Infinium Discrimination Article

[Anonymous]

I noticed the postings under "Infinium Hype" and from what I could see, there is a bit of misconception in regards to the Infinium discrimination.
First of all, when Minelab came out with the SD2000, it was hailed as a new breakthrough, but actually it was old technology, but with improvements. Credit has to be given to Minelab for improving and implimenting this into a prospecting detector with great success.
With Dual Tone Discrimination and Reverse Discrimination, this idea has been around for years, but it had never been implemented into a Pulse Induction Detector, especially a prospecting detector. Garrett must be congratulated on doing this. The biggest problem that we have found with this discrimination, is that most people misunderstand the proper operation of it. To get the full benefit of the Infinium Discrimination, both types of discrimination should be used in conjunction with each other. I have written an article that has been just published in the Australian Gold, Gem & Treasure magazine, which explains the proper use of both the discriminations used in the Infinium.
As an extra benefit, I have placed the article on my website and also on the Australian Infinium forum.
This can be viewed on the forum at , so hopefully this will be of some help to others.

 

[Anonymous]

Phil, reverse discrimination using the sample delay control has been used for many years by people using Eric Fosters Pi's. Turning the control to see if the target disappears is a VERY old trick and it is certainly not a new Garrett innovation. As to the tones, it is obvious that a measure of conductivity can be made by simply observing the ratio of two consecutive samples of the receive signal with the resultant signal causing the tones to change.
While such features can be useful they are not by any means ideal. Many readers on this forum use reverse discrimination. They will all tell you about finding Bobby pins (hair clips) nice and deep in the beach sand. The large iron discrimination will also very likely be fooled by silver as both iron and silver cause very long receive signal delays.
I am not trying to start a war over who makes the best detectors. The truth however is that the control on the Infinium labeled "DISCRIMINATION" is obviously nothing more than a variable sample delay.
Don't worry, I am not pulling down Garrett for anything other than their inventive renaming of the sample delay control. Based on user reports the detector obviously works very well and I am sure that there are many who like the idea of Minelab getting some well deserved competition. On a final note, Garrett should consider a non waterproof housing for prospectors. Waterproof housings are heavy and are without question the most expensive single part of the detector. All the very best, Dave. * * *

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Dave,
Awake at 3am thinking about detectors?
Eric.

 

[Anonymous]

Dave,
I understand where you are coming from.
What I am saying is that no one else has used the dual tone discrimination and reverse discrimination in the design of a pulse induction detector before. Obviously, many design features in numerous brands of detectors have been around in theory for a long time, but it takes the foresight of a manafacturer to implement them into their detectors.
Garrett seen the capabilities of this discrimination system and are the first to implement this in a pulse induction unit.
The discrimination works extremely well if used properly, and the article I wrote explains how to do this. Ask any person who is using an Infinium and understands the discrimination properly.
You mention the waterproof housing being heavy and should be in lighter case to make it lighter overall, again this was done for a reason. There is no other PI detector in the world, that can be used successfully in the goldfields as well as the beach and diving. During the designing process, I insisted that the unit be fully waterproof just for these reasons. We have people over here, using it one day at the goldfields, and the next at the beach in the water. Where I am situated, the goldfields are only two hours away from the beach. In regards to the weight, it is much lighter than the Minelab SD/GP detectors when you include the total weight of the unit and batteries. Remember, it also can be hipmounted.
We all know that every detector has its good points as well as it bad points. There isn't, and probably won't be a perfect detector ever made.
Anyway, have a great weekend.
Regards,
Phil

 

[Anonymous]

You know me Eric, I am like a rodent that comes out after dark!!!