Vallon Vmh3cs

Hi to all,

I just moved to the UK from Australia and noticed people here panning for gold in my local river. Thought I would give metal detecting another go so bought a "Vallon VMH3CS" and noticed this forum.

I notice everyone here is referring to model version (1) and no ones mentioning the newer version (2) of the VMH3CS the 2010 and beyond comes with newer firmware and I believe beach mode, your able to turn off constant beeping and its the one shown on the current brochure available on the Vallon website.

Most of the units on ebay have one side snapped of the arm rest (on both versions) so the army forces guys can wear their specialised mine clearing suits and still use the detector suited up.. you wouldn't go out clearing mines with a skin bare arm and those protective suits make your arm 5 times thicker, hence the reason one side is just about always snapped off, Vallon should have realised that really.

The newer unit is easily identifiable from the bigger armrest but the army guys still snap one side off as even the newer one isn't wide enough.

Other comments on VMH3CS detector here I notice are about depths and sensitivity however no one has mentioned that the unit is available with a more sensitive and much bigger (UXO) search coil, with this it probably beats all its rivals. It also has a stick probe option. Note sure if the UXO is a double D coil or not, I suspect it is tho, does anyone know?

The official PDF brochure available on the Vallon website also mentions the detector is "Waterproof to 4 Meters" of course check your second hand units have the o'rings fitted before dunking it in water but this is a military spec detector and complies with "MIL STD 810F, 501.4-II, 502.4-I, 502.4-II, 503.4, 506.4-III & 514.5 C1" they are pretty serious about their standards and as they rely on them with lives at stake they should be able to handle the 4 meters specified.

Once you get used to the unit and set the ground balance properly they would be a very hard unit to beat. They even do other models with inbuilt GPR!!
I've noticed these second hand ex-army units on the Gumtree Africa website, there's one for sale right now in Capetown for about $180 Bucks Ausd!! "Vallon Minehound VMR3" used to detect non-metallic and metallic objects and in the ground.

I would like to discuss the software "Vallon EVA2000", it seems to be able to firmware update old versions, giving version (1) the version (2) features and there's a grid data-logging feature so you could in theory search an area, flag hits and go back to your laptop to evaluate whats worth digging for, large objects vs small and where a gold reef cluster may be etc. I'm sure this would be great for prospecting but would like to give it a go and see how good it is. Has anyone tried the software yet or updated a Version (1)?

Concerning batteries, it can take rechargeable 4000mAh 1.2V D Cell (KR35/62) spec batteries but these are very hard to get, I found some eventually but I'm now wondering if NICD charger will charge them to the full 4000mAh. It would be nice to convert it to a rechargeable unit. Has anyone here tried?

Oh and one more thing, you can get 1/16 scale miniature toy models of the VMH3CS unit, if your buying a real one make sure that your not buying the small plastic toy model. I nearly made that mistake, you can't tell how big they are in the picture and the toy looks like the real thing in the advert, its nice to know that you can get one tho as it would be fun to have a 1:16th miniature toy model unit to mount on top of my display cabinet.

Hi Sea3p0.

Interesting info re the version 2. The ability to silence the check beeps is handy.
Mine has a data logger output.  Not much use if you do not have anything to connect it to.
I did mention the large UXO coil in my last post. This coil is a 24 inch mono. The person I obtained my VMH3CS from said that the large coils were not available.

I have used NiMh and high qual alkalines.
The alkalines run longer and the detector seems to be more stable.

http://www.vallon.de/download/Vertrieb/GB_VMH3cs_oper_manual_soft_1_14.pdf

I see on Aussie Ebay where somebody is trying to get 1000 dollars for an ex military  Vallon VMH3CS. mine detector.
They can be bought from Poland for approx 380.00 Aust dollars inc postage  on Ebay. .....Good luck to him I guess but a bit rough I think.
If this beast fails then you will be very unlikely to be able to get it repaired.

Unfortunately since obtaining my Vallons I have not been able to give the machines a serious long run at the beach or in the gold fields due to poor health and worn out knee problems but hopefully by mid 2019 the majority of my probs will be solved and I will be either pushing up daisies or will able to get stuck into some serious metal detecting once more.
.

Hi All,

I have one of these on the way. It should be here for next week. So, Im looking forward to getting to the beach.

Peter

It is a good machine. Make sure you get the GB right in Mineral Mode.
There is No gb in normal and can be noisy but depth and sensitivity is excellent over a wide range of ground mineral conditions.
The test beeps might get on your nerves but just forget they exist and focus on the detecting.  Goes deep.