What Cscope model do you use?

Just out of interest, I was wondering what model everyone is using right now?  I love hearing about people who have used the older models for some time with great effect.  Answer below!

Using 18yr old Cs mirage almost daily in summer. Motion/all metal type machine. 10p @8 1/2, viccy@ 9", 1p@7 1/2",5p@5". Smaller items 3-4". Will work in all ground inc black sand without losing depth. Brilliant. Also use 3mx.

Hiya, Sandscan!

Never heard of that model. Interesting in hearing more about it though

The Cs mirage was produced early to mid 1990s ,on the evolutionary scale somewhere between the cs660 and mx5. A deep-seeking machine suitable for beginner or professional, with the advantage of full motion discrimination or at the flip of a toggle switch , all metal search mode and precise pinpoint. The search head is 10" polo and batteries are two pp3. It is happy to run on rechargeable ,best if these are topped up before use and a spare carried. It will reliably locate all the best coins and relics as fast as you can dig them and above all it is great fun to use !

I remember the Mirage, wasn't it a collaboration between Cscope and Peach Ideas. I can't recall anyone using one around here, then again I seemed to be the only one flying the Cscope flag in Gloucestershire .Here is a list of the Cscopes I've owned:

1220b
Metadec2
4zx mk.1 & 2
8 sst
R1
1220R
6 mxi

The 1220b was a brilliant machine but the tuning drifted about a lot. Being black didn't help. But I found masses of great finds with it. Can't remember much about the Metadec 2 . The 4zx had a number of mechanical and electronic problems from the start and to be fair Cscope sorted them, but things continued to go wrong and eventually I was given a new replacement machine, great service. It was perfect but I'd lost confidence in the design. The R1, I didn't like it!   8sst this was a smashing little machine that really suited me. I think the circuit was a George Payne design based on the Treasure Barron, which I used and liked. But weighed a ton.  I seemed to find silver every outing with the 8sst.(George Payne was also responsible for the Compass Coin Scanner Pro. one of my all time favourites.....and allegedly the cscope R1 and 4zx)

The 1220 R , Well this one started with a coil problem which Cscope sorted very quickly. They also gave me a 5 inch coil. It was getting a lot of flack on forums for lack of depth, but I found by working slowly the depth would often surprise me. I did rather well with it, but ultimately it was too slow and still needed a fair amount of retune button pressing. I just got it out of the spare room to give it a go for an hour or so but the 8" coil isn't working, disappointing.

6 MXI, could this be the best Cscope ever, I think so. Its light, has fast recovery, and the audio is so informative. Now I've got it set how I want it, I'm getting great results. I thought being a high frequency machine it would lack depth, but it goes plenty deep enough and has good sensitivity. Brilliant.

Hi Bazday, yes the 6mxi is the best general purpose relic hunter and archaelogical survey metal detector available.

On the circuit board of the mirage are three adjustable pots. Threshhold, ground and ac gain. I do not advocate touching any pre-set and the company can custom fit your machine to your requirements if you are not a dab hand at such things. I did not touch the positions, but removed them from the board and took note of the values by multimeter. Set three other panel mounted pots to the same value and marked the location as default. Shortened and hardwired the coil cable to comfortable minimum length. Cut the handle of the machine off just about flush with the control box front and fitted a socket and spring loaded dowel pin. Put the whole thing back together after changing out all the elecaps . Wow. Not really sure if it ever a good idea to run an amp flat-out ! Get it out on stable dry sand to set it up. All pots in default, set to motion, switch on power to max depth, disc to 0 ,turn down gain till chatter stops, switch to all metal, set threshold to level same as sound when re-set is operated, check ground setting. The automatic ground control is excellent anyway so no probe here. Now you can move onto black sand. Observe where chatter starts and change swing direction and speed to minimise. Best to wait till tide has been out for sometime on a sunny day. Learn to ignore any vlf chatter. The sound of a signal coming through will be entirely different, or be a fast two way signal. You will have the advantage of discrimination and no loss of depth. The point of the handle modification is that your machine will now fit into small pack, handy for international travel, bike, or hike. Do please take a long time to carefully consider any mod before reaching for solder or hacksaw.

Hi Sandscan, you have certainly given your mirage a good seeing to. Has accessing the presets externally resulted in a really significant increase in performance. I know searching on damp sand is challenging, I only ever detected the beach with a pulse induction so was pretty much immune to the sand, but the lack of discrimination was very frustrating, so many pulltabs and coke cans. No, beach hunting is not for me .
The handle mod is one I have carried out on a number of detectors, I cycle to many of my sites so a compact detector package is very useful.  

