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Fisher 1280x Aquanaut

Price: $800
Avg. Score: 4 stars 4.31
Based on 16 reviews

Avg. Durability: 5 stars!4.80
Avg. Ease of use: 5 stars!4.80
Maximum detection depth
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Fine detector

January 25, 2008
I have done a lot of detecting in my day 45 years of it to be exact and have used several Fisher detectors, they are all great when used for the purpose they were designed for.

The 1280x is a waterproof VLF detector and as such is mainly designed to be used on or in fresh water lakes and streams; it will work in salt water areas, but because it is a VLF machine it will be a bit noisy. All VLF dertectors, no matter what frequency they operate on are noisy on salt water beaches.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

355

1280x

September 03, 2006
iv'e used this detector in the north carolina outer banks and wasted my time, on dry anything it works great, wet sand its ok but as soon as salt water touches it it goes crazy, any movement in any direction makes it go off, even salt water moving under it makes it sound. I called the tech line and the guy told me to turn the sensitivity to 3 and the descrimination to 8, that worked perfectly if you didnt want it to go off on anything, with those settings I walked up the beach and in the surf 400 yards and didnt get a single hit, could the beach be that clean?
I called up the tech again and told him that the detector worked on land and fresh water fine, he said "then there's probly nothing wrong with it, but you can send it to us to look at".
I dont know, I was told people use them in the surf all the time, I just cant see how.

Overall Rating 3 stars

1910

1280X - fantastic machine

February 14, 2005
I've had a 1280X for 5 years now, and so have my 2 friends. This machine has to be one of the best. I use it in the water (fresh) all the time, upto my waist, all day. I find objects from copper artifacts, nails, metal - you name it. I know the different sounds of copper from other metals because copper is what I'm after and have over 800 copper artifacts that I found on land and water. I keep my sensitivity at 10 (it makes a noise steady and does not bother me because it picks up items you would usually miss if it wasn't that high. My discrimination is at 2 and my volume is at about 4 to 5.

The secret is to know your machine sounds, any little tick of copper and I know the sound even with the noise from the sensitivity, I've had friends change from other machines to this one, it's great, no screw ups with screens, ground balancing and all the other bells and whistles, I can't say enough about this machine, it's all with experimenting and knowing how to use it! I've dug items as big as a coin over two feet down in water up to my waist and also great depth on land. It's the best water and land machine around.

Overall Rating 5 stars!

673

Fisher 1280X

September 29, 2004
I've had a 1280X for 3 years now and am very pleased with this machine, it's simple to learn the controls and built to take a beating. I use it mostly on salt water beaches but it works well on dry land as well.

Overall Rating 4 stars

269

Fisher 1280X

May 06, 2004
I have had a 1280x for about 8 years. At beaches it works very good in dry sand. It has good depth and pinpoints very well. In the water and wet sand is different story. In the water it goes off with every movement of the water or the detector. I think this is because of the movement of the sand. I set the volume at 10, the descrimination at 7, and the sensitivity at 2 or 3. The sensitivity has to be set low otherwise it beeps with every movement of water or detector as I previously mentioned. In wet sand it will sound off with every step I take if the sensitivity is not set low. Setting the sensitivity so low makes me think I am missing most targets. Why? Well I have not found very much with this machine. I have used it quite a lot on the beach and expected better results for what I paid for it.

If fresh water there is no problem with it always beeping from movement. Under water I think it would do well in fresh or salt water because there would be no surf or walking. I'm just not a diver. I am thinking of selling this machine and buying a Fisher CZ-20. I have heard some good things about it. The 1280X has been a frustrating detector to use around the beaches that I have visited.

Overall Rating 2 stars

394

Fisher 1280X

April 23, 2002
I believe this is a good machine and will find small targets. The one drawback is its sensitivity to salt water. Any verticle movement in relation to the water causes a target sound. This can be improved on by reducing the sensitivity but can be annoying. Otherwise it is a good machine.

Overall Rating 4 stars

385

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