Greetings and a broad question/s

Hi all,


I played about with a detector as a child and was fascinated but did not continue. It was a Tandy with about 8 knobs but I cannot remember what they all did.

I am in the wilderness of deciding on what to buy, and have been looking at a range of similar priced units, all of which offer screens, and programms galore.

I have a budget of £390 and am heading towards a 3xmi with some spare for a pointer.

I have gotten the impression that 'x V's y' type topics often go badly or are tiresome to the regulars in the hobby, so am not asking for specific impressions on the above models that I have been looking at.

My reason for going towards C-scope is that while on holiday in France a bloke in a nearby camper got talking with me and lent me his ancient C-scope. Two knobs- looked really dated. I forget the model. I was sceptical, but he explained the greatness of c-scope among other makes and it is this impression of the brand that draws me now. British, simple, sturdy, reliable, quality, minimal gimmicks etc. I went on to hoover up euros all day which got the kids a good number of ice creams, and saw me back in the child-like excitement of exploring.

He said that the LCD world of detectors is in his opinion a gimmick. That, many times when some detectors 'tell' you what you've got, there are proven exceptions that ultimately void the sure-fire certainty of what marketing promises will offer. Similarly there are a number of item and environmental combinations that will escape notching settings or give false settings that breach the 'ideal' screening setups that are available.

The Garret Ace 250 appeals to me given it's widespream acclaim, but i rate it lesser intuitively than the CS4xmi partly because of all the 'noise'. Many of the positive reports are simple 'thumbs-up's where people don't enter into, or haven't found the flaws. I consider that some of the money went on the screen, the many buttons etc. There's more to go wrong? Then there's that it's bright yellow (?!), and seems loaded with 'tricks' that as above seem to have many exceptions. I can't see the value in starting with user friendly features that still require the learning of 'workarounds' and exceptions. I think I'd rather put in the effort by learning the controls on the 4xmi and live without a screen.

Are the current and future c-scope buyers missing out by not buying another brand of detector with a screen and many auto-setup programs, notching etc? I just doubt it... If it is the case that people buy and use C-scopes and manage (do well) without all the help of a screen etc, then why buy and rely on another layer of technology?

Finally a guy in one of the large UK MD stores said that C-scope were outdated (that they had not kept up with the advance of detectors globally) and (yet also?) that they copied other's technology. I don't really know what to make of it all...

Does this make any sense? Sorry it's such a -stream of consciousness post! None of this is evidence, or research. It's opinion and is not meant in incite argument. I have found the market place a strange world with C-scope seeming to stay with a format that is not common anywhere else, but that given they are still in business there must me something to it... right?

i,m not a cscope user yet. welcome to the site

Helloooooo!

Well, firstly I can only give you opinion via my own experience. Unfortunately a lot of people have opinions on machines, but have never used the machines they have opinions about. So concerning the Garret, I have no idea other than I know it's popular.

A lot of the bigger companies (Garret/Minelab etc) are focused on making detectors, where Cscope make a range of products. These guys push a LOT of money into promotion, where Cscope do very little, if any. So I'm quite dubious of forum posts etc hugely promoting some products, as I think a lot are from the companies themselves.

That said, I can give you my thoughts.

Firstly, my 6MX has found me a lot of stuff. And it ALWAYS keeps up with the higher end models when I go out with my friends. Sometimes, it does better. I have absolutely no doubt in this machine. I've pulled up a lot great finds including hammereds at some depth. Also, testing the machine alongside others, I think the recovery time is top notch as well. It really is quick.

You only have to see my videos to see what I find with it.

I loved the 3MX. I found my first hammered coin with it, so I always look on it fondly. We have a guy at our old club who swears by his, and has had staters, hammereds, you name it. I think its a great little machine.

As is the 4MX.

They are all brilliant on batteries. They are very very robust (when I was detecting in Latvia, my 6MX got buried by a JCB. After finding it, and then pulling it out, the coil then got run over by the JCB. Works fine)

I have friends who have screens on their machines, and a lot of the time they are pretty inaccurate. Im really, not bothered about a screen. My concentration is on tones. I like simplicity, so I can focus.

I like Cscope as a company. They are British, and you'll not find a company with better support. If you have a problem, it's seen to super quick. Plus, they go that extra mile to help customers. I like the fact I can ring them, rather than having to wait for a company in America to get back to me.

When it really comes down to it, I'd say this:

20% is your machine.
20% is research.
10% is technique.
50% is pure luck.

I think we get caught up in how good machines are sometimes, when really, they all do the job. The rest of it is down to you, and luck.

Hope it helps in someway

ATB

Everything atb says is right on , I have a 6mxi which I love , so on the dack of that I got a 4pi aswell , and I more than happy

Thanks all for that, esp' ATB for a comprehensive and useful reply.
Very much affirmed my impressions and what I could glean from others input across the internet.
In the end I found a little more cash and bought the 6 but am yet to use it...

You're the guy on youtube, right? Love the vids- you are soooo happy makes me laugh

I am!

Keep us posted as to what you're finding with the 6MX

good luck with your 6mx

your going to love your 6mxi

wise choice,

good luck with it

Good luck with your 6mx! Take your time to get used to it, and dig everything that even remotely sounds good.

AddictedToBleeps wrote:I am!

Keep us posted as to what you're finding with the 6MX

Well,
First find in total darkness was a button with a lamb? embossed in it.

Since then (again in the dark but this time with 7 year old daughter on torch duties), 17 pence in 1 + 2p pieces. Two small brass bells- children lost these themselves. Alloy eagle wing? Large piece of bicycle, foil, foil, foil, Bombed pie factory?, pigeon tag!

Basically the garden is full of trash. With the settings 'open', a sweep across anywhere in the garden sounds like something Aphex Twin might produce after too much coffee

I have taken to setting Iron Vol-0, Disc-10, Disc Vol-0, but still get foil sounding clear and high tone?

Even then there are chirps and pops going on. I have air tested with, steel, copper, silver, bronze, alloys and it performs fine and as it should, even recovering very quick to discern between them, so I don't doubt the 6 itself.

The garden is so trashy that with nearly all the spade holes about a foot square, the (Xpointer) pinpointer produces 2 iron/trash finds along with the item I was going for.

All in, it's great fun, and good practice. Looking forward to getting insurance, joining club, and getting a permission where I can get into the swing of it, without Aphex Twin!

And why do they have to make the signal (to headphones) soooooo loud?!

Am sure there's a good reason!