Would the Nokta fors handle pickers?

[bigscoop]

Still in the market for a good all around land machine, something that can handle relic hunting, coin shooting, and even picker hunting. If such a beast exist? I'm only going to have room for one land machine and a few coils so I need to to get the most bang for my buck. Already got the Excal and various coils for all of my water hunting.

Here's a link to the machine in question:

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/b...-core-beach-review-new-detector-consider.html

 

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[Keppy]

Hello all, I received the Notka unit from UPS on Monday. I was impressed that the box that the detector was in had been wrapped in plastic for waterproofing. It also shipped pretty fast considering is start location was in Istanbul, Turkey. It had two stops by imports also before it got to me. When I got home from work I opened the box to find a nice soft cloth bath in which everything was packed. The bag while not really fancy is adequate for carrying everything needed if an individual wanted to keep everything together while in transit. Zippered compartments inside hold the various items included with the detector.

The unit comes with a battery charger for the four AA rechargeable batteries. I had to go out and get an adapter for that charger so it would work here in the states. I have already contacted Kellyco who is a Notka dealer and found out that they do supply an adapter for the charger, so that will be no extra cost for anyone making a purchase of this detector. The batteries are good quality "Varta" batteries. You get a wall charger and a car charger. VARTA Consumer Batteries - Home

The unit comes with three coils. The large coil is 15.5 x 13.3 inches, the next size coil is 11.2 x 7.0 inches and the third coil is the small one, 5.2 x 4.7 inches. All three coils come with coil covers. They are not taped on the edges, so that is something a person would have to do. I have only tried the small coil so far and I will talk about that in a bit. The coils and the power cords are equal if not better quality than some VLF's currently on the market. This is my opinion.

The unit comes with a set of Phillips headphones, model SHP2000. Open Box: Philips SHP2000 Full-Size Wired Over-Ear Headphones (Black) - Newegg.com The headphones are good but most people will probably opt out for their favorites. The headphones provided will work.

The unit comes with a nice little suede pouch with a clip-on attachment that is ok. You also get a handy dandy baseball cap with the Notka emblem on it.

After unpacking and looking at all the items I started to put the detector together. I decided to place the small coil on first as I wanted to check it's sensitivity to small targets. The fastener for the coil is a bit different and I like it. The shaft, or "stick" is equal to any other VLF's on the market. Actually, after running my fingers over the pop holes I was surprised that I did not cut or scratch my fingertip as I have done with a few other detectors that I have purchased in the past. Attention to detail appears to be one of the traits of this company. The control box was mounted next with the armrest. Again the plastic fittings provided for the attaching of the box to the stick are top quality and work very well.
The control box is very light and I think small for what it does. There is a arm rest strap provided. After the "put together phase" I found the unit to be extremely light and well balanced. I work in the brush a lot so I will comment on how the unit does in that brush down the line. I stick will adjust for a very long reach which comes in handy at times. The handle has two places where power cords attach, but they can be arranged so that they are out of the way, and should not get damaged. There is a screen on the control box that is on the inside of the left side of the box so it does not get the sun beating down on it. The handle however does have a small screen that is located at the top. I got some see thru sun glare tape from Ace Hardware and put over that window, it should se safe from any damage as well. There are power cord locks that are provided for keeping the cord in place on the stick/shaft. I will note that I would be happier if a more comfortable arm rest would be developed in the future.

Overall, I am very happy with what I have seen already from this company. From the shipping to the product itself, this company has done a very good job. There are some features on this unit that I will shed light on in the future.

I was eager to get the unit out and see what it would do in the field. I took off the next morning and went to a very nearby location that has been hit very hard with every detector under the sun. All I wanted to do on this trip was turn the unit on and play with the screen and check out the various functions. There are lots of functions by the way. I will go into detail much more in a few days after I am able to use some of the functions. I tried the flash light out the night before after assembly and it covered the coil area very well.

After seeing what a few targets sounded like I could tell that there are some subtle differences between the FORS Gold and my current VLF. They are good differences and I will touch on them soon, after a few trips out. The one function that I really wanted to try out was the Vibration Mode. I had it in my mind that it would work on the larger targets and wane away as targets got smaller. I was proven wrong as the vibration I felt in my hand was just as strong with a .22 round, 2 dwt nugget, Foil and Tin along with sub-grain pieces of gold and lead. I could not tell of any depth loss while using this feature at all. My testing was done with targets that I supplied on the ground and nine targets that were identified only after digging them out of the ground. To me this is a real nice feature to have. I am already thinking of Nevada during the colder parts of the year when the wind is blowing. It is very hard at times to hear and this feature solves that problem. I really like it. For you guys that have bad hearing this is a feature that will really help you to know that you have a target. I tried it over and over and it works.

