IMPACT SOFTWARE UPDATE - AUDIO TONE ACTIVATED IN DI4

[Mudwhale]

Mudwhale - you misunderstood my comment above. I do save my settings for all my programs. That way I only have to change a couple of settings and not all of them each time out. Get it?

Sorry for the confusing post! I wasn't refering to you. I know you save your programs. I was refering to the guy that doesn't. Once I find what works best I save it and keep a notepad with all the settings just in case.

 

[Mudwhale]

Quote: "I would be glad to .... If I knew what it is you would like me to explain. I'm lost on this one.

Monte"

I meant that you are better at explaining the features and modes of operation than anyone else on this forum. The instructions for this new audio update are a little confusing at first. Such as the way to set the tones in "Expert" mode by scrolling through using the select button until you get to "NON Ferrous" and hit the button again so the box disappears. Well, it still lets you change the audio even with the box still present. I know this may be confusing to some folk. I just think the way you have explained the features in past posts it would be a lot more clear.

 

[GroundHug]

This may well be a pipe dream, but it would be really nice if the software update could leave any programs intact.

 

[Beyonder]

This may well be a pipe dream, but it would be really nice if the software update could leave any programs intact.

In my experience, that is not as easy as it sounds. The better option would be to have a place on your pc where you can store your programs. I dont care either way as I am just glad they keep updating the machine.

 

[dbado1]

This may well be a pipe dream, but it would be really nice if the software update could leave any programs intact.

In my experience, that is not as easy as it sounds. The better option would be to have a place on your pc where you can store your programs. I dont care either way as I am just glad they keep updating the machine.

+1. I don't save any programs for a few of reasons... The programs on the impact are so easy sort through and program on the fly to the specific needs of that site on that particular day. I don't hunt the same site any two days in a row...the settings change at every site/every hunt. I hope that Impact owners aren't "boxing" themselves in to using a saved program on different sites. The whole beauty of the Impact is it's versatility IMO. I hunted a site yesterday and changed modes, freqs, etc. at least five times as the conditions and my mood changed. I hope Nokta keeps the up dates coming!

Dean

 

[Mudwhale]

[/quote]

+1. I don't save any programs for a few of reasons... The programs on the impact are so easy sort through and program on the fly to the specific needs of that site on that particular day. I don't hunt the same site any two days in a row...the settings change at every site/every hunt. I hope that Impact owners aren't "boxing" themselves in to using a saved program on different sites. The whole beauty of the Impact is it's versatility IMO. I hunted a site yesterday and changed modes, freqs, etc. at least five times as the conditions and my mood changed. I hope Nokta keeps the up dates coming!

Dean[/quote]

I save a program in every mode to have a starting point without having to adjust immediately. I adjust and tweak the machine from there. If I had to start from scratch every time I would be wasting a lot of searching time. I know what settings work best where I hunt and adjust from there. At least when I turn my machine on it is in it's best hunting mode no matter what hunting mode I am using. Apparently you are not setting disc, notching or tone breaks or for that matter distinct tones. You need to really learn this machine! If I had to do that from scratch every time I would shoot myself!!! This is why you save programs!!!

 

[Mudwhale]

Very true, and that's how I have felt for over 2½ years now about the Nokta brand.

I updated as soon as it was announced and it works great! I set the tones and then the breaks and I think this will be a killer hunting mode. This is what I asked for in the forum and it came true. Nokta truly listens and responds quickly to users requests. This is a company that cares and goes the extra mile. Just being able to update the Impact with a simple download is awesome!

I did find there to be a downfall to owning two Nokta Impacts and being greeted early this morning with the new Ver. 1.14 upgrade.

Those who know me or follow many of my forum posts know that I am a firm believer in what I call the S-F-P Success Formula when it comes to metal detectors and metal detecting. That is to key in on: S[size=small]imple[/size]-F[size=small]unctional[/size]-P[size=small]erformance[/size]. I don't care for a detector that is complex. Nor one that has an excess number of adjustment features, many of which call for a counter-adjustment of one or more other settings to try and work right. And I sure fell cheated when a detector makers touts a lot of fluff about their product when the end user finds it to lack significant performance afield.

