Need some thoughts on the Omega 8000 !

[nor10]

I am in the market in the near future for a coin detector. I currently own a Teknetics G2 which I absolutely love. I have owned an At Pro which I hated and sold to my brother. My wife has an Etrac and I cant stand the slow sweep speed and the complexity of it. Which is why I have developed quite a liking to the G2.
I live in south central Pa very close to Gettysburg which is a big reason why I crave to someday get to relic hunt some civil war sites which my G2 will no doubt fill that role nicely. Here as of late ( especially this summer) we have found ourselves hunting mostly parks and other areas for coins. We also have some old home sites to hunt ( which I have found a super nice 1901 IH cent at one). I have found out that I quite enjoy coin shooting but I cant help but get the feeling my G2 may be missing some of the good deeper coins. Hence, this is why I want a good coin detector. And I figured since I like my G2 so much that the Omega 8000 might be just what I would be looking for in a coin detector. However I am most interested in the Omega, I am also very open to other brands except maybe the Minelabs ( sorry I just cant stand them ). Which leads me to my next statement.
I posted some questions on the Tesoro forums as well asking about the Golden uMax and the new Outlaw detector from Tesoro. They seem to be very good detectors and may compliment my G2 very well since it is primarily a gold and relic hunter. I have gotten some very good responses from seasoned Tesoro users and have a very high interest in the 2 Tesoro models mentioned earlier. However, I want to hear from all the seasoned O8000 users now. So here goes with the questions,

#1. Is the Omega 8000 as noisy as I have heard it said to be? Constant chatter and EMI issues present consistently? ( My brother has a T2 SE and he is at a constant battle to keep it quieted down enough to at least make it bearable) My G2 however is as quiet as a church mouse at max sensitivity which is how I like to run my detectors.

#2. Is the Omegas Target ID as stable or close to as stable as my G2 is? Other words, does it lock onto targets nicely and give a solid reading without jumping like crazy all the time?

#3. Is the notch discrimination and the general target seperation very good on the Omega?

#4. Does it get good depth?

Lastly, I will state again that I am open to other recommendations as well besides the ones mentioned in this post.

 

[John LA]

best coin shooter out there. The ATPro will eventually get better (lighter, better balanced, better GB/depth). I can't even imagine what Teknetics could do to make the Omega better. When I use the 4 tones I have trouble hearing the highest one. I'm 77; guess my hearing is going.

 

[nor10]

Wow, thats a strong statement. Is it really that good?

 

[Sven]

We have both the Delta and Omega. I would be happy using either one for coin shooting.
I switched from Tesoros for the most part and found the depth to be better. I still listen to the tones
when deciding to dig or not, use the numbers as add'l info in identifying the target. Like Tesoros put
on the small coil and you will have a coin magnet.

As for EMI like Monte says turn down the sensitivity and it will quiet it down. I have still found the 8" round coil
is less prone to EMI than the 5x10 at this particular beach I hunt. I know Monte said he saw no difference.
It does make a difference here.

Overall I found the Omega to be an excellent machine, especially for locating modern Canadian clad coins which
can be pretty tough for many detectors. lots of folks miss the coins on edge that's good for me as those $1 and $2 coins
sound off in the iron range with a low tone and always fall into a few select low numbers. Will say 80% of the time when those signals
are dug, you got cash.

Monte is a straight shooter, he knows his stuff. I bought a number of detectors he suggested that did what he said they would do.
The Tek ID Geek units are user friendly, almost no brainers to use so you can enjoy hunting.

 

[Ralph in Albany NY]

Best detector in the Teknetics line...
Goes deep, light weight, easy to set up and use
and AFFORDABLE on the secondary market....

