Rabid detectorists !

[UK Brian]

Forum is running a little slow so here's the latest from the detecting Guru, Terry Soloman...

Eric Foster machines are "fussy little things for fussy little people". "I've used them and given them straight back"

For those with a TDI, Garrett Infinium or German, Polish or Bulgarian hoard hunter you have been conned. There's no discrimination at all and dare I mention that uS ratings are also a con apparantly cooked up by Whites and other P.I. manufacturers so you don't buy the superior Tesoro Sand Shark.

So you know what to do if you have any of the other brands. Get them sold before the news gets out !

 

[Reg]

Where did you read that??????

Reg

 

[Reg]

I found it. Not worth wasting time responding to this guy. Just consider the source and forget it.

Reg

 

[Tony]

n/t

 

[UK Brian]

Problem is that there's a large number of beginners on that forum and some actually believe him and it costs them both money and finds. There was a site if I can find it again that listed the nuts/crooks and manufacturers/importers pushing products and listed the lies told before the villains had the chance to get abusive and get the link deleted putting them in the clear to start up again elsewhere.

 

[Reg]

You can't teach a brick to float and all too many people are like bricks. So, no matter how hard you try, if they believe some nut, well, just be happy it is only something to do with a metal detector.

A wise person will seek information from many sources. This source of wisdom quite often comes from learning the hard way. The natural born follower will be like the other Terry that posted and will be happy to go the wrong direction no matter how hard you try to get them to think.

We know what the guy said is wrong because it is. It is too bad we can't get the guy to brag about all of his ex wives like he used to do. At least that way he isn't talking about detectors, but more importantly, if a person makes that many mistakes when it comes to marriage, well, a reasonable person would begin to wonder about his knowledge of detectors also.. Others may have to learn that fact the hard way. Still others will never learn but will still be happy. So, if they are happy and no one is physically hurt, well, I say let them be happy.

So, there is another topic you might want to bring up and see if he wants to brag about that again. That way he isn't giving such advice about detectors.

Reg

 

[UK Brian]

Well the secret is out. I had twelve e-mails yesterday and another ten this morning pointing out that Tesoro sponsored his business. I find it nice to be independant and admit that I don't really like any of the manufacturers/distributors. Every company seems to have good, bad and indifferent machines and they only thing you can really say is to try before you buy and never think one machine can do it all.

Would have liked to have known what Tony was going to post above though.

Brian

 

[Reg]

Brian,

I sent you an email that might answer some more of your questions and a few things I know about the guy.

Reg

 

[Mr.Bill]

Brian

Ask Tony. It was he who edited his own post.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2012 03:58AM by Tony.

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[Reg]

Hi Brian,

I enjoyed my relationship with manufacturers back in the days when I wrote for a Treasure magazine. Guys like Jack Gifford, the owner of Tesoro, was always helpful when I had a question or two.

Of course, I also found Eric Foster to be of great help too when I became interested in PI's. His assistance really helped me better understand the workings of a PI detector when I decided I needed a light weight PI for my dad to use. Since, technically, Eric was a one man Company, I have to say I enjoyed my relationship with his company also.

So, for me, having a good working relationship with the various companies helped me in the long run. The big difference for me is I always had to be objective and unbiased towards any detector or company and did/do my best to maintain that position. That is why I don't recommend any particular detector, contrary to what people think. What I do is to try to provide as much information about the detectors I feel I know best.

On a different note, many years ago Jack was nice enough to send me one of his waterproof PI's for me to try to use for nugget hunting. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it didn't take long to figure out a non ground balancing PI didn't cut it, especially if one was looking for small gold. Since Jack's PI was made for hunting in water, and ocean front property is a little scarce here in Colorado, I never did get a chance to try the PI where it was meant to be used.

Reg

 

[Tony]

Well the secret is out. I had twelve e-mails yesterday and another ten this morning pointing out that Tesoro sponsored his business. I find it nice to be independant and admit that I don't really like any of the manufacturers/distributors. Every company seems to have good, bad and indifferent machines and they only thing you can really say is to try before you buy and never think one machine can do it all.

Would have liked to have known what Tony was going to post above though.

Brian

I did delete my own post because after 464 posts where I have always maintained a high degree of manners and politeness, I let slip and sunk to a level that I wasn't proud of......

I hope everyone is having a great summer....

Regards to everyone,
Tony.

 

[Reg]

Tony,

I know how easy it is to come back with a response to some stupid statement. I also understand exactly what Brian was saying.

The forums have provided a lot of valuable information which was never available years ago. Unfortunately, this same source of information is now bombarded by people who have little to no real experience if they are compared to those who have seriously studied and used detectors.

Worse yet, like Brian said, new owners or beginners trying to find answers are subjected to a lot of wrong or seriously biased information. The information that Brian copied from another forum was followed up by more garbage some from blind followers either because they believe a certain person or own a certain brand of detector. So, it becomes a matter of my guy knows more than your guy or my detector can beat up your detector.

The sad part of either of these conditions is no one wins and much of the information is utter BS.

