Impact and EMI

[Old Virginia]

I'm considering selling my XP Deus and purchasing an Impact. The Deus and I never have hit it off. I'm not knocking it. I love the weight and compactness of the unit and have made some decent finds with it. But it just doesn't separate like I thought it would and I haven't been all that impressed with the depth. But here's my question: how well does the Impact handle EMI? One of my best sites is a place where I've pulled out a number of colonial relics including Spanish silver, large cents, etc. It's also loaded with iron. I've also used an AT Pro at this site with great success but I think I've maxed out the AT Pro's capabilities here and need a unit with decent depth and superior separation capabilities. But there's another challenge with this site. It's surrounded by electrified livestock fence that drives ALL machines crazy. Constant falsing. With the AT Pro, I was able to pick out the real signals and distinguish from the constant EMI pulsing of the fence.

Has anyone tried the Impact around electric fences?

My other concern is the weight. I had to sell an MXT Pro that I loved due to the fact I got to where it would wear out my arm after an hour. I'm 59 and have some tennis elbow. It looks like the Impact weighs about the same as the MXT Pro does so I'm concerned about that too. Any thoughts on the weight of the Impact for long hunts?

Thanks!

 

[Trashfinder]

Are you running your Deus in clay? In mineralized ground the Deus does not do well with the stock programs, i think the relic program fairs better than the others. With some custom programs you would do much better. From what i have been reading the Impact will also suffer in heavy emi conditions. I have an electric fence around my place and it literally tears up most of my detectors and bothers my Deus as well. But running higher freq help some with some shift, as well as some other tweaks.

 

[Old Virginia]

No TF, not much clay where I am - Virginia's Shenandoah Valley. But some mineralization, though not too bad. Thanks for the tips!

 

[dbado1]

The Impact is balanced very well. I have had lighter machines that were unbalanced and did not swing nearly as well. As for the EMI, too early to tell yet from experience. The VLX modes on the Impact may be the way to go in that field but that's just as guess. I'm going to try and get out today in an area very near some power lines. I'll report back and let you know what happens.

Dean

 

[Des D]

"I'm with ya on the Juice!
Never really cared for it and I've owned since it first came out but loathe to sell it cos it'll be too expensive to replace should I feel I need to down the road?
Hell, it's still on V.30, didn't upgrade to V.4.0 chiefly cos I use a Mac and it ain't Mac friendly!

Why aren't Moonlab & Ex Pee, Mac friendly?

To your Q Re EMI

The red Racer was atrocious around 'cattle fences!'
The Racer 2 was 'improved', better to be fair.

Most every detector I have had past 15yrs have been affected by cattle fences but a few weeks ago I was in an EMI situation and, the Low kHz fared better!

So, it might be all right on it's 5kHz option?

I was not a tester for this but was for the Racer's."

 

[nenadgbeepin]

The beauty of the Impact is that if you add the 3 frequencies with the 5 Freq Shift positions, basically gives you 15 different frequencies to deal with any EMI that might be around - so it terms of EMI, I'd say there's nothing the Impact can't handle.

 

[dbado1]

I purposely took the Impact to a site that had large power lines running through it this afternoon to see how it would handle the EMI.
I used the small coil because the site is so trashy. I intended to try it with the large coil as well but just didn't want to stop long enough to change them. I was having a great time! I hunted directly under the lines with no problems at all. My settings...DI3, mostly hunted in 14 kHz but tried them all, Sens 80, Disc 0. I used Black Widow headphones with the volume on the phones maxed and I turn the machine on/volume knob to just two lines (1/4) turn. Ran great... no interference. I probably could have turned the sensitivity up but I never run the sens up high on any machine. I've never found the need to nor understood why others do.

I didn't recover any earth shattering finds though I did find some surprising finds. I was surprised that they were even there as this site has been hunted very hard. Mostly small brass and copper relics from the railroad.

So, no EMI issues with the Impact near and under large power lines with the small coil attached.

Dean

 

[Beyonder]

I think the standard coil needs better shielding.

 

[nalc472]

I do not own a Impact but I would think a freq shift would do the trick. Deceasing the Sens if Freq shift does not work.

 

[dbado1]

I do not own a Impact but I would think a freq shift would do the trick. Deceasing the Sens if Freq shift does not work.

