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Omega 8500

jim tn

Well-known member
A few of you have been wondering what some of us with the 8500 think of it compared to the Omega 8000. This is my 2nd go around with the 8500. The first one I had seemed to false an inordinate amount and after a couple of months it went by the way side, so to speak. I have pretty much had an 8000 in my arsenal since they were first introduced. I am now on my 3rd, a version 5 and I have not run into any place I haven't been able to hunt with it. And I mainly hunt for old coins in the typical spots that harbor them.

Right out of the box, I noticed that the tones on the 8500 had more of a clipped sound to them then does the 8000. Same as the first on I had. The 8500, however, has a couple of tone adjustments that the 8000 doesn't have that once adjusted the tones of the 8500 didn't seem quite as clipped. Those adjustments being a tone pitch and a loudness adjustment. Over all, though, the tones are not as smooth on the 8500 as on the 8000.

As most of us know that have the 8000 that it is not a depth demon. The first 8500 I had would hit a 8" cent or dime out in the field. To this point I have not dug a coin deeper then 6" with the 8500 and very few that deep. Somewhat in defense of the 8500, though, since getting it the spots I've hunted have not seen more then a drop of rain in over two weeks and the ground is dry as a bone. Also, my buddy and I have really pounded the one demo site I've been using it on, and coins over all are now few and far between. It has, however, got me 1 silver Rosie and a thin sterling ring with a fake diamond stone. Both were only 3-4" deep.

The 8500 does have some so called DEEP mode/settings that the 8000 doesn't have. And, in one of the DEEP mode settings I can hit my 8" deep buried silver dime. Not a great tone, but there is a high tone squeak/tic. Where the dime is has had some moisture, however.

Right now if I had to make a choice, I would most likely stick with the 8000. I do, though, want to see what the 8500 will do under some more ideal hunting conditions and on a couple of other spots before making a firm decision between the two. HH jim tn
 
I should also mention, this 8500 doesn't false like the first one I had and actually runs as smooth as my 8000. And, some of my hunting with the 8500 has been along a major street with heavy power lines and no emi issues were experienced. HH jim tn
 
Hi Jim,

Your insights into the working of the 8000 and 8500 are most valuable. Keep 'em coming, as they are most welcome and helpful.

Here, to an 8000 user who really likes the detector, it looks like Teknetics has added some useful features into the 8500 without making any radical changes.

Cheers,

Joe
 
Those deep modes on the 8500 in conjunction with tone(s) selection can be quite useful depending on the ground conditions and actual site. In DEEP 0 it seems to have a faster target response, which is useful in heavy trash and using tone setting 5 the proportional audio is off hence useful for hearing those deeper whispers. Regardless of depth, all targets sound the same. Tone 4 reinstates the proportional audio as well as tones 3 and 2. Personally, I feel the proportional audio gives better insight to target depth and size, however.

After about 10 or so 3-3 1/2 hour hunts with the 8500 I decided yesterday to swing my F 75 and today my Omega 8000 ,wanting to hear their tones again. I like both of their tones better. Although not an area I had yet hunted with the 8500, with the 8000 this afternoon I did recover a 62 Rosie and 2 wheat cents along with a few other cents and 2 clad dimes. None were deep, but no question of their being coins. Time will tell, I guess and at my age, time is all I have. LOL HH jim tn
 
jim tn wrote: "Time will tell, I guess and at my age, time is all I have. LOL HH jim tn"

Man, you've gotten something that only time can give, along with many sweeps of the coil: Wisdom.

Cheers,

Joe
 
NOT the Omega 8500.

NOT the Omega 8000 Ver. 5 or Ver. 6

IS the Omega 8000 Ver. 4

And after using them with my two favorite coils for urban Coin & Jewelry Hunting, as well as the other available coils I could get my hands on, the round 8" Concentric is preferred for most open or lower trash areas, and the 5" is a surprising coil in moderate to trashy environments, and I am referring to typical urban trash conditions, not the nasty Relic Hunting types of sites with an abundance of ferrous debris.

