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Laser Rapier II information page
The new Laser Rapier landed on my doorstep without warning, I was a
little shocked to say the least. I called Pentechnic to ask about the machine
and find out how it compared to the original Laser Rapier.
From what I believe the new machine is more of an upgrade for the same price
which I think is very honest and refreshing to hear in a world of cut throat
sales jargon.
Rapier II upgrade information
In this modern age electronic components are naturally modified to higher specifications owing to technology and
new raw materials becoming available. With these new components Tesoro
have managed to squeeze a little more power out of an already tried and tested circuit.
The new machine has upgraded analogue circuitry and a re-designed circuit
board with a new operating frequency of 12khz, the higher frequency is designed
to maximise sensitivity enhancing the machines ability to find small ancient
coins and jewellery.
Other modifications include :
A solid voltage regulator ...smoother tone, more stable operation and cleaner
discrimination.
A "large target signature" modification has been integrated resulting in better
discrimination of iron, the Rapier has always boasted good
discrimination...now it's even better !
The end result of all this trickery is much less
noise...not the noise we hear in the speakers but internal static component noise which
is one of the main stumbling points when tuning any machine. The all new quieter circuitry allows the machine to operate at a much higher
gain...which we all know can lead to more depth without audio chatter.
The surface mount technology has allowed the manufacturer to keep the overall
package small, light and very practical...don't be fooled by it's size ! this
machine has the same technology as the bigger box machines.
Pentechnic are the UK's only approved Laser and Tesoro service centre 01785 714373.
Laser Rapier II
initial observations
The machine looks pretty much like the previous model which has had a very
successful 10 year run owing to it's simple to use controls and crystal clear
audio tone, which brings me to my first observation. The
Rapier II has a 2 way switch which allows the operator to choose between 2
audio tones, 1 medium and 1 high, which is a very practical idea as it appears
we all have different opinions about detector sounds, for those tekkies out
there the low tone is 190Hz the high tone is 380 Hz.
Click the Rapier 2 picture below to hear the 2 different audio tones
The first 4 bleeps are the low tone, the second 4 are the high tone
The control panel is now made from strong plastic with a louvered speaker
outlet as with all of today's modern Tesoro's, the controls are neatly laid
out, Sensitivity, Discrimination, Threshold and a large sealed red All metal /
pin point button sitting in the bottom left hand corner, the headphone jack plug
is
underneath as before.
Power
As before the Rapier is powered by 1 single 9 volt battery giving about
20 hours performance.
Stem
1 interesting little feature is the double pip stem locating system, this
allows users to finely tune the stem to suit their exact requirements.
Search coil
The Rapier uses the standard tried and tested web style search coil which
is resin filled for excellent stability in all temperatures, the coil bolt is a
revised item.
Out in the field
One thing that became apparent from the start was the smoothness of this
machine, it dealt with iron internally crackles and pops didn't even reach the
audio circuit...very impressive considering I was searching an iron infested
field....most machines can be very erratic on this land especially as it had just
been harrowed.
I found myself passing the spade across the coil just to make sure the Rapier
was still switched on.
I searched for around 10 munities until I got my first target...it was
not what I would have called a text book signal, the audio was loud and slightly
clipped one way, I had nothing to loose by investigating, as suspected it was a
large odd shaped piece of iron.
As the machine was so quiet I found myself speeding up and detecting to fast,
after disciplining myself and slowing the pace the small signals started to
appear.
During my first search I found small pieces of non ferrous and 11 Roman
coins made an appearance all with very solid audio sounds, one coin in
particular gave a debatable signal, once dug I noticed a small nail in the same
hole. (lower middle of picture)
Mystery target
During the mornings search a faint signal got my attention, soft sounding like a small coin
but much broader in size, I dug down and scanned the spoil expecting a large
piece of lead to be unearthed but there was nothing, when re checking the hole
it became apparent that the target was still there and louder than before.
Having dug down well over the 14" mark on my spade I uncovered a mystery target...possibly something from farm
machinery but it could have easily been an ancient artefact at a very impressive
depth.
I think the Laser Rapier 2 has maintained the magic of the original Rapier with
a little piece of refinement thrown in for good measure.
Here are some questions you may want answering.
Q: should I sell my original Rapier and buy a Rapier 2 ?
A : No the difference is not great enough to warrant this, what we
have here is a slight modification to an already tried and tested circuit.
Q : Is the Rapier 2 deeper than my original Rapier
A : Possibly...owing to the quieter circuit you can run a slightly higher
sensitivity with less audio crosstalk (chatter)
Q : I like a machine to be a little unstable over bad ground would the
Rapier 2 give me this audio information.
A : No, personally I like machines to give some audio chatter amongst
iron...however there are many people out there who choose not to hear iron and
prefer a machine to only respond when there is something worth digging, the
Rapier 2 will suit these people.
As a foot note the machine can be slightly
boosted by turning up the "threshold control" beyond it's recommended setting
although pin pointing will be very loud.
I would class the Laser Rapier 2 as an honest switch on and go machine
aimed at people who do not like complex controls it's an ideal choice for those
who just want to get out and enjoy the hobby knowing they have a machine that
has an impeccable track record and will serve them well for many years.
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