The unit offers discrimination. I do not use discrimination at all, except when coin shooting. I found out many years ago not to use or depend on discrimination while detecting for gold. I have come behind people who love their discrimination mode and I have picked up nuggets that had lodestone, ironstone, iron stain, and magnetic black sands attached to a particular piece of gold.

Right now I like what I am seeing and will be taking the unit out for a few weeks of "out in the field" testing. When I am confident of the functions and features of this unit I will report back with my findings. It may be a bit of time before hearing back from me over the next few weeks as the ongoing try out for this unit continues. This is all I can offer right now. Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

I am waiting to see your results...

 

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[trinityau]

Hello all, I have been in Northern Nevada the last week. I used the FORS in Redding before I left and I used it again in Nevada. I have a hunting partner that has been using the unit also. The area in Redding that I worked has pretty mild ground with some yellow clay here and there. I have found gold in grain size pieces and nuggets up to three dwts. I decide to use the small round 5x4 coil first. After becoming familiar with the unit and reading a bit here and there I felt like I was ready to give it a whirl. I decided to detect in the Automatic Ground Balance Mode. I wanted to see what different signals I might hear as I had just finished going over the same ground with a GB Pro and my 3000. I had a pretty good mental note of what I heard and the location of the signals. I detected this area just the way I found it on a Saturday morning. Nothing was placed in the ground for a test, the targets were all real and the depth was unknown.

As I was swinging the balance felt good to me. The unit is very light and this would be a plus to some of the older people who detect. There are a few things that I will contact Nokta about that I would like to see changed or added. On the handle where the thumb is placed I would not mind seeing the plastic molded in such a way that a very small ergonomic platform would be on either side of the current thumb position. Having this change would make it easier and more comfortable for a person to detect longer periods. Lets face it, there are many of us are getting old and we need all the help we can get. The first target I got screamed at me and turned out to be a 1/64 bb about two inches down in the soil. The signal response was great and I think a little bit louder than the GB Pro. The signal is also a much more concentrated sound than the GB Pro. The coil center is where the strongest signal comes from, unlike some coils. In further detecting with the other larger coils I found this to be true also. The GB Pro for example would have heard the bb as I was moving towards it where the Nokta pinpoints it with the coil center. This to is a good feature but can also cause some problems with cracked up bedrock wile trying to pinpoint. The numbers on the handle readout appeared to be pretty close to the readings on the GB Pro, this was no surprise. I will try and answer a question that many people ask me about the numbers. I do not depend on them but they are pretty accurate and both the Nokta and the GB Pro perform about the same in this task. As you are going along and detecting, you get a signal, you look down and the number sometimes is off from what you may expect, take either unit and set it off to the side for a few seconds and then make another pass over the target while watching the meter. Most of the time you will get a number closer to what you would expect. Myself, I like to "get my ears right".

Moving on I found several more bb's that were a tad deeper than the first and I did not hear them with the GB Pro. I actually stopped and went over these targets with the GB Pro to make sure, and I could not hear them. A few were lead and some were iron. This was another plus for the Nokta. I moved over to some deeper ground and within a few minutes I heard one of the signals I had heard earlier that sounded like it had some depth. I did not hear it with the GB Pro, the problem (not a problem, LOL) was that this target had been heard with my Sadie coil/3000. After digging about eight inches the target was in the pile and out of the hole. I went over the target and it pinpointed very easily with the coil center and I then reached down to scoop up some material with my hand. Making a quick pass over the pile told me that the target was in my hand. Dropping the soil gently onto the coil gave me that same signal and I was looking at my first Nokta gold. At home it turned out to be an 8.5 grainer. Looking back at the dig it appeared that the little nugget had been standing vertical in the tan shale. The signal again was a bit stronger than what I have become accustomed to with other VLF's. This is another plus to me.

