ON THE HORIZON = MDT-8000

Well Rudy and his buddy did REALLY well down toward Lauderdale with it. Pretty consistent according to them of getting 100+ gold rings a year. I bought 2 from one of the investors/coil maker. Rudy passed away a few years back and to my knowledge no one makes um any longer. I talked to the guy who bought all the Nautilus machines and parts..... he had no idea Tindell even done this machine. But if you ever need a coil he might be able to help or even do a repair. Heres a case of unique being expensive....... i think the new price had gone to $3300, coils $500, and battery change was $400...... a board repair could be well over $700. She worked very very good for a 14khz 24dcv machine. I could hunt with it about 3 hours...... but the volume was so loud it left my ears ringing. Depth .... if it was working properly was crazy deep. Those big heavy solid coils and the box looks really old school now. But the components at the time had to be TOP NOTCH. Sure puts the price of this machine in perspective. There are so many more advantages to the MDT over the AquaSound..... just dont have to worry about it NOT working out there and it has great depth. Oddly one of mine went to a guy in Calf.

I'm interested in the MDT 8000, so I went through all 54 pages of posts in this thread to learn what I could about it. I decided to extract all the "hard content" and put it all into a smaller file.

By Hard Content, I mean the specs, facts, tips, tricks, and whatever info I thought I might want to study later, when I get my own MDT 8000.

I contacted NASA-Tom to see if he thought others might be interested in this subset of the entire thread. He suggested I post a link to the file on this thread, so here it is. It's in a PDF formatted file, and it's 15 pages (if printed on paper) instead of 54 pages.

Here it is.

[www.gctreasurehunters.com]

Thank you Tom! Hopefully..... folks will appreciate (and utilize) your laborious efforts.
Later...……….. we 'might' post this on its own thread...…………..as...…………...eventually...……….. it'll get buried here in this multi-page thread.
Thanks once again.

Hello

Thank's for the work. I'am in France i made tests beetween Equinox and Tarsacci and i didn't find the same result. The Equinox is better. Dimitar said i didn't do the good ground balance and a salt balance, dut i had the same than i can read on the différents posts. I would like to see a vidéo how you make the ground balance and the salt balance ! And a vidéo who compare Equinox and Tarsacci !
I will make new test soon.

Magus.

[www.youtube.com]

Magus Detection Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hello
>
> Thank's for the work. I'am in France i made tests
> beetween Equinox and Tarsacci and i didn't find th
> e same result. The Equinox is better. Dimitar said
> i didn't do the good ground balance and a salt bal
> ance, dut i had the same than i can read on the di
> fférents posts. I would like to see a vidéo how yo
> u make the ground balance and the salt balance ! A
> nd a vidéo who compare Equinox and Tarsacci !
> I will make new test soon.
>
> Magus.


Very well done video and accurate testing method. I wish I could understand what you were saying.

The MDT appeared to be well balanced. Ground balance and Salt balance have no affect on depth. All they do is help quiet the detector. What was your Sensitivity set at?

Can you tell us what depths you were getting with both detectors?

My Equinox typically detects coin/ring sized targets at around 25 centimeters and the MDT will detect the same targets at 33 centimeters approximately.

This is how I usually run my settings.

Equinox = Sensitivity 25, Recovery speed 5

MDT = Sensitivity 9, Threshold 0, Disc 0



Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2019 01:57PM by Badger in NH.

Thats not the way i run my MDT. Im assuming you were running the Nox in beach 1 since you werent near the surf? Based on what i could tell that wasnt a bad settings for the Nox... thou i likely would have even changes those a bit. I run both machines as hot as i can in those conditions...... i test um the same way...... just the way i hunt. Try running AM 0 threshold and 9 sensitivity instead of disc....even here disc is a pretty mild setting. Then try your experiment in the water..... that may well surprise you. Were any of the targets GOLD? I like the way you test with those stakes.

