THE NEW GOLDSCAN 2 TEST REPORT 1993 its an oldie

 

There have been so many Emails regarding the Goldscan, that I have decide to post it onto the Forum for your perusal. I personally use one of these machines and highly recommend this machine for use over wet salt sand on beaches that have large tidal flows. This machine was so good, that it threatened local Australian manufacturer's into developing the latest addition to their line.

I believe, although I am unable to prove it that a conspiracy went on in Australia to stop the sales of this particular machine. I also believe that circuitry used in the Goldscan was stolen to develop a new super duper device that's appeared on the market. No names mentioned, but there's a lot of you out there who might be able to put two and two together. The amazing thing about it all is how similar the connectors used on the old Goldscan 2 were identical to those fitted to the first machines this manufacturer produced.


Very strange indeed. Maybe that's why I don't trust them. What, may you ask is a Goldscan,? and why haven't you heard anything about it before?. The original Goldscan, was designed by Eric Foster who spent many years developing Pulse Induction, metal detectors for the Archaeological Research Laboratories at Oxford University, England during the 1960s.
Pulse Induction has come along way since then and Eric now holds many patents on circuits developed for Pulse Induction.

He pioneered the first discriminators and ground cancelling circuits used in Pulse Induction detector's. Eric's passion for Pulse Induction is such that it could almost be classed as an obsession.
Eric realized many years ago that other types of induction detectors, i.e., BFO's, VLF, VLF/TRs, had there limitations owing to tuned circuits. VLF's use 2 coils within a search coil, one for transmitting, another for receiving.

 Because the coils are in such a close proximity to each other, limits are placed on depths this type of detector is capable of achieving. Imagine if you can, a microphone, amplifier and speaker. Put the microphone close to the speaker and turn up the volume on the amplifier, it wont be long before feedback occurs accompanied by a deafening screech.

The same thing happens with your super duper VLF metal detector. Therefore because of LAWS OF PHYSICS, the VLF has reached its peak. PULSE INDUCTION, WHAT MAKES IT TICK All detectors work on the basic principle of induction, we were all taught it at school.

Wind some wire into a coil and connect to a battery, place a nail in the middle and you have a simple electro- magnet. The higher the current the greater, the magnetic field or force generated. It's the simplest form of induction.

Pulse Induction metal detector's only use one loop in the search coil, and have no tuned circuits. This means a far greater charge of current can be applied to the coil generating magnetic fields up to 3 times larger than VLFs.

This means depths or penetration into the ground is equal to the magnetic field generated at the coil. It is therefore logical to say, the greater the magnetic field, the greater the depth. It would be impractical to have a constant magnetic field owing to battery consumption. Therefore a charge of electricity is sent to the coil in a pulse and switched off. This might happen up to 500 times a minute, energizing and maintaining the field within the coil only as long as the current flows.

When the coil goes over a buried metallic object in the ground, the object will absorb part of the magnetic field that becomes known as an eddy current. After the pulse of current was induced into the coil and switched off, the coil acts as a receiver seeking out eddy currents left in the ground. When an eddy current is detected indicating the presence of a metallic object, these currents are then intensified and increase in frequency. This response is due to the target's conductivity.

The greater the conductivity, the greater the depth. Salt water being a conductor which has a diverse effect on VLFs, enhances the P.I.s performance resulting in incredible depth penetration on wet sands. Black mineralized sands, which flattens out a VLF magnetic field, reducing depth and penetration. This has no effect on the Pulse that is able to see through the black sands. It is this feature that has earned P.I.s the indisputable reputation of being the, "Worlds Ultimate deep seeking beach machines."

Naturally, if you possessed the best detector on the beach, you wouldn't want anybody else to have it too.
If other people had the same machine as you, they could recover just as much, if not more than you could. For this reason, individuals who were having great success with Pulse machines spread rumour's that they were highly sensitive to ferrous iron, in an attempt to discourage would be buyers. Whilst it is true that Pulse Machines are sensitive to ferrous objects, one must remember VLFs are too. If they were not, they wouldn't be any good, would they?.

