Clarke MD1000

[fv1620]

Judging by the photos & description I think the Clarke MD1000 is probably the same as the Altai Treasure Seeker 1. Can anyone confirm that please? Given that I had no replies to the Atai TS1 inquiry, I wonder if anyone has experience of the Clarke MD1000?

Before anyone tut-tuts I should explain why I want it. I like wet sand/mud detecting & my Garrett Seahunter Mk 2 being PI is brilliant for this sort of thing. But of course no discrimination.

Once I have scooped up my pile of sand/mud to investigate, it would be nice to sweep it over with something like the Clarke MD1000 to discriminate what I have got. Far from the speed of checking dry sand I find dissecting items from layers of tenacious mud a bit slow going particularly as my eyesight is not as keen as it was. I use a Garret Pro Pointer & probably will continue to do so for zooming in. I just wanted something to sweep over before proceeding further.

I was thinking I would have to cut the thing down but it looks as if it might collapse to half the length making it an ideal hand held device. I also wondered whether the discrimination is purely sound or whether the meter needle would kick in a particular direction?

I was looking for a second hand one but they can be had for about £30. But they look as if they would lend themselves to hand held use like this, rather than other machines which have bulky projections.

Anyone have any experiences please?

[liamnolan]

Cannot help with a review as I never even knew they existed. However, at just £30 why not just go any buy one? Good to have background info on things before you buy, but usually that applies to more expensive items and checking before a considerable financial leap in the dark.
I would have though the Pro Pointer might have been good enough to rummage through the sand?
Good luck in any event, Liam B-)

[Fusion]

I presume you're basically wanting a cheap discriminating pinpointer? See this thread, where LadyLuck recommends a Maplin Precision Gold branded machine, available on eBay for around £30:
http://www.metaldetectingforum.co.uk/vi ... php?t=7134.

[fv1620]

Liam, thanks for coming back.

Yes I would still use the Pro Pointer for zooming into the layers of grey clay/mud/sand even if its not a coin I tend to want just see what it is once I've invested some time in the poking around process. If it is something other than a coin it can be a bit time consuming.

I was just wanting to do quick scan for iron on the initial pile of stuff I had dug. Yes I know £30 isn't great amount at stake. But so many times I buy a machine/gadget & realise it doesn't do something I assumed it would & wish I bought the something else.

Well I have asked 6 ebay sellers of these things whether the discrimination is purely audio or whether the needle kicks down with iron as it did on my old C-Scope. Then I can operate it in silent mode. So far I have only had one reply from a seller who says it works but doesn't know if the needle moves down on iron.

I had in fact I considered using my Ace 250 without the tubes using the small coil which I no longer use routinely. I rigged this up to try but the trouble was that there were so many buttons to push just to do a diagnostic scan. Firstly to get it into iron discrimination then reduce the sensitivity to half because it was picking up the control box & would been no doubt reacting to wet sand.

The other thing I would have do, would be a determined sweep with it being motion detection, which I just find hard to get used to. So it all got rather complicated. Ah that's the other thing I hope these cheapo machines are good old fashioned non-motion detection?

[fv1620]

I presume you're basically wanting a cheap discriminating pinpointer?

Yes, I dearly wish there was a Pro Pointer with a discrimination button. Maybe one day, but at some cost no doubt.

I've looked at the Maplin £29.99 one & considered going to see one as I have a Maplin 10 miles way. The drawback is that there is a lot of support furniture in the way. So I would have to do some cutting & arranging a handle whereas the Clarke/Atai ones already have a nice handle arrangement.

[fv1620]

Ah well I've actually bought the Clarke one from Machinemart. It is has variable discrimination & a meter to move up or down depending if it is ferrous or not.

Now I know you get what you pay for etc. But I bought this purely to scan a pile of mud/wet sand after I had found a target with my PI. This was just to save unnecessary further sorting of the pile, being clay like this can take a while.

Well tests reveal that it can discriminate but not in the way I expected. £1 & £2 are ok but I get a ferrous response on 50p, 20p, 10p, 2p & 1p. If I adjust the discrimination to allow these coins in, the the discrimination is turned virtually off & it responds to ferrous.

As I bought this through the post I have more consumer protection through distant selling rules. Before I phone up & complain that it is not fit for purpose, is there any iron content in those coins it thinks is iron? I don't want to lose the argument on a technicality.

The other point is if I return it as it is not my fault it is naff, can I expect a refund of the initial P&P charge & that for the return?

[morning wood]

I know for sure that modern 2p's have an iron/steel core as I think the 1p does as well. Not sure about the others. Perhaps a magnet will reveal all

[fv1620]

Actually I think I have been a bit hasty in my condemnation. I find with discrimination set on minimum it will pick up all the coinage. I had assumed than minimum discrimination meant no discrimination.

I had been test using quite large bits of iron which I think was choking it & making it respond whatever the setting. Using smaller bits of iron it will discriminate against.

So its not as wonderful as I hoped, but I can see at least that it is going to avoid me doing detailed digging for ferrous items. The thought of not finding my 1p coins was too much to contemplate. They are nice little rewards to show that there is something albeit minimal to be found.