Badger, i dont necessarily agree with GB and SB not affecting depth. I use better headphone and high settings to hear as much as i can. You can set a GB or SB to high and miss deep or small targets with any machine. Running a very quiet machine isnt always a good thing. Running to the wrong GB or SB could require you to turn down or raise sensitivity to the point you loose targets as well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2019 01:54PM by dewcon4414.

TallTom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm interested in the MDT 8000, so I went through
> all 54 pages of posts in this thread to learn what
> I could about it. I decided to extract all the "h
> ard content" and put it all into a smaller file.
>
> By Hard Content, I mean the specs, facts, tips, tr
> icks, and whatever info I thought I might want to
> study later, when I get my own MDT 8000.
>
> I contacted NASA-Tom to see if he thought others m
> ight be interested in this subset of the entire th
> read. He suggested I post a link to the file on t
> his thread, so here it is. It's in a PDF formatte

TallTom… Thanks for the Christmas present! I too am interested in the MDT and have gone through multiple pages over and over to extract pertinent info. You have made it easy for all of us by condensing the important stuff. And thanks to Tom D for all your super informative sharing advice! Bob K
> d file, and it's 15 pages (if printed on paper) in
> stead of 54 pages.
>
> Here it is.
>
> [www.gctreasurehunters.com]
> 8000%20Usage%20Notes.pdf

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Badger, i dont necessarily agree with GB and SB no
> t affecting depth. I use better headphone and hi
> gh settings to hear as much as i can. You can se
> t a GB or SB to high and miss deep or small target
> s with any machine. Running a very quiet machine
> isnt always a good thing. Running to the wrong GB
> or SB could require you to turn down or raise sens
> itivity to the point you loose targets as well.


I agree. If you have to turn down the Sense due to noise from an improper GB or SB setting, then you will definitely lose depth as a result, but as a rule GB and SB have no direct affect on depth.

If the detector is noisy at max Sensitivity, then fine tuning the GB and SB settings are crucial to keeping the machine quiet. So far I have never had any reason to lower the sensitivity on my beaches and always run it at max.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2019 02:21PM by Badger in NH.

Here is my dirt hunting notes I was keeping on my iPhone last summer/fall w the TARSACCI, winter just started so I won’t be using it till spring, though we’re in a warming trend we’ll see if I can find some time this week. I did have a chance to take this to the lake a couple of times, probably for 20hrs, I prefer the EQX though for shallow water. However I prefer the TARSACCI in the park as I as digging less small foil as per Dimitars settings.
I’d love to be able use the TARSACCI on the salt beach some day.

#TARSACCI MDT 8000#

Notes from Dimitar

#Trouble w small iron#
try ground balancing over it, may or may not work
Invoke Salinity function in iron, may help
Reduce DISC to -15 to -20 in iron
Try 12khz
Lower sensitivity in high trash

#Regarding Discing Out Small Flat Foil#
Try 9k salinity 25...27 Sens 6...7 it will reduce the foil detectable range by 80...90 percent compared to salt OFF for the same settings


OBSERVATIONS @ 50+hrs

Used the MDT 8000 for 3hrs in 90 degree heat

Rusty bottle caps, solid hits at 8-10+, 27-29+, w no negative numbers, however sound is blan, metallic, not sweet. Whipping coil over target immediately reveals to be iron, not getting fooled as much

Invoked Salinity function, seemed to help in smaller iron
Reduced DISC to -15 to -20 in iron
Used 12khz, not digging as much tiny foil anymore, (9khz is even better) haven’t found any small gold either though...

Coin VDI’s lower 12khz...quarters (20-21), copper cents (17-19), nickels (5-7)

Found 3 gram gold earring in 18khz 2 weeks ago, that’s a big piece of gold though.

Still haven’t found a deep coin...yet. Deepest target was a 12” pulltab, disappointed, sounded pretty darn good though.

Aaron



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/25/2019 02:41PM by Aaron.

Magnus..... i have to ask are you a ML dealer? You seemed to know the Nox well. Not taking anything away from your video.... but we’re those mostly coins tested? Try AM....