It's interesting to note the instigators of the rumours continued to use their Pulse machines despite all the ferrous material to be found on beaches. This was because of all the Gold Rings, jewellery and other valuables being recovered by owners of Pulse Induction Machines. It's only human nature and greed by certain individuals to be secretive about their finds, and machines used to recover those goodies.

Although you might proudly show off a find, you'd be reluctant to say where it was found, for fear someone else will invade your area. When Eric Foster first developed the Goldscan, he designed it with the Australian gold fields in mind.

However, the first machine sent out here, had very difficult to understand instructions. No one including myself knew anything about delays and decay levels, the terminology used on the controls.

Eric came to Australia to try to solve the problem. During his visit, he collected nearly 200 pounds of hot mineralized rocks from Victorian and W.A. gold fields, which he shipped back to Pulse Technology's factory in Abingdon near Oxford, England. Using these, he was able in 1980s to develop, the Goldscan 2.
Only a couple of these units were imported into Australia by Miner's Den.

 However, it proved to be highly successful, recovering gold rings and jewellery on the beaches in England and Europe. Owners, of these machines were obviously reluctant to discuss their finds owing to legal complications, regarding treasure trove laws. Consequently, the manufacturer's had little or no feedback on the brilliant machine they had invented and produced. In 1988, I made another visit to the U.K. whilst there, I was given the opportunity to field test the Goldscan 2 by Pulse Technology Ltd, of Abingdon Oxon near Oxford.

Even well prepared trips can go wrong and sometimes do. I took the Goldscan 2 on holiday with me to Towan Beach, Newquay, Cornwall, not realizing I had page 2 of the instructions missing. As luck would have it, I met and made a good friend of Bill Harris, Who I later featured in one of my articles. To protect the man's identity I penned the name "Willie the Wizard," Bill was using his Goldscan and gave me a run down on the controls.

With this knowledge, I felt confident enough to master this awesome looking device with enough controls to boggle the mind. It wasn't long before I too was recovering some of that recycled gold otherwise known as jewellery. In two hours of the most enjoyable detecting, I had found 3 really nice wedding bands.

My parking meter due to expire, I was forced to leave my patch. On leaving the beach, I told Bill about my finds and suggested he continued searching the area where I had left off. Several days later, I returned to that beach and met Bill once more, he had taken my advice seriously and recovered 3 more rings from the same area as I had worked.

On that occasion if it hadn't been for my advice, I doubt if Bill would have found anything. And I called him a Wizard!. About a year later such was the enigma created about this so called Wizard, that he started writing professionally using that name and hiding behind it.

Today he is the most arrogant, conceited individual, who, I predict will cause detecting in some European Countries to be restricted by the year 2000. Prior to my return to Australia, I visited Eric once more at his factory in Abingdon. He confided about a revolutionary Computer aided and designed Goldscan that would revolutionize metal detecting.

Since its introduction, it has become Europe's most sought after and best selling detector's. Nearly a year later, I have just taken possession of one of the machines and have pleasure in producing the following test report.

CONSTRUCTION & GENERAL APPEARANCE

The Goldscan 2 was housed in a large box designed to e worn in a harness on the chest. The new Goldscan, looks more like conventional detectors we are now familiar with except the cases are fully weatherproof. In order to make the unit lighter and easier to use the rechargeable battery pack is placed into a separate container and worn around the waist. Sufficient power lead is supplied to connect power supply to detector.

One can walk around the target with the detector placed on the ground whilst recovering target. Headphones plug into a separate socket on the power supply, although it has its own internal speaker. There are two weather- proof control boxes, the main one being placed on the main search rod forward of the hand grip. The second is placed under the arm rest which also acts as a counterbalance to the main control unit. A ground rest was placed under the rear control box to keep the unit upright when placed on the ground whilst digging up targets.

