TC3x Realtree metal detector information pages and tech talk

The Tc3X is a great looking metal detector, it has the realtree camouflage livery as standard, plus one or two other nifty features such as ~ Touch screen controls and on board GPS.

TC3x assembly The machine was very easy to assemble, one thing that caught me out was the threading of the coil cable inside the shafts, after reading the manual it made perfect sense. There was a threading tool supplied to make the job Childs play. Threading the coil lead The cable threading tool place the plug into the tube connect with the coil plug and pull the whole assembly through

The Tc3x signature detector This machine caught my eye purely based on it's radical looks The Tc3x has a very clear to understand touch screen menu The features are rather limited with three 3 pre set modes, All metal, Jewellery, and Coin, then another 2 custom modes called discrim and notch. All metal mode : works fine and best for European searching Jewellery mode : is rubbish, it discriminates out my wedding ring. Coin mode : is for US coins, so big silvers on the park will be it's best shot. The only way for UK searching is to run in all metal with tone ID, then you have the option to reject iron, the iron segment is quite large but the software allows you to reject tiny segments of the iron range. (Note : there is no single tone option only 4 tone ID) On the back of the control box there is a very powerful light and access to the battery compartment, the screen lays flat to make this job easier. The unit takes 6AA cells

The arm cup is very good quality with a nice fitting arm strap, also fitted below is a very sturdy stand Stems and locking collars Absolutely no problems here, they are a really snug fit with a chunky feel, there is a cam lock fitted to the upper stem and a rotary lock to the lower stem, which has a milled channel running along side it to eliminate twist. (neat idea !) The coil The lead is good quality and the coil is supposed to be fully waterproof, the coil cover is a very tight fit. I would say the overall build quality of the coil is very good. Tc3X pin point The pinpoint is a trigger works fine but has a rather cheap feel to the mechanism, which I guess is more than acceptable for a machine in this price range.

The Tc3x has three fixed search mode and two extra custom modes, Discrim and Notch. Below you can see the three modes and what discrimination ranges are accepted

All Metal	Jewellery	Coins
Changes are accepted by pressing the tick button Reject settings by pressing the cross button	The powerful light is accessed from the screen	The on screen display clearly shows the sensitivity and volume levels

In the field with the Tc3x


As suspected running the machine in all metal was the best option, it had a bias towards larger targets which is strange considering it runs at 13Khz, recovery speed was rather slow which was probably the reason for it's good depth, however the overall performance was a let down. When you see a machine with so many neat features and looks the part, you automatically expect high end performance, and that's where the TC3x let the side down....which brings me to a difficult decision....where would I class this machine ? Is it an average mid range machine or a high end entry level machine ? I'm sure it will work very well on US sites but for Europe I would place it as an entertaining coin shooter with some great features.
I would really like to talk with the manufacturers of this unit, because they obviously know a lot about electronics, but little about detecting....I think with a little tweaking and listening to feedback I think it can raise the bar very easily.
Don't get me wrong the machine works fine and great for general searching, however I was expecting more based on the time and effort put in to the features and design.

Contact garysdetecting@hotmail.com

 

Likes Looks great Feel great Loaded with features Great build quality for the price GPS is accurate to 10ft

Dislikes Audio tones tinny and fast Factory coin pre set for US only Signal clarity : lower tone needed for iron Pin point slow Recovery speed to slow for iron sites

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