way from the Bounty Hunter Junior to the Fisher F75.
Its mechanical design was also revolutionary. Although the design method was "seat of the pants", the ergonomics came out so good that it later became the inspiration for the scientifically ergonomically engineered Teknetics T2 introduced in 2006. In 2015 it's still the only ergonomically engineered metal detector design on the market, complete with published ergonomic specifications.
In the early 1980's market dominated by VLF/TR, manual ground balance non-motion all metals operation, with the occasional "whipper" narrowband motion machine, and dominated by U-handle mechanical design, the 1260-X was revolutionary. No manual ground balance. No static (non-motion) modes and no retune button. If you stopped over a target, the sound stopped, you had to keep it in motion. It wasn't obvious from a picture what made the newfangled mechanical package better. We'd taken away most of the stuff everyone thought they needed and were familiar with, and replaced it with an expensive for that time (about $500) mystery.
It was so revolutionary that nobody knew quite what to think of it. For about 6 months, everyone was waiting for someone else to spend the money and find out what the heck it really was. This was before the Internet, word didn't get around overnight. A few dealers got the guts to take the plunge, and quickly decided they liked what they had in their hands, the thing was for real. A turn-on-and-go machine so easy to use that you could hand it to someone who'd never used a metal detector before, and in 60 seconds they could be beeping stuff out of the ground. And although it weighed over 4 pounds, it was almost effortless to swing. About November 1982 it was like the floodgates opened, we were backlogged for about 2 years.
By modern standards, its performance wasn't much. Air test about 7 1/2 to 8 inches on coins. The superficially similar 1265 and 1266 platforms that came later were far hotter, the '66 being in the 12 to 14 inch range air test. But in the early 1980's the "whipper" motion machines were only good for about 6 inches, and you had to really know what you were doing to get that 6 inches. Some VLF/TR disc machines would air test in the 10 inch range, but in many soils getting 5 inches required very careful technique. What was new with the 1260-X was fairly decent discrimination depth on buried targets, with no skill required.
The first 1260's had an drawn aluminum Zero can electronics enclosure-- expensive, but didn't require an expensive injection mold. After demand hit, we had enough money to do an injection molded plastic housing. People whined "Fisher had a rugged aluminum housing, and then went to cheap flimsy plastic, is nothing sacred any more?" What they didn't know was that the aluminum cans were constantly getting banged up, they dented and bent. The plastic version gets banged around and bounces right back. Here we are more than 30 years later still using those plastic boxes on the Gold Bug 2, in production for 20 years and it probably gets the roughest use of anything we manufacture.
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The 1980's were an era of rapid evolution in the metal detector industry. Although I didn't know it in 1981, I wasn't the only engineer developing a second derivative motion discriminator. Jack Gifford and Charlie Garrett were doing the same and it wasn't long before they also had 'em on the market. The BFO's, TR's, and VLF/TR's that had been the mainstays of the 1970's all died a sudden death. Meanwhile George Payne pioneered sampled second derivative target ID with the early Teknetics: we're still selling revisions of the "Payne platforms" in the legacy BH line, and in the Fisher lineup as the F2 and F4. And it was during the 1980's that behind the scenes, both Fisher and Minelab were developing their respective multifrequency technologies , both introduced to the market in 1991 and the foundation of both companies' multifrequency products to this day.
I swung my first multifreak prototype in 1983. With only 6 inches of air hots and everything fiddled to make that particular unit work, it was far from being a marketable product. But it did what it was supposed to prove could be done: it discriminated in mineralized ground that rendered singlefreakers almost useless. In the mid 1980's I was also experimenting with ground cancelled PI, but for the purpose of a fully static target ID machine. Wrong application, all we got out of it was the Impulse underwater machine. Meanwhile others were playing around with PI's for gold prospecting especially in Australia, and that led to Minelab's intro of competitive PI gold machines in the mid 1990's.
The old timers often complain that the new crop of machines aren't any better than the ones from 20 and 30 years ago. I'd disagree with them on that, but there's some truth behind it. Most of what's being done now is based on work done in the 1980's, and some 1990's products were so good that they're still regarded as competitive and still being sold.
Life has been good to me. In February of 1991, the Fisher factory was shut down for a month due to lack of orders to fill, and I'd never in my life swung a metal detector. Nobody could have known that it was the right place to be, at the right time. But that's how it turned out.
I got it for that amount. Looks to have seen very little use, but it was not stored in a very clean environment, and I think it was in his basement. It turns-on and beeps, even with the old batteries in it, but knobs are a little 'stiff". My wife wouldn't let me bring it in the house because of the odor that it had! Not a very clean house at all, and the guy was a cigar smoker. I can't find much info on this model, and was wondering how it compares to a 1265 or 1266 for relic hunting? Will try to clean it up and post pics tomorrow night.
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