One unique feature seen only on the Goldscan, is a search probe situated under the rear control box. This is designed for locating small difficult to find targets left in the hole. It's operation is quite simple, a switch in front of the main control box diverts power to the probe from the search-coil. This is supplied as standard, which means no expensive add ons after purchasing the unit.

The Goldscan is so light and well balanced that almost anyone could use it all day without fatigue. Don't be fooled by it's light weight and appearance, in use you will find it the most powerful of detector's capable of locating small objects at incredible depths. A word of warning or caution should be applied here, for if you suffer heart problems the exertion of digging deep holes, could be a danger to your health.

Do not take this warning lightly, because many individuals using Pulse Induction detector's often dig holes in excess of two feet to recover a target. Individuals at risk, are those suffering high blood pressure and heart problems.
One must either condition yourself by becoming fitter or limit the time of your searches. It's not the detecting that causes the damage but the exertion used digging deep holes, especially on hot days. Even the fittest will find this challenging, but also rewarding.

CONTROLS AND WHAT THEY DO.

Starting at the Arm rest, you will see a socket at the rear of the unit, this is where the power lead plugs into the unit. The plug is secured and held into place, by means of a threaded socket. A small meter is used as a battery condition indicator. When the meter goes from green into the red, it indicates batteries are due for recharging.

The Goldscan is supplied with a recharger which plugs into the headphone socket and power switched on. A simple on/off switch is self explanatory put the switch in the down position and your ready for action. The final knob on this box, is for threshold, similar to the same control on any VLF, the manufacturers recommend 1 tick per second.

Although I find it easier to use in a SILENT MODE. Pulse Induction machines really tune themselves, and one can be excused for wondering why there are so many knobs. Each has a purpose as will be explained. In front of the main control box on the left hand side, is the reset button. This button must be pressed after any adjustments are made with any of the controls.

The Goldscan has three sensitivity controls, low, medium and high on the control marked SENS. Medium is the normal mode of operation, this should be suitable for most situations. Discriminate Control This control has a dual purpose, it is used in conjunction with the G.CAN DISC KNOB. To ground cancel turn the DISCRIM knob to ALL, this is the all metal ground cancelling position. Set in this position, the detector will respond to all metals, ferrous & non ferrous but also cancel out ground mineralization.

Set G.CAN/DISC knob to min, bring coil over a house brick and you should get a positive signal. Rotate the G.CAN/DISC knob slowly clockwise as you do the noise and meter readings gradually reduce too.
At about the 11 O'clock position you'll be back to normal, if you continue the signal and meter will rise meaning you have gone too far.

Once you have cancelled out mineralization effects, place a coin under the brick and the detector will respond to the target. Ground cancelling is manual and depending on mineralization variations

compensatory adjustments have to be made. For those of you familiar with manual ground cancelling, this should be a breeze and no more tiresome than your current or old VLF. I have used the Goldscan in Area's full of ironstone and red clay and have no doubt about its ability to handle the mineralized area's found on many of the Australian Gold fields.

Remember it takes time and patience to get the best out of any instrument as many pro's will confirm. Owning a super duper detector, is no guarantee of success unless you learn how to use your machine and move the coil over the ground. There's little point in sitting in front of the TV with a detector in one hand a tinny in the other waiting for nuggets or gold rings to jump out of the carpet into your lap. It doesn't work that way, you have to go and make it work for you. LUCK, is like a four letter word WORK, the harder you work at it, the more you find and luckier you get.

DISCRIMINATION.

A four position multifunction switch is used to control ground cancelling and discrimination of the Goldscan. Off means exactly what it states and set in this mode will detect all metals at extreme depths on neutral soil or on the beach. Position "ALL" is still in the all metal mode, but is used for cancelling out ironstone and Red Clay mineralization found so commonly on the gold fields.

The GCAN/DISC control is used in conjunction with the ALL mode in a similar manner as you would with a VLF machine, except when ground cancelling there's no need to constantly lift and lower the coil. Simply rotate GCAN/DISC till meter returns to zero and press reset. Should you go past zero point the meter and signal sound will increase, the same as it would with a VLF, reducing control will correct problem.

