Dave Johnson in my opinion and by Others I'm sure should be considered

One of the true Great designers of metal detectors in the last 30 years..and maybe in our detecting lifetime's

I think back on all my machines and there's one common thread that is linking MY favorites together..

What's that LInk??

Dave Johnson..

from the

126X series ..Ultimate boundary pushing and exceeding depth against all other's..and Simplistic..4 knobs battery test and trigger..untouchable on depth..

The Tesoro Lobo ...Tesoro had a Great disc circuit But Dave Took it to a New level and also a simplistic Still relevant design..3 knobs 2 switches unbelievable ground tracking..

The Whites MXT....Whats there to say...that's the machine that well personally will go down in history as the Best design they have ever had in my opinion.. And the sells number's dont lie..the epitome of work horse and do it all..And do it all well..and also Very simplistic...yet complex programming going on behind the scenes..the simple turn of a knob of the sensitivity does alot more than turn up the sensitivity..Unbelievable ground tracking..

The Troy X5..Another Legend and also very simplistic and straightforward..

The Fisher CZ...Well what's there to say an Coin Hunting legend and push the limits of depth and I.D in one of the most simplistic highest performance coin hunter machines ever..

The T2 I mean come on the first Time I held the T2 a decade ago I knew it was a Legendary design...It was fast it was accurate it was LIghtweight it looked like no other unit ever built...it did basically what no other unit at the time could do..

Fisher F75..Boundaries pushed further built off the T2 platform but with added Process' ..

I think Dave has even mentioned in the 80s he built a Discriminating P.I. but it was shelved.. heck no one else has yet reliably have they??

This is where we have to give credit were credit is due and pay attention to what we have seen and hopefully will see..

Dave In my opinion is a True Renaissance man of the detector world..

So many thoughts and ideas go into the machines from style and symmetry to ease of use yet unparalleled or at least equal to others performance in that design intent.Even started a Coil revolution with the BiAxial design..it looks like No other Now the rest of the world has caught on.

And whats not to be taken lightly is the Models he builds for the say Whites tesoro or fisher even troy are some of the finest Design they have ever turned out..


Kudos to Dave..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Dave needs another home run with fisher or where ever he is working. I think these companies spend more time selling all over the world and making money and not designing the next hybrid that works and stuns us with new features and depth and unmasking...Oh well there is the Racer and new Relic detector on the market and the Deus. Why has the good old USA got caught with its pants down. Europe seems to rock and it is just getting harder to find areas to hunt.

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

Omega 8000 is my dave fav.

It was interesting a few years ago when I saw a list of Dave.J machine,all my favorite machines are D.J designed.
Fisher cz's,,tesoro lobo supertraq,,1266x Fisher,,,--Teknetics T2,,,I believe my Greeks are to his credit also.

------------"Cz's still bad to the bone".------------
Living on a big ass Astroid.
The woman that got my rib,I want it back.

Since Mr Johnson has been mentioned.

Some great reading here for folks. I'm sure some have seen,, but not all.

And the halo effect,, he discusses this.

Happy reading

[www.fisherlab.com]

I think FT should look at releasing a Dave J Ltd Edition top end unit - or something to that effect -

I have only been in this hobby a tadpole fart & I for one fully respect all that this man has done for metal detectorists around the world -

What a way to honor such a legend in the industry -

Dave J. is a Hall of Famer for sure.

Still finds time to answer questions on the forums, always a straight shooter.

He sure has some nice accolades to his name....you got to love the T2

detectingMO Wrote:
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> Omega 8000 is my dave fav.

I believe it's one of Dave's favorite design as well. It's a good one!

tabman

It's amazing his designs are so good when he doesn't detect himself. Really hard to be that in touch with out being in touch. He finds a way! He been busy on new and important things at FT I believe.

Get Dave on the payroll over at Tesoro. I'm ready to see them come back from the dead and whip some ___.

I like the Dave J. machines a lot too. My Omega was a favorite of mine, and I foolishly sold it.

thumperjones Wrote:
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> Get Dave on the payroll over at Tesoro. I'm ready
> to see them come back from the dead and whip some
> ___.
>
> I like the Dave J. machines a lot too. My Omega
> was a favorite of mine, and I foolishly sold it.
>

Dave's salary alone is probably more than Tesoro's entire R&D budget.

R & D would be the Rename & Decal department.

------------"Cz's still bad to the bone".------------
Living on a big ass Astroid.
The woman that got my rib,I want it back.

