Nokta FORS relic hunts with commentary (pic)

Alright I have spent around 18 hours in my detector proving grounds site using the Nokta unit with only the smaller coil attached.
This site I have been hunting since I started metal detecting around 5.5 years ago.
A site dates back to mid 1700s,,,loaded with iron and square nails.
This area measures roughly 60ft by 60 ft.

I at first when I started hunting this area,,,I was hunting looking for high conductors.
After a year passed,,I went to a dig all nonferrous mode of hunting.
In doing so,,I ran F75 SE model with stock and 5" coil,,running multi tone disc level 4,, as well as single tone disc level 6,,I also ran etrac with 10x12 and 6x8 self coils,,and a 5" Sunray coil.
I also have ran CTXwith stock coil in this site a lot.

I pounded this area with Deus using both 9 and 11" coils,,,using various settings many many times.
I hunted this site once with Racer 1 small coil,,and once with Racer 2 with small coil.

I don't want folks here to think,,,all square footage was covered on each and every single hunt,,,,but over the last 5 years,,I have to beleive a coil has been over most of this 60ft by60 ft area with multiple detectors and coils.

In all total using the above detectors and different coils,,,I guesstimate around 150 hours on this site. (Doesn't include Nokta relic time)
Unfortunately I didn't keep my finds from this area separate discovered with the detectors above,,,but can say they were not cup runneth over (from an overall totals standpoint).
Actually I would estimate in the 150 hours detecting this site with all the other detectors,,,I probably found about 3 times what I found with Nokta relic in only 18 hours of use at the site.
And the Deus was the clear winner with finds numbers vs the Fisher and Minelabs,,,but Deus was used more in the site.
So after 4 hunts and around 18 hours total,,,the pic shows the finds.

I hunted the first 2 hunts with 3tone,,max gain,,0 I mask, 2 ID mask
The 3rd hunt I used the same settings except lowered ID mask to level 1
The 4 th hunt I lowered ID mask to 0.

Pumping ground balance used on all hunts,,,again using smaller coil.

Very impressive unit.

And I haven't covered the whole area yet with Nokta Relic,,but I have seen enough,,,and have enough time in this site with the unit,,,I can in my mind draw some very clear conclusions.
Relic hunters,,,all I say say,,,this unit needs at least a look. And if you can get around one when a person is using in a site loaded with nails and iron,,,go for it. I think you will be impressed.






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/11/2016 02:36AM by tnsharpshooter.

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tnsharpshooter
Alright I have spent around 18 hours in my detector proving grounds site using the Nokta unit with only the smaller coil attached. This site I have been hunting since I started metal detecting around 5.5 years ago. A site dates back to mid 1700s,,,loaded with iron and square nails. This area measures roughly 60ft by 60 ft.

I don't want folks here to think all square footage was covered on each and every single hunt, but over the last 5 years, I have to beleive a coil has been over most of this 60ft by 60 ft area with multiple detectors and coils.

Actually I would estimate in the 150 hours detecting this site with all the other detectors, I probably found about 3 times what I found with Nokta relic in only 18 hours of use at the site.

Very impressive unit. And I haven't covered the whole area yet with Nokta Relic, but I have seen enough, and have enough time in this site with the unit, I can in my mind draw some very clear conclusions. Relic hunters, all I can say, this unit needs at least a look. And if you can get around one when a person is using in a site loaded with nails and iron ... go for it. I think you will be impressed.

Absolutely no argument here!

I also have several smaller-size, dedicated locations I have hunted since 1969 that I visit with every detector I seem to like and give them a serious work-out, and like your 60'X60' area, they have been hunted hard by me and many others. I absolutely love the performance and results I got with my FORS CoRe and Gold +, as well as my Racer 2's, but with the features it provides and iron-handling performance, the Relic is my own #1 all-purpose detector pick.

