Cal_Cobra
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- Minelab EQ800 & Makro Multi Kruzer, the rest are collecting dust...
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Tom and I had some sites researched we've been waiting to check out, but when I knew my Impact was finally on the way, we sprung into action to research a few more to add to an Impact test trip, mostly remote stage stops.
Unfortunately someone already cleaned these sites out, and I mean clean. Some of them hardly even had iron, others still were laden with iron, but stingy on period conductors. We hunted a total of seven sites, including one we've been already working on (at least it's still producing). Not a single period coin was to be found, that was disappointing, you'd think one or two would've surfaced, but their tired sites.
This photo shows some of the relics from the stage stops. One is a little suspender(?) buckle dated 1855.
]
This Naval button and this other disc came from a stage stop. The Naval button across the top of the anchor appears to have I O U written, but it's challenging to see without a loupe:
Anyone got an ID on the button?
Last is our Western Frontier camp, it's still producing:
Things of note were the lid to a gunpowder can, and a screw on lid to a black powder can. Also found a nice ornate suspender clip, eagle buttons including an Infantry I in shield button, still no shortage of lead and Spencer shells. I'm sure there's got to be a few more good finds to be made at this site, but it's definitely thinning out.
My thoughts on the Impact after three days of hardcore detecting.
I found that at all of these sites, 20Khz worked best. I ended up detecting in Di3 mode, iron audio F1, 1 disc, 98-99 gain as often as I could or as made sense. I exclusively used the small coil from the ProPack and my new Racer2 wireless headphones.
First I loved the wireless headphones, to be honest, it's one of my favorite things about the Impact. No wires on the coil to get tangled up and nothing on the headphones, makes for such a pleasant experience when hunting around bushes and other areas where wires get easily tangled up. Oh and the audio is every bit as good as the black widows I tried, zero lag, they work perfectly for me. Also the small coil is solid, so it's perfect for hunting ghost towns and around foundations, shrubs, etc.
OK, on to the Impact. I like the audio, even though the R1 and R2 both have a Di3 mode, the audio has evolved on each machine, and the Impact audio is top notch. They even redid the overload tone and it's now pleasant to listen to, yet very functional. They obviously believe that that better the audio intelligence, the higher the chances of picking out good targets from iron and trash increases.
Having the ability to change frequencies is a game changer. My old alkali soil site that handicapped my Racer2 and F75 LTD, with just the simple change of jumping to 20Khz, no longer crippled the machine. My period conductive target count for the camp site was one of the highest yet, and although no incredible finds were made, it was a pleasure to detect and not have to try to interpret contrived and crippled audio and TIDs. Another thing I found was that most of the time I was able to put the Impact into hyper gain mode, running at 98-99 gain with 0 or 1 disc. Once and a while I'd have to do a freq shift to fend off EMI, some sites more frequent then others, but at each site, 20Khz reigned supreme. I did experiment with gain levels at my alkali soil challenged site, and I think the higher gain settings still worked better overall. Now I did notice that I was digging more square nails then I'd like to. Don't get me wrong, almost every machine will dig some, especially when their bent or in other contorted shapes, but I felt like I was digging more then usual, of course, I was also grasping for signals at most of these sites, and I find that I tend to dig more iron in these scenarios trying to roll the dice and find that semi-masked hidden treasure.
My largest complaint is that, for me, the pistol grip is a mess. I find it very uncomfortable. I've used several other machines with pistol grip (F75, Tek Omega, CZ70 Pro, etc) and have found the pistol grip to be the best and most comfortable handle application. For me, this isn't the case on the Impact. After three days of Impact use, my right thumb was actually starting to tingle. It never felt heavy, felt lighter then my F75, albeit a bit heavier then my Racer2. The display is awesome in that it shows everything at once, but unfortunately that necessitates the need for tiny fonts. If there a way for the icon to have a magnification bubble blow up the current icon label when you cursor over it, that would be awesome, as they're currently awfully small to my eyes.
While I didn't make any amazing finds, neither did Tom. Actually IIRC at each site, I bested his period conductor count, this may be a first
At any rate, that in itself is a testament to the Impact, or any machine that can keep up with Tom 
Still lots to check out, but I feel like I'm equipped with the tools to detect almost any site/condition now.