The Nokta Impact is a teaser of sorts, because it might appear to be a complex detector due to the twelve search modes and all the related adjustment features it provides, to include a selection of three operating frequencies to use. It could have been a disaster, if it would have been haphazardly designed. But as we have come to discover and appreciate, the production Impact has been, and continues to be, a very well engineered device. IF an average Hobbyist wanted to, they could just rely on the factory Default settings and use it as a "turn-on-and-go" detector and make any 'Changes' to factory default settings as they wanted each time they turn it on.

I believe the majority of Avid Detectorists who are attracted to the Impact's versatility, however, will end up devoting a wee bit of time to walk through each of the 12 search modes, make the adjustment function Changes they feel will best suit them, select the search mode set-up they feel they will use most often ... and SAVE the settings to have their own Custom Programs. Always saved and ready to go, yet allowing On-the-Fly tweaks during a search as desired without those temporary changes messing up their programs.

This does give an initial impression to some that the Impact is a tedious and time-consuming detector. It isn't, really, once you determine the program settings you want for each search mode. What one must do, and I added that reminder to Dilek's announcement of the update, is to make sure you have all your program settings written down and stored so you can re-enter them as necessary. The first time I found it necessary, and was glad I had my programs in a notebook, was when someone was checking out my test sample Impact and managed to hit the buttons in order to trigger a Factory Default re-set.

The last time I needed them, before this morning, was when I did the Ver. 1.13 update a few months ago. The update did add and/or correct some things, but it also restored everything back to Factory Defaults. I was ready today for that to happen and posted a reminder for those who might not have already jotted down their different programs.

So today started out with two problems I had to face:

1st.. My Test Impact, a FORS Relic and a Tesoro were already in my pickup as I was about to head off to an early morning ghost town hunt with Oregon Gregg before the heat of summer returned by late morning. I paused to check my e-mails and Forum posts and noticed the new Impact update. I figured it would only take a few minutes so I downloaded the new update to my computer, grabbed my production Impact off the wall display, and uploaded/updated to the new 1.14 Version. I was hoping it was done in such a way that it would only effect the specific modes, but it didn't. Updating was quick, but it reset everything back to Factory Defaults and my saved programs were gone.

So I got my notepad of programs, scurried out to the pickup and grabbed my Impact with the smaller coil, and used it and my notebook to update my 2nd Impact to all my current settings to Save, and double check my 1st Test Impact to make sure I hadn't made a change to my saved programs along the way. All was well! Well, almost at least, becuase I then wanted to [size=small](didn't need to or have to, just wanted to)[/size] update my 1st Impact as well. So that update only took a couple of minutes ... but I then had to re-enter all my program adjustments for each search mode and then Save all those new settings.

It wasn't a major chore, and relaxing in my den's desk chair kept me comfortable while I readied my two Impacts for my next foray afield.

2nd.. Although it didn't require me to devote an entire morning to 'Impact Programming 101' it did delay me as the sun crept high and it started heating up under clear blue skies. So, due to my delay and less than comfortable weather arriving, I didn't make the 35 mile drive to the ghost town. I guess that one less-than-simple feature of the Impact is the once-in-a-while need to manually restore your programs should you do a version update or good and wipe them out with a manual Factory Default procedure. It means I saved the cost of fuel, and I didn't get hot and miserable in the high-desert heat that was arriving. But, I did possibly miss out on making a good find as Oregon Gregg managed to work his Racer 2 coil over the right spot and nabbed a 1902 Indian Head cent.

According to another tester (TNSS) on another forum(metaldetectingforum.com), these updates also do the same for the VLX2 mode. Just an FYI...

I posted that about 6 hours before you made your post, just in case folks missed that update information It was adding Audio Tone adjustment to BOTH the Di4 and VLX2 four-tone search modes.

Monte
Please explain to the folks how this works. You Sir are way better than anyone to do this.

I would be glad to .... If I knew what it is you would like me to explain. I'm lost on this one.

Monte

Monte
I this past weekend after updating went through my check list:
Software update= check
set all settings= check
Set id's to normalized= check
set eveything the way I like it= check

I go out and try to pin point a target and I forgot to set the machine to inches and not CM!!!!!!! First target was 23 and I'm like, Oh crap! Now I try to reboot from scratch from memory how to set this. Well, about a 45 minutes later I hit the majic mode to set the machine in inches. I just did all of the boot combos and got lucky. DOH!!!!!