I keep the round 5½" DD coil mounted on my primary-use Relic because the sites I hunt, for the most part, are some of the nastiest trashiest challenges around. Exceptional detector/coil performance from the Relic & 5½" DD. But when targets are in modest amounts and ferrous debris is mainly iron nails or similar, like cut wire, then I grab my Relic with the 5½X10 Concentric coil and still get supurb results and unmask a lot of keepers.

Continue to enjoy your Nokta Relic!

Monte

A couple additional comments on Nokta Relic,,,these just my observations,,with a touch of personal preference.

I have used 2 tone,,,but I like 3tone better overall.
Why??

Using 3 tone,,detector likes to ping on a lot of the bigger iron tone wise,,I don't get this using 2 tone.

But I should caution folks here,,,when I did some testing with this detector,,,very possible to get to some nonferrous targets in nails and iron with lower tone break setting than 20,, and in 3 tone you can't go below 20 tone break setting vs using 2 tone.

Something else here,,,,and I don't see this talked about much here on the forum.

Say you are hunting with relic detector and you get either a pinging tone on iron,,or an actual iron wrap signal on iron,,,,this is actually a good thing.
Because the detector by doing is telling you where the bigger iron is,,,,hence you can go into discovery mode by circling and walking around such ferrous targets.

I can also say definitely,,,some of the finds found above,,,iron wrap signals were very close,,,so close even using a 9" coil on Deus,,,,no way to get the coil over the nonferrous without exposing the coil over the bigger ferrous.

I didn't do a in depth nonferrous dug location examination on all,,,but some of the button sized targets,,,I did. And that is what I saw.

I also would after digging targets and replacing dirt,,,would sweep to see if an iron tone would sound off,,on a lot of the targets= yes

I should note,,,if this particular detector didn't have iron volume and tone---I definitely wouldn't like it near as much.

Iron tone use,,IMO gives valuable info to use for dig,,no dig decison.

I have went back to site one additional time since posting this thread,,,,found no finds,,,and did run 2 tone with a lower tone break setting than 20.

Will hunt some more,,,what is left in site that "is " detectable,,,,if I can maybe discover some of these,,,more additional valuable info maybe gathered to better operate this detector in hard hunted sites.

May try stock coil,,and if any hits,,will compare to Deus,,,just for gee whiz.

Of and almost forget to say,,,some folks may find this useful.

I ran my CTX yesterday with stock coil,,,,didn't feel to bad,,,actually better than in the past.
I wondered about this,,,all I can figure,,,Nokta Relic hand hold is closer to CTX,,,these more similar ergonomics after running Relic detector even with the smaller coil attached,,,seemed to ready my fingers,hands,etc to better adapt to CTX.

I do know if I go on a rampage of detecting with Deus,,,then switch to CTX,,,,CTX feels terrible.
Just thought I would share this.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/13/2016 05:35PM by tnsharpshooter.

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tnsharpshooter
I have used 2 tone,,,but I like 3tone better overall. Why?? Using 3 tone,,detector likes to ping on a lot of the bigger iron tone wise,,I don't get this using 2 tone.

I like to use any of the 2-Tone Discriminate modes when hunting a wide-open area that has minimal targets, such as a beach, a sports field, some plowed fields, etc., and there I use the 5½X110 Concentric coil or, if targets are really spaced apart, I grab my R-P Relic with the standard 7X11 DD.

In any densely littered site, be it an Urban Coin Hunting location or Relic Hunting old railroad sites, most ghost towns, homesteads and barn areas, and many pioneer and military encampments, etc., were I have to deal with a lot of Iron that is closely located, I prefer to use the 3-Tone Disc. mode and the smaller 5½" DD coil. If the ferrous debris is mainly nails or other wire-like iron such as cut fence pieces, then I am fine with the 2-Tone modes. But when a lot of the ferrous trash includes sheet iron or flat iron, like washers, rusty tin and various equipment parts and the like, then I rely a lot on the 3-Tone mode's excellent audio qualities.

