Nokta Fors Relic - My Findings

[ColinD]

I was given the opportunity of trying a Fors Relic for myself recently by Nenad of Phase Technical who are selling the Nokta brand here in Australia. I had the machine for 3 weeks, though sadly it was a period of quite heavy rain and I didn't want to get a borrowed machine wet and muddy, so my poor Fors Gold took the brunt of the abuse for the loan period, but I did still get out for 4 sessions in which I found some great relics and coins.
Here are my findings with the Fors Relic, they have occasionaly been slightly cleaned, if you want to see them still covered in dirt for the purpose of documenting the finds as being genuine please have a quick look at my "More Weird thing from the Goldfields" thread in the Members Finds forum where I document my daily findings. I do like to get out most days, yesterday I had a close encounter with a snake and today is raining, so I'll do this post wjile I'm stuck in the house.
Nenad posted the machine on a Friday and I received it on the Monday interstate, can't beat that.

It is a testament to the Fors Relic that it still managed to find some bits here and there on sites that I've hammered with the Fors Gold, it found this nice pocket watch winder in an area plagued by old nails and gave a nice solid tone. That was quickly followed by a nice Navy button very nearby and I was thinking the Relic was going to show up my Fors Gold by finding a heap of stuff I'd missed amid the nails, but I found no more in that spot, so well done both machines.
I ran the Relic in it's Swift Mode amid the nails and must mention how silent it was, I actually looked at the side panel twice to reassure myself it was still running, the Fors Gold normally blips a fair bit here, so was a pleasant change... if there is one thing I miss about not still having the machine it is that.
I would have loved to give it a spin through some nail infested other sites I have, but not enough time because of the rain
I will only post the better finds, don't see the point in wasting forum resources showing pics of junk.

My next chance came at what was clearly an old Chinese camp on the diggings I have come across, I found some interesting things here, namely a coin, Chinese button, what I think is the pot part of an opium pipe and a musket ball. The main part of this site was a bit flooded, so stuck on the higher ground. It began raining again, so a short hunt only.

Back to yet another campsite for the 3rd trip. I found a cracker of a Token, in really nice condition and an Apothecary weight normally used to weigh medicine. I found out though in researching the piece that they were also used to weigh black powder for the guns and I am more inclined to believe that's what it was being used for given the high number of musket balls and the powder flask I have found in the area, I also found 3 musket balls nearby on that day which I think were dropped in haste as they were all right next to each other.

The Token was a big improvement on the one I found previously with the Fors Gold, so I was well pleased, shows both Nokta's will find the goods though.

Part of this series, I have also found the next to smallest one with the Fors Gold, see that thread if you want to see it.

3 musket balls and another I found nearby still with the sprue attached which really pleased me as I'd been hoping to find one.

I found also a nice button from the handle of a hand saw which turns out to be a rare piece

On the last day I wanted to test the Fors Relic on a coin hunt at a nearby park. I got the machine out and got to the car only to discover as soon as I opened my boot that my digging tool was missing and I'd obviously left it behind at the last relic hunt :8

I drove back to the relic site hoping to find it and did so fairly quickly. As I'd gone to the hassle of driving out there I decided to have a swing with the Fors Relic..

I still did the coin hunt and found a pile of BB's and $'s as well as other moderns but I was too excited about finding the nugget to take pics, forgive me, but easy though it would be to post a fake picture of a pile of filthy coins (God knows I have enough of them lying around) and claim the Relic found them it's not me, you'll have to take my word for it that I had a good coin hunt.

The same day I cleaned the machine down and posted it back.
It had been a short but sweet relationship with the Fors Relic.
Thank you to Nenad for the opportunity and I hope I have shown the machine to be capable in the 4 hunts I had with it.
Machine can be purchased in Australia at the link below where you can also find out about the other technical features of it. I am more of a "show me the finds" guy when it comes to deciding on a machine.

http://phasetechnical.com.au/product/nokta-fors-relic-detector/
C

 

[Ramjet]

Some nice finds there. Love the token.

 

[ColinD]

Thanks Ramjet.
Found an uncleaned pic of that watch winder and Navy button day, see there was some diggers work clothes buttons too, these are very collectable in their own right and I've amassed a fair collection with the Fors Gold detector, a nice little addition courtesy of the Fors Relic.
The little hat looking things are old lead tops for roof nails.

 

[PhaseTech]

Thanks for the report Colin. Yeah that Swift mode is great, same as the Fast mode on the Gold+. It has a faster recovery and just hits targets a little cleaner. The CoRe and Gold 2-tone mode is a Boost mode which gets good depth (higher gain maybe?) but as you say you do get some feedback.

Out of interest what Sens were you running when you were using the Swift mode?

 

[ColinD]

I think I just trusted the pre-sets in that mode Nenad as I hadn't used it before and rain was threatening big time... I wanted to just get as many minutes in as I could before it came down, think I got about half an hour. I just wanted to test it there as I knew it would be difficult, was especially pleased to get the button.
I normally put the FG at 87 and in BST (DI2) as right next to the nails there are diggings and I think it pings the tiny stuff better given the chance of a nugget...which actually happened with the Relic there a couple of days later also in DI2, Sens 87, albeit a bigger nugget than I had anticipated
The separation (ID Mask) on the Fors models is excellent IMO, I have dug coins in that spot that had 3 or 4 nails in the hole but only showed the coin on the display (ID Mask 27) makes pinpointing interesting 8.(

Jeff said he had trouble with the All Metal mode on the FG, but where I live it works really well and I've been using it a fair bit recently, sometimes just switching between that and the BST mode (DI2) on tricky targets, it only takes 1 touch to swap them back and forth. The all metal mode ID's iron really well IMO, showing a reading of 1, 2, or 3 on hotrocks and gives a very clean reading on iron nails and other junky bits (16 to 20). The FG will show 82 for a large and deep iron target but switching to All Metal will ID it at a solid 19, still dig it as I like axe heads and the likes but at least I know what I'm getting in advance and if only chasing nuggets, I would know to probably just leave it.