Quite some time back I quit posting on another forum because of all the badmouthing of a particular detector by a few people who others believed to know what they were talking about. Now, some time later many of those same people with all the bad words, figured out they were wrong and are now using the detector they said was so bad. Again, a lot of people seeking knowledge were subjected to biased and wrong information.

What makes matters worse is many people claim to have used detectors forever so therefore they are experts. Well, follow an old fart driving stupidly down the road and realize he probably has been driving forever so he must be the expert right??? Well, the same holds true for using a detector.

Brian referred to a guy as a "guru". I am not sure why except the guy posts a lot and some people believe him. Now follow that guys posts and one quickly figures out, someone isn't as knowledgeable as he thinks he is. So, instead of being a guru my guess is he is a relatively new dealer that brags up what he sells.

I could go on but the fact is, people need to be careful taking someone's opinion or advice as gospel and I mean even if you are asking me. I expect and want people to try what I recommend because I know the more a person works seriously with a detector, the more familiar they will become with that detector. The more familiar one becomes, the more questions they should be asking. The more answers a person gets, the more a person should test and experiment to verify the information.

In simple terms, the more a person learns about a detector both through listening to others but more importantly by verifying and experimenting themselves, the more likely they will come to realize just how much bad info is out there.

So, Tony, I understand why you removed your post, but I also feel I have a good idea of what was generally in it also. What I don't know is what is the best way to spread the truth either.

Reg

 

[UK Brian]

Thanks Reg, I have replied. Tony, I was just interested as there's become a technique amongst those spreading misinformation where when they are proved to be wrong, through ignorance hopefully, or deliberately if its a product they are trying to push where they try to provoke an extreme response/swearing etc and the forum rules come into play and the whole thread is deleted. They are then free to start the whole thing up again and dupe even more people.

Still can't see why people will not experiment, dig a test bed and get out and try a few things for themselves. They might not like what they find out but it will save them from being victims in the future.

 

[Tony]

I hope I didn't get misunderstood....

I was only really referring to my post and not the theme of this thread which I applaud whole heartedly and feel the same way that you guys feel about the damage that can be done by "misinformation", especially when given to the newcomer.

I personally have to thank both Reg and Brian for countless help and advice over the years.

.....well I'm off detectin' now.

Tony.

 

[Sven]

I have found over the years each and every detector I owned from BFO-TR-VLF-Pulse was a learning experience. You learn things from each one you own. The things you
learn about operation and hunting tricks usually can be applied to the next. I like to experiment for hours bench testing, time permitting before I hit the dirt. Get a better idea
how to use it this way. I have to agree these days I see my BS and mis-information but, hold my tongue. I do like to post that I find useful and helpful.

Got into PI's about 2 years ago building my first Surfmaster PI via Geotech. Over the past year built two new (same PCB) PI's, one for water and one for land. Reg is a wealth of info
and learned a lot thru his posts and his Understanding the Pulse webpage. Thanks Reg for your input when talking with Cyril, we built a version of his PI and have to say they are wonderful.
I have put in many hours learning how to use the controls and what happens when you do this and that. Funny thing happened, finding hunting the beaches with a PI is slower paced and relaxing
compared to using a VLF machine. Find myself grabbing the PI over the VLF. With the 7" coil I can now pinpoint within a diameter of a quarter in the center of the search coil. This new found
ability has me itching to try the PI in ball field.

Have a great one.

 

[UK Brian]

-- moved topic --

 

[Tony]

Hello Sven,

The beauty of the internet is also that after time, familiar names with sound advice and passion for metal detectors (and I certainly include your name amongst this group), start to regularly appear across one or two forums. I can only hope that newcomers are able to track these people and follow their advice.
I can remember years ago when I first became a serious beach detectorist, I simply wanted the deepest seeking detector available and I too was going to dig nickels at 18" to 24"........sound familiar?

Well at the time, I had an old Minelab SD2000 and I knew this machine well from prospecting experience.
I also had a US nickel so off to the beach I went, full of enthusiasm and ready to unearth all those treasures that were hiding at "18 to 24 inches". 5 hours later and after twiddling with every setting available, the best I could manage on that nickel was 14".
What the hell am I doing wrong, stupid detector......
This detector is faulty for sure. I quickly headed off to the local prospecting store and hired out an SD2000 because my detector was clearly faulty.....:angry:
I set up the hire machine same as my SD2000 and managed to get exactly the same depth.....the 14". How the hell am I going to get 18" to 24"?
Over the next few weeks, I tested out a friends Deepstar 2 and managed to get 15" (clean nickel with no green crust) which I then knew to be a very good result and consider that depth to be the benchmark for deep seeking machines and I still maintain that belief to this day.
I have even done the same test with my Sovereign GT (10" stock coil in PP mode) and I can get that nickel at 14".

Regards,
Tony.

 

[UK Brian]

Thanks to everyone for the e-mails. It seems Terry only considered Tesoro "the worlds finest detectors" after they started to sponsor him. When you buy one and find your friends machine is better, deeper, even both and cheaper he says "how can I have influenced you ?"
Interesting thing to do on a wet day is to search through detecting posts and read the ones that say he posts fake stories and buys finds. There's even a You Tube video.

His "detecting" company sums things up nicely. You can buy 15% for back pocket change if your mad enough to want to !