Fisher 1236-X2
John Castle
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Control panel - note the 'iron' position and the silencer switch. |
My first introduction to what was to become the Fisher 1236-X2 took place as long ago as March 1996, which must make this the longest field test I have ever embarked upon! Fisher had already appraised me as to what their aim was, to return to the essential Fisher motion characteristics which had served detectorists the world over so well since the introduction of the first one, the 1260-X, way back in November 1982 but to remove, as far as possible, the “chatter” which was heard on some bad sites and some iron junk. This was yet another direction for Fisher, their CZ series having already taken detecting into newer and better dimensions and being quite distinct from the 1200-X series.
Bascically, the new detector would still be from the 1200-X stable and would retain its simplicity and operating characteristics, but with the addition of smoother and truly silent operation and much better iron rejection which is switchable. Hence X2. Over the next two and a half years or so a mass of faxes winged their way back and forth across (or rather under) the Atlantic plus no less than three prototypes. Fisher were determined to get it right!
I must admit I got a bit deflated at one time. “Why don’t you just copy someone else?” I asked, “Copying is endemic in our game.” I should have known better. “We don’t copy anyone,” came the stiff reply, “we are leaders, not followers.” Suitably chastened, I carried on...
At last the final fax was sent, the last prototype returned and a long silence ensued. I began to think all my effort was for naught.
Then, after some months, we received the news that the new machine, now called the 1236-X2, was going into production and we would be allowed just one to start with, followed by just five the next month, then fully on stream the month after that. The single one arrived and I hastily re-read all the faxes, which I had retained. Now for the proper test, but I’d better tell you about the detector first.
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Finds. Broken 'coin' is in fact a jetton. |
At the first glance the 1236-X2 resembles the 1235-X. Small control box which can be quickly slid off its bracket for belt-mounting, gold coloured two-piece stem (white lower), 8 inch black spider coil, cranked lazy S upper stem with integral arm-rest and stand, all rounded off with Fisher’s usual attractive black and gold colour scheme. So, just another Fisher? Oh no, it isn’t!
In the driving seat
Reading clockwise from top left the controls are:
Sensitivity. Turn clockwise to increase, there is a pre-set position at 8. Fully anti-clockwise clicks into battery test position which, when the unit is switched on, will emit a loud continuous tone if batteries are good.
On/off Volume. Switches the unit on and sets target volume. There is a marked preset at five. Useful if your headphones don’t have volume controls, which some detectorists prefer.
Frequency. Varies the operating frequency. Useful if a nearby detector causes electronic interference and can alleviate similar annoyances from other sources. Preset is at the 0 position, from whence you will rarely have to move it.
Phones is a standard quarter inch (6.35mm) stereo headphone jack. Always use these for enhanced battery life and better hearing of those deep targets.
Pinpoint. The 1236-X2 is a motion detector which means the coil has to be moving for detection to occur. But all this changes when Pinpoint is pressed and held. The detector becomes non-motion so that the coil can be held stationary over a target for precise pinpointing and the discriminator us overridden, giving an all-metal mode. The normal “straight” tone now rises in pitch, the more powerful the target signal, the higher it rises. Deep targets cause almost no rise at all, so this mode is, to some extent, a measure of target depth and/or size. Similar to the 1235-X, but the button itself is of much better quality, in fact that on the CZ-5 is the same.
Silencer. A simple on/off toggle switch. Switch on to nullify any chatter on bad ground or prolific iron nails. But see Disc.
Disc. This is a normal reject discriminator - but with a difference. Turn clockwise to increase discrimination, there is a preset at 4. The difference? The red coloured Iron position at the bottom. Rotate the control fully anti-clockwise and it clicks into this iron reject position. This not only automatically rejects nearly all iron junk but also eliminates chatter on most sites. This is so effective in fact, that I found it perfectly adequate for all my sites and some of them are pretty bad. If I ever get even worse ones (and I know they exist) I have Silencer to fall back on!
Batteries are two PP3s which drop into compartments at the rear of the control box, no wires and simple slide latches keep their doors closed. Rechargeables can be used, do not try to charge ordinary batteries.
A standard Switchcraft coil plug attaches to the rear of the control box and 10.5 inch spider and 5 inch solid coils are available as options.
To belt-mount the control box simply slide it back towards the arm-rest end and use a belt of your own through the two loops.
| More finds. American silver coin to a tree label. Variety is the spice of searching! |  |
This wasn’t available at the time of testing due to some problem at the printers. I had had a temporary one with one of the prototypes, but had sent this back with it. I asked for it back and re-read all the faxes in the meantime. This didn’t stop me taking the 1236-X2 out in the field, it is simple to use as I said earlier.
The temporary handbook duly arrived and I re-read it. Well up to Fisher’s high standard with plenty of diagrams and concise information. Plenty of general information for the rank beginner too, this detector will appeal to everybody!
A very stiff test
A plastic ring filled with iron filings. Reject it and find a hammered penny placed in its centre. Just about the hardest challenge I can think of for any detector. Impossible? For most detectors yes, but not the 1236-X2!
The detector was set to reject the iron filings then the hammered penny, which was pretty worn, was placed in the centre of the ring and gave a good two-way signal on it. Impressive or very impressive? Of course you would never find ground anything like this bad (I hope) but a very stiff barrier soundly defeated by the 1236-X2.
