New guy with a question about an old Garrett

pepperbelly

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2011
Messages
55
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
I inherited an old metal detector from my dad a year ago and am curious about it. I had intended to buy one to start coin hunting and someone told me that this was near the top of the line back when. I am curious if it is so outdated that I definately need to buy a new one or if it might still be useful.
It is a Garrett Coin Hunter TR discriminating hybrid dual circuit. The head measures just over 8" and is marked "Garrett Super Depth Twin Circuit Discriminator X"
I can't find a model number.
What do I have and is it any good? I think dad bought it in the late '70s or early '80s.
I plan on checking school grounds and parks for coins. Dad and I found several back in the '80s. I still have some of them. In fact I need to get some of them valued- Indian head pennies and silver quarters and half dollars from the early 1900s through the '20s and '30s.

Thanks,
Jim
 
The TR discriminators were good down to about 4-5" and a bit deeper with practice. The key is all in the tuning. You have a tuning knob and a tuning button on the handle. The way this works is like this. The knob sets the threshold tuning and the button sets the detector back to the preset tuning of the knob.

First turn the tuning knob until the sound goes completely silent, then slowly turn the knob until you just get a faint sound. This is called a threshold. You want it just above being silent or just so you can hear it. As low as you can get it and still hear it. Now you have set the threshold. Now when you press the button on the handle it should set to the tuning you just made.

Now lower the coil to about 2-3" off the ground and press the tuning button to get a threshold tone. If you lower the coil from the spot you pressed the button(tuned) you'll notice the threshold gets louder, and if you raise the coil from the spot it gets quiet/silent. What you want to do is try and swing the coil at a constant height from the ground to that the threshold does not go up(closer to the ground) or down(higher from the ground). This takes practice but is not hard to master. Then when you hear a beep it should be a target and not from lowering you coil.

TR Discriminators are very fast recovery and make great jewelry hunters.
 
I am far from an expert, but my personal opinion is to keep that one for a family heirloom and buy a new one, maybe a Garrett AT Pro or Ace 350, if you want to spend the money with a Texas company. Maybe the old one would be good as a back-up unit.
 
Thanks. I needed to know if the newer detectors were improved enough to justify buying one to use instead of this one. I will look around and buy a new detector and let my wife and kids use this Garrett.
Heirloom?

Jim
 
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