Mike, as you can imagine, there isn't a guaranteed 'correct' answer due to variances in the source of the EMI. Often, from their first release, the Teknetics G2 and Fisher Gold Bug Pro and GB-DP have strongly been praised for how quiet they are at maximum Sensitivity/Gain. From most of my experiences I will agree that they are
generally quieter than some other detectors, but not always.
Mike Hillis said:
I had done some jewelry hunting at a certain place with my F5. The EMI was so bad that I had to run very reduced settings. Low gain, and low threshold.
Maybe a similar comparison would be my use of the Teknetics Omega in some SE Portland, Oregon inner-city parking strips. Narrow streets with not too large parking strips, several of which had been dug and renovated and smoothed out.
With the Omega, as you know, the Threshold for the All Metal mode is tied in with the variable Sensitivity control so it does differ from the Fisher F5. Usually, to get a nice Threshold audio I have it set between about '68' and '73', depending upon the area, then I can manually GB and hunt in All Metal. At some of those inner city areas I had power lines directly overhead, or just a cross a narrow street and frequent older transformers on them.
With the Omega, it was tough to try and hunt in All Metal due to too much noise. In the Discriminate mode, with a Disc. level of '1' (minimum setting), I had to reduce the Sensitivity level to anywhere from about '51' to '59', and still it was a bit chattery. I tried the Teknetics T2 at the same sites, but it also called for a lot of Sensitivity reduction in order to operate. It worked, but at reduced power. I knew there was likely a good chance of silver coins to be found so I chose those models first for their light weight and display info. With the noise problems, however, I went back to my van and got out the Tek., G2 w/5" DD coil. I used 3 coils on the Omega and the 11" on the T2, but felt the 5" DD, which let the Omega work the best would be the way to go.
The G2 was inoperable. Not just a little, but totally! It made such a noisy racket it could drive you to the brink of insanity, and I dropped the Sensitivity all the way to minimum without satisfactory improvement. In those blocks of narrow streets that only let one car pass if there is another parked on the road, I would say that maybe 90% of the places i tried the G2, with any coil, were a total waste of time and effort. It was the worst experience I have had with the G2, and maybe only four or five other locations called for some reduction but not a lot.
It did prove to me, however, that all the shouts of joy for such a quiet detector had to mostly come from folks out hunting relic sites away from interference.
Mike Hillis said:
I rehunted the same location with a ATPro. The ATPro was not affected by the EMI and I was able to pull targets that I missed with the F5 because of the reduced settings. A lot of targets.
When I evaluated the AT-Pro a couple of times after its release I hunted in some of the same area. Most of the time, the AT Pro was quieter than the G2 as well as the other Teknetics models.
Mike Hillis said:
Now I want to get another Gold Bug (just the plain jane one). Is the Gold Bug going to be affected by the EMI or will it perform like the ATPro?
I need a warm fuzzy about the Goldbug and EMI.
What has been your experiences with Goldbugs/G2 and electrical interference?
I usually find the G2/Gold Bug Pro to be quieter than many/most other detectors .... however, when I get into a problem area where it doesn't work well, it basically doesn't work at all. It's either usually not noisy and works okay, or it is too bothers and close to useless to use.
In the inner city parking strips I mentioned I usually can work wither a White's XLT or XL Pro, and especially a modified IDX Pro with relative calm and little, if any, EMI issues. But even that varies. As a rule, from many, many years of hunting urban renovation work, the slow-sweep/quick-response 2 filter Classic models have served quite well and, if anything, the moderate sweep XLT or XL Pro can be noisier. But that experience can't be guaranteed, either.
A couple of years back they dug a few blocks of sidewalks in the old China town district. I was hunting with a friend and happened to grab my XLY first, thinking I'd mainly cruise the area to find a 'hot spot.' After popping two Indian Head's, two 'V' nickels and a Seated Liberty dime I decided to make a change. I found a good productive area with ample nails, but my blood sugars were also a little low so I went to my van and grabbed some OJ. Then, I switched from the XLT w/6
