Aftermarket Meter History

[wildherre]

I knew I had this somewhere, finally took the time to hunt for it... .Ralph at Sunray sent me this many years ago .. Not many folks know that Winburn built the first meters for Ralph....

"The Sun Ray DTI meter was the first aftermarket meter for the Sovereign, introduced in the spring of 1994. The Winburn Avenger was not introduced until several years later. Winburn originally built the Sun Ray DTI Meter for Sun Ray until may of 1995. The Winburn Avenger was introduced around 1998. The Night Hawk was introduced in about March of 1999."

wildherre

 

[Rick(ND)]

The first DTI meter used a battery and when the DTI 2 came out it used the battery of the Sovereign control box. There was a early and a late model DTI 2 as the early one had a nylon shaft on the calibration control while the later model used a metal shaft for its control. Last was the DTI 3 which had a better mount and also used a battery for the back light only and was the most sought after meter and still is. I used the DTI 2 and the DTI 3 and like them better than any other meter I have tried and wish I still had one around as I missed mine.

 

[wildherre]

The DTI I was the first model released and had its own battery & had to be switched off & on. . The DTI II was the next release and gets its power from the Sovereign thus not needing its own battery & switch. The DTI III was the lastest model & was much like the DTI II but has a backlit LCD....

Winburn Avenger The Avenger AV1 was the first accessory meter Winburn released for the Sovereign. It had its own battery & switch. It had no external calibration knob & became uncalibrated by temperature changes . It was available with a coin overlay or a relic overlay .It never caught on like the Sun Ray . The newer versions, the Avenger II & the backlit model the Nighthawk have a calibration pot & other improvements that make their performance comparable to the Sun Ray.

 

[wildherre]

old meters & projects

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Cool!!

 

[Walter L.I.]

Hi Wildherre, Alot of people on the forums today have no clue that you were one of the FIRST to do mods on the Sovereign. I learned from you to install the allmetal -disc. switch on my original Sov. I do not know if you have your site anymore but it was a Great one. Those years were the best in finding quality and quantity gold. Today everyone and their brother has bought a metal detector since gold prices have climbed! The 4 internet MD.sites are a Blessing for information and a curse on this Great hobby.Thousands of lookers on these sites see all the gold photos and now they are buying Excalibers,Sovereigns and other $1000.00 machines and are even told by some where to go hunting instead of doing their own research or leg work. No more starting out with a Fisher 1235X or similar which was my first machine and then wanting a machine capable to work in mineralized wet sand or salt water. But the good news is that most newbies who have only Dolllar signs in their eyes get dissapointed real quick after finding a few zink pennies, tabs and bottle caps. Take care! Walter

 

[Buried Crap NJ]

Thousands of lookers on these sites see all the gold photos and now they are buying Excalibers,Sovereigns and other $1000.00 machines and are even told by some where to go hunting instead of doing their own research or leg work. No more starting out with a Fisher 1235X or similar which was my first machine and then wanting a machine capable to work in mineralized wet sand or salt water. But the good news is that most newbies who have only Dolllar signs in their eyes get dissapointed real quick after finding a few zink pennies, tabs and bottle caps. Take care! Walter

Walter while what you say is very true the internet and price of gold has produce a new bread of hunters (cash for gold) not the thrill of the hunt. It has taken me 38 years to produce my first several thousand dollar ring! (this week)I have found hundreds of pieces of jewelry and tens of thousands of coins. Several thousands of pounds of trash. I wish I had a 1235x in 1973 rather than a Bounty Hunter BFO. I just 2 yrs ago purchased my first Minelab Detector I tuffed it out with other brands cause I knew the machine for so many years.
While they may buy any machine they want most will not stick it out. This stuff don't jump out of the ground when you turn the machine on. What we need to do is educate new hunters to proper hunting techniques before the newbies end it for all of us. Which is probably more true then them finding all the good stuff!