Picked me up a Mint Scorpion for Cheap!!!

[silverseeker 2]

Checking Craigslist Chicago yesterday I found someone selling a Garrett Scorpion w/ 10 pot turn.
I picked it up for a song and dance. This machine is MINT and was in storage for 10 years the original
owner said. This is the cleanest used detector I have ever bought. Never was a Garrett fan but lately I have
been wanting to try them out.Just added a Mint AT Pro water set-up also for hunting Chicago beaches.
This Scorpion after fooling with it a little seems like there is much to know as far as setting it up
correctly and how to utilize max.depth which seems to be the true all metal mode naturally.
I don't think in disc. mode you will get more than 6 or 7 inches. JMHO. As time goes by I
will figure it all out.Heard some good things about this little unit. Well that makes over 20 machines
in the collection now and the Wife is ready to put me on the Couch but she won't. because
she Respects my PASSION for metal detecting. Any good tips for setting this unit up would be greatly appreciated.
All functions on this machine seem to work as I took it out front last night and she ground balanced right up.
I think I got real LUCKY. Thanks to all who reply..
silverseeker 2

 

[Sven]

Excellent machine in the right hands. If all your targets are generally in the 5-7" range. You will find it a nice machine without all the modern day bells and whistles.
Due to the Scorps 1970-80's technology its not a very popular machine these days. Too many modern day machines surpass its performance and depth for under $300.
So for a song and a dance, its a worthwhile addition to your collection. Have fun. If I found one for a S&D I'd own one too.

 

[BillNEWAST]

silverseeker 2, I bought my Scorpion in 1996 from Harry and Lucile Bowen. She taught me how to use it, by following me in the parks and finding All the Goodies, silver and Old coins, I missed. I joined the Northwest Treasure Hunters Club in Spokane and learned from the old guys and gals till I was able to hit 4000 coins a month plus all the jewelry that came with it. If you didn't make at least 4000 coins in a month you couldn't get into the Contest.
I set the Power Switch to the Arrow.
I usually set the Stinger to manual and All Metal and Ground Balance to a Very Slight Positive Signal on the Down Stroke.
Then I set the selector to Motion Disc and the manual-auto switch to Auto.
I then set the Disc to 5 and then throw down a nickle, a bottle cap, and an Aluminum Pull-tab. I then swing over the three targets setting the Disc to just start breaking up on a fast swing over the Bottle Cap and sounding Strong on the Nickle. Then I listen for what the sound of the Pull-tab sounds like and compare it with the sound of a gold ring. I don't use big rings to set the machine, I use a thin 10-12kt gold ring apx 1/2-5/8" dia. Then I start to swing back and forth over the targets and slowly raising the coil and see where the start cutting out. If I start to fatigue or lose concentration, I do like Larry Sallee says in his Zip-Zip books and throw my Nugget down in front of me and then find it, although in this case I use my pill bottle of targets to check. This keeps me and the Detector and the Ground All Honest. I can't blame anything for not getting targets. Sometimes I have to Change places to start getting targets again and the test targets helps me figure out if the problem is Me or the Machines Tuning or Just No targets in the Ground.
What size coils do you have?
I have the 6x10 elliptical and the 4" co-axial and the 12" round. Harry said I got the last of the 12's.
When my 6x10 coil gave up the ghost I sent the whole thing into Garrett and they re-tuned the machine to a New 6x10.

Sincerely
Bill "Lost Adams"

 

[silverseeker 2]

Hey Bill,
I picked this unit up for dirt cheap and it's BRAND NEW. It came with the 6" x 10" coil.
I collect many detectors. Put in about an hour on this unit last fall near the end of the
season. Heard they were good machines, just "Ol School" technology. Enjoyed my short
time trying her out but will give her a good run one day this spring to get a good feeling
of the Scorpions capabilities for coin shooting and tot lot jewelry. I have my go to machines
but just like mixing it up once in awhile. I appreciate your input and settings that you use to
dial in your Scorpion. Pretty much how I had set her up but less discrimination. Hope you
have a Banner year!
silverseeker 2

 

[BillNEWAST]

silverseeker 2, I don't use mine much anymore for coin-shooting. I use it to Sort Gold Ore Samples sometimes and use it to Nugget shoot, if I'm going Bush and can't carry multiple detectors into an area. The Scorpion can detect a 5gr or 1/3g nugget at about 2-3" or slightly more and larger specie at a greater depth using the 5x10 elliptical coil. I usually carry the 4.5" coaxial sniper coil with me to do the Ore Sampling. I made the samples, described in chap. 7 page 33 in the garret book "Electronic Prospecting", and learned how to use them and set up the machine.

But, if I need to run a Mine Dump and sort the ore I bought a Garrett Master Hunter ADS III to use and sent it to the factory for a refurbish and tuneup. It has a METER which is much more sensitive than the head phones. The meter will give a positive or negative reading that is easier to See than to hear. In fact I can see the meter respond Even when I can't hear the Audio Response. Albeit my ears aren't very good due to all the years of Heavy Construction Noise.

Charles Garrett and Roy Lagal, along with Karl Von Muller are the Grand-Fathers of today's Electronic Prospecting. Without their Field Research and Garrett's extensive revamping of metal detector technology we wouldn't have ALL the Machines we have today.