Hello

Thank's for your answer, i am not a dealer, i like to test metal detector, i only hunt on the beach. I would like to see the Tarsacci better than Equinox, but for the moment it's not what i noticed.

I would like to be Detexpert for Minelab, but they never answer to me.
But since April I Test the detetor on the beach for a french dealer (number 1 in Europe).
The Tarsacci is very expensive, so french beachcomber hope that it would be better than Eqionox.

Of course i use Equinox since March 2018, we improve the setting to have the best !

But i will try again the Tarsacci.

I also work with Alexandre Tartar, i can test the futur Impulse AQ.

The impulse will change all for beachcombing.

Magus.

Put a year on the MDT and hunt in AM sensitivity 9 and threshold 0. I believe you will change your mind. I’ve used the Nox since Jan 2018 myself .... my results are different than yours ...but my conditions maybe as well. Hope you get a testing job from ML.... and I’m sure You get a lot of great info from Alexandria that you can pass on.

Hi Magus I am really glad that you get to test detectors for your Minelab dealer friend …… as this can be a major attribute. (And can save a lot of money)!!! I can also see that you know the Equinox very well...… and that is critical...… especially for testing purposes!

What is interesting to me (with your video) is...…. you are exactly in the same boat as many of the Tarsacci MDT owners were in...… when they first received their MDT. ((Myself included!)). Most of the new MDT owners were finding the MDT to be 'just below'.... or 'right at' the same level of performance as the EQX. (((And..... Yes. The EQX is THE detector to compare to..... for several reasons)))! After a few very serious.... very hard.... hunts with the MDT...……,,,,,,,,,, folks were rapidly 'figuring out' the settings and language of the MDT. From that point...…. they had learned more about settings & audio-language of the MDT. It was not until then...…… when (fairly) substantial performance gains were 'being discovered' …..after some testing & adjusting.

I can see that you were running the EQX at peak performance. (You had 'exactly/precisely' figured it out)! The MDT's performance settings were slightly under-par. I'm not so much concerned about your Ground Balance...….. but/rather, I'm a bit concerned about your Salt Balance. I could not see the control panel that well in the video. In a nutshell...… you may want to try 9Khz, Sens '9'.... Thresh '0', All Metal Mode (this still retains VDI ID capabilities) and Black Sand 'off'. Then get a good Salt Balance whilst in these settings. (((By the looks of your beach/sand..... you can probably put Ground Balance on '600'..... and will have minimal issues/problems))). With these settings..... you will see that you need a fairly steady sweep...… and this will present minimal falsing. . . . . (and substantial performance gains).

ALSO...…… The EQX is VERY sensitive to salt imbalances. For instance: If you dig a hole in the wet-salt sand...….. put NOTHING in the hole...….. then simply cover up the hole.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,. this 'disturbance' in the wet-salt sand...…. will cause the Equinox to 'false' on this disturbed sand. The EQX will report a 'target' tone...…. and usually it is a non-ferrous tone. BEWARE!!!

Magus Detection Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> I would like to be Detexpert for Minelab, but they
> never answer to me..................................................Your a respected hunter, No need for the Stamp of approval from Minelab.

>

>
> I also work with Alexandre Tartar, i can test the
> futur Impulse AQ..............................................................Thank You, waiting for this...
>
> The impulse will change all for beachcombing.
>
> Magus........

Blood Member of RingKeepers
2020......Gold Rings....73....Misc Gold 1 .......Silvers ...110

Hello

Thank's for your answer, i will make a new vidéo in english, i will test the new setting for the MDT. I very like this detector, i continue to use it. Dimitar said to me for the Equinox and false signal on hole. I will test it also.

Magus.

Id like to see more testing on GOLD.......thats what im after on the beach. Id really prefer NOT to dig a lot of high conductors or specs of foil.