 

[clamdigger60]

Nor10
I have the Omega w 5 and 11 DD and the 10 elliptical concentric. Target ID is very good, if it locks on its usually what it thinks it is. However, my hunting buddy uses the G2 w 11 DD. He kicks my but every time!!!! My Omega gets very chatty in school yards and some other locations and I have to turn down the sens. His G2 runs smooth at the same locations, we've compared in ground indications, and his unit is spanking mine at the noisy sites. Where I'm able to run higher sens, smooth sites, they both seem equal. The Omega can also use concentric coils which according to Dave J of First Texas (chief designer) the G2 is only designed for the DD coils, maybe that's an advantage for the Omega. In EMI environments the G2 is superior for smooth running.
I'm using my machine correctly, its NOT user error, its just more susceptible to EMI. I'm usually low or no disc, 2 tone, and as high as I can get my sens and still be stable. I like to know if there's lots of junk/iron under the coil, Omega's tone ID works great, if I hear a high tone then I check the VID. Good machine, I like it, but my buddy is able to beat me most times out (G2).
You might have just as much coin shooting success with your G2, a 5" DD might be a worthwhile addition, that thing rocks in "the junk".
Cheers.

 

[tabman]

I have owned an At Pro which I hated and sold to my brother.

What do you dislike about the At Pro?

tabman

 

[Smudge]

Ok, you are going to get at least one "nay" vote on the Omega, and here it is.

This is my experience based on my use of the machine. Other people's experience may vary.

1. Yes, it was noisiest, most chattery detector I have ever used. No exaggeration. I never saw anything like it. The EMI interference was incredible and the TID jumped all over the place. This was with the unit ground balanced. I went to another site in anothe part of town. Same problem. The guys hunting with me (one using an ETrac and the other an M6) had no problems with EMI and they were hunting a great distance from me at almost all times, so there was no crosstalk between detectors.

2. I own the GB Pro, evil twin of the G2 and no, the Omega does not run anywhere near as stable. My Pro runs as smooth as glass. The Omega was nearly useless to me and I traded it in with the dealer and ate the restocking fee. I just wanted to be rid of it.

3. The few times it actually locked on a target, it did pretty good. But that didn't happen often enough.

4. The targets I dug with the stock coil were around 4" or less, which does not mean this machine will not go deeper, that was just the deepest of the targets I dug.

I do not like knocking any detector, but I can't lie about my experience either. I don't know nor10, maybe you'll get far more positive reviews than mine. I hope you do.

I won't recommend another brand or machine here. Feel free to email me if you want my thoughts. Totally up to you. And good luck with your choice!

 

[RichW]

Since you are coining hunting and hunting some parks you may want to consider this. (no matter which machine you decide to buy) If you are in a park that's loaded with bottle caps concentric coils handle them much better than DD's. I like the Omega a lot and haven't found any areas where I can't reduce the chatter by turning down the sensitivity. But that's just me in my area, I'm sure there may be others that have had different experiences. Sometimes a certain machine just doesn't work out well in a particular area.

 

[tabman]

I switched out the stock coil on my Omega to a 8 inch concentric coil .

It's now lighter, easier to pinpoint with and it seems to be more immune to EMI and little deeper as well.

tabman

 

[jim tn]

Personally, I really like the Omega for coin hunting. It has nice depth, manual ground balance, which is important, at least to me, has a nice selection of coils, multi tones and accurately id's down to good depth. I have a couple of spots that I have had emi issues with it, but with adjustments, I have never been unable to hunt with it. And for the most part, I am able to run max sen and 0 (1) disc. I got mine with the 3 coil package and use all 3. The 5"dd is a real killer in trash. Good luck. HH jim tn

 

[Beale]

This issue with EMI has me a bit concerned. I am ready to add the Omega to my detector club. I have read other places about the EMI. Is my concern a valid one? Beale.

 

[Sven]

The Omega does have the ability to change frequencies, many times this helps with the EMI you might encounter.
If chattery, turn down the sensitivity, turn up the disc. Or watch the bouncing numbers, see what category they jump between.
Sometimes just notching out the trouble categories will quiet it down, a Fisher F5 trick.

Like a few of us found the 8" concentric handles EMI better. The same area that bothers the 5x10 concentric where I have to drop the sen down to 55,
I can run the 8" round 85-95% sens. I did measure out the inductance and ohm ratings of both coils and found both are different. Not a concentric coil guru,
so I don't know if that has something to do with it.

The noisiest machine I ever owned was an earlier model White's MXT, thing drove me nuts, the tone was irritating as well. Almost wrapped it around a tree.
then put on the 6x9 was it DD coil and it did quiet down a lot.

