In this episode I'm trying out the "Vallon VMH3CS", a military pulse induction metal detector. This unit has been used in war. I've purchased it to see if a PI machine can finally give me some depth...

I never used a PI detector before. I have another (home made) PI unit here, which was not working in my soil because of lack of ground balance adjustment.
The Vallon VMH3CS is different. It has "Mineral Mode" which came pretty handy right after the start.

I was learning this machine on the fly, as I made the video. I hope it was not too painful to watch... The camera was adjusted with the wrong angle and the EMI caused by the Garrett pinpointer was very annoying.
I read the manual once before leaving home and mistook the adjustment of the tone frequency for the frequency offset. I applied a button combination, the tone changed and I thought, that was the only option...

Because the VMH3CS is a pulse induction machine, it doesn't have any type of iron discrimination. In this case there only is one option - to dig all targets. One could maybe try to avoid the double beeping ones, but...

If the area contains a lot of iron, it can make the detecting experience extremely difficult and unpleasant. I knew and expected it, therefor it wasn't a problem.

The Vallon VMH3CS is relatively heavy with its 5.5 lbs (2,5 Kg). The coil itself is light (unlike on some other detectors), but the overall weight (with three D batteries) is "noticeable"...

Fortunately times are changing. When I looked at the (Vallon) manufacturers website, they now offer a newer, ultra light and compact model. Unfortunately as a new unit (offered to the military only (?)) the price must be out of reach. I could try to find one in 10-15 years ;).

I was very surprised when the thin, small silver coins popped out of the ground. I pulled a chunk of iron first. Would I do the same with the Xp Deus? The iron piece was big enough to mask the other targets. I'm only speculating, but I'm pretty confident that I would have "missed" (or not decide to dig) it with my usual machine.

I'm very curious about one thing... The purpose of this metal detector is finding dangerous items. How would this work, when you are in an area filled with bits and pieces of iron/metallic objects (and a bunch of people waiting for progress).
All it takes is to spread/plant similar sounding bits of metal around the dangerous device, to nail the detecting person to one place for hours.

It would be interesting to see video footage from a real mission, or an exercise. It is just hard for me to imagine how this would work in reality...

I will try to use this detector again in certain scenarios...

If you want to see the specs, you will find it here: http://www.vallon.de/products.lasso?a...

Or here: http://www.vallon.de/pdf/VMH3CS_Leafl...

Thanks for watching.

More #MetalDetecting adventures: https://goo.gl/KBqXph