8500 D0 Fast mode

[Jackpine Savage]

Anyone using this in machine gun iron?

 

[jim tn]

I have used it some in heavy trash and it is fast. HH jim tn

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Thanks Jim. Was this modern trash or old home site iron? I have a10x5 coil on the G2+ and like it a lot but mentally debating on the 8500 vs Racer at this point for old coins hunting. Both modern trash and old home sites.

 

[jim tn]

Mostly modern trash, but have had it on one iron laden spot, but most of the iron is bigger then what you are apt to run into at a home site. No doubt it loves coins, but the 8000 did, too. HH jim tn

 

[Monte]

I haven't seen anything that compels me to spring for the 8500 as it falls short of what I am now using in dense iron trash.

On the original G2 and Omega 8000, the 5" DD coil was by far the best performer in a dense iron nail infested site. Last year I searched three ghost towns in Nevada, one in Utah, and two in Oregon that I have put good time in using the 5" DD coil. The Omega, for me, has matched or outperformed Teknetics own T2 w/5" DD in those tough iron locations.

I used an Omega 8000 w/5" last year on one of our Welcome-to-Hunt Outings to Nevada, with the 5" DD, and it worked acceptably. However, I compared its performance, side-by-side with a FORS CoRe w/'OOR' coil and a Makro Racer w/'OOR' coil, and the Omega 8000 , while good compared to many detectors, didn't come up to the level of performance I get from the CoRe or Racer.

Thanks Jim. Was this modern trash or old home site iron? I have a10x5 coil on the G2+ and like it a lot but mentally debating on the 8500 vs Racer at this point for old coins hunting. Both modern trash and old home sites.

I also use the 5½X10 DD on my Gold Racer, and the same size in DD or Concentric on my FORS Gold+, and I am pleased with their performance. The 5X10 on the G2 I had, and even on the Omega 8000, was a pretty good coil to use in more open areas with a lower trash target ratio. It's likely a little better on the G2+ because it, like the Fisher F19's I had, worked a lot better on higher-conductive coins and at handling iron trash, than the original G2 or Gold Bug Pro.

That said, my Racer's and FORS models with a similar size coil are much better at unmasking keepers in a lot of iron debris with a compatible coil, but when it gets bad I opt for the smaller 'OOR' coils [size=small](Racer and FORS CoRe)[/size] or 5" DD coils [size=small](Gold Racer and FORS Gold+)[/size].

I still have my 5" DD for the Omega 8000's and am looking for a new or very clean Version 6 Omega 8000 to have on-hand as a loaner unit because, while not a Racer or CoRe, they work better than many other newer models with display and toner options.

Monte

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Thanks Monte and I have no doubt the Racer is as good as you and others say it is. I guess I will just have to get both because I really want to add something back in the stable at the lower freq of the Omega AND uses concentric coils. Maybe even an X-terra.

The G2+ w/ 10x5 is hot on IH's and buttons for sure but I'm still needing a lower freq machine.

PS: I have still have the original G2 Tek sent me that reads "Gold Bug" on start up.

 

[jim tn]

The lower frequency of the Omega is great for coins, as you know, and that's what I got my 8500 for. As I mentioned, I can't speak much on heavy iron laden spots and how the Omega 8500 does, but in modern trash the 8500 does an excellent job. And I am finding it's depth is really good. Deeper then my two previous 8000's, any way.I think you will enjoy the 8500, it does have a lot going for it. HH jim tn

 

[Monte]

The lower frequency of the Omega is great for coins, as you know, and that's what I got my 8500 for. As I mentioned, I can't speak much on heavy iron laden spots and how the Omega 8500 does, but in modern trash the 8500 does an excellent job. And I am finding it's depth is really good. Deeper then my two previous 8000's, any way.I think you will enjoy the 8500, it does have a lot going for it. HH jim tn

Jim, it's good to hear the 8500 Omega is working fine for you.

I liked the Omega 8000's I had, partly because of the urban Coin Hunting performance at the 7.[size=small]8[/size] kHz and it was, generally, better to use than the White's MXT Pro and even the MX5 for most applications around schools, parks, playgrounds, and other city-type hunting. Not that those models are bad, because they aren't. The Omega 8000's just felt better, and I liked the 2-Tone and 4-Tone options they offered.

The 8000 is 'OK' in dense iron nail sites such as stage stops, homesteads and more littered ghost towns I hunt that are very iron nail challenging. However, it doesn't compete well with all of my primary-use models in those nail infested sites for unmasking.

