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Garrett Groundhogs
- Thread starter Ben Town
- Start date
They have not made that machine since 81 or 82. It is only still around now on the used Market. Lots of them were sold so there's plenty to be found. They were good for their era , but they are a dinosaur now.
They were Superior to Fisher and Compass and Whites TR discriminators of the same error. But our far surpassed today by today's machines.
They were Superior to Fisher and Compass and Whites TR discriminators of the same error. But our far surpassed today by today's machines.
Happy_Hour
New member
If you are lucky to find this detector which runs at 5.5 kHz and you like to hunt in the all metal mode where trash is not a problem and ground conditions are forgiving, you would be hard pressed to find a detector to match its depth. Groundhog Master Hunter 4...
Happy_Hour said:
Yes, the all-metal mode on these was , and still is .... great. And rather than have the annoying "ratchet" feature of most of today's machine's all-metal mode, this was fixed, with a pleasant VCO growl, requiring no motion. Still though, it's akin to what you could get on today's machines with their all-metal mode . Such VLF (aka GEB) all-metal depth was introduced in 1974, if I'm not mistaken, on the Whites GEB supreme. And the groundhog's was something of that lineage, albeit nice, smooth, pleasant, and yes deep.
Those of us, in the late 1970s (and even up to '80 and '81-ish) who were too stubborn to upgrade to motion disc, learned that in some parks (that weren't so junky, yet had suspected coins deeper than TR disc. allowed), learned to go into the all-metal mode. We'd listen for the deep whispers. And yes, it got as deep or deeper than those guys swinging 6000 D's, for instance.
Also some guys were using the all-metal mode of those generation vlf/tr's to hunt the wet salt beach. It was tedious, as it required perpetual "dialing in" whenever you'd move more away from or closer to the water's edge. Yet it worked, and could tackle even minerals at the time, that motion disc. couldn't.
However, the devil is in the details: No disc. Aside from a bit of audio ability to discern the different sounds of "round" vs "nail" type shapes.
Ahhhh , a trip down memory lane
vlad
Well-known member
Garrett had his stuff marketed well. A do it all "Deepseeker" for pros, Groundhog which was small/light for coins, straight TR's, & BFO's for prospecting [he still pushed them till late 70's.] He even carried Gold Mountain in his catalog.
But the 'Hog was no depth master. The Fisher 500's, Compass Relic Magnum's, and Magnums were good discriminators, and worked better in bad ground,
and from my experience, were deeper. And that's before you throw in the Coin Magnum.
And remember, Whites & Bty Hunter had motion units with TR, in the same neighborhood price wise. [Sears even got into Whites]
You recall A.H. Pro? Best discriminator ever built, but an off resonance unit just lacked the depth-still if it was high trash, nothing else could touch it.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XN_ViFGpGoE/UT0F_ZAo0SI/AAAAAAAAKr8/Tw8JOUAZMGo/s640/$(KGrHqJ,!k4FDjY8qZY5BRMTu82-7Q~~60_57.JPG
But the 'Hog was no depth master. The Fisher 500's, Compass Relic Magnum's, and Magnums were good discriminators, and worked better in bad ground,
and from my experience, were deeper. And that's before you throw in the Coin Magnum.
And remember, Whites & Bty Hunter had motion units with TR, in the same neighborhood price wise. [Sears even got into Whites]
You recall A.H. Pro? Best discriminator ever built, but an off resonance unit just lacked the depth-still if it was high trash, nothing else could touch it.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XN_ViFGpGoE/UT0F_ZAo0SI/AAAAAAAAKr8/Tw8JOUAZMGo/s640/$(KGrHqJ,!k4FDjY8qZY5BRMTu82-7Q~~60_57.JPG
Well, I'm just going by what I remember. I don't recall the Fisher 500s, but do recall the Magnums. Perhaps they "worked better in bad ground". But if "bad ground" wasn't an issue, I seem to recall that the Groundhogs had the best depth. And as for the AH pro, yes they had great disc, and great pin-pointing. But correct me if I'm wrong , .... but .... wasn't it pretty much agreed-by-all that their TR disc. lacked depth ?
vlad
Well-known member
But with a near comparable sized loop I felt I got about as much as a Ground Hog.
The thing about the Pros was this: set the level of discrimination, then take whatever was disced out, and touch it to the loop anywhere on the loop--no signal.
The also made a larger widescan 8" loop [std was 6" concentric] but I never used one--you had to send the unit to the factory to have it matched.
They also had a proprietary design called the Quintron, that I never used, that was something else different-in negating minerals-but it was not a success.
Ty Brook that writes the Tech Talk Column for Western & Eastern Treasures has a book he published all about the history of detectors, and its extremely informative.
I think he's a radio engineer, and really knows detectors-and people all over the world.
That book is a godsend.
The thing about the Pros was this: set the level of discrimination, then take whatever was disced out, and touch it to the loop anywhere on the loop--no signal.
The also made a larger widescan 8" loop [std was 6" concentric] but I never used one--you had to send the unit to the factory to have it matched.
They also had a proprietary design called the Quintron, that I never used, that was something else different-in negating minerals-but it was not a success.
Ty Brook that writes the Tech Talk Column for Western & Eastern Treasures has a book he published all about the history of detectors, and its extremely informative.
I think he's a radio engineer, and really knows detectors-and people all over the world.
That book is a godsend.
Herb Jones
New member
Ben Town said:
I have a Garrett featherweight master hunter groundhog that I'd let go
For What I have in it. Nice condition... if your interested shoot
Me a pm and I'll Send along some pics... it just hangs in the garage now.
Ben Town said:
I have a Garrett Groundhog ADS with 6" and 12" coils that I purchased around 1980. I stopped detecting around 1986 but now that I am just retired am going to try getting back into it. The Groundhog still works fine but the clear plastic cover for the meter has disappeared. (Yes the meter still works).
That said, today I just bought an AT Pro.
The only thing that needle did was just measure intensity. And perhaps the battery tester. So as far as actual detecting, it wasn't of much use. Your ears could determine intensity by the strength of the buzz in the headphones. No one ever went around watching the needle anyhow.
I liked the all-metal mode of the groundhog. But in all other ways, the Groundhog is a dinosaur . But for a short-while , before the 6000D was introduced, the groundhog was probably the best VLF/TR on the market. By 1980 or so, the new breeds of motion machines were spanking the TR discriminators. So .... they went the way of the dinosaur.
Good luck with your AT pro !
I liked the all-metal mode of the groundhog. But in all other ways, the Groundhog is a dinosaur . But for a short-while , before the 6000D was introduced, the groundhog was probably the best VLF/TR on the market. By 1980 or so, the new breeds of motion machines were spanking the TR discriminators. So .... they went the way of the dinosaur.
Good luck with your AT pro !
doc holiday232
New member
The GroundHog was a weak sister compared to the ole Deep Seeker for my type hunting--Deep cannon balls and shells. I found dozens and dozens with my ole DeepSeeker. If I could only do it over.
woodchiphustler
New member
Happy_Hour said:
It also has VLF Disc and tone control. I still have one in my closet and use it when I fell melancholy!