I detected a while longer in the Auto Mode and then decided to go to the Vibration Mode. I was really excited about using this mode, as this type of mode was new to me. While the unit was being used in the Auto Mode I was getting signal responses from hot rocks that were similar to the same signal one would get from any of the various VLF's. After getting your ears right you can somewhat judge the smaller ones while the larger ones are easier to hear the tone difference. The number readout seemed to be about the same with both units on the hot rocks. I started detecting in the Vibration Mode already knowing that the unit was capable of hearing tiny bb's. I figured that the Vibration Mode would work OK, but only over a large target. I totally missed on that line of thought. I started out of the gully going up a gentle slope and got my first vibration in the handle. You can really feel the vibration good. I expected to look down and see a can or nail, maybe even a hot rock. There was nothing on the surface, so there must be something big just under the surface. I scraped the ground with my sandal and moved about an inch of depth. I went over the scrape and there was no vibration. I went over my little pile and I got that now familiar "thump" again, both directions that I swung, still expecting trash I set the Nokta down and away from the scrape. I got the GB Pro and listened. The target was in my pile, however my ears told me that the target was not trash but gold/lead maybe even a tiny hot rock. I put the GB Pro down and went over the target again with the Nokta and got my thump, thump. I was ready to see what this target was so I picked up the soil and sprinkled it on the coil. I have to tell you that it is a chore to hold onto the handle and drop soil onto the coil. I since figured out that Audio can be run while in Vibration Mode. I thought I was going to throw my back out with the position I was in while trying to drop the soil onto the coil. The target thumped when it hit the coil and I had to move soil around until I located the "thumper". The target turned out to be a sub-grain particle of gold. I would guess that maybe four of that size might make a grain. I immediately checked the scrape out again and did not get any other signals with the Nokta. I figured, what the heck, lets go over the scrape with the GB Pro. I did and I heard what could have been another tiny bit of gold/lead or a hot rock. I got the target on the coil and it was a hot rock. Wait a minute I said to myself, how come the Nokta did not vibrate on the hot rock? This is not good I thought. I played around with the Nokta for almost a half an hour and reached the decision that I just don't get. This new Nokta, when in Vibration/Audio off, does not hear hot rocks but will thump on metal. I have never run across this but I tried it out more here in California and got the same response in Nevada over ground that is infested with tiny hot rocks. I had several other people try it out with the same results. This is amazing to me.

The other thing about the Vibration Mode, it is fantastic for those who may have a hearing issue. Even for those who have good hearing, in Nevada especially, when the wind is blowing you can still tell when you have a target, This Vibration Mode even takes this unit out of the goldfields and allows a person to coin or relic hunt if they have a hearing issue.

I used the Vibration Mode in Nevada and found several small pieces of gold in the clay.

The unit is very user friendly in my eyes and if you can use a cell phone you will not have any issues with the menu set-up on the Nokta. I did not use headphones at all while I used it as the speaker works very well. I expect an even better target response with headphones. There are a few things that I have not touched on at all simply because I did not get out of the two Modes that I used.
My friend George used the Boost Mode as did Steve H. and it seems both guys thought that it did add to the signal response.

My time with the Nokta FORS was enlightening to say the least. I was surprised at a few different levels. At first I figured it would turn out to be maybe a middle to upper end VLF but that thought has gone away. For the price and workmanship along with its performance in the field I would say that the Nokta FORS surpasses many of the other VLF's currently on the market. I was very happy to have been able to try this unit out.

The Nokta is currently sold by Kellyco and am not sure if anyone else is a dealer or not. Because of that I do not know how service problems would be handled. I can say that through my communications with Dilek, that she represents the company very well and I would think that service would be an issue that would be addressed stateside at some point. I will leave that to Dilek to comment on. Remember that this is not a fly by night company. Nokta has been around since 2001 and has a huge following of many countries. While the United States is a big market we tend to think that sometimes we are the only market, we are not. I look forward to anything new from this company and would like to be the first to try it out. There was a comment on another forum that this was a knockoff company, I assure you it is not a knockoff company. Remember also that it was not too long ago that another company from outside the United States offered its product and it took a few years for that detector to gain a hold. I expect to see the same ting possibly happen with Nokta.

I will try and make additional posts as I get out with the unit. Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I remember reading in the manual if you ground balance the CoRe over a hot rock it will not sound off on hot rocks, basically it discriminates the hot rock out so maybe that is what happen..

 

[AzViper]

Ray, very nicely done. You are a testament to bring the FORS Gold to the forefront here in the USA. I look forward to your follow up with additional info. and to Steve's review.

 

[Keppy]

Very good review ...

