The Golden Mask company originates from the Banditto brand. Only after the discovery of the golden mask of the Thracian king, the company changed the brand with a self-explanatory name to the already familiar Golden Mask. The right step was taken — after this incident, little by little, the Masks began to spread across Europe and gained great popularity in one of the largest markets for treasure hunters, in a country where digging is strictly regulated and brings profit not only to diggers, but also to land owners and the state, namely in the UK . In the UK you can measure metal detectors — if the device there, as they say, «went», then the device is worthwhile and brings findings, if not, then this is a serious reason to think about it. They have been digging there with metal detectors for a long time, and they are digging for antiquity, and not just hundred-year-old coins and ancient corks.
About first impressions of Mask 5+ I already wrote, but now, after a year of use, I can write about the metal detector in more detail.
Review after a year of use
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Basically, it turned out that I used Mask 5+ in the forest dig. Our forests are different — both mixed and coniferous, so in the summer, when all the fields were planted or not cut, we had to dig in pine forests. This brought its fruits, of course. Mask 5+ is the top VLF metal detector in the company’s line and, as befits a top model, it has all the necessary settings for a search engine — here you have PowerBox, and changing the Treshold level, and two frequencies (8 and 18 kHz!), adjusting the ground balance.
As already stated — Mask 5+ can operate at two frequencies, 8 kHz or 18 kHz. The manufacturer recommends always using 18 kHz, this is relevant for most places, because over decades of digging with low-frequency devices (5-8 kHz), many places have already been thoroughly knocked out and all that remains is to pick up small items and various metal-plastics that were missed by low-frequency devices. Therefore, 18 kHz seems to be the priority frequency, but I also used 8 kHz to search for militaria in my forests, because we had battles in both 1941 and 1944.
For example, a Soviet bullet, 7.62×54 mm caliber, came out from a good depth; apparently in 1941, someone in this place fired from a Mosin rifle or a Maxim machine gun, driving the bullet deep into the ground. If you read the history of this cartridge, then its bullet has the following penetrating effect: an earthen barrier made of loose sandy loam soil is penetrated by all types of bullets at a distance of 1000 m to a depth of 25-30& nbsp;cm. Just a good depth for detecting a metal object with modern metal detectors!
The device sees coins perfectly and you don’t have to worry that with the correct settings and correct installation of the ground balance, the metal detector will not miss a small coin at a depth of 20-25 cm. As an example — one of the USSR coins I picked up from a broken place in the forest:
3 kopecks from 1946 lay right next to a small tree and it was a little difficult to dig a hole, but thanks to the use of a small standard reel (9″), I discovered this coin and lifted it from a depth of about 23 cm, judging by the deepening of the hole with my shovel.
The metal detector itself is very convenient and well balanced in weight. Despite the fact that it is powered by 10 AA batteries (finger-type, standard), the device does not support my hand and after 4 hours of searching, my hand, at least, did not hurt. The handle is quite wide and my fingers don’t hurt from gripping the handle tightly, as often happens with barbells where the handle is thin (at least for my large hands).
The metal detector is very compact and folds perfectly together with the coil and wires into a convenient design that can easily be placed in a standard travel backpack, as an example — Bundeswehr backpack 65 liters, into which Mask 5+ easily fits with a small shovel. Or a backpack for a treasure hunter, of which there are many sold in various stores for metal detectors.
Even though the metal detector unit is waterproof (retains dust and water, but cannot be submerged), I would recommend using it with a case. Still, you always want to see the unit clean and well-groomed, and not like mine, when the cover is only put on the battery compartment under the armrest. The battery compartment, by the way, must be protected in every possible way from moisture and water, cleaned from dirt (if it suddenly gets in), since it contains a speaker, a sound transmitter for wireless headphones, and a button for switching between headphones and the built-in speaker. There is also a charging connector in the battery compartment and this turned out to be very convenient — all 10 batteries are charged simultaneously while in the metal detector! This reduces the risk of going on a cop mission without batteries.
Collet clamps are convenient to use and do not cause problems during assembly and disassembly, the only thing is that they should be taken care of and periodically cleaned of dirt and debris accumulated inside.
Spectrometer
An interesting option on the Masks 5+ — screen helps a lot. It is a spectrometer or spectral visual screen interface. Now almost any metal detector has VDI — the numerical value of the reflected signal, which shows us approximately what metal the object located in the ground and under the coil can be made of. VDI for Mask 5+ is located in the upper right corner and has values from -5 to 99. Values -5 and up to 0 are objects made of ferrous metals, and everything that is in the positive segment (above 0) are objects made of non-ferrous metals. However, on the scale at the bottom of the screen, simultaneously with the VDI indicator, graphs — sometimes they are simple (high column), sometimes wide and intermittent, stretched over half the scale, for example, what does all this mean? The answer is quite simple and can already be found in the manual:
Of course, no value is ultimately true and therefore the final decision is up to the user, but in most cases it works. The spectrometer reading can vary depending on the position of the coil above the object, the intensity of the coil swing, height and other factors.
