Worst Metal Detectors

[trashdude]

LoL, Just curious......

What is the worst detector you've ever seen or used??

My personal experience was when I first started out. I bought a Radio Shack detector for
$175 (thier flag ship model). Thought I was going to set the world on fire. It worked somewhat good for the first couple of months until the coil cable snapped off. I ended up trading it to "DirtFishinDale" for my whites XLT. What a deal (oh right----and with some cash too).

However, I actually I saw one in the Harbour Freight Tool sales magazine made by Chicago Electric for $59.99 that might be better.

Anyway----Your thought/stories

 

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[RUDY2003]

A friend of mine bought one from Harbor Freight for 19.95 to locate property stakes but it wouldn't even fick up a nickle laying on top of the ground.......

 

[jeff of pa]

Relco Build it Youself

 

[trashdude]

HAHaHa....RUDY, they actually had a detector for $19.95 Very funny.

Never heard of a RELCO. Did they also make records? Oh Right that was RONCO. My bad.

 

[bakergeol]

Relco Build it Youself

Relco Frontiersman bought used for $10. I was taken. The guy
who sold it to me was probably laughing all the way home.

George

 

[PBK]

If pressed down hard, a Relco could almost detect a Kenworth through a wet Kleenex.

Even for a cheaply built BFO of its day, it was incredibly bad... squalled like a tomcat being disemboweled with a butter knife, and most of the "signals" were really just sudden, erratic drifting.

How bad was it?

To this day, I still feel ashamed that I sold mine (about the next day after I got it) instead of taking it under cover of darkness to the county landfill.

 

[rockhound]

I tied out a Chinese made detector recently that was pretty bad. I know that before modern technology can along, there were some pretty bad models on the market. But in recent years most companies have migrated to VLF and motion detector technology, almost eliminating the constant retuning required for ground and mineral changes. I have used BFO and non motion detectors with good success, but neither were good discriminators and needed constant retune or adjustments. You can learn a lot about how detectors work by starting out with older technology equipment. It also causes you to appreciate where we were and where we are now.

 

[Monty]

My worse was a Chinese import that looked really good on "Kaatco's" (not the real name) brochure. My first to be sure. It had a whole bunch of flames, stripes and monster eyes for decoration which really turned me on. Not! It was supposed to be similar to our domestic top of the line for only $450.00! And I got $300.00 worth of free stuff with it! WOW! Heck of a deal! So, I fires it up and goes prospecting. Hmmm, icon shows gold ring....dig...dig....wow, a ring! A rusted steel washer! Ok, OK just getting started...icon shows a silver quarter....dig...dig...dig....dig....dig...sdig some more, down to 8" now and bingo! A a squashed aluminum soft drink can! Hunt, hunt, hunt...signal.. a silver dime! Icon can't lie? Dig, dig, dig, three inches and yess, yessssss, a zinc penny with the edges w orn off. Ring, Ring, Ring...hello, Kaatco? This Chinese detector is junk, and I don't mean a boat! Yes, I'd like to trade it and no, I don't want to keep the $300.00 worth of freebies. Ok, I'll trade it for a $300.00 American made Schlotnik 400! Oh and $400 worth of the same worthless freebie junque I got with the "dragon" detector. The Schlotnik 400 was a much better detector and I kept it for nearly two months before I sold it! End of story. M nty

 

[billjustbill]

This is a gutzy question. It reminded me of a publication dealing with R/C airplanes... The editor of the national publication gave a super bad evaluation of a ready-built biplane. It was a heavy model for the engine it listed for power and for the wingspan/wingloading.
The company that sold the kit sued him in court. End result was a Notice made by the editor that in the future he would only review good model plane kits and if you didn't see it evaluated it should tell the readers something....

Thank goodness for "Consumer Reports"....

Bill ;>)

 

[Sandman]

My worst was a Bounty Hunter that would sound off if you even held it still four feet off the ground. My experience at the time was with BFO's and TR's. I moved up to a Whites Pulse and thought I could use some discrimination, hense the BH. It fell apart before I could wrap it around a tree.

 

[jeff of pa]

Yep the first one $19.95 Kit
got its signal through an AM Radio
mounted in a Basket on the Handle.
Had to Wrap my own Coil,
which was blue Plastic & Shaped like
a 3 tier Flying Saucer.
& Had my Neighbor Do the Solderiing
for the Tuner. Got him intrested in detecting By Proxy Though

About a year later RELCO Offered me a Trade up
to the Frontiersman for $129.95
which wasn't much better. only difference
I think the AM Radio was hidden in the control Box :P

I was able to find my dads Pick-up with both of them
at 3"

 

[Dirt Fishin Dale]

Trashdude:
I sold your old detector to my next door neighbor for 35 bucks. I am happy to announce he moved to Tennessee and took it with him. I hope he talks to me again.

Dale

 

[trashdude]

Dale,

I'm sure you made a new enemy with Jim. You should be ashamed of yourself for taking the man's $35.

 

[trashdude]

WHAT THA!!!!!!!!

Michigan,

You win.......That's one craptacular detector. It was built outta wood, no wonder it floated.

 

[Michigan Badger]

WHAT THA!!!!!!!!

Michigan,

You win.......That's one craptacular detector. It was built outta wood, no wonder it floated.

Ya, you had to keep the coil at least an inch from a steel pole barn or ya got an erratic signal.

 

[Dirt Fishin Dale]

Michigan,

I would love to take that out to the beach. Just imagine the looks you would get.
And plus you would never lose it in the surf, it would just wash back up.

Dale

 

[Michigan Badger]

Michigan,

I would love to take that out to the beach. Just imagine the looks you would get.
And plus you would never lose it in the surf, it would just wash back up.

Dale

Ya too and with this detector you'd never have to worry about somebody stealing it.

 

[trashdude]

Wasn't this detector once in the Smithsonian Institute? If it wasn't, it should be.

 

[stevesno]

My worst was also a Radio Shack BFO.....The grass blades brushing against the coil would give the coil a falsing signall....More recently the Fisher ID EXCEL....Its for sale....Steve

 

[Dirt Fishin Dale]

SWEET! And it's on a cattle gate to boot.