236-X2 Silent, Discriminating Metal Detector Operating Manual FISHER RESEARCH LABORATORY
CONTENTS About Your 1236-X2 ............................................................... pg. 1 Condensed Operating Instructions ..................................... pg. 4 Setting Up................................................................................ pg. 5 Body or Hipmounting ............................................................ pg. 7 Control Functions ................................................................... pg. 8 Discrimination Points .......................................
ABOUT YOUR DETECTOR Your 1236-X2 was designed to do one thing well provide all the quality tools necessary to help you find good, deep targets in trashy or mineralized soil with minimum hassle. The 1236-X2 does this by providing you a wealth of powerfully, well-designed instrument controls and features that give you maximum flexibility of adjustment to accommodate your unique style of detecting. These are the controls on your 1236-X2 . . .
ABOUT YOUR DETECTOR No-Motion Pinpoint Mode With VCO Audio: At the push of a button, the all-metal no-motion pinpoint mode kicks in with VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) audio response for precise target locating. A located target responds with increasing volume and pitch. The tone gets louder and higher, so there’s virtually no doubt when you’re directly over a target. VOLUME Control: For an extra measure of versatility, we’ve included a VOLUME control so you can set the audio level to suit your needs.
ABOUT YOUR DETECTOR ...Built with the latest high-tech digital and analog surface mount circuitry, it all adds up to one great state-of-the-art metal detector with loads of versatile features. Treat it as you would any fine instrument and you’ll be rewarded with years of quality service and who knows how many treasures. If you have any questions, suggestions, or interesting 1236-X2 stories, drop us a line. In the meantime...
CONDENSED OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS Using the 1236-X2 is simple, but you’ll have more fun and a better chance of making that BIG find if you have a complete understanding of what you’re doing and why. That’s why we recommend that you read the entire manual first. But if you just can’t wait any longer or you’ve already used a Fisher “X” detector, here’s some quick instructions: 1. Set the controls as follows: FREQUENCY = 0 (center frequency = 5.7 KHz) SENSITIVITY = 8 DISC = 4 SILENCER = ON VOLUME = 5 2.
SETTING UP Your new 1236-X2 is just about ready to go, but take a look at the following illustration before proceeding. 1. Unpack your 1236-X2 carefully, and save the carton: it may come in handy if you ever have to return the instrument for service.
SETTING UP semicircle around the front of the operator. 4. Hand tighten the lock nut and search coil adjusting wing nut. 5. With the stem length properly adjusted, wrap the search coil cable snugly around the upper handle and secure it with velcro straps. Leave just enough slack near the coil to allow it to be tilted completely backward and forward. NOTE: A loose cable near the search coil may cause false signals, but don’t wrap it so tightly that it pulls against the housing or the coil. 6.
BODY or HIPMOUNTING 1. Disconnect the search coil cable from the control housing and unwind all but the last 12 inches or so from the upper handle. Secure the lower end of the cable with a Velcro® strap at least 12 inches up from the coil. 2. Remove the control housing from the hand grip by holding the grip with one hand and sliding the housing toward you with the other. 3.
CONTROL FUNCTIONS 1. SILENCER: When the toggle switch is flipped ON, the 1236-X2 runs in the 3rd derivative SILENCER discrimination mode, eliminating the annoying “pops” and “clicks” heard when searching in extremely trashy areas. Flipping it to OFF, the 1236-X2 runs in classic 2nd derivative discrimination mode. 2. DISC: This control sets the discrimination level. At a setting of 0, all types of metal are detected. At higher settings, less conductive objects and trash are rejected.
CONTROL FUNCTIONS A faint tone indicates weak batteries and no tone means that it’s time for a battery change. 4. VOLUME: This control switches the 1236-X2 on and off and controls the volume of the audio response. A setting of 10 provides maximum audio signal volume. 5. FREQUENCY: This control changes the operating frequency of the 1236-X2 to eliminate interference from nearby detectors. Set it at 0 for normal operation.
DISCRIMINATION POINTS By adjusting the DISCRIMINATION Control, you will be able to ignore (or “reject”) small pieces of metallic trash and ground minerals while detecting valuable targets. The lowest setting at which an object is rejected is referred to as its “discrimination point.” Discrimination points are determined by such factors as size, shape, depth, type of metal and ground mineralization. 1.
DISCRIMINATION POINTS Figure 6. Typical 1236-X2 audio reponses (with silencer off) for 2-inch deep targets with search coil sweeping 1 to 2 inches above ground 10. Large pieces of trash such as beer cans or jar lids may sound like a good target no matter what you do. With a little practice, however, you will be able to tell the difference between a large target and a small coin sized object. 11. The diagram below shows some different target responses you may expect at different levels of discrimination.
SEARCHING Now comes the fun part if you follow a few simple rules. Good search techniques are every bit as important as a good detector. 1. The 1236-X2 has two operating modes. The “Search” mode is activated simply by turning the unit on. This is a “VLF-Motion Discrimination” mode that automatically ignores most ground minerals, rejects junk and works only when the search coil is moving. The “PINPOINT” mode is activated by depressing the PINPOINT button and will be explained later. 2.
