Harbor Freight 9 Function Metal Detector (item 67378)
I am interested in comments from this forum's readers about experience with the Harbor Freight 9 Function metal detector (item 67378). I recently bought one as a stop-gap until I can decide which detector I want to buy to replace my old detector. I have been inactive in the detecting hobby for many years, when some friends suggested we go detecting. After agreeing to go I discovered that my old detector was DOA. In order to be able to go hunting with my friends, I made a quick trip to Harbor Freight and purchased this detector for a pittance. I chose it thinking it would be similar enough to my old detector to shorten the learning curve.I should perhaps mention at this point that my old detector is really old, 30 plus years to be in fact. It is a Techna XR-5 Pro circa 1980. It is a non-motion TR type with discrimination and all metal modes. If you convert 1979 dollars to 2012 dollars it would cost about the same as a Garrett ACE 350 does now. I have frankly been quite surprised by the level of performance from the new Harbor Freight detector. Air tests (yes we did that 30 years ago) indicate detection of coins to 10 to 12 inches. It is easily able to discriminate a clad penny from a copper penny. I have yet to run across any ground conditions that confuse it, though as yet it is a small sample of soil types near my home in South central Oklahoma. I have yet to see it react to other detectors operating nearby, though at least one hunter's detector reacts to mine. I am pleased enough with the performance of the Harbor Freight detector for now that I intend to use it for quite a while so that I can stretch out my research to decide which modern name brand detector I want to buy. Since I have no experience with modern detectors, I am not sure how to compare the Harbor Freight detector to what is available now. I hope to get the chance to hunt with several people who are using modern detectors, so that I can see how this one stacks up against them in actual field conditions. If any of you have experience with this detector and some name brand modern detector, I would appreciate your comments. Thank you,Ultralightpilot (Ron)
I have not used the model from HF. Like anything, your happiness is what counts. Before my son started detecting, I purchased him a Bounty Hunter ($97.00). He hunted with it for a couple weeks, had a great time but very frustrating time. I would wait until he finished an area, then follow up with my XLT and find tons of coins, jewelry, and so on. My son now hunts with an At Pro and routinely kicks my butt on finds.Bottom line is you get what you pay for.Happy Hunting....may you find loads of coinsP.S. Dig every solid hit...no matter what machine you are using!!! Gold hides at all levels (VDI).
Thanks for your comments 'Z51'. As I noted in my first post I am happy with the discrimination capabilities and I don't really dig much trash unless it is a large ferrous or aluminum target. My only complaints are that the meter is absolutely useless. It stays at 0 until you get a signal and then goes to 10 (full scale) regardless of target conductivity or size and the instruction manual is barely adequate for an experienced hunter and might be confusing for a neophytes. The explanation for use of the pinpoint feature is pretty vague, and I am still not sure if I am using it as intended, but my results are good. It appears to me that the pinpoint button sets the detector to a non-motion, lower sensitivity, and perhaps all metal mode. The manual doesn't mention how to cancel the pinpoint mode. I suspect it auto-cancels based on time, but just to be certain, I turn the detector off while I dig and then back on when I am ready to use it again. Since the meter is not useful for id of targets the tone mode is the most useful in trashy sites. I was surprised to find that the orientation of the target makes such a difference in the signal. For instance, a coin buried on edge gives a double signal and the null between the signals is the correct location of the coin. I don't recall ever seeing such a response from my old detector.Can anyone tell me if this is a normal response for all motion type metal detectors? The closest I have come to using the detector in mineralized soil so far, is a local lake that due to the continuing drought is very low, exposing soil (and targets!) that has been under water and mud for decades. I used my old detector under similar conditions and it would often signal targets when none could be found due to the soil mineralization. So far that has not occurred with this detector. I thought I was having that problem once, but just as I was about to give up and fill in the hole I found an old small broken fish hook. It is unfortunate that by the time I found the hook I had churned through the soil so much that I can't be sure what the depth of detection was for that hook. I had the discrimination set low in hope of finding gold jewelry as this site sees a lot of swimmers. That incident alone convinced me to buy a pinpointer, also a Harbor Freight. Time will tell if the pinpointer is as good a buy as the detector. I read a letter from hunter A.J. in the March issue of Lost Treasure, asking about this detector. I hope A.J. sees this and joins in. I intend to set up a test garden and will be happy to post the results and maybe video if there is any interest. ULP
I think for a basic detector you'll do fine. Dont expect to find coins or relics in the ground like your machine air tested. Once your in some mineralized ground I think you'll find that it dosnt perform anywhere near what a good detector does. Also, I dont think that machine will pick up small objects like your buddies detectors will either. I picked up a Bounty Hunter (low end) for my granddaughter to fool around with. I fooled around with it briefly and no matter how you set the discrimination on the thing, it would signal at everything in its path that was metal. So if your in a park, playground or wherever, be prepared to dig a lot of junk. I'm not saying you wont find something good with it, you just wont be as productive as someone with a higher end unit. Good luck, and have some fun.
In case anyone else is following this thread, and looking for more detailed information on the HF 9F detector than can be found in the manual, I have measured the operating frequency as 5.8khz. I have confirmed with both frequency counter and spectrum analyzer. My intent was to find other search coils that are compatable. So far the only detectors I have found that operate near the same frequency is the Fisher F2 and F4, operating at 5.9khz. Since these detectors are fairly new, I doubt I will find any used coils at a bargain price for my experiment. If anyone knows of an older detector that operates at that frequency, please let me know so I can be on the look-out for used coils.Thanks from ULP