For those of you who use manual ground cancelling machines, such as the GS 15000 can use similar procedure, although you must remember to press reset button after every adjustment. SEL 1, is the first of two discrimination modes, there are two because P.I.s is different to VLFs and allow a greater range of discrimination. SEL 1 AND SEL 2 are both used with the GCAN/DISC control, the higher the setting, the greater the amount of discrimination.

During field tests in England, it was found possible to recover Roman Bronze and Celtic coins while rejecting cupro-nickel and modern coins. Using SEL 1 in Australia you might find the $1 coins are rejected at some settings. However, SEL 2 was introduced to compensate for this peculiarity and recover the $1 coins. One must experiment with these controls to get the best out of them, like most discriminators some depth is lost when using this mode.

FREQUENCY CONTROL.

This control has no effect on the detector's performance in terms of detecting range or discrimination. Pulse Induction detectors are wide band devices and use many parts of the frequency spectrum. Sometimes they can be affected by power lines, radio transmissions and other sources. This manifests itself as an unstable audio response and fluctuations on the meter. Shifting the frequency only a small amount can minimize or eliminate this problem. Foil Reject. Foil, comes in many forms and alloys, although silver paper does not usually effect Pulse Induction metal detector's some alloys will cause the detector to respond resulting in unnecessary digging.

Using the Foil reject will eliminate this problem in area's polluted with masses of foil. Auto/Hold A new control to assist newcomers of Pulse Induction Metal Detectors in pinpointing the target more accurately. Switching from Auto to hold and pressing the zero button whilst sweeping the coil over the target narrows signal area, making recovery much faster. In the past one would lift the coil higher off the ground to pinpoint targets location.

Experienced user's still use the same method, however this new feature does assist in the exact centre of the buried object. The target's centre is always where the loudest part of the signal is located. Pulse Induction detectors are not like motion detectors, some targets can give a wide signal depending on size.

One problem could arise when 2 coins are buried close together, this gives a wider than normal signal. Using the pinpoint feature can in some cases isolate and separate the two targets. Battery Pack. Made exclusively for the Goldscan, this contains 12 "C" size rechargeable 1.2 volt batteries, and has a working voltage of 14.5 Volts. A recharging unit is supplied as standard equipment and plugs into the headphone socket when necessary.

Under normal conditions, it usually takes 14 hours to recharge the battery pack. When fully charged, one can expect between 10 to 12 hours continuous use per charge. Owing to the high cost of conventional batteries, rechargeable were chosen in order to keep running costs down. Most rechargeable can be recharged at least One Thousand times before replacement.

Although rechargeable can suffer memory problems as a result of indiscriminate charging and not following instructions, this can be overcome simply by turning the detector on and discharging the batteries, then recharging them as per instructions.
For those intending to spend time on the gold fields, isolated from A.C. mains, Dick Smith sells solar panels that could be modified with simple circuitry to ensure continuous operation in the bush.

Alternatively one could look into Inverters, these devices convert a 12 volt car battery into 240 A.C. mains. Because battery drain is minimal, running the car engine for a short time should replace drain experienced during exercise.
Although it doesn't exist at the moment, it shouldn't be too difficult for some enterprising electronics engineer to construct a simple charger for a car's cigarette lighter boosting the voltage to the 14.5 volts.
 
There are ways' one can use the Goldscan miles away from civilization and modern facilities, if only the user thinks about it. Solar and wind power, has been around for many years now, books are available in your newsagents were you to look for them. Those restricting themselves to the beach will not experience this problem, I only mentioned it overcoming fears of those dedicated to using the Goldscan in isolated area's.

Napoleon Hill once wrote, "Anything the human mind can conceive and believe it can achieve." Remember the Goldscan was designed with Europe's beaches in mind not the bush, therefore one must be resourceful and overcome these minor problems.

GOLDSCAN UNDER TEST.