I am not big on all the 'depth' talk we hear chatted about on the forums, because most sites I hunt, urban or rural, don't have coins very deep, nor can they be found deep due to shallower masking trash. The Omega 8000's I owned, all Version 4's with the first an early run and the last three latter version 4 offerings, were excellent Coin Hunting units, and I also did quite well in the gold and silver jewelry finds, too.

The stock 5½X9¾ Concentric coil worked fine, but I actually preferred the round 8" Concentric coil for quicker work in typical urban environments, and pinpointing was improved [size=small](quicker and easier)[/size], so the 8" Concentric and definitely the 5" DD coils were my two favorite choices.

I have a full set of detectors now that serve me quite well for all of the sites I hunt, most of which are iron trash encounters, and I don't need another detector over what I have now. That said, I miss the Omega 8000 for some urban hunting and it would make a good loaner-unit for me to have on hand for friends and family. I will be visiting a dealer friend in a week or so and I am going to borrow his 8500 demo unit and compare with the 8000 and see if there's any 'magic' that comes my way, or if I am just going to look for a new 8000 Ver. 6.

Monte

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Monte
I am not big on all the 'depth' talk we hear chatted about on the forums, because most sites I hunt, urban or rural, don't have coins very deep, nor can they be found deep due to shallower masking trash..

I agree that depth is not important when hunting in machine gun iron. It will be interesting to see what the parameters are of the fast mode on the 8500. There are zero reports by relic hunters on that aspect and I aim to find out!

Monte the 8" concentric is definitely on my want list. I have an 8500 with Bi-axial and 5" coils on the way. It will be a while before the snow melts but when it does there will be reports on how the fast mode compares to the higher freq G2+ in iron on mid and high conductors

I also have a need for a good fresh water beach detector. Back when I had the 8000 and original G2 and comparing the all metal modes on Lake Michigan sand beaches the Omega gave better depth and iron ID at depth. It is not as hot on micro jewelry of course but in all metal it will signal on tiny foil bits in sand fairly deep and on anything larger it starts to compare very favorably against the G2.

Tom

 

[Monte]

I am not big on all the 'depth' talk we hear chatted about on the forums, because most sites I hunt, urban or rural, don't have coins very deep, nor can they be found deep due to shallower masking trash..

I agree that depth is not important when hunting in machine gun iron.

Site selection, trash content, trash type, and conditions of the location that could lead to any 'reasonably' deeper targets all must be taken into consideration. Way too many people THINK all older targets are deep, and they generally aren't, depending upon location conditions, such as disturbed ground, erosion deposition, etc. Then they get bigger-size coils, and those add to good target masking, try to find any deep targets when there is too much shallower junk to work through, and they often fail to consider the particular detector make/model/performance abilities [size=small](field-proven, not just stated in ads)[/size].

My favorite ghost town out in a desert environment, that sprang to life in 1868 and struggled to stay alive from about 1910 to 1945, and hasn't had a structure standing since about 1951, has been a reliable producer for me of older coins. A LOT of older coins, as in hundreds to fill four binders. Other nice keepers as well, like military buttons and early era ornate buttons, suspender, trouser, shoe, harness and other buckles, jewelry, bullets, cases and complete cartridges, and the list goes on.

Deep? Not really. Seated Liberty coins out-numbered Barber's 30-35 to 1. Just about an even split nickels, with 'V' maybe 55% and Shield 45%. Surprisingly more very early era Wheaties from 1909 thru the teens, but still ample Indian Head cent to 1864 and a Flying Eagle cent. Several 2-Cent pieces, a nickel 3-Cent coin, maybe a half dozen Half-Dimes, with the oldest being an 1836 Capped-Bust. Of these hundreds of cons, no more than maybe 10 have been 6" or deeper, no more. There have been maybe 20-25 that were on top of the ground in plain sight, mostly both types of Nickels, Seated Liberty Dimes and Seater Liberty Quarters. Of the 'surface' coins, no more than 6 have been Pennies..

The rest of the coins ranged from just out-of-sight near the surface to 4". Very seldom recovering one in the over 4" to 5" or so range, but it does happen now-and-then.

Depth? Not an issue where I hunt the most since 1969. Instead, it is using a smaller-size coil and the best detectors to handle the iron trash to unmask good targets and work in and around brush and rubble..

It will be interesting to see what the parameters are of the fast mode on the 8500. There are zero reports by relic hunters on that aspect and I aim to find out!

