Bounty Hunter 900 anybody know?

[dixiedigger57]

Ok guys, i have posted before of this little known unit. One guy replied he found one in an attic. this unit is blue and white and looks like the 840, a little smaller case. NOBODY HAS ANY LITERATURE! the unit is being repaired and modded as we speak. new coil, some board work had to be done.. The unit had a label in the battery box-- said TEK INC and Bounty Hunter underneath. the serial number started 85-- xxxx . Its lightweight and a qualified electronics engineer of the geotech forum caliber has it now to repair a bad coil and mod it. He said it was a simple beautiful little board, vlf/tr unit. simple to repair and modify. several sites have the 840 and 8400 automatic with good reviews. NOBODY HAS ANYTHING MENTIONED ABOUT THE 900!

was it a transition or speculation model? it looks like a blue Red Baron. LOL!

ANY INPUT APPRECIATED. WHEN I GET IT BACK THIS SUMMER WILL POST PICS AND HOPEFULLY FINDS!

PS DAVEJ--YOU WOULD LIKE THIS ENGINEER!

 

[dixiedigger57]

the mystery machine got to have been made during the time tek bought them due to label in battery box. i know of another that a while back someone responded as having found in an attic with no box or paperwork.

 

[longbone]

Try the analog forum and I bet you will get some info.Those guys are really knowledgeable on the old machines.

 

[dixiedigger57]

been there done that. still only one reply from the guy who found one in the attic. no literature. no manuals on sven or white river prep sites. just an odd ball. and if you think its oddball now, wait till i get it back from an electronics guru hot rodding it for me. cant wait! i think its a tek-Bh merger unit. the label inside has both companies. may have just used up old parts. its the same box, design as the 840, or a little smaller, which mimics the Red Barons just different colors.

 

[Ed in SoDak]

I see you tried my WRP vintage BH webpage. I have the 840 and 8400 manuals, but no 900 or any reference to it. You may have a rare bird there!

The mid- to late-70's were a jumping time in the detector industry. Lots of small outfits competed head to head with the established companies. Prior to this, there was basically the BFO. TR types offered trash discrimination, while the VLFs of the day could ground balance. The Red Baron was the first design to combine both ground balance and discrimination at the same time.

The VLF/TR 840 and its siblings had both TR and VLF modes, but only one at a time. You could GB in VLF and hunt All-Metal in mineralized soil, or you could switch to TR mode in neutral soil, where you could discriminate out trash.

This site has some good info and archives: http://www.treasurelinx.com/home1.html Go to the Bounty Hunter page and you can download the 1979 catalog. He links to my website on the bottom of the BH page. An 880 is mentioned in the '79 catalog, but not offered for sale. Chances are you're looking for a 1980 or 1981 catalog to see the 900 listed.

In the 1976 catalog, there were lots of BFO and IB machines to choose from. The '76 Outlaw is a combo TR/BFO, but by '79, it's renamed the Outlaw/DE280 and evolved into a VLF/TR unit. Bounty Hunter is down to only one BFO machine in their lineup, probably offered for the old-timer diehards. Things were progressing quickly and the dual mode machines like the 840 were soon to be left behind as the Red Baron design took hold. My guess is the 900 was dropped in favor of newer designs very shortly after its release.

Just going by the plethora of other models offered, it looks like these "series" machines offered incremental upgrades for a bump upwards in price. The Red Baron 3 is much like the RB5, but is lacking the mode button mounted in the handle. The RB7 adds another couple features and so on.

The 800-840-880-900 VLF/TR series again offered multiple, incrementally better machines. For all practical purposes, lacking better info, the 840 manual should suffice and any 900-specific add-on should be fairly easy to figure out as an added knob or switch position with perhaps a few parts for supporting circuitry.

Hope this helps! Be sure to update us when you get your 900 back. It may not operate much like the original after the mods, but would still be interesting to see how it performs.

-Ed

 

[dixiedigger57]

Thanks Ed, enjoy your site too. i tried Sven before, he looked for me. nada. Phase Shifter said its a simple board. nice board to mod. he is doing it. a schematic would help but he will make one. i am no tech, but love research. and MD"ing. i had a wierd garrett onetime, i guess you could order things a little customized, and i have been reading of variations on several new units as they make them. understandable. the machine was not working properly and not a high dollar or collectible so to speak, so nothing to loose and all to gain. and making a great friend too! thats the best part of this hobby.

 

[john4840]

Hello, you might be able to get a manual from these guys here is the link http://www.brokendetector.com/prodserv.htm. Try shooting them a email.

John

 

[dixiedigger57]

nada all the way around. but thanks a bunch on replies. it may be a 900 now, but when the engineer sends it back, VaROOOOM! its gonna be a hotrod!

 

[prospector 55]

It might be a really good smoke check too! Over amping your components and moding is not always a good idea esp on an older circuit just because of the age of the components failure rate is very high!
It may run really good for a little while.

 

[dixiedigger57]

well hope not, BUT if it does--- it just does, its a $15 machine and the guy doing it is real good. He is replacing a lot of components and adding a new smt board. he uses a scope and does things right. he is of the Geotech forum. if it smokes, we got a box and a shaft to build on. another one in the works! he found what was wrong with it. he is adding a board like the 1266x, red heat, and tejon has, similar to them. a low noise pre amp too. a few other things. it oughta be fun. new coil too. cant wait! i dont mind chances, and was resigned to the fact it might just be a project box and shaft, but it looks like its going to be a bit more of a detector when he finishs. we will see. yea i know a dummy who just HAS to tweak things without any equipment to see what they do. he has destroyed several. he moved on out of area and good riddance. he sold a friend a bad machine, he went in and screwed up. we got the money back. he destroyed two more machines, i almost bought one by accident. my tech is an electronics tecnician and avid hunter. wish me luck and my tech friend too, he is looking at a garage business like the late Victor Fiveash of the Red Heats. I BELIEVE IN HIS ABILITIES!