 

[Goldpick]

The Relic appears to be a pretty versatile detector Colin, got some very nice tokens and relics in the short time that you had it (and nugget). The first time I saw it in action in the field was on ziggyjinx's you tube clips, he seems to be a pretty straight shooter in his reviews.

 

[ColinD]

Cheers GP, as you know location is everything too and I have some good spots. The rain was the killer, it just rained every day and Nenad let me keep it an extra 3rd week because of it, but it still rained that week too jeez, coming from Scotland I never feel homesick in Ballarat that's for sure.
Plus of course the mud, and I wanted to look after Nenads machine. I took this photo during that time, as I was going to make a post about how much abuse their Pinpointer can take and survive. It gives an idea of what conditions were like.
These are the real life reviews I like to see... better than Deep Digger Dan pulling one out the box and flapping his chops

 

[ColinD]

Serial number long gone and still it's going strong

 

[Goldpick]

Your muddy gear looks like a typical winter hunt from down here, clayey crud sticking to everything.

 

[ColinD]

The practical use of that pocket watch winder in the first pic

 

[Aggro]

I've got the Nokta Fors Core and can add that it has no problems picking up even the smallest pieces of aluminum.
I'm yet to find anything decent, but that's not the fault of the machine, just haven't found the right location yet. Overall I'm happy with its capabilities.
I am disappointed by 2 things though.
1. The small lcd screen is not even remotely water resistant. It only takes a sprinkle of rain and water gets in behind the screen which then fogs up making it difficult to read. If you have the cover on, the LED light can't be used. Most of my detecting is done at night, so I'm pretty disappointed by that.
I got caught in a shower 2 nights ago and headed for the car about 2 minutes away. So much water got behind the screen that it is messing with the electrics. The led light is now permanently on even when the switch is off and twice tonight it started ground balancing even though I didn't press the button.
I'm going to have to take the handle apart to dry it out and see what I can do to seal around the screen.
2. The headphones are little more than a toy. The cable is so thin I can't see it lasting any length of time. They also seem to be very light and brittle plastic construction. If you are looking to buy one, factor in the extra dollars for new headphones, it wouldn't take much for the included ones to break.
From a marketing point of view, they would have been better off not putting them in the kit. They don't give the impression of a quality product.

 

[ColinD]

I keep the cover for my grip in my pocket and if it rains put it on, I keep the zip of it loose to prevent condensation within the case, if it rains harder my detector box and grip goes under my coat. The coil is waterproof so you can leave that poking out, I just put the control box end under my armpit within my coat and get back to the car or continue with it under my coat until it stops. I kept Nenad's machine out of the rain but my Fors Gold got used, I normally put his in the car and took mine out
It's not waterproof, so I treat it like I would my laptop.
I would be careful about screwing up your warranty by taking it apart?

I detect nights for coins etc. too and wear a headlamp. I keep mine off until I find a target, sometimes I have used the built in light to give my eye an exact spot to pinpoint before I dig a target, but I don't really use mine.
The built in speaker on 2 when out at night or vibrate on the handle. Speaker between 4 and 8 during the day, my Minelab headphones if near traffic.
Hope you get it fixed, not the best start for you Aggro

 

[Aggro]

Thanks Colin. I'll keep the cover with me from now on now that I know it can't handle a sprinkle of rain. All dried out now and the light and ground balance are behaving again. ?
Sadly my fears regarding the headphones were realised this afternoon. I bumped the connector bit against my knee when I was putting the machine on the ground to dig a target and now only one side works with the other side cutting in and out which is very off putting and actually messed with my balance a bit.
I need to use headphones as due to hearing issues, the slightest bit of wind and I can only just hear it.
Looks like no more detecting until I can afford new headphones. Shame because we are going to Ballarat on Saturday for a short holiday which was the main reason I bought the thing.
Wife not happy that I wasted the money on it now and can't use it.
As I said the other day, If you are looking to buy one, factor in the extra dollars for new headphones to the cost.

 

[ColinD]

Aggro it has a vibrating handle
Bring a wetsuit though, the Minelab underwater Excalibur detector too. Everywhere is flooding. Hopefully clear up a bit by the weekend. (and your Nokta rain covers )
My wife is asleep so not sure what we're doing on Saturday, but if you want a little Nokta day and she's happy to solo watch the kids I'll try and get out for a couple of hours, depends on what you were planning on doing. If we do that I will bring you headphones.
C

 

[Aggro]

That would be fantastic Colin. We have just rearranged our holiday to tie in with family in Melbourne and we will be in Ballarat from next Wednesday afternoon till Thursday afternoon though. Would be nice to meet for a beer Wednesday night if you can.

 

[ColinD]

I'll send you a PM Aggro.
Did you buy your machine new or 2nd hand?
If you can get yourself on a good spot it will get you the goods. Sorry to hear about your tricky hearing, try practicing with the vibrate on the handle, I use it on night hunts and it works well after a little practice.
I'm sure you will still have a good holiday.
C