Hi all,
Despite the weather and the forecast, I took the eurotek pro to a small town about 30 miles from where I live...I was actually born and bred in this small town.
There is a showground there that has been in use for years, long before I was born (and bred). I recall playing football and cricket there when I was at school, and I attended many of the shows, rodeos and other events there; unfortunately in those days I did not have a detector.
I have detected there several times over the years, and I know that plenty of other people detect there too. It was the place I first took my Omega, and the first coin it found was a silver sixpence. It's a great area to test a machine, as the ground varies in composition and mineralisation from spot to spot, and whilst I cant say that I do fantastically well there, I have never come away empty-handed. I have used numerous machines there with varying success.
I decided it was as good a place as any to take the Eurotek Pro, having fixed ground balance. This area would probably test it's capacity to cope, not only with mineralisation, but with changing conditions. I know from experience how much junk is there (there are a couple of areas which seem to have a carpet of pulltabs in the layer of dirt down to 2" below the grass), and I also know there is all sorts of buried iron in abundance.
As I neared my destination, the rain started falling, but by the time I got there, the rain had stopped. This set the weather scene for the rest of the morning.
I had already made my decision to leave ET set up as when I took it out of the box. i.e, sensitivity and volume on 7, and discrimination on zero. I wanted to get a feel for the machine before I started adjusting anything. I was using the 8" standard concentric coil.
As I started detecting, the first thing that come to mind was that I would need to adjust myself to the audio setup that I was using, ie, the VCO sounding off on the lower numbers in high pitch on those targets near the surface. I must mention that the area at which I started was not large, but had been used recently. The grass was very short and the area looked as if someone had taken to it with a vacuum cleaner. There were no obvious targets, junk or otherwise, in view/on the surface.
However, ET was telling me that things were a lot different just below the surface, and it seemed that the high pitch of the VCO signals were the same as the high pitch tone on the targets that came in over 70. So I slowed my swing right down, and very soon isolated a target, high tone, reading 82-84 on the screen. It was a 2c copper coin. These coins, and the 1c coins were discontinued after 1991, and taken out of circulation in 1992, so they are a pain...but, if I dont want to miss some of our pre-decimal silver coins, and some silver rings, I have to dig them.
I moved on, slowly, and got a 63-64 signal. On my Omega, this would probably be a 50c coin, and sure enough, it turn out to be one...about one and a half inches below the surface. Next coin gave a high tone and a reading from mid to high eighties. On the Omega, this could be a pre-decimal penny, and out of the ashes (for when I dug, the earth had turned black and the soil was quite different to that of a few feet away) came a 1956 penny. All our pre-decimal coins had been removed from circulation by 1968.
A few yards away, I got a signal which had me pondering for a few seconds. It was ranging from mid 60s to low 70s, but the audio was a good solid signal. What came out from about 3 inches down was a 1960 sixpence. To help you understand my take on the signal a bit better I should explain about our silver coins. Before 1946, all our silver coins were made of sterling silver, ie. 92.5% silver. From 1946 to 1964, the silver content of our coins was reduced to 50%. This means that we get different responses from the same denominations from different periods. The make-up of the post 1946 silver coins is 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% zinc and 5% nickel. It follows, in my experience with various detectors, when you get one of the smaller 50%ers that have been in mineralised ground for a long time, undisturbed, a detector picks up on the variations of conductivity coming not only from the coin, but the soil around it. This reasoning of mine is why I am not phased by the fact that the reading on the ET varied so much...I have experienced it many times before with other machines. It's also possible that the coin was not facing the coil "face-on", as this can also make the numbers jump. As I said, I had to think about digging it for a few seconds, but once I had thought about it, there was no way that I was going to walk away....the ET was "telling me" to dig.
I wont give a blow by blow description of all the coins I found...I can summarise by saying that the eurotek was as accurate as one could hope for under the prevailing conditions. I found 18 coins, (3 pre-decimals) and 2 badges, one of them dated 1967-68.
This detector pin points very well with the 8" coil without having to go into pinpoint mode...however, pinpoint mode is good to use to not only pinpoint the target, but to "size" a target. This is not new, but the pinpoint feature works well. I did not try the retune feature on the pinpoint mode...that will be for another time.
AS I mentioned above, there is a lot of buried iron in the area I was detecting, large and small, all sorts of equine paraphanalia, and millions of bottle caps.....I didn't dig any, except by choice. The iron identification feature on the eurotek pro is great. I was hoping it would be and I was not disappointed. The visual signals I would get on some targets mimicked those I get on the Omega, yet there are many times with the Omega (and other detectors) that I just have to dig (to make sure). There were many times with the eurotek pro that I would get good signals, high signals, sometimes varying (which can be an indication of iron), but if I did not get it on the first pass or two, I would do a few more passes to see if the IRON sign flashed. Sometimes it flashed brightly and quickly, sometimes it was duller. If it did not flash at all, the signal was a coin or an aluminium screw cap. The IRON sign only flashes briefly, so you have to be aware, and watching for it.
