Ralph Bryant
New member
Here is a hodge-podge of information I have put together from what I could find on this machine, and what others have either posted on other forums or relayed to me over the phone in the past few days.
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What caught my interest in this unit is it's ability to not only provide a ground-phase reading, but also the Fe304 (magnetite) feature that tells you how strong the ground mineralization actually is. Ground-phase only tells you the "type" of mineralization you are dealing with (qualitative magnetic/conductive analysis), but this feature apparently is capable of telling you ground "strength", or quantitative analysis of the iron-based matrix mineralization level. This is the first machine I've seen with such a feature. Leave it up to Dave Johnson and John Gardiner to come up with something like this. Awsome concept though, besides having the full menu available on one screen, with a single menu shift button and single setting knob for all of the different functions. Should prove to be an interesting machine if the in-ground performance lives up to the technology and engineering behind it.
I talked to "Mr. Bill" Crabtree this afternoon on the phone, and he had one of the new T-2 units in hand. He seemed to be surprised at his initial findings with the unit, which showed that maybe his local ground conditions were not quite as bad as he had always thought, this from having the ability to measure both ground-phase and Fe304 concentrations. Bill also stated that he took it out for a quick test and that it would give a good I.D. lock on a buried quarter in his test garden at 12 inches, and a nickel at around 8-9 inches. Mind you this is "I.D." depth, not max. all-metal detection depth. Air test results he said were about 15 inches to the edge of detection on a nickel. Remember though that this machine is equipped with a relatively large double-D coil at 8x11 inches, so I would consider those figures to be reasonably possible........and not too shabby at that. I've known Bill for a number of years, and he is a straight-shooter. If he tells you something, you can take it to the bank.
It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out in the various field results around the country. May be another winner for Dave and the new crew at First Texas.
The T-2 does in fact have a motion-based all-metal mode, but WITH audible threshold adjustability.
Beware the first release "white box" versions as there have apparently been several upgrades and improvements to those just leaving the factory now. First run machines reportedly had some performance issues but can be identified by their packaging. The newer releases are in more colorful retailer type boxes from what I understand.
My understanding is that the current incarnation now on the production line has 6 different levels of tone and tone I.D. as follows:
Audio mode 1 = a single tone for everything above the discrimination setting.
Audio mode 1+ = single audio with variable pitch/volume VCO
Audio mode 2+ = two tone audio with low tone for iron and a higher tone VCO for non iron.
Audio mode 3 = three tone w/ low tone for iron, medium tone for mid-conductivity range aluminum, brass, gold, and a high tone for coins including nickels and zinc cents.
Audio mode 3b = same as mode 3 except sampled to assist in rejecting steel bottle caps
Audio mode 4 = four tones as mode 3 with addition of screwcap/zinc tone.
These are all user selectable on the menu.
Not much information floating around on these yet, no website that I have been able to find, and nothing on the BH site. Just a couple of advertisements from "coming soon" dealers on Google. These have literally just started coming off the production line within the past week or so. Mike Hillis is testing one, as is Bill Crabtree, and I hope to have one in hand the first part of next week.
Can't help but wonder if this is the infamous "IT'S COMING".........
Here are some other features as I have been able to piece them together from posts and comments from others, as well as talking to Mr. Bill.
-Operating Frequency 13 kHz
-8x11 double-D coil
-Trigger switch for all-metal VCO pinpoint (pull) and "grab" function GB (push).
-"Grab" or "manual" ground balance with 500:1 tuning resolution
-"Jump menu" control button.
-All menu options visible on one screen - no page scrolling.
-Ground Phase reading capability. (What Kind)
-Constant Fe304 ground strength "magnetic susceptibility" bar graph. (How Bad)
-7 different levels of "frequency shift" from basis frequency.
-Numeric target I.D. 0-99 scale
-Numeric function tuning level in "setting" mode.
-VDI number scale at top of screen
-Arrow indicator for target VDI range
-Target icons below VDI scale and arrow indicator
-Constant bar graph depth scale
-Separate all-metal and discrimination sensitivity
-All-metal threshold level adjust
-Progressive discrimination adjustability
-Tone I.D. selection as described above.
Haven't seen any specs on the weight, but looks reasonable from the pics.
About 40 hours operation on 4 AA alkaline batteries.
Mr. Bill states that the settings are on volitile memory circuits, so they will revert back to default settings each time the detector is turned off. He also says this can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on how you look at it. But also that the modes and adjustments are extremely easy to set up. My feeling is that this gives you a chance to play with the machine each time you turn it on, and keeps you in practice and more likely to have it tuned to the specific conditions each time you hunt a different location. As easy as it appears to set up, this really seems like a moot concern.
