Tracker IV

[utmike]

It's great to see a forum for Bounty Hunter! We decided to get into the hobby one year ago this month. My wife and I started with two Tracker IV's and over the course of the summer and fall, found enough clad to pay for more than half of the other machine I bought. I found my first silver Roosevelt with mine last year.

I found that by adjusting the discrimination up to where I got solid audio on a nickel and broken tones on pull tabs was very effective for coins and rings. I ran the sensitivity at about 75%. I still have both machines along with the small prospecting coils. They are now serving as back-up for our other machines.

I paid around $130 each at a box store and In my opinion, these machines offer an incredible amount of bang for your buck. I highly recommend them. Discrimination, auto ground balance and multiple tones in a machine in this price range are a real treat. The "meter" however won't do you much good. It jumps to the high end on all targets.

Good luck!
Mike

 

[Steve(MS)]

Sounds like a good detector, does it have an adjustable tone break feature? I wish more detectors were made with one. I think one can count on one hand the detectors made with this feature. I notice you say that you get a broken signal on pulltabs yet still able to decifer rings? I am just trying to find out a little more about it, so if you will go into some detail...

 

[utmike]

[attachment 61172 bounty20hunter20tracker20IV.jpg]
The tones are controlled by a 3 way toggle at the lower right. Discrimination, All Metal, and Tones. The tones selection will offer different pitches low=iron high=silver and such. I prefer to keep it in discrimination with sensitivity set in the "2 O'Clock" area and discrimination at "10 O'Clock". In this mode, you get the same tone on all targets but some seem to ring out stronger than others.

The key for me is to look for a SOLID and REPEATABLE signal sweeping from a few different directions looking for consistency.(there is no visual target ID so, you are deciding to dig by sound) The variation in shapes of the pull tabs from one end to another often cause the signal to chirp or sound broken. Don't get me wrong, you will still dig a ton of tabs if you are after rings but, I have pulled a few rings that sounded very good.


The reason I test with a nickel beforehand is that is about the sensitivity where the junk and good stuff seem to separate.

Hope this is helpful and accurate.

HH
Mike

 

[Mike Hillis]

I started with one of those too. Nice machine. The Tone mode worked well. Not very deep in my dirt but still nice. I hope to put a F4 coil on one someday.

HH

 

[Ohio_Chaney]

I was wondering how well the Bounty Hunter machines work on the beach (saltwater). I am interested in one of the cheaper models for my 9 year old daughter.

I have a White's Surf PI, that I will be trying out next week in Myrtle Beach. I also have a White's 5900 Di Pro that works okay in the dry sand,but not in wet. I will be using the PI on this vacation for wading in the surf.

She has expressed some interest in treasure hunting at the beach, but I'm afraid my machines would be too bulky for her. I have handled the Bounty Hunters before, but never used one. From what I recall, they are very lightweight and might be ideal for her to be able to swing. I just don't want to get a detector that won't go more than an inch in the dry sand, let alone the wet sand. -And one that won't break the bank either, in case she loses interest quickly

Thanks in advance for information...

Scott

 

[utmike]

I think the tracker iv might be ideal for her. I submerged the coil many times without a problem. Depth is pretty respectable for this price range, I have dug targets in the 1-6" range with mine. One item you might want to explore is interference with other machines. When my wife and I were using trackers, if we got too close to each other (10 or so feet), the machines went nuts. That is the ONLY interference I ever experienced with the machine. I never hunted salt but suspect the auto GB on the tracker would handle it fine. Plus, it is a light, affordable back-up to your other machine if you need it to be.

HH

Mike