Vintage Garrett metal detector still works!

[treasurefiend]

its a Garrett Mini-Hunter "Ghostowner", the meter still works but the audio doesn't, I show it being used in the driveway over a dime, quarter, and my keys. I thought it was cool, enjoy.

 

[tennessee digger]

That is an old one. I used to have a Garrett Groundhog and a Garrett Deepseeker. They have always been pretty good machines. What year was yours made? Tennessee digger

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Cool vid!

 

[homefires]

BFO/s Not much to them. You can get the audio working.

If it has a Ear Phone Jack jack in and out of it a few times to see if the Speaker starts working.

See if the Ear Phones work.

 

[Gregmid40]

A little help to a fellow detectorist.

its a Garrett Mini-Hunter "Ghostowner", the meter still works but the audio doesn't, I show it being used in the driveway over a dime, quarter, and my keys. I thought it was cool, enjoy.

Yes Treasurefiend. What you have is a Garrett's Mini Hunter Ghost(towner) BFO detector. It's weird with the way they spelled it but that's the correct pronunciation for what you've got. It was made back in 1972. It is of B.F.O. design meaning the signal transmitted and received back to the detector is a beat frequency oscillation signal. Sounds like either you had the volume turned way down on the left knob or your speaker isn't working but when you go directly over the coin, etc. It should increase in pitch without having to wave the coil back and forth like the later-model vlf types commonly used nowadays. Even though not a powerfully deep-penetrating detector like the newer TR, PULSE, VLF, ULF detectors, they were simpler in design and technique than all these new(er) detectors. Oh, and thus they were and still are much more simple to repair than these complicated and sometimes one piece circuitboard designs nowadays. If you have a burnt out capacitor or resistor in a modern one, you might as well throw the whole thing out and go out and get a whole new one. A lot of these new ones can (not) be worked on because the capacitors, transistors, and resistors, etc. are miniaturized and put in place by a robot. So unless you have fingers the size of an ant, forget about it. Enjoy the simplicity that is these old detectors and just remember simplicity is a beautiful thing when it comes to these older machines. Ps., there is also a phenomenon with modern digital detectors called masking. That's when you go over a target and you're in the trash notch-out mode.If your detector is notching out a trash target, there could be a good target right beside it. The machine will mask the good target as it notches out the bad one. So let your ears be your best judge of what's down there in the ground and on these newer ones, don't use too much discrimination. Sorry to be long-winded but I hope this will encourage you to appreciate these older machines. Happy hunting....

 

[Jim in Idaho]

its a Garrett Mini-Hunter "Ghostowner", the meter still works but the audio doesn't, I show it being used in the driveway over a dime, quarter, and my keys. I thought it was cool, enjoy.

Good units...I've got a master Hunter BFO that dates back to the late 60's/early 70's. It still works fine...meter and audio.
Jim