Mike Hillis
Well-known member
Let me just preface this by stating that I'm highly biased toward the F5.
Comparing the F5 and the Omega 8000:
The Omega
Comparing the F5 and the Omega 8000:
The Omega
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Comparing the Fisher F5 and the Tek Omega 8000 (very very long)
- Thread starter Mike Hillis
- Start date
Jackpine Savage
Active member
Hi Mike, I find your statements about the Omega's GB system very interesting. One thing that I do want to mention is that the Omega Manual states the when using the ground grab ground balance you will see two things happen during the process. First the ground phase error bar graph goes blank followed by the phase number "settling in". As long as the Ground grab arrives at the proper phase setting that is all that is needed.
Can I assume correctly that the wide neutral range you noted when using AT was in mild to moderate ground?
This may not be a bad thing, on the contrary it may be a good thing for those that choose to manually offset the GB a wee bit.
Tom
Jackpine Savage
Active member
n/t
Mike Hillis
Well-known member
Hey Tom,
Sorry for the late reply. Just busy with everything.
The F5 has the greater gb range and a tighter neutral range over the Omega. My FE graphs were maxed out.
In the milder ground no one will care as the neutral range will be very large anyway. In the hotter ground it gets more important and sometimes more difficult to keep in tune. The F5 requires you to stop and pump the coil and compare your two numbers. The Omega will tell you on the sweep BUT it won't notify you until you are 5-6 numbers off.
HH
Mike
Sorry for the late reply. Just busy with everything.
The F5 has the greater gb range and a tighter neutral range over the Omega. My FE graphs were maxed out.
In the milder ground no one will care as the neutral range will be very large anyway. In the hotter ground it gets more important and sometimes more difficult to keep in tune. The F5 requires you to stop and pump the coil and compare your two numbers. The Omega will tell you on the sweep BUT it won't notify you until you are 5-6 numbers off.
HH
Mike
Jackpine Savage
Active member
the Omega ground balances from ferrite to salt water so it has all the range needed.
re: the bar graph. In the manual it states that at 3 bars the +/- icons illuminate indicating that you should check your ground balance by switching to AT and checking the response to confirm that rebalancing is neccessary. One can only assume that they mention for good reason. My guess is that in typical ground conditions that most users encounter you will be OK despite the showing of one to 3 bars on the graph (nasty high and changing ground conditions excepted of course).
Graph vs numbers. I like that they went to the use of a graph over the varying numbers of the F5 which is nothing but visually distracting when hunting iron and sure to confuse the heck out of newbies. I can just picture them wondering if they really need to check the ground balance that often
Gotta wonder how often dealers get asked this question. Did marketing want this?? If so, they deserve a swift kick!
High conductive TID spread: From a dig it all guys perspective I abhor detectors that waste space on the meter (when the detector has one) by expanding the upper conductive range at the expense of narrowing the lower range. IMO it is purely a marketing ploy. The Ace 250 is a typical example of this type of nonsense. I suppose it makes for good marketing. No matter where you hunt, old site or new, who in their right mind would not dig a signal that reads above copper penny? Why waste all the space at the expense of the low range when a few target ID number will suffice??
Oh BTW, according to the manual, quarter, half and dollar display unique phase numbers so, despite having only one segment to cover the range you still have the highest (dollar) numbers to indicate a wrap around signal from iron. So hopefully its a non-issue.
There is some good info in the manual. It covers enough information to get a newcomer to the hobby going and offers good tips on how to properly use the advanced feature of the ground balance system. Is it different than the F5? apparently so but in that difference there may be some good things going on. Only time will tell.
Mike this is not intended as a slight against your very informative post. It is just my take on the Omega's features, having never used one but based on what I prefer in a machine for my type of hunting. To me it is a "crossover" detector that will suit relic/dig-it-all hunters with enough features to satisfy coin shooter as well.
Tom
.
re: the bar graph. In the manual it states that at 3 bars the +/- icons illuminate indicating that you should check your ground balance by switching to AT and checking the response to confirm that rebalancing is neccessary. One can only assume that they mention for good reason. My guess is that in typical ground conditions that most users encounter you will be OK despite the showing of one to 3 bars on the graph (nasty high and changing ground conditions excepted of course).
Graph vs numbers. I like that they went to the use of a graph over the varying numbers of the F5 which is nothing but visually distracting when hunting iron and sure to confuse the heck out of newbies. I can just picture them wondering if they really need to check the ground balance that often
Gotta wonder how often dealers get asked this question. Did marketing want this?? If so, they deserve a swift kick! High conductive TID spread: From a dig it all guys perspective I abhor detectors that waste space on the meter (when the detector has one) by expanding the upper conductive range at the expense of narrowing the lower range. IMO it is purely a marketing ploy. The Ace 250 is a typical example of this type of nonsense. I suppose it makes for good marketing. No matter where you hunt, old site or new, who in their right mind would not dig a signal that reads above copper penny? Why waste all the space at the expense of the low range when a few target ID number will suffice??
Oh BTW, according to the manual, quarter, half and dollar display unique phase numbers so, despite having only one segment to cover the range you still have the highest (dollar) numbers to indicate a wrap around signal from iron. So hopefully its a non-issue.
There is some good info in the manual. It covers enough information to get a newcomer to the hobby going and offers good tips on how to properly use the advanced feature of the ground balance system. Is it different than the F5? apparently so but in that difference there may be some good things going on. Only time will tell.
Mike this is not intended as a slight against your very informative post. It is just my take on the Omega's features, having never used one but based on what I prefer in a machine for my type of hunting. To me it is a "crossover" detector that will suit relic/dig-it-all hunters with enough features to satisfy coin shooter as well.
Tom
.