 

[trinityau]

Hello all, here is a link to what Steve wrote about the Nokta FORS on his forum. (Removed by mod) Steve looks at the technical aspect a lot more than I do, so there will be something to be gained by all. I just like to see what a unit will do in the field. I like to know what my options are, and is there something better out there to use. Steve and I met up at Sawtooth Knob, NV. last week. Steve is a very nice fellow, eager to share his thoughts with all whether someone agrees or disagrees. He and I are both of the same opinion that at the end of the day what matters is that gold was found by any detector. Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Hello all, here is a link to what Steve wrote about the Nokta FORS on his forum. (Removed by mod) Steve looks at the technical aspect a lot more than I do, so there will be something to be gained by all. I just like to see what a unit will do in the field. I like to know what my options are, and is there something better out there to use. Steve and I met up at Sawtooth Knob, NV. last week. Steve is a very nice fellow, eager to share his thoughts with all whether someone agrees or disagrees. He and I are both of the same opinion that at the end of the day what matters is that gold was found by any detector. Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

Sorry but with all due respect to Steve, TN does not allow links to other treasure forums.

 

[trinityau]

Sorry about that guys, I really did not think that there would be a problem since many of the personal Avatars have a .com address underneath them directing anyone to a specific page. Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

 

[Keppy]

Sorry about that guys, I really did not think that there would be a problem since many of the personal Avatars have a .com address underneath them directing anyone to a specific page. Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

.. I went to Steves forum and read his review and it was as yours a very good review...

 

[Steve Herschbach]

I will be posting my review on TNet soon. I am still tweaking it a bit getting little details right. Plus I need to get clarification on what I am allowed to do here first.

And Ray, back at you. It was a genuine pleasure to finally meet you! And yes, Nokta turns out to have been a sleeper unit. I am impressed.

 

[bigscoop]

Glad to hear it. Can't wait to read the review.

 

[NiagracountyNY]

I wont say I told you so..But I did.Nokta's legit.Im just glad a few guys who's opinion's are trusted took the time to test these machine and share the results.

 

[Steve Herschbach]

Review of Nokta FORS Gold

I wont say I told you so..But I did.Nokta's legit.Im just glad a few guys who's opinion's are trusted took the time to test these machine and share the results.

Here is the Readers Digest version.

I am glad AzViper stirred the pot to get the ball rolling. I will be honest and admit I never considered getting a Nokta simply because they are a company I knew nothing about from Turkey. I guess I am chicken that way but I tend to stick with what would be considered mainstream product. The bottom line is I have discovered that Nokta is a company that builds quality metal detectors and they appear eager for their detectors to be well received in the US. I expect them to go the extra mile in backing their product up.

The Nokta FORS Gold is easily the equal of any of the other mid-frequency nugget detectors and exceeds them in many ways. Depth of detection and sensitivity are among the best but do not expect to match a high frequency detector for small gold ability, though the Nokta is close. What I am seeing is across the board good performance for VLF nugget detecting combined with exceptional ground handling capability. The key features:

1. The FORS Gold runs in pure all metal mode while displaying target id number in the handle mounted LCD window. This allows for best performance with an eye towards dig it all detecting, yet allows obvious junks targets to be verified and ignored if desired. The key is no mode switching is needed, and time waster and ultimately something that wears out controls.

2. You have all ground balancing options possible. There is the easy push button and bob, or "grab" type ground balancing. There is pure manual adjust up and down ground balancing. And there is full automatic ground tracking.

3. There is an efficient tone based discrimination mode, called Boost Mode, that can be used to easily sort out ferrous trash and most hot rocks by either tones or outright discrimination of these undesired targets. Yet detection of gold nuggets is only minimally affected.

4. There is a three tone mode aimed more at coin detecting that makes the FORS Gold suitable for almost all detecting tasks, whether coin, relic, or jewelry detecting. The only area to expect only moderate performance would be on saltwater beaches, where all single frequency detectors suffer. The FORS Gold is a true do it all detector.

Look at all the other gold nugget detectors out there and ask if they can run in all metal mode while simultaneously displaying target id numbers on screen, and if they offer ground grab, manual ground balance, and automatic ground tracking. The surprising answer will be no. No other nugget detector offers all these options in a single unit. Only a few top end expensive coin detectors do so but they lack the nugget detecting power of the FORS Gold. This alone makes the Nokta FORS Gold a unique and valuable addition to the VLF nugget detecting world and one worth serious consideration.

Here is 3.3 grams of gold I extracted from highly mineralized trash infested ground with the Nokta FORS Gold. The kind of place PI operators run from due to all the junk. Frankly, I was just expecting to find bullets that day and so was surprised when gold nuggets started appearing. Including what turned out to be a very delicate 2 gram piece of lacy gold. I can say the Nokta FORS Gold easily exceeded my expectations.