I'm keeping a close watch for a pristine condition Omega 8000 Version 4 w/8" and 5" coils to add back into my detector battery. I had a few of them and my Coin & Jewelry Hunting was very rewarding. :thumbup:

Monte
 
Hi Monte, I've had two version 4's and now the version 5. I have little to no emi issuers with the v. 5, but did occasionally with the v. 4's. Other then that, I see no noticeable difference. The Omega 8000 is a pure joy to swing. I've not used the 8" concentric, but love the 10" and 5" DD and for certain situations, the 11 DD. The 10", though, stays on 90% of the time. The 8500 just is not as smooth running in MHO. HH jim tn
 
jim tn said:
Hi Monte, I've had two version 4's and now the version 5. I have little to no emi issuers with the v. 5, but did occasionally with the v. 4's. Other then that, I see no noticeable difference.
I had four of the Omega 8000 Version 4's, one Ver.5, tried a Ver.6, and spent enough time with an 85000 to know I didn't like it as well as I did the Ver. 4.

Yes, I did have some EMI misbehavior with the Ver. 4's in certain urban environments when Coin Hunting, but I also had some with the other models mentioned to various degrees.

I can tell you the noticeable difference that annoyed me the most right off the bat, and that had to do with the Discrimination rejection point for most common iron nails on models other than the Ver. 4. At the time I was using the Omega 8000 Ver. 4 the most I was also using several White's models and a Tek. T2 and G2. The T2 has a ferrous/non-ferrous VDI numeric break-point of '40' as did the Omega 8000 V.4, and the T2 would usually reject common iron nails at ± '21' and the Omega 8000 V.4 would knock the same nails out at about '16'/'17.' That would be comparable with many different makes and models, allowing ample Discrimination adjustment in the 1-40 ferrous range of adjustment.

Then they brought out the Euro-Tek Pro and I bought one, and then got a Euro-Tek Pro in my hands again, only to find a few discouraging features about those two specimens. One thing was that the preset GB was different between the All Metal mode and the Discriminate mode. One was preset way too positive and at a Disc. setting of '1' to '40', it didn't matter, it would reject a silver US Dollar and Silver Half-Dollar. The second unit would not respond to the Silver Dollar and marginally to the Silver Half-Dollar at a reduced depth. On one specimen the GB was a little positive in the All Metal mode, and I was in a highly mineralized environment, as are most of the places I hunt out here in Oregon and neighboring states. The other unit was negatively GB'ed in the All Metal mode.

But what disturbed me the most was the Discrimination reject points. On that model the Ferrous/Non-Ferrous break point is also '40,' but they wouldn't reject the same 4 iron nails on my Nail Board Performance Test or other nails I encountered at most sites until the Discrimination was increased to a VDI setting of '37' or '38.' That left little adjustment in the ferrous range. I noticed the same issue with the Fisher F-19, and the Omega 8000 Ver. 5 and Ver. 6 also required a Disc. setting of '37' to '38' to reject iron nails. I much preferred the Ver. 4 that had a more variable adjustment to better fine-tune some iron rejection as needed.


jim tn said:
The Omega 8000 is a pure joy to swing.
No argument there. With my bad back, neck and shoulder I have needed to adjust my Regular-Use Detector Team to lighter-weight and better-balanced detectors for about a decade now. After a fall off a ladder, that I shouldn't have been on, in June of 2010, it took a while to mend from a fractured skull, two cracked vertebrae in my neck, and four broken ribs on the right side. I stared detecting the 30th of August after mending down-time, but to keep weight trimmed I was only using my Omega 8000 V. 4 and only the 5" DD coil. I tally my Coin Hunting results on a monthly basis, and during that September I still managed to find 895 coins with the 8000 & 5" DD combination.


jim tn said:
I've not used the 8" concentric, but love the 10" and 5" DD and for certain situations, the 11 DD. The 10", though, stays on 90% of the time.
I got my first Omega 8000 in April of 2010 in the 3-coil package and never liked the 11" DD coil. I got rid of it quickly. I used the 10" Concentric elliptical coil and liked it, for the most part, and really liked the 5" DD for the renovation work I was finding as they were tearing out a lot of sidewalks in the Portland Oregon metro area. I was also dealing in Teknetics models and the Gamma 6000 and Delta 4000 came with the round 8" Concentric coil which made pinpointing a bit easier than the elliptical Concentric, so I swapped coils around for a week of hunting and made a permanent change to the 8" Concentric on my Omega 8000 for open areas with less trash, and the 5" DD for sites with more debris.


jim tn said:
The 8500 just is not as smooth running in MHO. HH jim tn
I agree, and I just preferred, and still do, the Version 4 Omega 8000.

Monte
 
Most of my coin hunting, Monte, is done with the use of no discrimination. Sure, ever so often I dig a rusty nail, but seldom enough to crank up discrimination.

