Blast from the past Garrett ADS from 1980's

[maxxkatt]

I had one of these and never had much luck with it in the late 1980's. But I am sure in the right hands it produced for the guys back then.

Here are two videos showing it in the field and on the bench.

From the video in the field it is clear that a lot of people using this detector simply had to miss some targets too deep or masked by junk.

This is why people say a place is never 100% hunted out. Most mid to high priced 2019 detectors will find those old hidden targets that the old machines could not find. I have read that the 70's and 80's were the golden days of abundant targets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFRR1f_yfGA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpaSi8r6TUc

any experienced detectorist have any comments on using these 1980's era detectors and their effectiveness?

My feeling is that these detectors were the first editions of modern metal detectors. And they were quite adept at hunting these virgin areas since most coin drops are typically in the 4-5" depth range.

I remember seeing a huge bowl about 12 inches deep and 20 inches across of coins (many old and silver) that a detectorist here in Atlanta had when he detected in the 80's.

 

[diggin4clad]

My first detector was purchased in 1983 and was a Garrett. It was an entry level detector not even as fancy as the one in those videos. No depth to speak of and I found very little other than very shallow clad and a lot of junk. As for the "Golden Age" of detecting I would say that any time before the mid 80's was that time. One of my former co-workers started detecting in the mid 70's and told me how you could go to a large park and come home with a couple dozen silver coins almost every time out. When I started in 1983 I could expect to come home with at least a couple of silvers. Nowadays coming home with one is an event.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Ok, I was screaming at the 'puter screen, so I'll scream here ! haha. I'm not even 60 yrs. old, but .... can add ample corrections to this/these videos

For starters : The fellow says he thinks it's ~ 35 yrs old. I quickly looked to see the publish date of the youtube. It's current (2019). Hence "35 yrs" would be 1984. This is wrong. That "Deepseeker" machine is circa very late 1970s. 1981 or '82 at the latest. By 1982 Garrett had "answered Whites" with the introduction of their ADS II and ADS III (motion discriminators). If any of their VLF/TR were sold after that, it was to "clear the shelves" ??

The machine shown on the video is a VLF/TR . Prior to the introduction of motion discrimination by Garrett. That machine was the "big sister" to the GroundHog. The only difference between it, and the Groundhog (IMHO) was that it had a bit more "umph" in the all-metal mode.

TR disc. was a "giant leap forward" in the early to mid 1970s. Since it allowed us to pass foil and tabs. But on the other hand : To use it spelled immediate loss-of-depth. And it was a pain-in-the-b*tt to keep balanced. The depth (in practical terms, when you didn't do multiple gymnastics) for disc. was perhaps 5 to 6". And ... you could give up in mineralized soils. The all-metal (VLF) , on the other other hand, was as deep as anything today almost (for standard coin-machines, that is).

Then in 1977 to '78-ish, motion disc. hit the market. Garrett was a little slow to toss their hat in the ring. They didn't "answer this" till the ADS II and III, in about 1982-ish.

I'm not logged in to youtube (nor have an account). So can someone do me a favor and copy/paste my observations on to the fellow's video comments ? thanx !

The 2nd video link is an ADS II. That's Garrett's feeble attempt to answer Whites 6000D . That was introduced in about 1981 or '82, if I'm not mistaken. Not "late '60s" , as the guy says at one point !

It was never as good or deep as the 6000D. The Whites guys always kicked the b#tt's of the Garrett guys, in those years. At least in my area, in turfed-park type flagged test comparisons. The Whites were also better on wet salt beaches. So it seemed that Garrett Co's "better days" were the 1970s. By the '80s, Whites was stealing-the-show.

There was also an ADS III. I forget the difference, but ... as-far-as the motion disc. mode (which everyone used anyhow) I don't think there was any difference at all.

If someone can copy/paste my comments to that 2nd fellow's video, that's be much appreciated