Put it this way, you can satisfy your curiosity by buying a used one that can be easily resold if you don't like it. Have to check if the grass is greener you know...LOL
My wife has the Delta and is just starting to get the hang of it. I had a trade pending for my Omega, haven't heard back, so I have have decided to keep it.
If you have owned a Tesoro, think you have had a few, then this is how I would compare it to them--A Golden notch tone system, Vaquero depth and ground balance with
a highly advanced LCD ID system that that surpasses the Cortes. That's why I bought the Omega.

 

[Phillip_in_NM]

Absolutely the 2nd best coinshooter out there (1st is the White's M6 in my opinion). I've been kicking myself ever since selling mine. Very light, lots of fun to use, love the option of two size headphone jacks, not crazy about using 9 volt batteries.

 

[jmann]

I had omega. I had good experience . Worked really good here in my peice og Gods country. I found that at pro and my t2 had superior depth. I really liked the user interface. I miss mine for the weight. Still if dollar to dollar id go with at pro simply for the pro mode sound. I dig much less trash compared to omega at pro really talks to you. Just my thoughts

 

[John LA]

I like the Omega best. I sold my M6. Still have Omega and ATPro. Can't really like the ATPro best because it's a bit heavy for me.

 

[MarkCZ]

Where I live can be VERY bad at times for EMI (there is an airport REALLY close to my house) sometimes the EMI is so bad that none of my detectors can be ran.
But for the normal conditions my Omega is pretty quite up to about 65 on the sensitivity, 69 to 75 its pretty chatty mostly circuit noise (that's mentioned in the manual and is normal). Much above 75 and it starts falsing a bit.
I have a near two year old 8" coin test garden and the Omega with the stock 10" coil will hit on them pretty good at a sensitivity setting of 65 or higher, below that and it gets iffy.

I've not tried the 11" DD or the 5" DD coils yet, that's next to try.

I also found it to like nickles very well down to 4" (like all the other detectors I have) then they start going up the scale a lot,
3" = 56-57
4" = 60-64
5" = 64-68
6" = 80-82 (here the reading get really jumpy on the nickles)

This is still a mystery to me, but I have concluded this is why nickles are so allusive to even evasive!
Other coins change readings at depth but hold WAY closer to their target zones.

And lastly, at full sensitivity the Omega will hit that 8" garden GREAT (easy) but there was to much falsing to actually hunt that way.

Mark

 

[MarkCZ]

Okay, just spent a few minutes in my test garden with the Omega and my F5 5" DD coil
The test results seem to be very good!
At a 65 sensitivity setting it hit my 8" garden pretty good. (I'm surprised it hit it at all)
Of course it pinpoints dead on!
Without actually hunting with it yet I can already see why people like this little coil for trashier areas, what nobody said was this little coil gets GREAT depth. Its very close to the 10" I haven't tried the 11" DD yet??

Just to note,
My yard ground balances at 60. Now if the factory default could be adjusted from the preset 82 to 60 that would be nice.

Mark

 

[Sven]

My ground balances around 74-76. No need to have a preset as it takes two-three seconds pump the coil and press the ground grab button to GB here.
Faster than manual GB. Haven't had the need to really manual GB here yet. But, now and then just to see what would happen will make a quick
manual up or down adjustment. Usually I would prefer manual ground balancing, found that ground grab works pretty darn good.

 

[MarkCZ]

My ground balances around 74-76. No need to have a preset as it takes two-three seconds pump the coil and press the ground grab button to GB here.
Faster than manual GB. Haven't had the need to really manual GB here yet. But, now and then just to see what would happen will make a quick
manual up or down adjustment. Usually I would prefer manual ground balancing, found that ground grab works pretty darn good.

Whenever I walk out my front door and into my test garden I don't see the need to
"Switch To At Mode"
"Pump The Coil"
"Hold The Ground Grab Button"
to get a known ground balance setting of "60"
Then reset my discrimination setting back to 53

when I know the ground balance number is 60. (I just hold the grab garb minus button until its rolls down to 60 for my test garden)

I'm okay that it don't but a memory hold for the last settings would be nice. I would probably change the target ID tone for pinpoint mode if it would keep my last settings.
Oh, well I know we cant' have it all and every machine.

Mark