AKA Sorex Pro

[Copperballs1]

I was quite anxious in buying this detector from another country however my fears proved unfounded as it arrived about 5 days later in perfect working order. I have had a variety of machines, my last one being a Minelab Safari - a heavy but very competent workhorse, especially on beach and pasture.

The detector comes with an option of a variety of coils upto 19 kHz. I chose the 12.5" x 9.5" 7khz coil but you can also purchase a multinfrequency coil eg. 3, 7 and 14khz which can be easily switched to whichever frequency you want to detect on.

The 7 kHz coil is surprisingly sensitive to smaller targets but more on depth later. The machine is controlled by 3 main algorithms - MM (all metal/trash mode) - very fast recovery/response speed for trashy sites, MSF (all rounder mode for medium trashy sites - medium recovery speed) and SSF for clean pasture.

This machine really excels in trashy sites - the audio signals are both clear, accurate and prominent. I tested this machine on a trashy iron infested site in Ribchester. I selected MM mode and the low iron tones were clear and decisive. Whilst I was receiving iron tones I received a clear piano like tone amongst the iron signifying a non-ferrous target. I have been over this site with my trusty Safari three times (a small field so confident in saying my Safari had been over it) but out popped a silver George III shilling from 10 1/2 inches! I always had a nagging feeling that the Safari had missed targets in iron infested areas due to their slower recovery speed and tendency to give high conductive tones for large iron. About 10 minutes later I pulled a croatal bell from about 14 inches....at one point I thought the machine must be falsing and nearly refilled the hole. I did however persevere and used the machine pinpoint (which i found can be quite harsh and painful on the ears) and out popped the target. I was really impressed by the depth - it certainly matched and exceeded my Safari on depth on certain targets.

The Sorex Pro is a light well balanced machine and very comfortable to use. I was surprised by the quality and feel of the machine...it wasn't the build quality of a Minelab but nevertheless a sturdy, light and robust machine.

The indication of targets is presented on a holograph. Basically, a line or loop appears which provides a lot of information. For example, the longer the line the shallower the target, where the line on the graph appears indicates the conductivity of the target, a straight line upwards is always either foil or coke.....anything to the left of the screen is iron. The foil indicator is absolutely spot on. Every time I received a straight line going vertically upwards in the centre of the display I dug...it was always foil - I knew this before I dug it but wanted to make sure it was for this review. In total, I dug 33 pieces of foil over a 2 hour period, each target I said to myself "this is foil" and I was not wrong.

Straight lines also indicate a pure metal...I received straight lines at various points on the display and these were always coins. Slightly looped targets were buttons or bottle caps etc. I really felt that the machine is accurate in what it conveys to you. One thing I loved is running it in all metal mode with discrimination. You get the iron tones completely silenced but the non ferrous tones sing out at you like a flute. Basically the discrimination and all metal mode run together and can be changed at a touch of a keypad press...weird I know but so much easier to detect with. You can also run the Sorex on Polyphonic tones (PST) similar to a Minelab.

The Sorex Pro has many features....I love the GS (ground signal) control...rather than reduce sensitivity first if the machine is falsing , try using the ground signal control without loss of depth. I also liked the function button where you can allocate various options to the function button and then use it future to select your preferred feature as a quick select feature rather than trawl through menus.

What amazed me with this machine is the recovery and response speed. It is well up there with the top end machines renowned for fast recovery/response machines. The machine is also fantastic on ploughed (something I always felt my Safari struggled with due to the air pockets in the soil) but you will be quite amazed at the depth it obtains in pasture. The handbook boasts the machine will detect a helmet at 1.4 metres depth with a 15" 3 kHz coil. Maybe great for relic hunters but my style of detecting would not really come under this category but one thing is certain, the depth achieved for a 'mid range' priced machine will really surprise you.

My only concern is that this machine will not take off in the UK due to the fact there are no UK dealers and that the keypad is so alien to UK users (the machine menus are all in English). I was thoroughly impressed with the Sorex Pro and would recommend this to anyone searching for a mid range machine - you will be pleasantly surprised and will reap the rewards this machine has to offer all too soon.