Cal
Unfortunately someone already cleaned these sites out, and I mean clean. Some of them hardly even had iron, others still were laden with iron, but stingy on period conductors. We hunted a total of seven sites, including one we've been already working on (at least it's still producing). Not a single period coin was to be found, that was disappointing, you'd think one or two would've surfaced, but their tired sites.
This photo shows some of the relics from the stage stops. One is a little suspender(?) buckle dated 1855.
]
This Naval button and this other disc came from a stage stop. The Naval button across the top of the anchor appears to have I O U written, but it's challenging to see without a loupe:
Anyone got an ID on the button?
Last is our Western Frontier camp, it's still producing:
Things of note were the lid to a gunpowder can, and a screw on lid to a black powder can. Also found a nice ornate suspender clip, eagle buttons including an Infantry I in shield button, still no shortage of lead and Spencer shells. I'm sure there's got to be a few more good finds to be made at this site, but it's definitely thinning out.
My thoughts on the Impact after three days of hardcore detecting.
I found that at all of these sites, 20Khz worked best. I ended up detecting in Di3 mode, iron audio F1, 1 disc, 98-99 gain as often as I could or as made sense. I exclusively used the small coil from the ProPack and my new Racer2 wireless headphones.
First I loved the wireless headphones, to be honest, it's one of my favorite things about the Impact. No wires on the coil to get tangled up and nothing on the headphones, makes for such a pleasant experience when hunting around bushes and other areas where wires get easily tangled up. Oh and the audio is every bit as good as the black widows I tried, zero lag, they work perfectly for me. Also the small coil is solid, so it's perfect for hunting ghost towns and around foundations, shrubs, etc.
OK, on to the Impact. I like the audio, even though the R1 and R2 both have a Di3 mode, the audio has evolved on each machine, and the Impact audio is top notch. They even redid the overload tone and it's now pleasant to listen to, yet very functional. They obviously believe that that better the audio intelligence, the higher the chances of picking out good targets from iron and trash increases.
Having the ability to change frequencies is a game changer. My old alkali soil site that handicapped my Racer2 and F75 LTD, with just the simple change of jumping to 20Khz, no longer crippled the machine. My period conductive target count for the camp site was one of the highest yet, and although no incredible finds were made, it was a pleasure to detect and not have to try to interpret contrived and crippled audio and TIDs. Another thing I found was that most of the time I was able to put the Impact into hyper gain mode, running at 98-99 gain with 0 or 1 disc. Once and a while I'd have to do a freq shift to fend off EMI, some sites more frequent then others, but at each site, 20Khz reigned supreme. I did experiment with gain levels at my alkali soil challenged site, and I think the higher gain settings still worked better overall. Now I did notice that I was digging more square nails then I'd like to. Don't get me wrong, almost every machine will dig some, especially when their bent or in other contorted shapes, but I felt like I was digging more then usual, of course, I was also grasping for signals at most of these sites, and I find that I tend to dig more iron in these scenarios trying to roll the dice and find that semi-masked hidden treasure.
My largest complaint is that, for me, the pistol grip is a mess. I find it very uncomfortable. I've used several other machines with pistol grip (F75, Tek Omega, CZ70 Pro, etc) and have found the pistol grip to be the best and most comfortable handle application. For me, this isn't the case on the Impact. After three days of Impact use, my right thumb was actually starting to tingle. It never felt heavy, felt lighter then my F75, albeit a bit heavier then my Racer2. The display is awesome in that it shows everything at once, but unfortunately that necessitates the need for tiny fonts. If there a way for the icon to have a magnification bubble blow up the current icon label when you cursor over it, that would be awesome, as they're currently awfully small to my eyes.
While I didn't make any amazing finds, neither did Tom. Actually IIRC at each site, I bested his period conductor count, this may be a first
At any rate, that in itself is a testament to the Impact, or any machine that can keep up with Tom Still lots to check out, but I feel like I'm equipped with the tools to detect almost any site/condition now.
Cal
If you could adjust it forward/back a bit that would probably make everyone happy, as everyone's going to have different ergo requirements.
