Garrett Fortune Hunter

[AU24K]

I've recently purchased a used Garrett Fortune Hunter and sent it to the factory for any repairs it may have needed.
I have a printout from the company on how to use the machine and have been out a couple of times with it. However I still don't know exactly how to operate it. I still find pull tabs and junk. I'm enclosing some photos for reference.
I have an older Bounty Hunter(non discriminator) that I've used for 25 years, but I was getting tired of finding junk so I bought the Garrett.
Still finding junk, getting frusterated! I know the old addage, practice, practice, practice, but I can't seem to learn anything new when I go "practice". I've laid a coin down, and a pull tab down and just can't seem to get it to make any difference no matter what combination of dials and switches I use.
Any info or help is greatly appreciated!
Thanks.
Scott

 

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[hollowpointred]

hopefully someone will be along that can help you. it looks like an older unit, so it may be a little while before someone who is using/has used one comes along.

 

[dahut]

Head on over to the findmall Garrett forum and ask Uncle Willy. He will know for sure.

But what you have there is a TR/VLF unit. That sucker needs pretty constant tuning, tends to drift and takes a trained ear. When it was new, so were pulltabs - and they werent the worry. Iron and bottle caps were. Silver coins littered the ground in thsoe days and the streets flowed with milk and honey. See that NULL-METAL control? That alone will take plenty of tweaking to get right.

If I may suggest it, perhaps you should come into the New Age of detecting. You will be astounded at the advances. Get yourself a $200 Garrett ACE 250 and put those old timers back on the shelf.

 

[U.K. Brian]

The Garrett is one of the old classic machines that can clean up if you set it right and its functioning correctly. As yours has been serviced by the manufacturer it should be O.K. so its just a case of using it correctly.
I had the metered version until it was stolen out of my car and would much rather have it back than a Garrett Ace or similar.
First thing to remember is that its non motion so ground balance has to be set correctly with the coil at the hight you will be swinging it at. Then that height has to be maintained. If you lift the coil the machine will sound off if the GB has been set right in the first place.
VLF/TR set switch should be at TR if there's extreme rubbish or on wet damp sand.
VLF normally gives more depth on land or dry sand but its an all metal mode so no discrimination what so ever apart from the audio indications of size of target and the double blip sound that long ferrous items such as nails give.
On land you would normaly use VLF all metal mode for maximum depth. Then flick into TR to I.D. the target.
In TR mode with the discrimination knob set up around the ring pull mark on the dial ringpulls will be ignored. But as with all machines this is at the cost of many rings.
Re tuning that has been mentioned is no problem with this machine as a split second press on the pushbutton with your thumb brings it straight back to tune.

Brian

 

[jeff of pa]

Not sure what your saying by "I still find pull tabs and junk."

I use a Minelab & I still find Can tabs & Junk. Gotta clean it out to get to the deeper goodies.

of course you could turn the Discrimination all the way up,
and just find the shallow coins, and Some Junk


P.s.
in the past one of them Can Tabs turned out to be a Gold Coin,
some have been Gold Rings, and many have been Nickels.
I personally am glad I didn't tune out Can tabs.

 

[dahut]

Brian makes some great points. The old Garrett is workable and to some, it is even desirable. But, alas, I feel his comments further add credence to the more or less outdated nature of that old Fortune HuUnter.

If it works - GREAT! You have a functional antique. However, If you followed his comments it is apparent, at least to me, that your old FH is a demanding unit to keep stable when in use. It has some depth problems, too, as I read him correctly. At least compared to todays modern units.

The fellow I mentioned before, Uncle Willy over on the findmall forum (who also happens to be none other than Bill Revis himself), has decades of experience with Garretts. While he fondly lauds the older units, he also admits that the new ones far exceed the performance of those Green Boxes.

I've found the same to be true, as well.
All this points out a few things.

If finances are your problem, then you are forced to learn the unit and make the best of it. Little you can do about that except save more or earn more.

If you just want the challenge, then you must deal with self imposed limits and further discussion on capability is moot.

Even our obviously experienced friend in the UK, Brian, admits that the newer generation of instruments will exceed the performance of those older models. They DO have a place, albeit it's restricted to certain hunt regimes. I'll maintain that an upgrade would help immensely.