Im going to mention this again...... GB and SB will change depth/what the machine will pick up. I can run 12khz against 9khz here in the wet sand ... 12khz is a bit deeper with a salt setting at 27 there abouts. BUT in the water that all changes say chest deep. 9khz still runs near 30 SB....... where 12 kzh requires something around 42 SB. There is still a bit more noise from 12khz and targets tones get weaker and less clear making it more difficult to find some targets. With 9khz being almost quiet...... you hear those weak signals. ALSO..... try the test near the waters edge with a bit of surf running over the target see what happens to some targets with the Nox. In the dry sand i get a LOT more tiny specs of foil... those take time to check. The MDT seems to take density into consideration and the freqs available tends to optimize depth and sensitivity to gold.

I will help Magus with subtile if necessary he is doing a good job so good i want a MDT any used outer??

RR

dewcon4414 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Id like to see more testing on GOLD.......thats wh
> at im after on the beach. Id really prefer NOT t
> o dig a lot of high conductors or specs of foil.
>
> Im going to mention this again...... GB and SB wil
> l change depth/what the machine will pick up. I
> can run 12khz against 9khz here in the wet sand ..
> . 12khz is a bit deeper with a salt setting at 27
> there abouts. BUT in the water that all changes
> say chest deep. 9khz still runs near 30 SB......
> . where 12 kzh requires something around 42 SB.
> There is still a bit more noise from 12khz and tar
> gets tones get weaker and less clear making it mor
> e difficult to find some targets. With 9khz bein
> g almost quiet...... you hear those weak signals.
> ALSO..... try the test near the waters edge with a
> bit of surf running over the target see what happe
> ns to some targets with the Nox. In the dry sand
> i get a LOT more tiny specs of foil... those take
> time to check. The MDT seems to take density int
> o consideration and the freqs available tends to o
> ptimize depth and sensitivity to gold.


Dry sand, wet sand and water are three different things. When balancing for Salt, they should be treated as if you were hunting three different beaches. Each section of beach (dry,wet, water) requires different balance settings.

When you transition between dry, wet and water, it is the other settings and the change of environment that are affecting the depth performance, not the GB and SB which only control the level of noise.

This is the way I am seeing it anyway. If I am wrong please help me to understand it correctly.

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> ALSO...…… The EQX is VERY sensitive to salt imbala
> nces. For instance: If you dig a hole in the wet-s
> alt sand...….. put NOTHING in the hole...….. then
> simply cover up the hole.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,.,
> . this 'disturbance' in the wet-salt sand...…. wil
> l cause the Equinox to 'false' on this disturbed s
> and. The EQX will report a 'target' tone...…. and
> usually it is a non-ferrous tone. BEWARE!!!

Excalibur will do the same in PP with sensitivity set high, it's seeing the edge of the hole where there is a sudden change in the surface density and it will do the same on non disturbed, distinct contours of the bottom surface in saltwater. This problem can be solved by coil control, slowing the swing. Or by lowering the sensitivity on the excalibur. The same should apply to most machines around saltwater I would guess.

Blood Member of RingKeepers
2020......Gold Rings....73....Misc Gold 1 .......Silvers ...110

I did a quick check with Alexandre, designer of the AQ. The AQ does not “false” as discussed above.

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

So you had to ask Alexandre. I figured by now you'd know.....must mean you dont have the machine yet and may not be able to tell us since you dont have a beach either that close. The video you showed did seem to show very little falsing ... it was quiet.... that we all like. But .... you havent tried an MDT either in the desert. So youd be speculation. Just picking on Rick since you like the word speculating and I like INTERESTING

The MDT in AM can give a brief pop over surface iron/minerals in the wet sand. Unlike the Xcal that has a bit longer tone when it falses. BUT.... those pops arent anything youd think is a target..... and when you do hit a target as you could tell by his video...... you know it. Im surprised just how loud the machine is even on deep targets. Using out of the box setting isnt designed for maximum performance on any machine. So when comparing a machine you have been using to the point you know it, against a machine you are just learning might require most of us some time on that machine. This is a very simple machine, yet there are things you need to know.... and learn... to maximize its full potential.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/2019 01:15PM by dewcon4414.

I have updated the "Tarsacci MDT 8000 Usage Notes" file that I extracted from the 54 pages of this message thread.