My buddy runs a version 4 and I seldom hear him complain about emi. We were actually at a spot yesterday where I got a little chatter with the coil up, but once lowered to the ground the emi disappeared. A few yards in from the street it wasn't an issue at all.

I have a few spots where I need all the depth I can get so the 11 DD came into play. Any more I just use my F 75 when I need maximum depth.

Thanks for your input. HH jim tn
 
Hi jim tn and Monte,

Just to let you guys know, this topic has been very helpful. Thank you!

Right now I'm sticking with my 8000 v6 -- no sweat. I had a Gamma 6000 v4 which was sensitive and accurate -- it had some EMI/RFI issues (I hunt mostly urban street curb strips and parks). It was a pleasure to use, and found some good silver and relics.

Still, I'm liking the 8000 v6 -- so far, so good.

... Have always been curious: How could they bring out a "top of the line" detector with no volume control? The Gamma had it, Omega v6 doesn't. I have an inline volume control on the earphones, but it still seems odd.

Cheers,

Joe
 
Gamma_Joe said:
... Have always been curious: How could they bring out a "top of the line" detector with no volume control? The Gamma had it, Omega v6 doesn't. I have an inline volume control on the earphones, but it still seems odd.

Cheers,

Joe

I've always wondered why myself. My F5 didn't have a volume control and it's a handy option to have at times.
 
A while back I saw a post about that happening. Maybe it was you? How do you like the 8500? HH jim tn
 
jim tn said:
A while back I saw a post about that happening. Maybe it was you? How do you like the 8500? HH jim tn

Yep, I posted about it before. Tried my 8500 out a few times and it didnt catch on with me. First time I might of had it in the fast mode and didnt realize it so the audio was very "wild". Next time I had it out EMI shut it down, which always was a frustration with my 8000 too. I haven't been able to put my F75 with DST down long enough to give the 8500 another chance. This thread has me wanting to give the 8500 another shot soon though.
 
Yeah, the F 75 is a goodie, for sure. That Omega platform, though, surely does love coins. HH jim tn
 
Gamma_Joe said:
Right now I'm sticking with my 8000 v6 -- no sweat. I had a Gamma 6000 v4 which was sensitive and accurate -- it had some EMI/RFI issues (I hunt mostly urban street curb strips and parks). It was a pleasure to use, and found some good silver and relics.

Still, I'm liking the 8000 v6 -- so far, so good.

... Have always been curious: How could they bring out a "top of the line" detector with no volume control? The Gamma had it, Omega v6 doesn't. I have an inline volume control on the earphones, but it still seems odd.

Cheers,

Joe
I used to tote a Gamma along as a 'loaner unit' and had a friend who preferred the 'S' rod design and didn't like the Omega 8000 package. The Version 4 Omega 8000 is one of the better Coin Hunting models I've used in the last twenty years, and if I spent more time Coin Hunting urban sites I would likely still have one in my arsenal. The Gamma performed almost on par with the Omega 8000's I had, but I also had a decent set of headphones I'd let people use when they borrowed the Gamma.

I encouraged them to adjust the audio volume [size=small](loudness)[/size] using the headphone controls and never change the Gamma's Volume control from the default setting of '10.' The same applied to the other 'Greek' series models with a Volume control. I read where David Johnson even considered the Omega to be a favorite model over the other Greek series units and the Fisher F5, and it certainly was for me as well. The Omega has the unchangeable Volume designed at a setting of '10,' and that's the best setting to use.

Refer to the Gamma Operator Manual regarding Volume [size=small](the bold colors are to point out the main information)[/size]:

5. VOLUME said:
While the VOLUME line is highlighted, use + and - to change the speaker volume.

The default volume setting is 10. Maximum is 10. Minimum is 0 (volume off). At levels 1, 2 and 3, high tones will be inaudible or barely audible.

The speaker volume will diminish as battery voltage drops. For maximum speaker volume, use 3 or 4 tones, as the low and bass tones generate the loudest sounds.

Volume can be set while in either the DISCRIMINATION or ALL METAL Modes, but only one setting applies to both modes. Volume in the two modes cannot be set independently.


While we don't encounter big silver dollars or silver or clad half-dollars like we used to, I still like to find them, or be ready to find them, and reducing the Volume will definitely have a negative impact on that ability. Always leave the Volume at '10' and enjoy a hunt with a Gamma.

Monte
 
Monte wrote: "The Omega has the unchangeable Volume designed at a setting of '10,' and that's the best setting to use."

That's a good tip, Monte. Thank you for explaining it.

Cheers,

Joe
 
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