Some Omega 8500 thoughts

[Mike Hillis]

Got a couple of handfuls of detectors I like to use, basically I just rotate through them every few weeks or so. One of which is the Omega 8500.

Now the 8500 has it warts, but it has some good things about it too. One of the 8500 warts is that it really works better with concentric coils. I don't know if it was designed that way or not but that is just the way it is, so I don't put DD coils on it any more. My frustration level with the 8500 is way higher when running DD coils. So I quit using them on the 8500. My preferred concentric coil on the 8500 is the 8" round Tek coil. It gives the best stability and target id accuracy, including on nickels.

Another wart of the 8500 is the 8500 operating manual, in particularly regarding sensitivity settings. The Omega 8000 manual tells you what is going on with the sensitivity control settings. The 8500 manual doesn't and so you get in trouble right away. On the 8500, just like on the 8000, Sensitivity settings of 1 to 70 are GAIN settings. 1 is lowest Gain, 70 is highest Gain. In other words, a Sensitivity setting of 70 is MAX GAIN. If site conditions (EMI, trash, ground minerals) allow, you can raise the Sensitivity settings above MAX GAIN into the HYPER THRESHOLD settings of 71 to 99. Since the operating manual doesn't spell this out, the tendency is to try and run up into the HYPER THRESHOLD settings thinking you are only running 75% to 80% power when in reality your are running 100% plus, and in most cases, site conditions don't allow for it, resulting in some major frustration.

I find that sensitivity settings around 55 to 65 work best for most sites in Deep 1,2, and 3. Deep 0 setting often allows the most use of HYPER THRESHOLD settings but Deep 1, 2, and 3 work best if you keep below Max Gain (70).

A sensitivity setting of 55 in d5 (non modulated audio tones) with the 8" round concentric is good for a hard hitting 8" dime, which is pretty decent, and leaves room for power increases if the site allows.

Some of the pluses I like about the 8500 is the full control of the segment audio. Instead of the normal disc or notch discrimination, I can just manage each segments audio volume. This gives me disc/notch capability while still seeing full display responses. When I combine this with the Primary and Secondary TID feature it allows me to focus on what I'm hunting for, which for me is nice gold jewelry.

I've already found some nice gold with the 8500 but now I think I'm going to specialize the 8500 as a large gold ring finder. Just going to cut the audio to all the segments except the Tab and Screw Caps segments, put it in VCO and hunt matching Primary and Secondary TID signals in places where men are most likely to loose a ring. Should be a successful strategy for larger gold.

Gonna find out. I'll let you know how it goes.

HH
Mike

(might be a few weeks before I report back, forgot this weekend is going to be rainy and honey-do's are already lined out for me.

 

[jim tn]

Good write up Mike, on the 8500. I really like the Omega platform, but the 8500 can be frustrating. Good thinking on the large gold rings, it would seem. Good luck! HH jim tn

 

[Monte]

I really enjoyed the Omega 8000 for a lot of urban Coin & Jewelry Hunting sites and they served me well. Regardless of the search coil used they just don't cut it when it comes to serious Relic Hunting in dense iron contaminated sites, nor do other Teknetics and Fisher models as they all fall a bit short of what a T2 can do with a 5" DD coil. Back in mid-2015 I had thinned a lot of detectors from my Outfit as I was primarily Relic Hunting ghost towns, homesteads, gold mining era encampments and other locations with a very heavy ferrous debris presence, but there was something about the Omega that I missed. Health issues have limited the amount of terrain I can cover and after last year's injury and subsequent surgery I decided to start adding my urban Coin & Jewelry search time this year, and picked up a couple of creampuff Omega 8000's.

What I knew I had missed was the very comfortable T2 grip and he physical packaging of the Omega. That feels good to be back in-hand. I got the Omega 8000 instead of the 8500 for two reasons:

1.. A couple of very good opportunities came up that I just couldn't resist for choice-condition specimens.

2.. I only had an opportunity to borrow a dealer friend's display/demo 8500 right after they came out and, comparing it to my Omega 8K, I didn't like the 8500's audio response. There was something else but I don't recall what it was. I sure do like the feel and balance of the Omega's.

Now the 8500 has it warts, but it has some good things about it too. One of the 8500 warts is that it really works better with concentric coils. I don't know if it was designed that way or not but that is just the way it is, so I don't put DD coils on it any more. My frustration level with the 8500 is way higher when running DD coils. So I quit using them on the 8500. My preferred concentric coil on the 8500 is the 8" round Tek coil. It gives the best stability and target id accuracy, including on nickels.