I was impressed with the way this low priced machine with fixed ground balance was able to handle the varying and sometimes difficult conditions of the location I was detecting. The deepest coin I dug was about 4 inches, and it was one of the smaller coins. It still gave a very strong signal.
Although I was running on sensitivity of 7, I often felt that I could have lowered the sensitivity, without losing depth, in the areas I detected.
I had intended to spend more time at this place, but the sudden and frequent showers of rain had me sheltering in my car for short periods, throughout the hunt. Eventually, the sky got very dark, and I could feel more rain coming, so I left for home.
This is a fun machine, but to get the best out of it, I felt that I must stay alert and concentrate fully on what was going on. The audio, in very trashy ground could be overwhelming to some, but when you adjust yourself, and put it into context, this machine, through the audio and visual signals gives so much information, and that information comes through in a split-second. In trashy ground, if you try to hurry, you would miss a lot of targets (I know this statement is obvious). This machine allows you not to miss targets, if you stay on the ball.
If your preferred mode of detecting is to wander through a local park with your mind on things other than detecting, I would not recommend that this machine is for you...some other machine maybe, but not this one. I would not readily recommend it to a beginner, as I think its features would be largely wasted, and could even lead to frustration in the harder detecting areas.
If you want to have fun and get out there and find good stuff, then (on the brief outing I've had with this one) I can say that the eurotek pro will give you a great run for your money. When I decided to get mine, I had no expectations, but some hopes. I am not disappointed. I think this is a perfect backup machine, and for some areas, a great No. 1 machine.
I dont have any intention of using it at a saltwater beach, as I have a number of detectors that are purpose-built for that sort of hunting, but I suspect that the eurotek will do ok in the dry sand.
If you are still reading this, Thank You, and if you are thinking about getting a eurotek pro, I hope this has helped in some small way. Pete.
Despite the weather and the forecast, I took the eurotek pro to a small town about 30 miles from where I live...I was actually born and bred in this small town.
There is a showground there that has been in use for years, long before I was born (and bred). I recall playing football and cricket there when I was at school, and I attended many of the shows, rodeos and other events there; unfortunately in those days I did not have a detector.
I have detected there several times over the years, and I know that plenty of other people detect there too. It was the place I first took my Omega, and the first coin it found was a silver sixpence. It's a great area to test a machine, as the ground varies in composition and mineralisation from spot to spot, and whilst I cant say that I do fantastically well there, I have never come away empty-handed. I have used numerous machines there with varying success.
I decided it was as good a place as any to take the Eurotek Pro, having fixed ground balance. This area would probably test it's capacity to cope, not only with mineralisation, but with changing conditions. I know from experience how much junk is there (there are a couple of areas which seem to have a carpet of pulltabs in the layer of dirt down to 2" below the grass), and I also know there is all sorts of buried iron in abundance.
As I neared my destination, the rain started falling, but by the time I got there, the rain had stopped. This set the weather scene for the rest of the morning.
I had already made my decision to leave ET set up as when I took it out of the box. i.e, sensitivity and volume on 7, and discrimination on zero. I wanted to get a feel for the machine before I started adjusting anything. I was using the 8" standard concentric coil.
As I started detecting, the first thing that come to mind was that I would need to adjust myself to the audio setup that I was using, ie, the VCO sounding off on the lower numbers in high pitch on those targets near the surface. I must mention that the area at which I started was not large, but had been used recently. The grass was very short and the area looked as if someone had taken to it with a vacuum cleaner. There were no obvious targets, junk or otherwise, in view/on the surface.
However, ET was telling me that things were a lot different just below the surface, and it seemed that the high pitch of the VCO signals were the same as the high pitch tone on the targets that came in over 70. So I slowed my swing right down, and very soon isolated a target, high tone, reading 82-84 on the screen. It was a 2c copper coin. These coins, and the 1c coins were discontinued after 1991, and taken out of circulation in 1992, so they are a pain...but, if I dont want to miss some of our pre-decimal silver coins, and some silver rings, I have to dig them.
I moved on, slowly, and got a 63-64 signal. On my Omega, this would probably be a 50c coin, and sure enough, it turn out to be one...about one and a half inches below the surface. Next coin gave a high tone and a reading from mid to high eighties. On the Omega, this could be a pre-decimal penny, and out of the ashes (for when I dug, the earth had turned black and the soil was quite different to that of a few feet away) came a 1956 penny. All our pre-decimal coins had been removed from circulation by 1968.
