Similar rod and physical appearance except the Omega 8000 comes withe the 10" Elliptical concentric coil and the Platinum has the round 8" concentric coil. I prefer the 10" elliptical on my Omega.
Battery Display: BH Platinum has a battery-shaped object with 2 segments and a full battery shows 2 filled segments i the battery, then 1 segment when you get to 6.2 V and it flashes when you drop below 6.2 V. I definitely prefer my Omega's 4 bar segments for reporting battery condition as it will give me a good "heads-up" of how I stand rather than just a short "Uh-Oh!" when it is almost dead.
Controls & Adjustments: It's easy to see that the Teknetics Omega 8000 provides more function than the BH Platinum, too. The Platinum is All Push-Button (6), and 1 of those simply powers the detector On or Off. The Omega 8000 uses Knobs (2) and Touch-Pads (7) to make adjustments and a mode change.
Sensitivity: With the BH Platinum you press one (1) button to turn the detector 'On' and it starts up in the motion Discriminate mode at 70% of maximum Sensitivity. To increase or decrease the Sensitivity you have to press the Top-Left Push-Button to access the Sensitivity function, then press the Left (-) or Right (+) Push-Button to decrease or Increase the Sensitivity setting. The available settings are 4 (lowest) to 10 (highest).
With the Omega you simply Turn the Sensitivity Knob to power-up the detector and adjust it to a preferred and functional level, and the numeric read-out ranges from 0 to 99. Much faster and easier to adjust the Omega, with more functionality in the adjustment range.
Discriminate Level and Notch Discrimination: With the BH Platinum you Press the Top-Left Push-Button to scroll through the left-side functions to Disc. Level, then use the Left (-) or Right (+) Push-Buttons to accept or reject one of the 8 'categories. If you want to Notch Out or In a particular category, you press the Top-Left Push-Button and scroll down the menu of adjustments to Notch. Once there, you will use the Top-Left and Right Hand (+) Push-Buttons to works through the notching and accepting the available first 5 categories.
With the Omega,8000 you simply turn the Mode Selection Knob from he "clicked" All Metal (Auto-Tune) mode into the variable Discriminate mode. If you prefer to just use the variable Discriminate setting, you can increase it and visibly reject the same 5 'categories' as the BH Platinum, or benefit from the Fine0Tuning capability of the Omega's Discriminate circuitry read-out. In the lower-right it will display the variable rejection level starting with 1 (minimum setting) and increase from there. For example, while I generally hunt with it set o hear ALL target present with a setting on 1, when I get into a lot of annoying bassy Iron audio I can "fine-tune" the rejection up to somewhere from 10 to 20 which is only part way into the Iron 'category' of rejection.
I don't use Notch very often, but it's much faster to access with the Omega and you can quickly twist the Knob to reject the unwanted range of categories, then use the Notch Touch-Pad to select the category to Accept. If desired, you can accept all categories and quickly pick one of the 5 categories to reject by using the Notch Touch-Pad. The Omega's Discrimination and Notch rejection functions are certainly superior.
Tone selections in the Discriminate mode: With the BH Platinum you use the Top Left Push-Button to scroll through the menu and then the Left (-) and Right (+) Push-Buttons to select one of 4 Tone choices. These are not the same Tones and selection as the Omega. Similar,bot not. With the d4, for example, the BH Platinum signals a Bass tone for Iron, Low for Foil and Nickel, Medium for Pull Tabs, Screw Caps and Zinc Cents, then High Tone for Dimes and above. The Omega's d4 lumps Foil, P. Tabs., S. Caps and Zinc with the Low Tone and Nickels get the Medium Tone, and High for Dimes and above. I prefer the d4 to alert me to a potential Nickel. besides, the Omega's Tones are quickly accessed with a Tones Touch-Pad without multiple control changes.
We still haven't touched on two of the better differences I see between the BH Platinum and the Tek. Omega 8000 which has to do with Operating Modes and Mode selection as well as Ground Balance and Pinpointing. Here we go:
Operating Mode: The BH Platinum provides two models A motion-based Discriminate mode and a static[/i] All Metal mode. At turn-on the Platinum is in the Discriminate mode. You can NOT adjust the Ground Balance in the Discriminate mode. Thus, you need to press the Top Right Push-Button and scroll to All Metal. You then press the bottom-center Push-Button to activate Ground Grab. This Push-Button serves two purposes in the All Metal mode. A momentary press and release will restore the Threshold if it should 'drift' due to temperature change, or a dramatic change in mineralization. Also, you use it for the Ground Grab function in All Metal. To accomplish the Ground Grab the Platinum's instructions instruct you to hold the coil 1-2 feet off the ground and Press-and-Hold the Push-Button as you lower the coil toward the ground, to within 2 Inches. You hold the coil motionless for for about 3 seconds as a 2-digit number stabilizes in the center of the display, then release the Push-Button.
You are now ready to hunt in the All Metal mode that requires a manual retune as it is a 'static' operating mode. To return to the Discriminate mode you press the Top-Right Push-Button and scroll to Discriminate mode.
With the Tek. Omega your can turn the detector On or Off in either the All Metal or Discriminate mode simply based on the setting of the right-hand Mode Selection Knob. We've mentioned the variable Discriminate mode, but all you have to do is rotate the Knob counter-clockwise to the clicked Auto-Tune All Metal setting. Not a static function that calls for manual retuning, but an Auto-Tune All Metal mode.
The beauty of the Ground Grab function of the Omega 8000, for me at least, is that you can perform a Ground Grab ground balance at any time in either the All Metal or the motion Discriminate mode. Yes, it is recommended to adjust the GB in the auto-tune All Metal mode, but you can quickly press the Ground Grab Tough-Pad, in either mode, and bob the coil from about 6"-8" down to