During 1993, I decided to give a series of lectures to detecting clubs in Victoria, informing detectorists on the subjects of shallow water metal detecting and pulse Induction metal detector's. As I am not sponsored by any manufacturer, expenses for these came out of my own pocket. Clubs in the U.K. pay generous expenses covering mileage and motel accommodation, this factor restricted my talks to Melbourne, Geelong area.

However four demonstrations were made in the presence on average of 50 persons per lecture. A range of machines would be used to make comparisons. They consisted of 4 Pulse induction machines I use in the water and a well proven gold-winner, in Australia the Gold seeker 15000 VLF. Only two targets were chosen for the tests, a very thin wire section 9 carat gold ring weighing half a gram and another weighing 5 grammes.

Some of the clubs were able to provide audio equipment ensuring the audience could hear the responses and distances the detectors reacted to the targets. First up I had to establish the depth these targets could be detected using a conventional detector. The Gold seeker, in its day was one of Australia's most popular selling machines and is still used even today. The half gram ring, the audience decided could be detected at four inches, the 5 Gram could be detected at 6 inches in air testing. Next, I went through the same tests using the other Pulse Machines I use.

Each machine proved one point, they all detected those targets deeper than the VLF. Finally it came to doing the same tests with the New Goldscan, the half gram ring could be detected at 12 inches. The 5 gram ring caused the Goldscan to react at an incredible 18 inches.

Then a member of the audience at Geelong assisted me by holding a hot rock in front of the coil while I cancelled out its effect, with the ground cancelling mode. The 5 gram ring was then detected at 12 inches through the highly mineralized rock. Needless to say, there were numerous individuals who were quite amazed with what they saw. During all the tests, I had removed my watch and personal jewellery, scanning my arms over the coil ensuring no trickery.

I have stated in the past in air test with Pulse Induction detector's are inconclusive, the reason for this is that when used on wet salt sands, that water acts as a conductor. This means objects can be detected deeper in a wet environment than in air. Little wonder, why the Goldscan has become the best selling and most sought after detector in the U.K. and Europe.

The demand for these machines is so great that an eight week waiting list exists. Despite this, orders continue to flood in. The majority of these machines are used exclusively on the beach, because they don't have gold fields like Australia has. The introduction of the Goldscan into Australia could mean that ground already detected with conventional machines, become VIRGIN TERRITORY once more because of Pulse Induction detectors greater depth capabilities.

It wouldn't surprise me to hear that sometime in the future the foot, leg, or even the body of faith has been recovered. When it is, I expect the Goldscan to be responsible for the find. It has come to my attention that a Goldscan is under test in Western Australia of Salt flats where there is an abundance of ironstone. Aboriginals have found gold there with VLFs in the past. P.I.s are not affected by salt and can cancel out the ironstone.

If there is gold to be found then the New Goldscan will find it. For those requiring further information, you can contact Pulse Technology Ltd, Unit 2 Radley Road Industrial Estate, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14-3RY. STOP PRESS I have just received information that Eric Foster has released his new SurfScan onto the market. This is a shallow water metal pulse induction detector. Designed for use in the water and area's where deep sand is a major problem.

Its performance in water, I am told is as good as the Goldscan. I have been informed by Bill that the new Surf Scan is a gem of a machine outperforming anything he has used in water. I will be revisiting UK in 12 month's time, no doubt I'll be returning with the latest in technology to recover some more of those lost goodies.
Years ago we looked to the U.S.A. for the latest in Technology, things have really turned around now with all of Europe, currently looking at the U.K. for the latest in metal detector technology. Australia's always been behind on technology, if you cant find it here go look for it elsewhere.

It will prove cheaper to import yourself than purchase at exorbitant prices. UPDATED 28/1/1998 Following a discussion with Eric Foster on the phone today he advised me that the New Goldscan2 or Goldquest are no longer in production.

However, he is developing an entirely new machine called the DEEP-SCAN which is hoped to be in production in a few months time. It features an 11 inch coil there are only four controls with discrimination and it will be priced at ?699 sterling.
 Ends Happy Hunting.  

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