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tnsharpshooter
Something else here,,,,and I don't see this talked about much here on the forum. Say you are hunting with relic detector and you get either a pinging tone on iron,,or an actual iron wrap signal on iron ,,,, this is actually a good thing. Because the detector by doing is telling you where the bigger iron is,,,,hence you can go into discovery mode by circling and walking around such ferrous targets.

Yes indeed, any savvy detectorist knows you have to be alert for problems caused by some iron, mainly things like rusty tin, where you can get the TID and audio 'wrap effect.' Some rusty tin and other problem iron will, produce some TID read-puts in the mid '80s' and more often up around '94' to '96' on the Target ID ... BUT ... you will note the read-out is not locked-on and is quite jumpy and random, plus, if you listen, you can hear the Iron Audio mix in the approach and departure sweeps on most of this type of junk.

Whenever I hear any desired audio response, I like to work the coil around it to see if there is any nearby ferrous trash or, hopefully, another nearby good target. When it is a questionable response that I interpret to most likely be iron, I make several efficient sweeps around the trash to see if it might be masking a good target. In very trashy locations I make both side-to-side sweeps, and I also 'scribble' the search coil in and around brush or litter to listen for any decent target being masked by trash.

In hunting these types with very iron infested trash, I always have a small coil mounted (the 5½" DD on the Relic) to better classify potentially good and bad targets.

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tnsharpshooter
I also would after digging targets and replacing dirt,,,would sweep to see if an iron tone would sound off,,on a lot of the targets= yes

Always good, and a learning experience, to re-sweep over a spot after target retrieval.

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tnsharpshooter
I should note,,,if this particular detector didn't have iron volume and tone---I definitely wouldn't like it near as much. Iron tone use,,IMO gives valuable info to use for dig,,no dig decison.

I do like my FORS CoRe and hunt with it a lot, but mainly if the only iron present is nails. When I hunt the very trashy old railroad ghost towns I have chosen for many decades, I can audibly classify that type of iron junk most of the time.

But, when the ferrous debris is abundant, and especially when it includes a lot of odd-sized iron or sheet-type iron, then I really enjoy having the Iron Audio Volume of the Relic (or the Makro Racer 2) which really makes hunting these types of sites much more tolerable and really becomes a pleasure to search them.

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tnsharpshooter
May try stock coil,,and if any hits,,will compare to Deus,,,just for gee whiz.

The stock 7X11 DD coil works quite well, and just remember that you can be best served if you do not use a fast sweep speed. This is really true if you encounter many targets close together.

Monte

Monte, (or anyone else that uses the FORS Relic and R2)

How do you decide which detector unit is taken out of the vehicle to your site(s)? Are there factors on each site that determine which one is deployed? If there are, what are the "factors" you take into consideration to determine which machine is utilized? Having never used either machine, I am curious to why you may select one over the other. Are they not pretty much equal in performance (depth, reactivity, separation abilities etc) in plucking out the non-ferrous in ferrous hot spots? Does 5khz really make that much of a difference? 14khz R2 Vs. 19khz Fors Relic?


Nokta makes the claim ".... unbelievable unmasking capabilities for Relic and Coin Hunting. " With all your years of experience, do you find this to be a true statement? I am not knocking Nokta, I would like to know if their detector, particularly the FORS Relic, live up to this claim. Nothing less, nothing more.


Nokta FORS Deep Mode (DEP) - If you, Monte; (or anyone else for that matter) have used this mode, what kind of depth have you achieved at finding tokens, coins, jewelry, buttons etc. ?

Do you feel the FORS Relic sacrifices depth (compared to other detectors you have used) for its other great qualities it has achieved?

This leads me to my next question: Swift Mode = it mentions in the literature that this mode "offers slightly less depth" but faster target detecting and recover speed in trashy sites. IF you have used this mode, what kind of depth loss have you noticed, if any?

My last question: at 3.9lbs does the FORS feel like swinging a brick on one end or is it a well balanced 3.9lbs?