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8500-Getting The Hang Of It

R

RLOH

Well-known member
I have been using the 8500 on and off since spring and finally dug some deeper coins. This am, I started out at football practice field that also has served as a parking lot for the gated stadium. I have found 100's of wheaties and 25 or so silver coins from this field. I started the day off with a very weak audio signal that was bouncing between 84 to 86. I was expecting a clad dime or copper memorial, but was surprised to see the back of the wheat cent. This coin was 7-8 inches deep. The next signal was an almost identical signal and it was another wheatie. I wish I could found a silver or two, but this was OK to me.

The 8500 is just about like the previous 8000's that I have used. Very weak audio, but will repeat from different angles. Good headphones are a must if you want to dig deeper coins. I do not like the d5 setting that removes proportional audio. It might be OK for less trashy spots, but it is way too loud and annoying for the trashy spots I frequent. I use three tones with the gain at 75. I cannot seem to dig any nickels past three or four inches deep. The numbers bounce way too much for my liking on nickels that are deeper than this. It really locks on to clad coins.
 
Just about my experiences as well with the 8500. I still have a 8000 as well and gravitate to it more so then the 8500 as the audio seems a little less clipped. The 8500 though in the deep mode may have a bit more depth. Both are excellent coin hunters. HH jim tn
 
Do either of you have a cors/NEL coil for your omegas? Either the 8k or 8500. I have a cors shrew that is great on my GBP and my 8k. I have a cors strike that is great on the GBP but is a little freaky on the 8k. It has to be manually GB’d on the omega. Also is SUPER noisy on the 8k when any emi is around. With enough messing around I can get it stable and hitting deeper clad in my yard. Just seems a little hyper for no more gain in depth. Really need more time with it I suppose.
 
I currently only have the 10" concentric on both the 8000 and 8500. Have had the 11" DD and the 5" DD on previous versions, but personally am very content with what the 10" concentric does. In fact, its performance is pretty surprising in heavy trash. HH jim tn
 
I have the stock 10 inch elliptical coil that I have never used. I had a Teknetics 11 inch dd that had ears that broke. I found a NEL Hunter coil which is about the same size as the 11 inch dd. I use this coil about 75% of the time. It is a nice coil, but I believe the factory 11 inch is better for me. I also have a NEL Sharpshooter coil that is a near perfect coil. Just as deep as the Hunter and much better seperation.

I have found no great improvement in depth by running super hot(90 plus gain). I usually am between 70 and 80 for my quietest hunting, but still hit all of my 7 to 8 inch coins in the test bed. Also, the Sharpshooter hits every coin just as good as the bigger coils that I either use or have used.
 
Jim, if I had never used a 8000 I would absolutely love the 8500. The audio is different, but just as deep or as you said, maybe deeper with the deep mode. One thing for sure, I always come home with loads of coins with the 8500. Do you have any luck finding nickels with either the 8000 or 8500? I have always gravitated to the dd coils as most of my ground is hot. Some spots have a low 90'S ground balance number. Two or three of my spots have milder ground(60-70) on my numbers. I can use the tried and true tips to help eliminate the steel bottle caps, but I struggle with small gum wrapper type targets. They sound and read like deep coins. I never noticed this with the 8000's that I owned. My problem is having used way too many detectors. I can't remember how I set them up.

Over the years I have sold a whole bunch of detectors to local people. Some of these sales date back 15 years or more. They are constantly calling me with how to adjust their detectors. I plain just can't remember. Youtube is a great tool. Just about any detector made will have a video or two.
 
I don't find the Omega's to be good nickel finders. Particularly at any kind of depth. Probably the lower frequency it hunts at.

I also run sen. in the low to mid 70's. From my understanding and observations there is no added depth achieved past 70, only a little louder audio at higher sen.

The Omega's aren't depth demons, 7-8" in my ground, too, but they sure do love silver.

Glad you posted, RLOH, Omega posts have been quiet for a while. HH jim tn
 
My experience sounds a lot like your guys’. It mops up coins and I prefer it to my T2se in a yard or park. I find the audio super pleasing in d2 and d3. I have only really used the tek 10x5 dd on mine. Deepest coin being a 8” roughly 1920 wheatie. My dirt is very mild. Usually 57 on the omega. I figured the strike would bring me 10” on a silver dime.

It id’s a coin beyond 5-6” better than the t2. Does better in non ferrous trash too. I do not like it in dense iron however. T2 smokes it as well as the GBP. Actually that gold bug has me heading for the thickest iron patches lately with the shrew and have been having a blast taking non ferrous bits out of the iron carpet that the t2 left behind. T2 needs the 5” and FA to compete in my oldest “territorial era” homes sites.

And about nickels, I’ve found that if the id shows a 57 at least once, I dig. Only on the omega. T2 and GBP will show 57 on a pull tab or canslaw. The omega shows a 56,58,59,60,61. No it’s not perfect but I’ve actually found more nickels with it more than my other machines EXCEPT the vaquero. Nickels never do sound good unless it’s a war nickel. I dug 2 back to back weeks ago and they were a perfect 57 on the Id. The v nickels I have and the buffs sounded like trash to me. Nickels are a challenge to pick out amongst cut up cans.
 
