Steve, you made my point, but I am surprised at you. I've been waiting for the dust to settle and the air to clear. Let's do it this way then...
My words:
"One is an unproven toy." I meant it. It (is) a toy, and in my words and in my view, it (IS) still "unproven", and most (but not all) hand-held metal detectors ARE toys, and so far, it does take 2-3 years for the bugs to be worked out of a modern-day metal detector. If in doubt, have a good look at the Garrett AT and Ace series, and tell me how many years it took to work the bugs out of those, and they are still being refined and corrected.
So now let me give everybody some things to think about; And I think I am the only one here that knows (some) of the following too
I worked for the Department of Defense in R&D of electronic/nuclear torpedo warfare command control guidance and doppler enable systems - and sometimes using metal detectors so powerful (I have a Top Secret Clearance, so I can't give out info on how they work) that it would rock people's socks off if they could see how powerful they really are. Sometimes we sent trained seals to retrieve an inoperative nuclear powered (failed) torpedo at the bottom of a canal or bay somewhere, but sometimes a certain type of metal detector was used to locate it too. And no, we can't buy those metal detectors, only the Federal Government can.. I already know the capabilities of many metal detectors, and their inherent capacities too, some of which nobody on this page will ever see, and I know the difference between a serious tool, a hand-held toy, and a hand-held metal detector too. . That's all I can say about that, the details are all top secret. To me, ALL hand-held metal detectors are toys 1st, and a tool 2nd. I stand on that and it makes sense too. But this has been nothing but one of those "let's beat up on someone a bit", and something that happens way too often here too, instead of the more rational and civil "let's try to understand a man's statement better." The best way to learn something is to ask a question, not insult or demean, or misunderstand someone. I don't do that to people and I wouldn't expect it back either.
*****No it doesn't matter (where) it is made, but it does matter how long it will last, how well it will work, how easy it is to get service for, how easy it will be to get different coils for it, how much it costs, and whether it is too difficult to engage with someone who has problems speaking another language well enough, etc. Way too many people complain about one foreign made detector brand's service, and even more complain about detectors made in Asia, but again, that was not my main point. Simply said, I watched a man stab his bayonet right through the 10-ringer one day because his recently on the market detector couldn't find the massive rose gold ring that my cheap Bounty Hunter detector could as I followed in his footsteps. Then of course, he wrapped it around a tree and sent a note with it back to the factory here saying, "I killed it." I try to get people to avoid those situations and that was my main point. I don't nit pic, it's not my style..
Now let's examine your statement Steve;
"You of all people should know that single frequency tech is old tech and running against its limits, in fact your post says just that. Well, any halfway decent company can make a single frequency VLF."
I concur: Read my statement;
"the Fisher F75 is at the very end, the pinnacle of the engineering term "the point of diminishing returns". In other words, it is at the very end of the depth potential spectrum and would require a tremendous amount of additional voltage (Like a Nautilus) to go any deeper."
***Nautiluses commonly use 44 volts to get that extra 1/2" extra depth, but they don't handle high Fe soil well at all, it's a given.
Steve, you and I BOTH know that my statement is true because we both (should know) that it is true. And we most certainly know that we can't crank any more depth into one, because we can't crank any more POWER into one, right? It (and all others) are at the end of "the point of diminishing returns", just like I wrote. George Payne wrote about this in his engineering notes too, our singles and mullti-freq detectors are at the very end of their potentials for depth capabilities.
As far as how long it will take for a metal detector to end its journey of perfection, nobody knows, but most metal detectors do take 2-3 years, just like I wrote, and most of us already know that too. Some detectors are or have been re-engineered for even decades, such as the CZ series.
The end product; I have a great respect for you too Steve, but please don't get ahead of it all, this is not a good place to quarrel about misunderstandings or inadequately explained philosophical viewpoints. Yes, I could have elaborated or expounded on the discussion a bit more, but that was not my intention at all. My purpose was to suggest that someone focus on a metal detector that has already had 10 or more years of proof about its capabilities, rather than to take a risk on one that has considerably less time to prove itself accordingly.
Anyway, you all have fun. And no, I haven't logged in any hours on (any) metal detector, and I never will count hours of use. One last thing. Yes, and although I do not log hours into researching any metal detectors, I have read statements from people here and there, that the metal detector in question does have some troubles with high iron soils. But again, it is too early to say that their statements are true, false, or just made up statements or vendettas or guess work of some kind. Again though, I stand on my statements, hand metal detectors are for the most part "toys", and the longer one is on the market the more we learn about it. It takes awhile for one to prove itself, but that is not a magical number either. And BTW, the deepest-seeking all-metal detector I've ever used was an old Garrett Deepseeker, made in the early 70's, bar none, and it ran in the lower VLF frequency, it a single freq not a multi freq
Peace everyone, and HH
Larry