What makes the CZ-5 special?

There is something about the CZ-5 Quicksilver I just like. I find it hard to put a finger on what exactly it is, but there is something about it that resonates with me. I can’t tell for sure if it is the way it works, or sounds, or looks, but something about it really draws me. Which left me wondering as I didn’t feel this way about the CZ-3D.

My CZ-5 needed a new knob. One of the knobs had broken and had been replaced with a temporary radio shack dial. So I called Fisher and spoke to Art, telling him I needed a new knob for my CZ-5. He told me they no longer had parts for the CZ-5, so I said, “how about the CZ-3D?. No problem said Art, I’ll send one right out, no charge. And he did. Thank you Fisher!.

So my new CZ-3D knob arrived a couple of days later and I happily replaced the radio shack dial. And that is where it dawns on me what makes the CZ-5 seem more special to me. It has that valuable instrument look and feel, part of which is conveyed by the knobs. The CZ-5 has those Bakelite style dials, while the CZ-3D has the modern day plastic dials.

That valuable instrumentation look and feel, combined with the audio and performance makes the CZ-5 Quicksilver seem like a real treasure hunting tool to be used and cherished.

Funny what a dial style can do to something.

Now I’m on a search for a complete set of those original CZ-5 knobs. If you know where I can get one or more of them, give me a shout.

HH
Mike

I agree. I have a cz 70 pro and a cz6a on the way. Now need the 5. By the way have extra set of the smaller cz knobs but do not want to let them go for now. The original knobs a bit larger in diameter..cz's are hard to beat but they do LOVE iron.

Thanks Sonny.
I find that if I keep my ground balance spot on I get a lot less iron bias and a lot less low tone ground noise. But my ground is more mineralized than most so it is easier to keep it balanced as the balance window is smaller, basically about a 1/16" range on the dial.

Got a call in to Keith Wills about the dials.

HH
Mike

Hey Mike,
Never had the 5 but have a couple 3Ds and a 70Pro. I know what you mean IRT the knobs. I know the ones on the 3D are not as nice, I remember Tom saying how he would like to see the build quality on the 3D like the 70Pro however it would have been too expensive especially if it was weather proof.


Aaron

Czs to me seem like a Big Bud Pro with boost...Which in itself was the descendant of the great Teknetics coin computers

Might be why alot of people like them..

the Big Bud Pro loves coins and easily gets them to a certain depth...the Cz like's coins and gets them easily to a certian depth...

I alway's wondered if the Cz was not built in the lines of a George Payne unit in alot of way's.. the audio is very similar...

Keith

The audio on a CZ is very distinctive especially the hi tone, it has a really nice "pop".
The CZs learning curve is not really to steep (except for the rusty round head screws and bent nails!).
Probably why people continue to use/love them.

Aaron

May have something to do with the audio as was first CZ with an outside speaker...Personally I think the CZ6A its predecessor without an exterior speaker had a unique tone and was the best of the lot relative CZ's and of course had the old knobs not the new plastic ones. Come to think of it as Keith alludes to the red big bud pro tones were pretty close.

Those old Payne Teknetics machines from the 80s probably had the most uniquest sounds ever on a detector.

It would be cool to have those tones on a modern machine.

Aaron

Agree Aaron. I still have two Mark 1's. A real joy to me to occasionaly hunt with. Nothing to me beats the ATI tones.

Steve

Aaron,,, George was on one of the forums a few years back and seemed to have a real interest in what people wanted...

but that was before the economy went sour...

But He did say he could build a minature Mark 1 with todays technology available .

Could you imagine a Mark 1 in a tesoro size umax box...

Or better yet a DEUS size box!!!

Keith

Lets he the battery technology kept pace also as those suckers used 16 batteries and the old big bud pro ate two nine volts. Remember I had rechargeable 9 volts and they lasted two hours on the button and could set my watch on this time as it did not vary...

Keith, yes I remember George on another little known forum about 8yrs ago and he expressed interest in making a new machine, alas...2008 was a game changer for everyone.

