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jmaryt
monte! which of these two do you prefer, ...

BOTH.

I prefer the 15 kHz CoRe as a "General Purpose" detector for Relic Hunting remote locations or Coin & Jewelry Hunting typical locations. The CoRe handles quite well virtually any site environments. Ground mineral challenges, low to moderate to dense trash, and that include most old locations that have a lot of iron nail and other heavily littered challenges ... with "one exception."

The 19 kHz Relic is my #1 device for tackling that "one exception", and that is the really dense ferrous debris sites. Since May 4th, fifty years ago, I have Relic Hunted very tough iron plagued ghost towns and similar sites. I naturally continued to Coin Hunt all the typical urban locations because they were highly productive, even including older dated coins and other desirables, but as detector circuitry design and better search coils came along that upped the odds in the remote, ferrous littered places, my priorities kept shifting more and more to Relic Hunting.

Since July of '83 my focus has been on ghost towns, homesteads, pioneer and military encampments, fort sites, early era recreation and picnic sites, other old remote locations as well as any comparable urban places that had been overlooked, such as vacant lots, old demolished structure areas and such that tended to have an over abundance of nails, other ferrous debris, and kind of kept other less adventurous detector users away.

As detector design improved enough to challenge my favorite Tesoro models that I have been using since mid-'83 to handle those irony sites, I would add them to my Regular-Use Detector Outfit. There haven't been that many. I'll give credit where it is due, and from 1998 through the end of 2014 I bought or borrowed many detectors to have the best I could find that satisfied me on comfort, balance and performance where I needed it.

In all cases, one challenge was to take on a favorite Tesoro, such as a Bandido II µMAX, using my Nail Board Performance Test with an Indian Head 1¢, or a modern Zinc Cent that is the same size and of a very close conductivity. The device also had to fit my three other requirements, and that was to be 'Simple,' 'Functional' and be 'Performance' driven. The White's Classic III SL, ID and IDX Pro, with a smaller coil worked very similar to the Tesoro's and hey were in my Outfit. So was a White's MXT until I replaced it with the MXT Pro, and later added their MX-5 as they joined the Teknetics T2. The T2's I owned, five or six of them, were the better-performing units with the 5" DD coil and were what I usually grabbed in the denser nail plagued locations.

That was through December of 2014 and then there was a dramatic, and unexpected change coming my way! I was asked if I would like to evaluate a newer device on the market by Dilek at Nokta Detection Technologies. I responded to her e-mail immediately with a 'Yes!' with a reminder that I mainly Relic Hunt whenever I can, and that means I needed a smaller coil to better handle the dense debris, and nails and rusty tin were the biggest offenders. That newer model was the FORS CoRe and it arrived January 8th of 2015.

Impressed was an understatement. Within 24 hours after I assembled it and started side-by-side with what I had on hand I was staring to put units from my then-current Outfit up for sale or trade. I had many detectors plus some I had acquired to check out, and everything was going away with the exception of my two all-time favorite Tesoro's, and the last two models I parted with were a Teknetics Omega 8000 V/4 and White's MX-5 simply because I liked them for easy travel for the urban Coin Hunting I also enjoyed.

I continued to try different detectors, putting them up against the CoRe with its small 'OOR' ('Out-Of-Round') 4.7X5.2 DD coil. I am talking about current and new release models from Fisher, Garrett, Teknetics, Tesoro, and even those from Nokta and Makro when they were two separate offerings. It was the Makro Racer that came close, as well as the Gold racer and then the FORS Gold + really showed a bit of an edge over the CoRe in the toughest iron challenged environments I search to compare them. That was in December of 2015.

It only offers 2-Tone audio in the Disc. modes, but the 19 kHz operating frequency is what I credited the edge in performance to. But the CoRe also offered the Di-3, or 3-Tone Disc. mode, as well as COG, a 2-Tone Beach model. But just a month later, in January of 2016, I was one of the 'testers' provided a prototype unit with a different name that changed after some revisions Keith Southern & I suggested. When they sent the revised system boxes to me and Keith, Dilek asked what we though about a name change for the final production unit called FORS Relic

We both wholeheartedly agreed on that idea because the new Relic had just what was needed to move it into a #1 spot for the toughest of iron masking environments. Using the higher 19 kHz operating frequency, the new Relic also has the 3-Tone mode like the CoRe, and COG mode for saltwater beach hunting. Plus it has Swift and Deep modes, Tone Break, and best of all they incorporated Iron Volume Audio adjustment. One other feature difference is a change from a ferrous / Non-Ferrous break at '40' with the CoRe to '20' with the Relic, and that spreads out the Non-Ferrous numeric VDI range.

So the real pluses that 'edge' the Relic over the CoRe ... just a smidgeon .. for touch iron challenges sites if:

• 19 kHz operation
• Iron Volume (loudness) control
• Broader Non-Ferrous VDI scale.

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jmaryt
... and are they the "best" also for urban coin shooting as well as for ghost town hunting?

YES, to both of them for both applications.

I will gladly go Relic Hunting with either of them, and quite often grab the CoRe when I know the locations has a lower to modest amount of nails and other iron junk. If it is an environment of dense nails and other tougher challenges, the Relic is in my hand. If I anticipate a particular site might have more higher-conductive targets I want to find, it will likely be the CoRe I work. But if I am after lower-to-mid conductivity objects the Relic gets the nod.

Remote or Urban sites, both of these detectors are admirable performers. Perfect? no, I haven't found one yet from any maker, but for all of the 'average' or 'typical' places a Hobbyist or an Avid Detectorist might want to venture, the CoRe and/or relic are really tough to beat. They are the most versatile and proven performers in my current regular-Use Detector Outfit, which probably explains why I have two each of these models, and all four travel with me on any of personal detecting jaunts, or if I join a bunch of folks on a Welcome-to-Hunt Outing.

I have extra coils for most of my detectors in an Accessory Coil Tone in case I want or need them, but I really prefer to enjoy detecting and not fiddling around when I am off for enjoyment while trying to swap search coils when I should be finding stuff. Therefore I keep one CoRe ready with a small 'OOR' DD mounted, and one Relic with the 5" DD attached. For more open areas with less trash the other CoRe and Relic each sport their own 'open-frame' 5X9½ DD coil.

Finally, their balance and feel is impressive compared with their appearance, and this old phart with physical challenges and mobility impairments appreciates the fact they share the same configuration, feel, balance and comfort.

I have a few other detectors I use for other applications, including some very light-weight models for simple, quick-hit urban Coin Hunting, but NOTHING in my arsenal can do what the CoRe & Relic can do on a couple of really tough iron challenges I use to put detectors to the test.

Monte

"Your EYES ... the only 100% accurate form of Discrimination!"
Stinkwater Wells Trading Post
Metal Detector Evaluations and Product Reviews monte@ahrps.org ... or ... monte@stinkwaterwells.com 503-481-8147Fisher: F-44, Nokta-Makro: FORS CoRe and FORS Relic, Tesoro: Bandido II µMAX and Silver Sabre µMAX, White's: XLT, XP: ORXKiller B's 'Hornet' and White's 'Pro Star'Note: Detectors are listed alphabetically by Brand. Models are chosen based on search site conditions.*** All working well today to make memories for tomorrow. ***