A few yards away, I got a signal which had me pondering for a few seconds. It was ranging from mid 60s to low 70s, but the audio was a good solid signal. What came out from about 3 inches down was a 1960 sixpence. To help you understand my take on the signal a bit better I should explain about our silver coins. Before 1946, all our silver coins were made of sterling silver, ie. 92.5% silver. From 1946 to 1964, the silver content of our coins was reduced to 50%. This means that we get different responses from the same denominations from different periods. The make-up of the post 1946 silver coins is 50% silver, 40% copper, 5% zinc and 5% nickel. It follows, in my experience with various detectors, when you get one of the smaller 50%ers that have been in mineralised ground for a long time, undisturbed, a detector picks up on the variations of conductivity coming not only from the coin, but the soil around it. This reasoning of mine is why I am not phased by the fact that the reading on the ET varied so much...I have experienced it many times before with other machines. It's also possible that the coin was not facing the coil "face-on", as this can also make the numbers jump. As I said, I had to think about digging it for a few seconds, but once I had thought about it, there was no way that I was going to walk away....the ET was "telling me" to dig.
I wont give a blow by blow description of all the coins I found...I can summarise by saying that the eurotek was as accurate as one could hope for under the prevailing conditions. I found 18 coins, (3 pre-decimals) and 2 badges, one of them dated 1967-68.
This detector pin points very well with the 8" coil without having to go into pinpoint mode...however, pinpoint mode is good to use to not only pinpoint the target, but to "size" a target. This is not new, but the pinpoint feature works well. I did not try the retune feature on the pinpoint mode...that will be for another time.
AS I mentioned above, there is a lot of buried iron in the area I was detecting, large and small, all sorts of equine paraphanalia, and millions of bottle caps.....I didn't dig any, except by choice. The iron identification feature on the eurotek pro is great. I was hoping it would be and I was not disappointed. The visual signals I would get on some targets mimicked those I get on the Omega, yet there are many times with the Omega (and other detectors) that I just have to dig (to make sure). There were many times with the eurotek pro that I would get good signals, high signals, sometimes varying (which can be an indication of iron), but if I did not get it on the first pass or two, I would do a few more passes to see if the IRON sign flashed. Sometimes it flashed brightly and quickly, sometimes it was duller. If it did not flash at all, the signal was a coin or an aluminium screw cap. The IRON sign only flashes briefly, so you have to be aware, and watching for it.
I was impressed with the way this low priced machine with fixed ground balance was able to handle the varying and sometimes difficult conditions of the location I was detecting. The deepest coin I dug was about 4 inches, and it was one of the smaller coins. It still gave a very strong signal.
Although I was running on sensitivity of 7, I often felt that I could have lowered the sensitivity, without losing depth, in the areas I detected.
I had intended to spend more time at this place, but the sudden and frequent showers of rain had me sheltering in my car for short periods, throughout the hunt. Eventually, the sky got very dark, and I could feel more rain coming, so I left for home.
This is a fun machine, but to get the best out of it, I felt that I must stay alert and concentrate fully on what was going on. The audio, in very trashy ground could be overwhelming to some, but when you adjust yourself, and put it into context, this machine, through the audio and visual signals gives so much information, and that information comes through in a split-second. In trashy ground, if you try to hurry, you would miss a lot of targets (I know this statement is obvious). This machine allows you not to miss targets, if you stay on the ball.
If your preferred mode of detecting is to wander through a local park with your mind on things other than detecting, I would not recommend that this machine is for you...some other machine maybe, but not this one. I would not readily recommend it to a beginner, as I think its features would be largely wasted, and could even lead to frustration in the harder detecting areas.
If you want to have fun and get out there and find good stuff, then (on the brief outing I've had with this one) I can say that the eurotek pro will give you a great run for your money. When I decided to get mine, I had no expectations, but some hopes. I am not disappointed. I think this is a perfect backup machine, and for some areas, a great No. 1 machine.
I dont have any intention of using it at a saltwater beach, as I have a number of detectors that are purpose-built for that sort of hunting, but I suspect that the eurotek will do ok in the dry sand.
If you are still reading this, Thank You, and if you are thinking about getting a eurotek pro, I hope this has helped in some small way. Pete.
. I enjoyed reading it. I recently got a Eurotek Pro for my wife & I like using it so much that I am going to get one for myself. At this time we have the 11"DD coil and the 8" coil, my wife doesn't care for the 11" coil (she never used a DD coil before) but she loves the 8" coil. I am going to get athe 8" and 5" coil with the Eurotek I am getting for myself, should be all set with coils. Not sure what part of the world you are in but the Eurotek does well on coins here in the U.S. and sounds like it is doing a good job for you as well. It is a good detector & fun to use and I agree that you can turn the sensitivity down and not loose much depth. I am pretty much a Tesoro man and find that they seem to hit alittle bit better on small jewelry but the Eurotek hits every bit as good on coins. Always good to get all the info out there we can on new detectors for others that might be interested in them. I look forward to reading more of your thoughts Pete about the ET on future hunts.
My initial thoughts with the ET was that I would swap coils around freely with the Omega, but having used the 8" coil, now I'm not sure. Time will tell. BTW - I live in Australia.