I always wanted the red Mark LTD, and you can still find them but the ergonomics/weight are terrible plus why bother when today's tech is so far advanced and you only have so much time to hunt?

Yeah that would be cool to pack all that in a 2014 package Keith.


Aaron

I alway's wondered though did the Big Bud Pro have the modulated audio like the CZ's? Where the deeper the target the softer the sound? I always wondered this as some say they all sound the same on the Big Bud Pro deep or shallow? But the Mark I is suppose to have Modulated audio from what I have heard as never had one. I love Modulated audio preferably with some type of tone I.D. and preferably adjustable like The CZ and Minelab Explorer -Etrac series. Then I can just listen for that certain soft deep tone and dig with out keeping my eye's glue to the meter in trashier spot's.

Yes Dan they were battery hogs for sure...

i have not ran one in a couple of decades though.

But I will tell a quick story..

I was down on a site below Atlanta a few years ago maybe 7 or 8 years ago ....And I was running a Fisher...and the Guy I met up with was using a Mark 1 that day..actually it was his only machine and he was 83 years old and terminally ill but still wanted to dig relics..I had Known/hunted with him for year's......

Well the site was on a civil war camp but also full of modern trash to galore..we were talking and working through an area that had produced in the past but was just extrmeley trashy since the bulldozers had moved so much top soil around.And I was digging aluminum like crazy along with evey other imaginable thing ......I was at an disadvantage since I had no meter..but still he was cherry picking the dog out of some 3 ringers in that site with that dead lock meter/tone on the Mark 1...

There was another buddy there with a CZ 5 and he was doing no better since the Bullets read double Pulltab and the area was littered with those..

The mark 1 would read a bullet as a trash item too but it had a different undeniable tone that we did not have...

I got the explorer out of the truck and did no better than him actually he was out doing me in that trash since the explorer cursor would never settle down ..Still not sure he dug any trash that day LOL!!!

those machiens arent that deep but they sure do have a heck of an I.d. system..He even pulled a couple fo Mercurys out of there that day....

He had the hipmount option..and it still ran perfect...Very good machine's for modern trash even To this day...Very Very Accurate!!

Yes Teknetics and Whites probably had the best analog meters ever. First machine I bought in 86' was the 6000Di Pro.
That meter could tell the difference between zinc/copper, clad/silver and pretty deadly w nickels too.

Aaron

In regards to George Payne---the micro Mark 1 is not dead yet! Recently spoke with a friend of his that communicates with him often. Will say though as most are aware the product development and production cost would not be cheap. And George is not getting any younger.

As Aaron said probably the best analog meters ever made. A unigue design about the Mark 1 is that a fringe depth target doesn't id as iron. It defaults to a high tone. The audio on the Mark 1 is definitely one of a kind. One definitely knows when silver is there. Not the best unit for unmasking. Worse than a CZ and actually the weight/balance isn't as bad as it looks. At least not to me.

Probably still on of the best clad hunters out there in light to moderate mineralization in light trash. A cherry picker for sure..

Guys with George Payne help I have constructed a hybrid digital/analog micro mark 1. It uses the original large circuit board but was designed as small as one could possibly make it. It has a 4 digit LCD to ho along with the meter to assist in target identification.New 6 cell lithium battery pack,and much lighter. Without Georges help this would have never been possible. Should have pics and a video in the next week. Been working a lot but I'm ready to take it out and do some detecting.

A number of us have been patiently waiting to hear your good news.

DeepTech Vista X with 3 search coils.
Works for me

Sounds great..

thanks for the info

Keith

kasparov747 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Guys with George Payne help I have constructed a
> hybrid digital/analog micro mark 1. It uses the
> original large circuit board but was designed as
> small as one could possibly make it. It has a 4
> digit LCD to ho along with the meter to assist in
> target identification.New 6 cell lithium battery
> pack,and much lighter. Without Georges help this
> would have never been possible. Should have pics
> and a video in the next week. Been working a lot
> but I'm ready to take it out and do some
> detecting.

Great news. And you would be selling it "for" them in a sense? Any more details? Videos?
Would love to have a blast from the past like that out.

Looking forward,
Albert