 

[Sven]

LOL, didn't pay too much attention to the target depth reading, usually off anyways. It didn't dawn on me until last night that depth reading was metric. Doesn't matter anyways, used to it, at work we use inches and mm all day long. Convert inches to mm on the blueprints to build the product. Metric is a big deal here in Canada. Getting pretty good at envisioning metric distance compared to inches. just for those interested to convert inches to mm, multiply inches by 25.4, convert mm to inches divide by 25.4.

 

[dbado1]

+1. I don't save any programs for a few of reasons... The programs on the impact are so easy sort through and program on the fly to the specific needs of that site on that particular day. I don't hunt the same site any two days in a row...the settings change at every site/every hunt. I hope that Impact owners aren't "boxing" themselves in to using a saved program on different sites. The whole beauty of the Impact is it's versatility IMO. I hunted a site yesterday and changed modes, freqs, etc. at least five times as the conditions and my mood changed. I hope Nokta keeps the up dates coming!

Dean[/quote]

I save a program in every mode to have a starting point without having to adjust immediately. I adjust and tweak the machine from there. If I had to start from scratch every time I would be wasting a lot of searching time. I know what settings work best where I hunt and adjust from there. At least when I turn my machine on it is in it's best hunting mode no matter what hunting mode I am using. Apparently you are not setting disc, notching or tone breaks or for that matter distinct tones. You need to really learn this machine! If I had to do that from scratch every time I would shoot myself!!! This is why you save programs!!![/quote]

I know the machine very well as I had one of the first ones out and, therefore, have spent more time with it than most. I also had the CoRe and the Relic prior to the Impact...so less of a learning curve for me. I'm not a coin hunter. Don't use disc often and never use notch. I wonder how many good targets you leave in the ground by doing so? What is the difference of starting from factory pre set and tweaking or starting from a saved pre set and tweaking? It takes me 30 seconds or less to program my settings and go...that's how well I know the machine. This machine is set up very intuitively and is super easy to navigate. It doesn't (shouldn't) take more than a few seconds to set it up and roll then tweak as necessary. No wasted time... customized for each site. Having the option to save is nice but, as I said, not something I use. As a relic hunter in varied mineralization and varied types of trash even on the same site I am changing settings often. If I hunted parks and yards that were more consistent (tame) then I would probably utilize the save feature. Try utilizing your tone breaks more and disc/notch less and listen to everything. You might be surprised to hear what you are missing. HH.

Dean

 

[Cal_Cobra]

This may well be a pipe dream, but it would be really nice if the software update could leave any programs intact.

.....The better option would be to have a place on your pc where you can store your programs.

Would be great if they made a PC/MAC app that would allow you to save or make programs on your computer and upload to the Impact, kind of like some of the Minelab apps.... had one for the Etrac (not from ML, but a European programmer) that was way cool, could make programs on the computer, test them, send them to friends, and upload to the Etrac, or backup the programs on the Etrac.

 

[Sven]

Haven't found a need to save programs at this point. I agree the impact only takes a few seconds to set up and go detecting.
With all the features the Racer has, thought without being able to save settings, thought it would be a chore to set up.
When I got the Impact, glad to see it can save settings. Now I find I don't need that feature---yet. Still have to play with the tones, etc., at that point in time,
will be glad that I have the ability to set and save. Right now the factory pre-sets work fine.

 

[Mudwhale]

I have really been tweaking the tone breaks and audio tones in DI4 mode this past week. Here are the settings that are working well for me so far.

Basic Menu
Gain=90
Disc=2
FeVol.=5

Expert Menu
Notch=2
Audio Tones= Fe=15, Gold/Non Fe=40, Non Fe=50 and the last unboxed=70
Tone breaks= Fe=26, Gold/ Non Fe=65, Non Fe=80

This has been working good and gives a nice rollover audio effect on mixed metals so far. I haven't decided how low to go on the Fe tone break because i have only dug foil balls in the 20's range. I'm also not sure on the tone break for the Non Fe yet but these settings put everything below and above Iron into an audio zone, copper into another and silver into another. Please try this and let me know if it could be adjusted better and WHY.

Setting up the tone breaks was almost counter intuitive to figure out. This needs to be explained better...