Disappointed with my NEW Safari

[ClodChopper]

I've only been detecting for a couple years. I know I have more to learn, but I do have a fairly solid understanding of what I'm doing.

I just unboxed my new Safari today. I did my homework. Watched every video on the net. Read every review I could find. Downloaded the owners manual. Even picked all your brains about quality and functionality. I wasn't expecting the surprises I found.

First, the face covering over the LCD is a THIN stretch type film!? I have the same crappy membrane over the face of my ACE350. Honestly, I did not expect that from a $1000 machine. The cheap build quality of the ACE350 is what inspired me to by my second detector, a Fisher F70.

My second disappointment is target ID. Where I live, the world is currently frozen solid. You couldn't dig a hole with C4! I know air testing is not reliable, however, It's all I got right now. I wasn't so much concerned with depth, as much as target ID and audio feedback.

I put the Safari into Coin Mode, auto sensitivity, and noise cancelled. I air tested all my silver coins, both US and Canadian. They all read 38. I thought, Okay...they're all silver? Then I broke out the clad. Much to my surprise, a clad dime also ID's at 38. Same with a clad quarter. Even the Canadian clad reads the same.

I repeated this test in all 3 programs, including 'all metal' and got exactly the same results! I even define my own settings and descrim patterns, but to no avail. A wheatie looks like a silver dime, and clad quarter.

I went a step further and pulled out my F70. Put her on the bench next to the Safari, and did the whole thing again. My F70 can properly ID a dime, a sliver dime, a silver quarter and a clad quarter. Each has a separate ID. Each makes a distinct sound. Through experience with my F70, I was very successful in ID'ing targets by sound alone. I don't see this with my Safari. Sure, it 'says' coin, but it lumps everything together!?!? I don't like that.

I have 30 days to make a decision on this unit. There is no possible way, the ground will thaw before then, so a legitimate field test is out of the question. These numbers I'm getting....is it a result of poor air testing? Or is this the way a Safari operates? Because if it is...I don't want it.

Any knowledge you could share would be greatly appreciated!

 

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[wvplug]

Sounds like I would send it back and put the money toward another detector.... Maybe an AT Pro.

 

[ClodChopper]

I know the AT's are very popular units, but there's something about them I don't like. Can't put my finger on it? In this price range, I don't want to settle for something. I was torn between the Safari and the Whites V3. If I return this unit, I'll probably go that route. Before I go through all the hassles of returning stuff, I want to be sure I'm not making a rookie mistake.

 

[wvplug]

I hear ya but if you aren't happy with the quality chances are you will never be happy settling with it. Good luck.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

1) air testing FBS machines is a notoriously poor way to test them. air performance is nothing like ground performance.
2) you cant rely on the #'s and especially not the icons and Most Especially in the air; the Safari is about the subtlety of Sound.

Honestly, it will take you 40-60 hunting hours on the machine to really get to know it. I'm with the other folks that think you should send it back and find a machine more to your personal tastes. Probably not a FBS machine.

 

[AQUA]

Seems as though you lik eyour f70.

So why not get the F75 se.

Great machine with great power.

 

[Jeremy76]

This news is a slap in the face for me as well. I just boxed up my ATP and sent it in on a trade for a Safari. I had depth and multiple frequency in mind when considering the trade and figured Minelab's reputation on top of the machine costing a grand quality was sure to be there. Hopefully someone here can shed some light. I'm more than willing to put in the hours to learn a new detector though.

 

[ClodChopper]

Aqua: The F70 takes a bit of getting used to. To use them to their full potential, you have to (learn) to tolerate some chatter. However, she's never let me down. I wasn't breaking up with her. I just wanted a newer model. I don't know why they aren't more popular, it's a heck of a machine.

 

[ClodChopper]

Jeremy 76: It won't take long. This is a smart bunch of people. If my results are a limitation of air testing, somebody will tell us. My opinion, fir what it's worth, if I dump this thing, I'll get either the Fisher F75 or the Whites V3i. They are all priced equal to the Safari.

 

[ClodChopper]

ChampFurguson: Thank you for taking the time to respond. I know air testing is very limited, no matter what machine you use.

I have an idea...

Here's my solution: my wife is going grocery shopping. I told her to bring me 6 bags of cat litter, we have cats, so it won't go to waste. I have an old dresser in the garage. I'm gonna take the drawers out, fill them with cat litter and bury some targets. Cat litter may not be the best simulate, but it's the best I got right now. I can also test discriminating the galvanized staples and hardware attached to them.

I don't know if it will be exact, but it's better than air testing. Or at least I hope.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

I know that everyone thinks that his brand/machine is the best. I am not enough of an expert to compare CURRENT machines and wont try to do so. I am experienced in MDing, going back to the 80's with decent machines (eg, Whites Coinmaster). I know that the major manufacturers all turn out a good product and liking a brand does count for something when upgrading.

