rayoh
Full Member
- Jan 13, 2017
- 162
- 467
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab Etrac-Notka Legend
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
I have long thought that new mid priced(400-700) detectors are the most common detectors used. These detectors will be real close to the "big boys" in their performance. I would put the Omega 8500 in this class along with AT Pros, T2's, MX 5 and 7, Exterras, and etc. I have three hunts in with the 8500 and have come to really appreciate it's performance.
First, I have about 10 hours on the battery and it is down one bar. I am thinking it should do 15 to 18 hours which is very economical for a one battery detector. The adjustments and menu system is extremely easy to navigate and the adjustment do make drastic differences in performance. You can easily go from a fast trashy site detector to a deep open field detector and make good finds in both types of sites. There are four filter adjustments and all have their place. I use deep 1 and deep 3. One is the filter that is closest to the original 8000 and three is for less trashy-mineralized sites.
I read a post by Mike Hillis about the sensitivity adjustment on the 8500. According to Mike, 70 is the max sens for disc mode and anything above 70 is for the threshold positive "all metal" mode. The manual is not real clear about this, but I have used 70 as my max sensitivity when hunting in disc mode. I get quiet, deep performance with the sens at 70. The deeper(6-8 inches) coins have been found at this setting.
I have found the tone setting for my liking to be three tones. I hunt places with an abundance of modern(tabs of all kinds, aluminum slaw, and bottle caps) trash so I concentrate on just high tones. When I get to an area with less trash, I will try for some nickel signals. When the 8500 gets a 56-57 and stays solid, I have found a fair number of nickels.
Yesterday hunt was my third and by this time, I felt very comfortable with the 8500. I found a very deep sterling silver woman's Harley Davidson ring that was 7 inches deep and read a solid 91. I have no doubt the 8500 could have found this ring two inches deeper. I found two deep wheat pennies(7 inches) and both had lock on 84 signals. The audio on these coins were extremely weak, but repeatable. I do not like using the unmodulated 5 tone option. I wish the 8500 had a setting somewhere in between three tone and five tone. Again, you must have decent headphones to hear these deeper coins, but when you dig a couple, there will be no doubt that there is a deep coin under your coil.
I think the engineers have added some very helpful settings to the 8500 and have helped improve the 8000. I have found the people who have hundreds of hours on the 8000 will find the 8500 not to their liking. I was one of those people, but just remember, the 8500 finds everthing the 8000 will, but sounds slightly different doing it. I am glad I tried the 8500 again. It is a real bargain for 399.00.
First, I have about 10 hours on the battery and it is down one bar. I am thinking it should do 15 to 18 hours which is very economical for a one battery detector. The adjustments and menu system is extremely easy to navigate and the adjustment do make drastic differences in performance. You can easily go from a fast trashy site detector to a deep open field detector and make good finds in both types of sites. There are four filter adjustments and all have their place. I use deep 1 and deep 3. One is the filter that is closest to the original 8000 and three is for less trashy-mineralized sites.
I read a post by Mike Hillis about the sensitivity adjustment on the 8500. According to Mike, 70 is the max sens for disc mode and anything above 70 is for the threshold positive "all metal" mode. The manual is not real clear about this, but I have used 70 as my max sensitivity when hunting in disc mode. I get quiet, deep performance with the sens at 70. The deeper(6-8 inches) coins have been found at this setting.
I have found the tone setting for my liking to be three tones. I hunt places with an abundance of modern(tabs of all kinds, aluminum slaw, and bottle caps) trash so I concentrate on just high tones. When I get to an area with less trash, I will try for some nickel signals. When the 8500 gets a 56-57 and stays solid, I have found a fair number of nickels.
Yesterday hunt was my third and by this time, I felt very comfortable with the 8500. I found a very deep sterling silver woman's Harley Davidson ring that was 7 inches deep and read a solid 91. I have no doubt the 8500 could have found this ring two inches deeper. I found two deep wheat pennies(7 inches) and both had lock on 84 signals. The audio on these coins were extremely weak, but repeatable. I do not like using the unmodulated 5 tone option. I wish the 8500 had a setting somewhere in between three tone and five tone. Again, you must have decent headphones to hear these deeper coins, but when you dig a couple, there will be no doubt that there is a deep coin under your coil.
I think the engineers have added some very helpful settings to the 8500 and have helped improve the 8000. I have found the people who have hundreds of hours on the 8000 will find the 8500 not to their liking. I was one of those people, but just remember, the 8500 finds everthing the 8000 will, but sounds slightly different doing it. I am glad I tried the 8500 again. It is a real bargain for 399.00.