Does make you wonder...... if these were all produced, how many like that disc PI didnt got to us? Im scratching my head....... do they even make a PI?

Just to set the record straight, the Omega circuitry is based on a Dave Johnson design (our so-called 13-bit platform) but the software was developed by Jorge Saad, one of our senior software developers. David is an old fogey analog designer and exceptionally talented at it, but he doesn't do much in the way of software these days. If I'm not mistaken, the GMT/MXT may have been the last code he actually wrote. Another senior engineer (actually, our most senior, he predates even David) John Gardiner wrote all the code for the T2/F75 series. Although Dave has been a key element, it's a team effort, it ain't just one guy. Wanted to make sure these other guys get the credit they deserve, too.

(P.S. -- Dave ain't through either!)

Thanks for clearing that up! I knew Jorge has been responsible for the newer 13-bit machines but didn't realize he was in on the original Omega 8000.

Thanks for the Info Carl..

Yes surely its not a one man process.

Yet I do find it TELLING that there's a Common thread.!!

Kudos to the whole Team!!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

To the point Carl made all of those guys and others before them deserve a lot of credit. But since this started about Dave, I'll chime in about the support side of Dave and his contributions on forums.

I bought an Omega (I think) and FTP ran a promotion to buy extra coils for cheap around December time frame. I ordered two, got them and threw them on the shelf since it was winter. A few months later when the weather cleared I discovered one had the old style push on connector. I contacted FTP and they refused to do anything about it. All I wanted to do was swap the new wrong coil for the right one. Hell it was even their fault. Too bad for me and they stood firm on it. I posted the problem on a forum and wondered if I could just put my own connector on and if anyone knew the wiring and type of connector. Dave responded to me directly. We went over the options on how to resolve it. Then he mailed me two connectors and a drawing of the wiring and pins. It looked like the envelope came from his home address. Kudos for Dave for the personal touch that was missing at the corporate level.

I believe Dave J. is approx c.1946
You can see where his passion resides. ((( Or...... at least....... one of them )))

I speculate that over 50% of all the metal detectors in the world are: In part, In Full, or a derivative of Dave's direct IP.

Geotech Wrote:
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> (P.S. -- Dave ain't through either!)

-------------------------------------------------------

We know what that means = something's in the works!

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

It seems Mr Johnson,,, sees the halo effect the way I do.

JJ,, where are you ??? Mr Johnson--- certainly a big dog when it comes to engineering and detectors.

When I was having a problem with a detector I had several years back, Dave personally went to bat for me and got the problem taken care of.

My story is not at all unique, he has personally helped many others in our hobby.

Very rare for someone anywhere near his status in the hobby to be so accessible and connected to the end users. I will add that if you follow his posts for any period of time it's obvious he does not suffer fools gladly.

He is without doubt one of the most intelligent people I have ever been in contact with. And yet, surprisingly, he is a self-described luddite.

From his posts and e-mail conversations I have picked up detecting knowledge. And knowledge about other subjects ranging from Jesus to real estate blockbusting.

He also has ALS, and has been cheating the Grim Reaper for many years. I pray that he continues to do so for many more.

Dave Johnson is a class act, and our hobby is lucky to have him.

Dave J. IS the magic that has gone into a lot of good machines. If I remember right he got interested in metal detecting theory while working with traffic counters (I used to back in the ''80s too, but I'm no Dave J. lol).

Not to take away from anyone else who has done a lot for the industry, but Dave is pretty legendary IMHO.

Good solid Info..

Thanks for sharing Marcomo..

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Im still waiting on that Disc PI. Heck..... ill take a proto type. Especially one from Dave. Here in Fl id kill it.

dewcon4414 Wrote:
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> Im still waiting on that Disc PI. Heck..... ill
> take a proto type. Especially one from Dave.
> Here in Fl id kill it.

That would be sweet. If ML makes one it would run $12K or more.

A discriminating PI (affordable) would be a fine legacy for any MD designer and right
up Dave J's alley....
but would seem to rank right up there with devising a "Unified Theory" in particle physics...

I started with the CZ5 and moved to the F75, and am hoping to wrap my hands around another
'milestone' unit from Dave J.....I for one raise my glass....high...

CanSlaw....... Dave already talked about one he pitched and made it sound like a simple project. I mention proto type.......... Dave if you need a place to store that one you made ive got a closet here in Fl ready.

Dew

Dave J. is not really a " P.I. " guy.