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I'll post more as it becomes available.
Ralph
[attachment 14090 teknetics.jpg]
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What caught my interest in this unit is it's ability to not only provide a ground-phase reading, but also the Fe304 (magnetite) feature that tells you how strong the ground mineralization actually is. Ground-phase only tells you the "type" of mineralization you are dealing with (qualitative magnetic/conductive analysis), but this feature apparently is capable of telling you ground "strength", or quantitative analysis of the iron-based matrix mineralization level. This is the first machine I've seen with such a feature. Leave it up to Dave Johnson and John Gardiner to come up with something like this. Awsome concept though, besides having the full menu available on one screen, with a single menu shift button and single setting knob for all of the different functions. Should prove to be an interesting machine if the in-ground performance lives up to the technology and engineering behind it.
I talked to "Mr. Bill" Crabtree this afternoon on the phone, and he had one of the new T-2 units in hand. He seemed to be surprised at his initial findings with the unit, which showed that maybe his local ground conditions were not quite as bad as he had always thought, this from having the ability to measure both ground-phase and Fe304 concentrations. Bill also stated that he took it out for a quick test and that it would give a good I.D. lock on a buried quarter in his test garden at 12 inches, and a nickel at around 8-9 inches. Mind you this is "I.D." depth, not max. all-metal detection depth. Air test results he said were about 15 inches to the edge of detection on a nickel. Remember though that this machine is equipped with a relatively large double-D coil at 8x11 inches, so I would consider those figures to be reasonably possible........and not too shabby at that. I've known Bill for a number of years, and he is a straight-shooter. If he tells you something, you can take it to the bank.
It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out in the various field results around the country. May be another winner for Dave and the new crew at First Texas.
The T-2 does in fact have a motion-based all-metal mode, but WITH audible threshold adjustability.
Beware the first release "white box" versions as there have apparently been several upgrades and improvements to those just leaving the factory now. First run machines reportedly had some performance issues but can be identified by their packaging. The newer releases are in more colorful retailer type boxes from what I understand.
My understanding is that the current incarnation now on the production line has 6 different levels of tone and tone I.D. as follows:
Audio mode 1 = a single tone for everything above the discrimination setting.
Audio mode 1+ = single audio with variable pitch/volume VCO
Audio mode 2+ = two tone audio with low tone for iron and a higher tone VCO for non iron.
Audio mode 3 = three tone w/ low tone for iron, medium tone for mid-conductivity range aluminum, brass, gold, and a high tone for coins including nickels and zinc cents.
Audio mode 3b = same as mode 3 except sampled to assist in rejecting steel bottle caps
Audio mode 4 = four tones as mode 3 with addition of screwcap/zinc tone.
These are all user selectable on the menu.
Not much information floating around on these yet, no website that I have been able to find, and nothing on the BH site. Just a couple of advertisements from "coming soon" dealers on Google. These have literally just started coming off the production line within the past week or so. Mike Hillis is testing one, as is Bill Crabtree, and I hope to have one in hand the first part of next week.
Can't help but wonder if this is the infamous "IT'S COMING".........
Here are some other features as I have been able to piece them together from posts and comments from others, as well as talking to Mr. Bill.
-Operating Frequency 13 kHz
-8x11 double-D coil
-Trigger switch for all-metal VCO pinpoint (pull) and "grab" function GB (push).
-"Grab" or "manual" ground balance with 500:1 tuning resolution
-"Jump menu" control button.
-All menu options visible on one screen - no page scrolling.
-Ground Phase reading capability. (What Kind)
-Constant Fe304 ground strength "magnetic susceptibility" bar graph. (How Bad)
-7 different levels of "frequency shift" from basis frequency.
-Numeric target I.D. 0-99 scale
-Numeric function tuning level in "setting" mode.
-VDI number scale at top of screen
-Arrow indicator for target VDI range
-Target icons below VDI scale and arrow indicator
-Constant bar graph depth scale
-Separate all-metal and discrimination sensitivity
-All-metal threshold level adjust
-Progressive discrimination adjustability
-Tone I.D. selection as described above.
Haven't seen any specs on the weight, but looks reasonable from the pics.
About 40 hours operation on 4 AA alkaline batteries.
Mr. Bill states that the settings are on volitile memory circuits, so they will revert back to default settings each time the detector is turned off. He also says this can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on how you look at it. But also that the modes and adjustments are extremely easy to set up. My feeling is that this gives you a chance to play with the machine each time you turn it on, and keeps you in practice and more likely to have it tuned to the specific conditions each time you hunt a different location. As easy as it appears to set up, this really seems like a moot concern.
--------------------------------------
I'll post more as it becomes available.
Ralph
[attachment 14090 teknetics.jpg]