 

[U.K. Brian]

My actual words were that I'd rather have the old pre motion Garrett than a new Ace.
New motion machines offer lots of features and are easy to use but I've a few pre motion machines that are still deeper and more effective than the new motion models.
The reasons for this are many but (a) no worry about getting the sweep speed right (b) full depth across the whole sweep arc (take the XLT, it needs a fast sweep so at the start and end of each arc the coil is not moving fast enough).
(c) the sounding off the pre motion detector makes if lifted an inch or two in the air from the height it was tuned to means your forced to learn to swing nice and level. With motion you see people walking up and down with the coil going like a pendalum without realising it. (d) Crown caps are easy to I.D. with non motion (e) some old machines have iron see through and can find a coin thats under four or five nails and (f) The old non motion meter discriminators that just indicated ferrous or none ferrous by the direction of meter swing had the advantage that your deep seeking mode picked up all metals then you would centre over the target with no need for any motion so no possibility of the coil swing over another nearby target and averaging the two results together. If the target was in I.D. range fine, you could dig or not depending what it indicated. If it is to deep for I.D. you just take off an inch or two of soil until an I.D. is indicated.
All takes a little longer and you can't eliminate ring pulls but then you shouldn't really want to do that anyhow.

 

[dahut]

Okie dokie, I stand corrected and thanks Brian for the "field report," as it were. I admit that I dont know about every old detector. In fact, the ones I learned on (and which are archaic by todays standards) were at least a generation advanced beyond some of the oldies you are surely familiar with.

I also dont doubt that to the trained ear and experienced user of such gear there is every advantage owing to that piece of equipment. But that really was the crux - todays newcomer would be just as well off learning with a modern detector as one of the oldies.
Probably better, should he want:
(a) service
(b) a question answered
(c) something more than snickers from his partners!

A '57 CHevy is still a good old car, but things have gone beyond it that do as well or better. Id offer that such things are for the cogniscenti and not the rank and file driver. Likewise the older detectors.

But I apprecitae your excellent response. Very informative! Tell me, why do you think they no longer make those detectors, or at least use some of their technology, in todays models?

 

[U.K. Brian]

Another good post dahut.
They do still make these machines its just that in the States you have to import them. In Europe coins can be a fraction of the size (say six Roman to balance the weight of a cent) and in two or three thousand years have sunk really deep.
As gold and fine silver can read anywhere on an I.D. meter and into minus figures if the ground is bad we ignore much of what a meter shows and really only want ferrous/non ferrous I.D.
The older machines have developed into the Saxon Ultradepth. C-Scope do a few more normal priced meter discriminators, XP have created a motion design that gives similar benefits to the C-Scopes by having an all-metal mode that I.D.'s iron, Germany has specialised in land P.I.'s that get depth in feet rather than inches and have discrimination against larger iron and then there's the Bulgarian designed, British built Nexus which combines old with new.
You are right about repairs but many manufacturers do support their old models. And you do need a few old machines as they normally have one use at which they excel and many they fail at. Meter discriminators are poor to say the least on wet sand.

Brian

 

[flip]

Do like dahut says, you wont be sorry. I still have my old deepseeker I bought back in the 70s. Found alot of good stuff with it over the years but now it just gathers dust. The ace 250 blows it away in the performance department.

 

[dahut]

Very interesting Brian. Few of us in the States will ever have the chance to detect in the Euro environment and admittedly it is a strange environment to me, at least. I mean I read a review here and there and an occasional poster come forth like yourself, but thats it.
Honestly if I went to visit the UK today it would be to see The Highlands and Big Ben!
I appreciate your superb responses.
Let me ask you, what is the bggest trash nuisance you have over there? Is it iron, or can it be mixed with the usual modern stuff too, like soft drink tops and foil bitsies?

 

[red]

Well if I can add my 2 cents in on this I'd say if your detecter works fine and will pick up a coin or ring at a good depth then you have a keeper. you might just need to use it in the right place.
oldr detecters are hard to use in areas with any trash and even new top of the line will have you digging pull tabs and tin foil.
I use a Garrett GTX500 and a Fisher CZ70 pro and in areas with trash I prefer the Garrett.
But untill you know evry tone your Garrett makes and learn what it is then hunt the older then trash areas.
Hunt the old home steds that have been gone for over 50yrs. you will still dig the iron and tin but it will give you time to learn without the gum wrapers,pull tabs,and other trash thats been around since.
The longer the home has been gone the better. Also try using you Garrett on less then full power it can help when it's hard to get the ground ballance just right. that even works with newer detecters.
I hope this helps but if you like hunting the parks then get a Ace 250 and keep the older one for the old farms.

Good luck tomorrow.
red