Gold Hunter Smart

The Gold Hunter Smart is GER Detect's long-range locator: instead of a search coil it works through a directional antenna array — a super antenna, enhancer antennas, a recipient antenna and a dish receiver the manufacturer describes as a signal purifier — carried on a folding handheld unit with a full-colour touchscreen. Four search systems are chosen from that screen: precious and non-precious metals and treasure, diamonds, caves, voids and ancient tombs, and a dual-dimensional (2D) imaging system used to read depth and analyse the target. Before searching you set the target type, the continent you are working in (GER Detect adds this because it states that underground mineral frequencies vary from one region to another) and the front range, selectable at 100, 500, 1,000, 1,500, 2,000, 2,500 or 3,000 metres. GER Detect specifies a search depth of up to 50 metres and identification of 19 metal types, from buried antique gold, raw gold and gold veins to meteorite, silver, zircon, bronze, cobalt, coltan, mercury, copper and iron. Once a signal has been confirmed from all four directions, the depth routine returns a result screen showing a noise percentage, a target-confirmation percentage, a depth range in metres and centimetres, and a two-dimensional figure that is colour-coded — green and yellow for a target lying in soil, a red gradient for one likely inside a metal box, a blue gradient for one likely inside a void; the manufacturer advises re-running the search if noise exceeds 30 per cent or confirmation falls below 90 per cent. The 320 × 240 px full-colour touchscreen also carries an electronic thermometer, a digital clock, brightness and volume settings and a mute button, and the menu runs in German, English, French, Spanish, Italian or Arabic. GER Detect rates the internal 3.6 V / 18 Wh lithium-ion battery at 10 hours, and the complete kit — main unit, handle, antennas, dish receiver, mains charger and car charger — packs into a shock-resistant carrying case of 42.5 × 17.5 × 28 cm weighing 2.72 kg all in. The unit is weatherproof only, not waterproof, and GER Detect covers the main unit for two years against electronic faults, with the battery and charger excluded. It is aimed at prospectors and treasure-search teams working large open ground who want to narrow a site down to a small number of points before digging.