Many thanks to AzViper for getting the ball rolling and to Dilek at Nokta for affording me the opportunity to learn about Nokta and its fine products.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/m...i-review-metal-detectors-full-disclosure.html

 

[AzViper]

I wont say I told you so..But I did.Nokta's legit.Im just glad a few guys who's opinion's are trusted took the time to test these machine and share the results.

This was not a matter of not believing anyone who owns and operated the FORS or for those who wanted to take one man’s opinion, but to put the FORS in the hands of those who the forums can relate to due to their documented use of metal detectors. Yes I lobbied to have the FORS placed into hands of Steve , Ray and a few others. Steve & Ray’s reviews back up what was stated at the beginning of this thread by one individual, but Steve and Ray gave a complete review with more to be added to the reviews. Both found some things they both would like for Nokta to improve on and I would imagine the Engineers at Nokta will take this information and address their concerns of which were very minor.

I would suggest that those interested in the FORS to find their way over to Steve’s forums and read his entire review with photos of gold found on his trip. I believe I read where Steve and Ray this was the first time they had met each other while on this metal detecting trip in Nevada. Great job to the both of you…

 

[bigscoop]

I never doubted Californiagold's opinion on the machine or the likely possibility that the Fores was going to be a true contender. But it certainly is nice to finally have more U.S. reviews of the machine. Thanks to Steve and Ray and Californiagold and everyone else who chimed in regards to their experiences with the machine.

 

[AzViper]

Sorry about that guys, I really did not think that there would be a problem since many of the personal Avatars have a .com address underneath them directing anyone to a specific page. Thanks, TRINITYAU/RAYMILLS

Ray it appears as long as the link do not pull the viewer away from T net its AOK, linking within T net. For whatever reason linking to other sites is prohibited. Personally I think its a rather silly rule cause everyone finds these links and we are a community out to help the good will of prospecting, mining, etc.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Ray it appears as long as the link do not pull the viewer away from T net its AOK, linking within T net. For whatever reason linking to other sites is prohibited. Personally I think its a rather silly rule cause everyone finds these links and we are a community out to help the good will of prospecting, mining, etc.

AzViper, It has been a rule long before you joined... It was a rule when I joined 8.5 years ago and it was a rule under previous owner too....

If members have issues with moderation or TN rules please handled it according to our rules which is through PMs to mods or admins not on the forums......

 

[DDancer]

Hehh From that review I'd be tempted to think the AT series may have a bit of competition. Thanks Steve.
I hope to see other reviews before long. Might it be the PI of VLF's.....

 

[wyobuck]

Not so sure on the 705, I have owned two of them and loved em until I went to Wyoming 2 years ago. I used to live out there and know the Snowy Range mines like the back of my hand. I sold my first Xterra 705 and bought a brand new one for the trip, I also had along a Tesoro Diablo, a great little gold machine. I used the Xterra w/the elliptical coil around camps, in the creeks and in a couple of mines and it worked fine, but when I got into a tailings pile at the top of Centennial ridge, it just continuously sounded off until I moved off and got away from the pile. Covered the entire mound and got the same result. I pulled out the Little Diablo and had no problem searching the tailings. I called Kevin at Minelab and was able to speak with him, after explaining the story he could not come up with an answer and said he would have another tech get back to me who was more knowledgeable on the 705. Well I never heard back and could not get the 705 to perform as it was designed. I later used it at some river tailings and it worked fine.
I now have a Safari and I love it, but I have decided to get out of the furnace here in FL and start prospecting full time back in Gods Country. I am not sure how the Safari will work in the gold fields and I am going to get another machine, trying to decide between the GPX5000 and the SDC2300, leaning towards the latter.
Well just thought I would put in my experience with the 705, hope it helps anyone looking for a gold/all around machine.

 

[NeoTokyo]

AZViper I got my FORs gold last Friday, tomorrow I am making my first video of the unboxing.
I couldn't hardly wait for it to get here but on Thursday I started feeling sick and by Friday morning I was just so miserable and almost dead to the world! lol
I feel much better today and tomorrow I am sure that I will sound normal enough to make my first video.

I haven't even opened it yet because I wanted to leave the unboxing for the unboxing video.

After that I am going to take several more video's about it and its performance.
I also have a Gold Bug 2 to test against it and I have owned a GB Pro in the past as well.

and as you know I have been a long time member of these forums.

I am going to start a new thread for that too, I will PM you when I start the thread.

-Eric-