But fwiw I have drank/drunk/drinked the Minelab koolaid and am extremely happy with my Safari. I outhunt my friends. (but that may only speak to my choice of friends, of course )The only upgrade I would personally consider is a CTX. But that's me. There IS a learning curve on the Safari and you cannot learn it all at once, even if you are a pro on other quality machines.

Since you have only a 30 day test period and no chance of getting tens of hours in, I concur that you send it back. Maybe at another time when you can actually give it a test you could try the same 30 day deal...? I personally wouldn't bother with the cat litter. I don't think that's much above an air test- soil moisture matters a lot imo. Maybe you could saturate the litter with water. (WATER!)

imo, if the machine works properly (if you find out it doesn't when the ground thaws, you have the warranty) + you are willing to put in those learning hours, you will be very happy with the Safari.

Any way to try out a friend's or local club member's Safari/FBS machine once the weather warms up? That'd be the best option.

 

[Tnmountains]

I have the f75 and the atpro. I am not sure you do not need to some how try your machine. Anyone got a barn and some ground that is not frozen to test on?

 

[issombeituni]

Get andys book huge eye opener.
1 get off auto run the machine at 16
2 set trash to low
3 use all metal
4 no id is correct but the sounds are completely different.
i can hear the difference from a wheat to new penny. clad to silver.
5 swing low and slow

6 months with my machine and i been nailing silver. sound is the key

 

[ClodChopper]

I'm now the proud owner of 80lbs of kitty litter. So, for what's it's worth, I'll do the kitty litter test, got nothing to lose. But, I had an ah-haa moment. I'm testing an FBS unit against a single freq machine.

I went to my treasure box and grabbed a huge assortment of rusty gold. Doesn't matter what it is...the F70 gives me an appropriate ID and sound. The Safari says either 15-17 or 37-38 and a sound that would correspond with said ID's.

Then I got to thinking....maybe you can't bench test an FBS machine? At least, not the same way you could traditional unit. Perhaps I'm trying to compare apples to oranges.

Anyway, my old lady is giving me the stink eye. Apparently, she's not to happy about lugging all that kitty litter. It's my bed time, I can't play anymore. Please, keep the advice coming!

 

[ClodChopper]

One last thing....ID's aside. The Safari has a cheap ars, flimsy membrane over the LCD. It's weak, and has NO BUSINESS on a $1000 unit! The rain cover will help protect it, but who ever approved that idea, should be smacked in the head.

 

[Keppy]

Well i found out that if you get a Minelab get a used one made in Australia or Ireland .. The new ones do not have the quality that the older ones have … All my Minelabs are used older ones that work great… I just got a Quattro that was a good price and it will run circles around the new Safari .. And the membrane is not cheap & flimsy on the Quattro .. It is built solid...

 

[dholland02]

Go ahead and send it back and get the at pro. Let me know where u live and ill follow behind u with my safari and show u want u missed. Air tests r not very reliable, and don't hunt with ur face planted on that screen. I've dug silver dimes and quarters with my safari that rang up a 36. It all depends on ground condition and how the coin is laying in there.

 

[gunsil]

The thin membrane over the screen is just a shipping protector and is meant to be peeled off!! It is not there as a permanent screen protector!! Porsche and Mercedes use the same membrane on the displays for the GPS/radio for shipping, it is removed before the customer gets his car. Testing coins freshly buried in kitty litter won't be much better than air. Even freshly buried coins in a test garden won't replicate natural hunting conditions. I'm surprised you bought it before you could use it in the field, since the warranty just keeps on ticking while it just sits around. FBS shines in mineralized soil, and you can't make any adjustments for ground in air tests. The display as on most machines is just a guide line, and as dholland says the sounds are what give you the most info. A lot of folks have a hard time learning the Minelab FBS machines, it has taken me a lot of patience, but I am learning all the time. There is a reason they have a large following, it's not hype, they hit deep. From all your worries and negative determinations on a machine you haven't even tried in the field perhaps it just isn't the machine for you. But you will never really know until you actually hunt in natural conditions if you really like it, or if it can do what you bought it for. Andy Sabish says that it can take 100 hours of use to really learn the Safari, and I did suggest you get a copy of his book in the thread where you were musing about getting a Safari. There was a copy on ebay recently, or as I also suggested your library can probably get you a copy to read.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Air testing FBS detectors is poor way to test them both for depth and target id.....

I loved my Safari, I only sold it because I found a great deal on an ETrac...

Never had or saw a problem with face cover either...







American by birth, Patriot by choice.

I would rather die standing on my two feet defending our Constitution than live a lifetime on my knees......

 

[Silver Simon]

I get the feeling that with some of these companies, they make a really solid product that gets a lot of popularity, and then the start cutting corners and using lesser materials to increase the profit margin. When I had my E-trac, which was purchased in 2013, I remember seeing a few build quality issues that had me scratching my head, being that it was such an expensive detector.