IMPACT BUYERS HOW DOES IT COMPARE ???

[St Bernard]

For those of you that have bought the IMPACT and had a little time with it how does it compare to what detectors you have used in the past for your type of detecting? What brand of detector are you comparing it to with your previous detectors? If there are any faults with the IMPACT what do you think they are and also ease of use and do you like the programs it comes with. I have had a WHITES V3i which it was a bear to use because of adjustments can be confusing. Also had an MXT aLL PRO. I did not care for the weight of it and being a single frequency. I am looking at the IMPACT like it features and programs. Feedback appreciated on the IMPACT.

Thanks Bill

 

[BigTony]

Bill, I can’t give you much to go on because I have only used my Impact five times so far.
I have used an Explorer II for ten years and love it. My hearing went south in the last year and that impedes everything.
The Impact has three frequencies, 5,14 and 20 but you only select one at a time.
Minelab throws out a bunch at a time, always.
Impact has 12 search modes and you need to read their charts to see which one is suggested for deep silver, relics or gold. So there is plenty to learn and choose from for sure.

Now only using it five times I found it to be a terrific coin machine on US coins as I live in NJ about 8 miles from NYC.
The minelab i use is a great coin machine too but I have found additional coins like quarters and a Kennedy half dollar in a place that I hit many times.
So with the aide of the three charts in the Impact manual I was able to Finds plenty of coins.
It doesn’t list a chart number for silver dimes or quarters, they might be lumped into the regular dime and quarter category but i’ll Have to take test that next week.

I hope this helps and adds to the discussion because I am still learning the Impact and need others to chime in as well as you.
Thanks, and best of luck to all in 2018

 

[Sataro]

I have owned & used the Whites V3i. It is confusing if you want to customize it to your liking. You have to jump back & forth through the menus to get everything setup. It is a very nice machine though. Best display on the market. Two things caused me to sell it. It had a slow response time in my opinion. Could not get it to speed up enough to suit me. Next issue was it’s weight. The Impact is heavy also but not as heavy as the V3i. The Impact’s response time is blazing fast. Settings are very easy to navigate. Different search programs to pick from. I actually prefer to use only one program—dI3. So everything is simple for me. Depth is great on this machine. All in all it is an outstanding machine!

 

[St Bernard]

-- moved topic --

 

[nenadgbeepin]

Impact is a very nice machine. Very good hand grip texture and shape, so comfortable even after hours of use.
The batteries being at the back is like Fisher Fseries, and a better design than the Racers imho.

I like how everything is at your fingertips. Very easy to switch modes and adjust settings.

The all-metal modes are great, and being able to hunt in a proper motion all-metal mode with threshold, and having an iron tone break is wicked!

Built in wireless transmitter to pair up to Nokta or Makro headphones is very nice.

So many modes to pick from, VCO modes or beep modes with various degrees of recovery speed/gain etc dialed in, you'd be hard pressed to NOT find a mode to your liking, for the type of hunting that you do.
This is probably the only potentially overwhelming aspect of the machine - which mode do you go for! I suggest users start off exploring one mode, and then when they feel comfortable check out another one. You will soon work out what you like.

Compared to other machines, the build quality is very nice, and up there with the best. I think it is faster than the CTX3030, but the 3030 is maybe a bit more stable on deep high conductors. Compared to the tame X-Terras, the Impact can be like a raging bull, but you can tame it down with the VLX modes. So, the Impact is really a tool which you can run to your preferences, and that is what I love about it.

The Impact all-metal mode in 20 kHz is also a capable gold machine, especially with one of the smaller coils, as it's all-metal mode is as good if not better than any VLF gold machine.

I think it is one of the best all-rounders ever made, but if you like to play near water, then the Multi Kruzer is likely to get a look in due to 5m waterproof!

 

[General Custer]

I posted my field report 6 months ago on the Impact and told everyone it is very stable in very high mineralisation as you get in some goldfields.. I have been using it since May 2017 and how to best use it on goldfields.I had used a Whites Coinmaster with 16 inch coil for many years and found some large nuggets up to 3 ounces with it and in 2016 decided to take up prospecting again.No settings changes required on Gen and DI3 like on some much more expensive machines that lose depth.Just switch on and go-very easy to use for the beginner but has many options for the professional.GEN has discrimination with two tones which will signal hot rocks and will impress the most seasoned prospectors.GEN is good for shallow very fine gold down 0.1 grams at 4 inches depth which DI3 will probably not match.But DI3 will give a clearer stronger signal of nuggets 1 gram in size in the very high mineralisation. DEEP mode goes at least twice as deep as GEN on silver at 20 KHZ and I suspect also gold. Actual depth test on a large silver coin was 20 inches as against 8 inches at 20 Khz and the !4 Khz will go even deeper on silver.DEEP mode is very underrated by the factory as they recommend only using it in low/medium mineralisation but it is very stable at up to 85/100 on the mineralisation meter supplied. At 90/100, DEEP reaches it limits and becomes sluggish and thereafter DI3 is the best mode for depth and clear tones and GEN gives a weaker signal. The VLX and D2 modes were not as good as DI3 in my particular environment. With GEN you can use tracking mode.I always run on DEEP mode at 20 Khz and gain of 63 to make it less chatty where the ground will permit and it gives stable ID,s unlike the GEN mode with smaller and deeper targets. DI3 and GEN I run at 20 Khz and 70 gain. Raising the gain to 80 will only lead to many false signals on goldfields.COG mode will work when the mineralisation is extreme,ie.100/100. To sum up the Impact is a professional metal detector able to operate in the very high mineralised soil found in some goldfields in a very stable way.
.

 

[Southwind]

Personally I liked the Racer 2 better.

More stable and reliable target ID.