SEARCHING a. In relatively non-trashy soil use a low level of discrimination (2 for example) with the SILENCER OFF. In this manner the 1236-X2 will detect all metal targets within its range and you can instantly increase the discrimination for further identification. b. In trashy areas you’ll probably want to operate at a higher level of discrimination (6 for example) with the SILENCER switched ON to cut down on the amount of time you spend digging bad targets. 5.
PINPOINTING The pinpoint mode requires no tuning and no motion to precisely locate the target. With the Pinpoint push-button depressed, the 1236-X2 is in an all-metal mode, meaning that any discrimination setting you might have selected will no longer apply. The VCO (Voltage Controlled Oscillator) circuitry indicates the presence of a target by increasing both the volume and frequency of the audio output. By depressing the Pinpoint push-button, precise target location is a snap. NO-MOTION PINPOINT MODE 1.
PINPOINTING IN MOTION SEARCH MODE Pinpointing in the Search Mode will take a little practice, but you may find that for most targets it’s even quicker than the NoMotion Pinpointing Mode. Simply use the same procedure as in steps 2 through 5 on p. 14. The only difference will be that when you stop the coil over the target you will lose the audio signal. You must keep the coil moving at least slightly to determine the location of the strongest signal before you stop it. 1.
TARGET RECOVERY Once you have pinpointed a target, your objective is to recover it quickly and neatly, leaving virtually no trace of your excavation. There are almost as many ways to do this as there are treasure hunters. Whatever works for you is good enough as long as you don’t break any laws, damage vegetation, or leave your search area looking like a World War II battlefield. Generally speaking, beachcombers do little if any damage to the environment while recovering targets.
OPERATING TIPS 1. We’ve already said it, but it bears repeating: TAKE YOUR TIME AND OVERLAP YOUR SWEEPS. 2. Use good headphones. You won’t miss faint targets, you won’t attract unwanted attention and you won’t bother others. 3. Practice pinpointing. There’s nothing sacred about the methods described in this manual. Many 1236-X2 users have developed their own pinpointing methods. 4. Always BURY A COIN when working in unfamiliar territory, and check it at different discrimination and sensitivity levels.
FASLE SIGNALS A “false signal” occurs when something that shouldn’t sounds like a good target. Your 1236-X2 does an excellent job of ignoring junk, but it’s so sensitive to good targets that it can be fooled by bad targets with similar electrical characteristics. Large pieces of trash, for example, or even some kinds of bottle caps and pull tabs can fool you. Small pieces of trash less than 2 inches from the search coil will also sound good occasionally.
FALSE SIGNALS one, you’re probably over a nail or some other large object. But a very shallow coin or a coin on edge will give the same response. SOLUTIONS: In all cases, the target will be between the beeps, or if you sweep at right angles to your original direction, you’ll receive a single beep directly over the target (except for a very shallow coin.) One way to tell the difference between a coin and a nail is to set the DISC control to the IRON setting.
BATTERY REPLACEMENT Two 9-volt transistor batteries are located in separate compartments at the rear of the housing of the 1236-X2. When it’s time to replace the batteries, always replace both of them. 1. To open the battery compartments, press gently down and out on the battery door latch. The doors are tethered; do not attempt to completely remove them. 2. Tilt the housing gently and the batteries will slide out. 3. Insert the new batteries.
MAINTENANCE Your 1236-X2 doesn’t require a lot of care, but there are a few things you should do to keep it in peak operating condition. 1. If you’re not going to be using it for awhile, take the batteries out. Acid damage caused by leaking batteries can be severe. 2. Avoid extreme temperatures, like inside a closed car that’s sitting in the sun. Even worse, inside the trunk in the hot sun. 3. If you “scrub” the search coil on the ground, you’ll eventually wear through the bottom.
Where To Use Your Metal Detector In The U.S. National Forest and Federal Lands—Metal detecting is allowed only by special permit acquired from the federal government. Each area has a district office. Corps of Engineers, Lakes, Shorelines and Lands—Permission has been granted only on predisturbed sites, such as beaches and attached swimming areas. New Corps lakes and lands must be okayed by the main office of the Army Corps of Engineers. Each area has a district office.
SPECIFICATIONS VLF 3rd Derivattive SILENCER MODE Discrimination Pinpoint (No-Motion Mode) VLF All Metal Audio Response ............................................................................. 416 Hz Search Mode .................................................................................... VCO Pinpoint Mode ..................................................................................... Yes Audio Threshold ...................................................................................
SPECIFICATIONS NOTES 1. Subject to improvement or modification without notice. 2. In Search Mode, the 1236-X2 operates under two modes of discrimination. With the SILENCER off, it operates in a classic 2nd derivative discrimination mode that allows all pops, clicks and partial target responses to be heard for maximum target information. With the SILENCER on, the 1236-X2 operates in 3rd derivative SILENCER mode. This is especially useful for eliminating noise in extremely trashy areas. 3.
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QUALITY Fisher detectors are renowned for their quality. Each detector is hand crafted in the USA with pride PERFORMANCE Treasure Hunters worldwide rely on Fisher. Our detectors are durable, dependable, and search deeper.. REPUTATION Fisher produced the first patented metal detector in 1931. For over 70 years, the Fisher logo has been a mark of excellence.