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Hammered penny in a ring of iron filings. A tough test! |
I should say at this point that I had tried one or another (or all) of the prototypes on all the sites I re-visited in this test.
The obvious place to try the production 1236-X2 first was the type of site where true silent operation would be most appreciated - a ploughed field. I thus did a rather long detour one evening on my way home from work to look at a few where I had permission. There were three, one still being ploughed. Thursday (my day off) and then Sunday gave me two good days, hot ones too, so plenty of cold drinks, non alcoholic of course. The 1236-X2 performed as well as the prototypes promised it might. Turning the discriminator to 3 and sensitivity to 6 gave me the sort of response I had experienced in my long-gone days with a 1265-X on this site, good depths and sensitivity to even very small non-ferrous but accompanied by spit, pop, cough, splutter on the many iron nails and the bad ground. I don’t want to belabour this or exaggerate it. I had spent many a happy hour with my 1265-X, the “chatter” isn’t as bad as some would have it and what there is is tolerable for the most part, unless you’re very impatient!
Anyway, back to the unit in question. After half an hour or so I turned the discriminator to the “iron” position. Silence, even with sensitivity increased to 8! So much so that I passed my digger over the coil to confirm that the detector was on! I didn’t notice any loss of depth, which was excellent, and finds continued to accumulate. Nothing special, but many worth keeping and plenty of those little non-ferrous unidentifiable bits we all find. When we’re using a sensitive detector that is.
My technique
Some of the more interesting finds made during the test included a radiate head Roman coin, through a very worn and bent William sixpence to half a jetton and a pewter button with “69” on it. Historical dross? Not to any searcher worth his/her salt! One or two objects, obviously iron, did give a small group of “spits”. Switching to the silent mode eliminated even them. But this was a rare occurrence and easily identified when it did happen, so I left the silent mode off. Useful for incredibly bad sites!
My technique on recreation areas where finds are usually more modern is so well known by now that I run the risk of boring the reader! But there are, I hope, newcomers to the hobby who might benefit, so here goes.
During normal detecting, I check all target responses in pinpoint. Thus gives some indication of their depth. For those that sound shallow I use a probe whic can be nothing more than a screwdriver. Most coins, modern decimal, are felt and can be flicked out, but those which offer no resistance to the probe have to be dug. They will mostly be ring-pulls and silver paper, but a few will be coins on edge or other finds. In fact the first gold ring I ever found was recovered thus, way back in 1978. I was using an old kitchen knife at the time (do not carry such things these days). I felt no resistance and out came the knife with the ring jammed on it!
Where a faint pinpoint response indicates a deep or very small target I dig a flap of turf, fold it back and check it. If the signal is still in the hole then it's dig time!
| Victory medallion. Silver on brass. |  |
On another site with better ground I was able to use the discriminator as I would on any other motion detector. This site produced an excellent find in the shape of a medallion celebrating the end of World War I. It looked like silver, but is silver-plated brass. Very nice though and the best recreation area find I have made for a long time. Life is full of surprises, thanks 1236-X2 for this one! Those of you who don’t hunt beaches can skip the next bit. Good news for those who do!
I already knew from the faxes that Fisher intended the 1236-X2 to work here and from the prototypes that it would. Nothing old at this time of year, too much sand and shingle on the beaches, but I don’t turn my nose up at modern coins. Any excuse to be near the sea, which both Maureen and I love. The 1236-X2 found quite a selection of modern coins and some not so modern such as the older (and larger) 5 and 10ps. Even two more pesky half pence! Depths were good and even the wettest sand didn’t faze the unit very much. A slight reduction in sensitivity got rid of such falsing as there was and there wasn’t much. Otherwise I left the sensitivity at 8 and the discriminator clicked to the “iron” position where the sand was damp but not sopping wet. Unlike below it, there is lots of junk on the dry sand and above high water mark, so I just set the discriminator higher to reject everything below 5p. I had thus to dig ring-pulls of course but I’d rather do this, time permitting, than lose a good find. A thin silver chain, piled in a little heap, which I found would have been lost if I’d set the discriminator much higher. And another test concludes.
| Maureen has a go. She now wants a 1236-X2! |  |
The Fisher 1236-X2 is aimed at everybody! It sounds a bit obvious to say this because every manufacturer aims his products at everybody. But we all know that some detectors are much more suited to certain types of sites than others and can therefore be fairly categorised as specialist or at least semi-specialist. The comment has also been made that Jacks-of-all-trades don’t achieve anything fully.
Neither of these comments can be fairly applied to the 1236-X2. It is a genuine all-round detector which will produce excellent results on all types of sites without chatter or much falsing at all. The controls are simple, yet are varied enough to provide a wide enough choice to satisfy the most discerning user on whatever site or sites he/she happens to be on. Battery life is good and the control box is easily body-mountable if desired.
Maureen also used it and I’ll leave the final comment to her: “I never thought I would find a detector to beat my beloved 1235-X which I used everywhere we detected, spanning a period of over 10 years. But after using the 1236-X2 and the prototypes I can honestly say I have. As far as I am concerned it beats everything I have used previously and I love the silence on bad ground. The lack of a meter has never bothered me. I want one!”
The 1236-X2 is available from Joan Allen Electronics Ltd. Telephone 01959 571255, fax 01959 576014 or e-mail sales@joanallen.co.uk.