For finding nickels I've been spoiled by my F 75 and the CZ's I had. Shallow ones with the Omega seem to i d pretty good, but around 4" and deeper nickels then become a crap shoot for me. For heavy trash, I still like the little 5" coil. On the Omega and F 75 both, its a laser. HH jim tn
 
I will be trying the shrew on the omega. Maybe I can pull some coins out of iron with it. I’ve always just used the omega in more modern areas. I should give it a fair shot at a relic site.
 
Is the Shrew the small NEL coil? The only NEL I have ever had for any of my detectors is the Sharpshooter for my A T Pro. I couldn't get enough depth from Garrett's 5 x 8 so tried the Sharpshooter and it promptly gave me another 2-3" of depth. Maybe had a weak Garrett's, as most really like their 5 x 8.

I personally feel the Omega is best suited for coin shooting and on sites where depth is paramount. I love is modulated audio. There is nothing like that soft whisper it has for 7-8" deep silver. Anyway, I think we all agree it is a very fun detector. HH jim tn
 
The shrew is the 6.5 x 3 from Cors.NEL calls it the snake. Believe it or not, it will scratch on a 8” quarter in my yard on the gold bug pro. Have to have headphones and really fast scrubbing on the dirt. If I didn’t know it was there, I’d never find it but it’s nice to know I’m covered good to 6” with it.

Yeah it’s a super fun detector. It’s funny to me to say a detector is fun because it doesn’t really make better, deeper, or more extravagant find vs my other tek machines. I think it’s the audio that I like a lot. Like all Fisher/tek, I cant like other audio much at the moment. Even the vaquero just sounds like a dying duck anymore. LOL. Nokta Makro is close and I like it. I’m just scared to buy one with the rate they obsolete themselves anymore....I will buy the next simultaneous multi frequency vlf from either of these companies. Believe it will be coming from turkey first sadly....
 
The Omega 8500 is the one I just didn't care for. A dealer friend of mine got them in and I had the opportunity to check it out and compare with the 8000 models. [size=small](I had several Omega 8000 V4's, a V.5 and a V.6.)[/size]

Other than the familiar excellent T2 grip and physical configuration, the 8500 and I just didn't get along well. I had a lot of detectors since I got my first 8000 in March of 2010, and there are quite a few decent urban Coin Hunting units that have been, and are, on the market today. Of them all, and I'm including the Tek. T2 Ltd., T2 Classic and my current T2+ and White's MX-7 and others, my current favorites in my detector team for urban Coin & Jewelry Hunting are my Makro Racer 2, Fisher F44, modified IDX Pro and the pleasing Omega 8000. I use it in d3 the majority of the time when out after coins and jewelry, but I do like the d2 mode for some searches in open sports fields, especially when after gold jewelry.

The DD coil I enjoy using when a small coil is called for is the 5" DD [size=small](even though I also have a new 4" Concentric in my Accessory Coil Tote)[/size], and my always-mounted and ready-to-go favorite coil for most urban sites, is the 7" Concentric [size=small](while a new standard 10" open-frame Concentric and 11" BiAxial hang out in my Tote)[/size]. I guess I've been fortunate because most of the places I hunt in cities and towns have stayed mostly EMI-free [size=small](mostly I said)[/size], and there are some strengths I have enjoyed since I first acquired an Omega 8000.

In 2010 I was already enjoying the T2 for some of my hunting, and in side-by-side comparisons, even knowing some of the T2's strengths, the Omega 8000 gave me a better TID 'lock-on' for coins in the mid-depth range or deeper. And even though the T2's are working up at about 13 kHz, the lower-frequency Omega 8000 seemed to be as hot or hotter on the lower-conductive US 5¢ pieces. I enjoyed that. :thumbup: .... And I found, and still find, a lot of Nickels. They just are not lost nearly as much as Pennies, Dimes and Quarters.

The bulk of my detecting efforts for the last thirty-six yeas has been to get away to old and very iron plagued sites such as ghost towns, mining and lumber towns, homesteads, stage stops and RR depots and sidings, etc. The Omega's and many other really good detectors on the market are not very good picks for those places I hunt with a very dense scattering of iron nails, other ferrous debris, rusty tin cans and can shards. I have models that excel for those environments. But for typical urban-type Coin & Jewelry Hunting needs, the Omega 8000's have been one of my favorites now for 9½ years. When I can't work in a remote journey, I will put in as much time as possible chasing down coins and jewelry, and in this past 9½ year span, a favorite Tesoro has edged out the Omega 8000 for the #1 spot in gold jewelry finding, but the 8000 has been a very close #2! It has also found more big silver dollars than other models.

This year I have been doing some serious trimming of my metal detector 'arsenal' and while I have two of my excellent condition Omegas and coils up for sale, I am keeping one of them in my Detector Outfit. They are well-proven afield, and have been, and are, some really terrific Coin & Jewelry Hunting devices.

Just my biased opinions.

Monte

[size=small]Oh, and as Jim TN mentioned below, they are a 'FUN' detector to use, too.:detecting:[/size]
 
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