Just to change the subject a little. Are you and I the only people on this forum? Its very quiet isn't it .

I'm always here .

Yes , i noticed a massive difference in power of the machine when i could adjust instantly from panel. Not that the factory could not have serviced and set it up, as they were happy to do, as well as offering me a very reasonable upgrade on the circuit board. I was working on a particularly heavily mineralised site , the worst in uk geologically, on a project for a local museum in a fairly remote region. Conditions were variable and i needed to be sure i could alter the ac gain at will. I really like that circuit board, have had spectacular results with it. In my opinion it is an inspired work of genius. Like you i am really a relic hunter , in particular for the bronze age . I have no desire for pull tabs,but, have the full set. Shotgun caps are interesting, much to be learned from them!!! Strata, soil conditions, ballistics that tell me which gun has been used in which area. Pinfires are a favorite. I work the beach to pay my bills and i live well! Early morn and late evening when coast is clear. Pick up all the broken glass and litter, keep this handy should anyone enquire what i am doing. Self interest as makes it easy and more pleasant. The mirage is easy to read so can compete for territory in this v competitive game. Came out tops last year on every count. Audio is spot-on whether head phone or not. Cscope is unsurpassed master of the latter if you don't like headphones. A hearing test can determine how much hearing remains to you, then you can run the audio of machine on the sound card of computer to verify you are not missing anything. The case of the machine can be modified in the manner of hi-fi speaker. An analogue sound limiter can also be fitted by use of thin card and one layer of masking tape, hole 1mm x2mm over speaker. Another way is to open out the diameter of speaker hole till film cannister lid just fits, pin hole in center of, remove when ambient noise increases so you can catch the finest nuances ,esp useful in the heavily mineralised . No we are not the only ones online, got to choose words with care :-)

I'm lost your Tec knowledge is way above my head ,,,,, but a good read

Great post Sandscan, plenty of things to think about....and I like your beach etiquette.

It'll take some time for the forum to filter through to Google. Hopefully then, we'll see more Cscope users joining up.

Im always lurking and reading. Some great posts going on at the moment!

'Mornin ! , i did not edit or re-read my previous posts. So made a small error when saying a 1lt discarded container will make an emergency panel cover . Its a 2lt. Perhaps with the advent of 3d printers, a little design competition for better? Any retired engineers or skilled model makers ? Gauntlet down! Open source only.

Underwater cameras have clear plastic cases that look very well and they work. The only problem i can see is how to waterproof the rotary switch adaptor, presumably contacting the existing switch by a short rubber bushing. The external switch could have seals and o rings . All i found so far was toggle switch covers (nice) and complete subsea rotary switches for rov's . Don't even think it. £. Otherwise, how can i get my cs4pi out to where all the treasure is ?

I do have 3d printer and cnc mill available . There is a network of such machines in the uk for use free of charge. Probably one near your location :-)

Hi ! Do you hate digging shotgun caps? They are often found in association with good coins. Wealthy gentlemen dump thier ammo into shooting jacket pockets which also contain coins. All 'guns' complain about loosing change when drawing a re-load. Two caps close together on the ground indicate a very high quality shotgun. This is because the ejector is adjusted properly, a critical test of a decent gun.

I have never found an ancient bronze-age /stone-age trackway that was not also marked by concentrations of shotgun caps etc. Another pet hate of mine, apart from persons using drainpipes, or md machines other than cscopes , is the manner in which excavations are carried out. Its awful to see live digs on you tube that look like persons are hacking timber or planting potatoes....beware of the sight of unfilled holes, persons who do not conform to societies rules are about.

Just found this forum, so i'll add my fourpenneth worth. Started detecting with a Cscope back in the late seventies, can't remember the model and didn't continue with the hobby, but the bug bit again in the mid eighties when i bought a K5000 kit, what i really wanted was a Promet or a Metadec but they were too expensive at the time at £400 and £450, a lot of money in 1985. Didn't really understand the K5000, too many knobs (six) and a toggle switch on the handle, so interest waned again. Fast forward to 2013 and i bought a Promet II off ebay quickly followed by a 1220B, great machines, easy to use with good depth. I am now looking to complete the set with a Metadec II, watching ebay but nothing yet. I have since bought two modern machines, a Fisher F4 and a Fisher F75se but i still like to take the C Scope's out, so easy to use and their audio is so informative. So if anybody has a Metadec 2 stashed in their attic i could be interested.

Really happy all you with a lot more Cscope experience are now joining.

I didnt know much about the detectors before the current batch, but do now