I think they were designed to work well with Concentric coils. I know some makers and models tend to favor one coil type over the other, Of all the coils they offered, I ended up with one Omega 8000 sporting the 5" DD for dense trash environments and the main-use Omega 8000 I used the round 8" Concentric, like you're using, that I had swapped off of a Delta or Gamma.

Today I have the small sub-5" DD mounted on one 8K , but my primary-use coil on the other Omega is the 7" Concentric Fisher coil. Like the 8" I used to use, I like the balance, feel and performance afield of this coil. I only use the smaller size coils when hunting close to metal structures and fences and such, or really dense trash. I have the 4" Concentric coil ordered and on-the-way to me. It should arrive Monday, I hope, and that means next week I'll mount the 4" Concentric and give it some side-by-side comparisons with the 5" DD and figure out which of the two is going to remain mounted for small-coil use. A Double-D or Concentric?

Another wart of the 8500 is the 8500 operating manual, in particularly regarding sensitivity settings. The Omega 8000 manual tells you what is going on with the sensitivity control settings.

So right you are. Overlooked, and misunderstood by many average Hobbyists if the device gets noisy at a higher Sensitivity setting. Fortunately, for me, most of the places I get out to are pretty much EMI-free and I run my Omega's at '99' over 95% of the time. In-town I have to reduce it as needed, but not all the time. A benefit, I guess, of living in a rather smaller-size town with less electrical annoyance.

A sensitivity setting of 55 in d5 (non modulated audio tones) with the 8" round concentric is good for a hard hitting 8" dime, which is pretty decent, and leaves room for power increases if the site allows.

One function of many modern detectors is they have a more saturated, processed audio response instead of a good modulated audio. But I do enjoy my Teknetics and Fisher models with their non-modulated audio as they do produce a very good report on some deeper coin-size targets. Works well for my poor hearing ability, for sure.

Some of the pluses I like about the 8500 is the full control of the segment audio.

That can be a good feature for some folks. For me, I only like the Iron Audio Volume adjustment and don't want or need it for the other Disc./Notch segments. I prefer full volume for everything but ferrous trash, but I do like to be able to assign the audio Tone I prefer for each segment. That's one of the reasons I like the Fisher F44. I really like the Omega's physical package and I'm trying to figure out how to mount an F44 control housing on an Omega grip. Hummm, maybe FTP can figure that out simply enough and offer another NEW model to the Teknetics line, Just rename the F44 and put in on an Omega set-up. Hey, maybe we'll see a new Omega 9000 sprout up from this blended version.

I have my get-serious Relic Hunting detectors hat are yet to be d in some really challenging iron nail test scenarios I use with all makes and models, but I'm trimming a lot of my Regular-Use Outfit for typical Coin & Jewelry searches to a pair of F44's and an Omega 8000 or two. Your post kind of nudges me to find an Omega 8500 and give it another try and see if it has a place in my Outfit. In the meantime I have some FTP offerings that work and I enjoy, and it seems you do as well.

Best of success to you this year, especially trying to hunt up some desirable gold jewelry.

Monte

 

[jim tn]

I haven't been using the 8500 much of late, more so, the 8000 when I grab an Omega to hunt with. I only have the stock 10" concentric coils for mine. Have had the 11" and 5" DD's previously, but like the concentric on them better. 8500 is going out for a spin shortly. HH Jim Tn

 

[Monte]

I started in 2010 with the 'standard' elliptical concentric which is 5½x9¾, and it worked better for me than the 11" BiAxial. Then I later swapped the 8" round Concentric from a Gamma and found that I preferred the 8" for performance. I now have a Fisher 7" Concentric mounted that is working great on both my Omega 8000 and a Fisher F44. It measures about 7¼" across and balances well, works well, and the ONLY time I have opted for a Double-D on an Omega in almost 9 years is when I'd mount the 5" DD to work in dense trash or maybe around tot-lot metal structures, etc.

I like the round Concentric coils and the elliptical Concentric that was 'standard' on the Omega, but I sure find the 'tear-drop' coils they have for the Fisher F22 and F44 to be ugly-looking coils. Even if Concentric, I don't like them.

I definitely prefer the Omega 8000, and it is a terrific performer with any of the Concentric coils for urban coin producing sites.

Monte

 

[woody]

Makes me wish I had kept the 8000 & 8500.