I believe you are correct. As Nenad said, the beauty of this machine is that there are many options for Freq. settings. Find a setting that works. If that doesn't work lower the Sens. The Nokta's are very powerful machines. I usually keep the Sens. between 70-80 rarely more than that and, at times, lower.

I have hunted with guys that have the idea that if the Sens. is not cranked up they are going to miss the deeper targets. As a result, their machine runs wonky, is more susceptible to EMI, etc. and they miss the deeper targets because they never hear them through the noise.

Also, with the Impact, I don't believe there is a reason to crank the power/volume knob up more than necessary. I can't get it up over about a 1/4 turn before it's plenty loud enough with headphones. Turning it up does not make the machine more "powerful". I turn my headphones up all the way then turn the machine on and the volume up to a level where it can be comfortably heard. HH.

Dean

 

[Old Virginia]

Thanks everyone. I'll keep all this in mind. I've tried all these tricks w/other machines. About the only thing that ever helps is backing off on the sensitivity. The areas I hunt are very close to the fences (unlike power lines). I'm talking less than 30 feet. It's a challenge for any machine!

Any more thoughts on the weight?

 

[Beyonder]

DI2 with the standard coil and high gain is really chatty. di99 was not as bad but still unbearable. Not sure if this is user or machine yet.

 

[dbado1]

Hi Bey,
DI2 on the Nokta's is pretty sparky. No need to go high gain in that mode. I hunt at a Sens setting of 50 with the Relic &CoRe in DI2. Haven't hunted much in DI2 with the Impact yet but I imagine it is the same.

Dean

 

[ncwayne]

If you are having issues with your Deus regarding separation and depth, I'd question your set-up because in my experience, the Deus is excellent at separation (even with the 11 inch coil - which I have), and depth. Running lower reactivity will aid depth, and don't be afraid to really slow down on swing speed, and try fairly rapid but very short swings in heavy iron to locate non-ferrous.
I have been relatively slow to embrace the Deus, meaning I've had mine for several years and have fairly recently felt like I am getting the best out of the machine. It's love for aluminum drives me up the wall, but it has demonstrated numerous times its ability to find good targets in hard worked areas.

I have the Impact and expect really good things from it, but I only have about 6 hours on the machine and that's not a lot of bonding time. I can tell you that I find the fit of the hand grip and balance of the Impact to be much improved over the Racer and Nokta Relic that I have, but I have not used it, yet, on a full day hunt. I do, as a general rule, try to keep the shaft length of all my detectors as short as I can when they are nose heavy to begin with.

One definite benefit of the Impact over the Deus is the availability of a smaller coil. This would lessen noise in heavy target concentrations, lessen the effect of any EMI present, and probably lessen any ground noise/interference as well. Also helps on weight/balance issues.

I cannot say how the Impact handles EMI, yet, but I would caution you that what someone else says about their detector and EMI may not apply to your EMI situation, as yours could be entirely different.

Good luck with your decision. I'd recommend getting the Impact before getting rid of the Deus because having both is not a bad thing, and if you must narrow it to one detector, you'll be better informed as to which one to keep.

Oh, and if you have not tried the smaller coil on your AT Pro, you'd be surprised at how well it works in heavy iron while retaining most of the AT Pro's depth. Again, smaller coil (antenna), less EMI effect.

Wayne

 

[Old Virginia]

Great info - thanks Wayne! Part of my issue with the depth is the interface/control. It sounds simplistic, but I simply don't like it and I find it a bit complicated. Maybe I'm just lazy but I prefer simpler interfaces and controls. "Buttons and dials" suit me better. The other issue with the Deus is the coil options, as you point out, not to mention the actual cost of their coils. Yes, I have the small coil on the AT Pro. I have 2 AT Pros and the small coil stays on the one I use most of the time. The 2nd is for back up and friends to use. I'm holding off any final decision to see what Garrett's going to come out with on May 6.

Thanks again for the info!

RGW

 

[ncwayne]

You're welcome. Hope it helps.
Not to muddy the water, but I have found in SOME of my sites with strong EMI that the MX Sport handles the EMI much better than my other detectors. I have NOT had the Impact in those sites, so can't say how it performs there. But if you have access to an MX Sport, ie, friend or friendly dealer, you might try it in your site just to see. The very worst EMI site I have is an electric fence enclosure of about 25 acres. It is horrendous! I have not had the MX Sport or the Impact there as it's been a year or more since I have been on that site.

Wayne