A couple of my newer detectors have a 'fast' processing mode to select and 'fast' isn't always what we think it should be. We have had quick-response/fast-recovery detectors since the Fisher 1260X in '82 and Tesoro Inca in '83, and many makes and models have a 'fast' recovery we can see .... if we compare an 'air-test' or on-ground test with no other targets around. Even line up a series of coins that are close and listen to each sound off individually .... but not all the time. Mix in some iron and require the detector to process the rejected iron or other Discriminated trash AND recover and respond is more difficult.

The Teknetics T2 with the 5" DD coil does pretty well in many very iron littered sites, but I actually felt the Omega 8000 worked just a little better for me using its 5" DD coil. That said, while they do perform and unmask targets in iron better than a lot of detectors available to us today, new or old, the 8000 still doesn't match any of my Tesoro's with a 6" Concentric coil. I made a change on my personal arsenal a year ago January and February, when I switched to the Nokta FORS CoRe w/small 'OOR' coil and Makro Racer with the same size small coil.

Next to the Makro, Nokta and Tesoro models I now have [size=small](10 all totaled)[/size] I would say the next model I would get to hunt my sites with a small coil would be the Omega 8000 then T2, in that order. A little less performance in dense iron nails tests [size=small](using my Nail Board Performance Test)[/size] but ahead of the competition fro White's, Garrett, and others. It will be interesting to check out an Omega 8500 when I visit a dealer friend in the next couple of weeks. I look forward to reading your opinions on the 8500 w/5" DD coil.

Monte the 8" concentric is definitely on my want list. I have an 8500 with Bi-axial and 5" coils on the way. It will be a while before the snow melts but when it does there will be reports on how the fast mode compares to the higher freq G2+ in iron on mid and high conductors

The 8" 'spoked' or 'spider' coil Teknetics uses has worked well for me, and the 5" is also a favorite. Not a fan of the 11" BiAxial coil.

I also have a need for a good fresh water beach detector. Back when I had the 8000 and original G2 and comparing the all metal modes on Lake Michigan sand beaches the Omega gave better depth and iron ID at depth. It is not as hot on micro jewelry of course but in all metal it will signal on tiny foil bits in sand fairly deep and on anything larger it starts to compare very favorably against the G2.

Tom

I also did much better with the Omega 8000's than I did my G2's, but I think part of the reason was they finally hit a 'no more progress' point in the Gold Bug Pro/G2 design and felt it was fixed enough and moved on with other projects, and I believe the F19/G2+ are an example of the direction they were going at the time. I had four very good years with an Omega 8000 and made a lot of coin and good jewelry recoveries ... w/8" and 5" coils, mainly,

Monte

 

[supertraq]

Would think the iron audio alone would be a big improvement over the 8000.
I run 0 disc.on my etp and 11-12 volume which gives me info of what's in the ground and not have to fiddle with anything to make my decision
on dig or no dig. It has in just a couple of weeks caused me to dig targets I would have ignored.
The 8500 has much more to offer than my etp,next?

 

[Jackpine Savage]

The 8500 is a sparky machine in iron compared to the 8000 so it's a good thing the iron audio volume control is there. Lots more iron falsing but very easy to discern and not really a bother, but could use a little more intelligibility in iron to make it truly great. Some may not like it I suppose. One of the things I liked about the 8000 was that at disc 16 it ran rather quiet in iron. Didn't care for the 2 tone in iron on the 8000 was more of a mess compared to the G2 and wished at the time they would rewrite the code to make it more like the G2. Now with the 8500 it is much better but as I said still lacks a little on the nuances for iron hunting. Have to give the 1 tone VCO more time I think to make my decision on the 8500. The19Khz G2's do have the advantage in iron.

Tom

 

[Jackpine Savage]

The 8500 is a sparky machine in iron compared to the 8000 so it's a good thing the iron audio volume control is there. Lots more iron falsing but very easy to discern and not really a bother, but could use a little more intelligibility in iron to make it truly great. Some may not like it I suppose. One of the things I liked about the 8000 was that at disc 16 it ran rather quiet in iron. Didn't care for the 2 tone in iron on the 8000 was more of a mess compared to the G2 and wished at the time they would rewrite the code to make it more like the G2. Now with the 8500 it is much better but as I said still lacks a little on the nuances for iron hunting. Have to give the 1 tone VCO more time I think to make my decision on the 8500. The19Khz G2's do have the advantage in iron.

Tom

Meant to say that I didn't care for the 8000's single tone VCO compared to the G2 in heavy trash. Still haven't checked it out on the 8500 to see if it's improved.

Tom