I was able to fairly accurately identify an object even before digging it up. For example, even a sleeve, when inserted on both sides, gave slightly different spectrometer readings and the same VDI indicator, from which it was clear that this was no longer a coin, but something more elongated. A coin, according to VDI and a spectrometer, gives such an indicator that you will never be mistaken that it is a coin and not some other metal object. Of course, when plowing, coins can be on the edge, and therefore you need to dig for any positive signal, unless, of course, it is a large piece of rusty tin and the spectrometer graph stretches along one quarter of the scale.
Coils for Golden Mask 5+ metal detector
I have two coils for Maxi 5+:
1. Standard 9″ coil:
A small, but very light and convenient coil for searching for small coins and metal-plastics in places with abundant accumulation of metal waste. The coil is, naturally, DD, which means with a wide scanning range. With such a coil it is convenient to pick out single useful signals located between garbage signals that we do not want to dig up. I would recommend taking a standard kit with just such a coil, because you will always have time to buy a larger coil, but now it is more advisable to clear out littered areas of fields and old tracts.
2. 13″ Karma coil:
I prepared this reel for next season. I bought it directly from the manufacturer, since the coil itself is inexpensive — came out at a price of 99 euros. Size 13″, which makes it universal for exploring new places and searching for just such littered areas in the field, where serious activity could have taken place in the past and where you need to come with a small coil of 9″ size.
The difference in the size of the coils is quite significant:
If you put them side by side, you can see that 13″ Almost twice the size! My 9″ The reel has already seen a lot of fishing and is waiting for its turn to be washed and prepared for the season. 🙂
The Karma coil is light in weight and does not make the device heavier, nor does it greatly shift the center of gravity of the metal detector. Also, due to its size, the coil gives, albeit a small, but increase in depth; through the air it gave almost 30 cm to the gold ring and spectrograph, and VDI showed the correct and digging designation on the screen. I’ll definitely write in the future how she performs with Mask 5+ on a mine in the fields, I’m looking forward to spring!
Preferred settings for a cop
Golden Mask 5+ is not an XP Deus and the number of settings here is not the largest, of course, which greatly simplifies working with the metal detector! Less headaches for the user = more finds in the mine, naturally! There are enough combination options for settings on Mask 5+, but I will only touch on those that I use almost constantly while digging in the forest or on the field.
I usually dig at 18 kHz, so we set the settings to 18 kHz and the BITONAL mode. The two-tone discrimination mode is best suited for exploring new places and everyday digging, because despite looking at the screen you already understand what signal the device is giving — with a low tone it reacts to objects made of ferrous metal, and a high tone notifies about an object from a colored signal. However, as with any other metal detector, if you have few objects at the spot of the cop, then it makes sense to set the «all metals» mode. and get another two centimeters of depth, and suddenly you get to your treasured find?
GAIN. Gain setting, which is also a sensitivity function. We set it depending on the situation and the ground, but in most cases I go at value 2. If the device is too noisy and there is a lot of interference, then try resetting (press ENTER), or shift the frequency of the device, in case the telephone or transmission line is causing interference, but if nothing helped, then you will need to reduce the GAIN and, therefore, lose depth.
Pbox set to High, that is, a high value, this gives an increase in depth, especially for small targets.
Here, in general, are all the settings.
Result for Golden Mask 5+
Overall, I was pleased with this metal detector. If you look at the price (520 euros), then in Europe this metal detector has very few competitors at this price. If you look at Russia, then the competition here is stronger, naturally, and you can add a little and take a metal detector from a brand that is more famous for you.
Yes, we have heard about various errors and problems that arise during use, but at the moment (spring 2018) most of the problems have already been fixed and all the problems are known, which means everything can be easily treated and corrected, and therefore there is no need to be afraid of marriage, it is doubtful that you will receive it. I modified my Mask 5+ a little, because it was purchased from me last year and had minor childhood illnesses. The alteration did not cost much and took one day. Now the device runs perfectly and pleases with its finds, which is what it should do.
What can I say? If you want to buy it, then you should buy it, it will bring your finds and the pleasure of searching. If you have any doubts, it would be good to hold it in your hands and see in person to see if you like everything and how it will sit in your hand. The device is very good for its price and therefore, if we compare it, it will be with metal detectors of a slightly more expensive class. The metal detector has great potential, sufficient flexibility in settings, good search depth, good tenacity to objects underground, sufficient versatility due to the presence of two frequencies, suitable for digging on the beach, in the forest, and in the field — according to coins, and antiquity. It’s more a matter of personal preference.
Many comrades who used Masks then switched again to Golden Mask metal detectors, which shows a good trend and characterizes the manufacturer, the main rule applies here — The most expensive metal detector will not always bring more finds than a metal detector for 350-550 euros (Mask 4 and 5+). 😉
If you have your own experience using Mask 5+, then share it with us, our readers will be grateful!