The first 15 pages are basically unchanged, with only minor editing changes.

The 16th page is new. It shows two tables of target ID numbers that I extracted from TNSS videos. One table is "good" targets (coins and rings) and the other is junk targets.

The same link gets you the new, updated file:

[www.gctreasurehunters.com]

Thanks to TNSS. I hope forum members find the file useful.

--TallTom

Thanks...... wow that had to be a LOT of cut and paste work. The TIDs were very good to have. Let me say thou.... those numbers are on a solid target. Ive found the digits on trash seems to UPSCALE..... meaning that pull tab at 6 can come in in the low 20s when really deep. Did ya notice where a lot of the iron targets were going? Thats why i use a notch of 28. It can affect the response of targets in the 27 range as well. So when i cant see the screen and am using AM...... when switched to disc i get a much slower high ping or NO ping at all. Some of that wrap around i believe is reduced by being in the salt water..... so i have a high confidence level im not missing a lot of gold. Ive not really noticed gold upscaling.... beyond the range im watching..... 1 to 12. That just below a penny which for me is 13. But those pennies .... wow can be 9 to 18 sometimes. When i first started out i ran several pieces of gold over the coil in 9khz.... this is what i got. All various weight and K..... the very low digits (3 and 1) were of small crosses and chains. Notice i should have said how many of those TI and Tung were in those upper digits..... because i believe there might have been only 1 ring above the digit 10.



Thanks again for all that work.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2019 11:29AM by dewcon4414.

How does the MDT 8000 fit the taller-than-usual detectorist?

I am six feet, six inches, tall (198.5 cm) and I do fine with my Makro Kruzer, Nokta Impact, and Tesoro Vaquero (although the last two are just barely long enough for me at full extension). Maybe my long arms help me more than some other equally tall people with shorter arms or higher shoulders.

Will the MDT 8000 extend to the same lengths from the handle as these three detectors? If not, is there a "long rod" option available?

(FYI, I picked the name "TallTom" about eight years ago when I was shopping for my first detector and I was looking for answers to the same question. My brothers and I discovered many years ago that "One size fits all" does not often apply to our family, no matter what the product is.)

Thanks!

--TallTom

The rod has five adjustment holes placed 2 and 1/4 inches apart. I'm six feet tall and am only using the second hole. If my measurements are correct, the fully extended rod would be approximately 44 inches from the center of the handle to the ground.

Badger in NH Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The rod has five adjustment holes placed 2 and 1/4
> inches apart. I'm six feet tall and am only using
> the second hole. If my measurements are correct,
> the fully extended rod would be approximately 44 i
> nches from the center of the handle to the ground.


That sounds good! My Kruzer measures only 42 inches from the ground to the center-top of the handle when I stand it on the coil. It's long enough for me, so the MDT 8000 is about two inches longer if we're talking about the same measurement.

Thanks!

Hey, NASA-Tom, I think I'm ready to buy!

--TallTom

I measured from the center of the handle half way up the grip. Measuring from the center top of the handle would be an inch shorter or about 43 inches to the ground.

The TARSACCI’s carbon fiber pole and locking system by far the best I’ve seen, rock solid. I sure wish my EQX was as nice. However to be fair, the TARSACCI is in totally different price bracket.

Aaron

TallTom…… Sure. Just give me a holler (PM.... e-mail)……. and we can go several different ways...….. to what ever fits your needs the best.

The Tarsacci is built like no other detector I've had. Great quality. I just acquired another used one. My only complaint with the whole setup (and it may be just this one detector) is the headphone connector is turned at a right angle. It's no big deal with the pigtail that comes with the detector. With the set of Tony Eisenhower headphones I have, it is VERY difficult to get his connector to plug in. The pins can only align one way and it is a buggar to connect his headphones to it at the orientation it is at. Once I got them in, they wont be coming off any time soon lol.

The first Tarsacci I had, I had Tony make me a set of phones but never tried them with it so I don't know if the plug is turned the same on all of them or just mine.