Fisher 1270
John Castle
1931. Not too long ago perhaps in terms of British detecting finds but a metal detector manufacturer in existence then and still in existence today? Wow! who could it be? Only one answer to that of course - Fisher!
I am often asked what the “M-Scope” logo, which appears on all Fisher products, signifies and it is simply this: Gerhard Fisher’s first commercial unit was the Metallascope, a two box unit designed to find large objects and utilising fragile glass valves, large batteries and wooden cases. The name was soon shortened to “M-Scope”, thus the logo still extant today. Also very much extant today is one of Fisher’s finest - the 1270.
Success is the only word that properly applies when we consider the huge global acceptance of the 1200 series, beginning with the 1260-X nearly 20 years ago. How innovative it was and what great advances it ushered in, motion technology and the lazy-S shaft, things we all take for granted today. So enough nostalgia, let’s come bang up to date with the latest 1200 - the 1270.
A Tour of the Controls
Reading clockwise from bottom left the controls are:
ON/OFF VOLUME. Switches the unit on and off and controls the volume of the unit. Useful if your ‘phones don’t have volume controls.
NORMAL DISC. Standard Fisher rotary discriminator. Setting it to zero gives all-metal with fixed ground balance.
ALL METAL GROUND ADJ./ DISC. Turn this on and any discrimination mode which is on is overridden. The “DISC.” bit means that the mode will change to discriminate when the trigger switch is pushed forward. This will be normal disc. unless the iron disc is switched on, in which case it will be that one.
If all metal is to be the primary search mode this control should also be used to manually ground balance.
In common with both disc. modes, motion of the search-head is required in use.
IRON DISC. Rotate to adjust the level of iron reject. Ensure the ALL METAL mode as above is switched off if you wish to search in this mode. Switching IRON DISC on also overrides the normal disc. mode. Use on ploughed field type sites where modern junk isn’t a problem but iron nails are!
LOW BATTERY is an LED that glows red when the batteries are low. It also flashes when the unit is turned off to indicate the LED is working.
HEADPHONES. Standard quarter inch stereo jack for headphones, the speaker is automatically disconnected when they are plugged in.
SENS. Standard sensitivity control. Rotate clockwise to increase sensitivity.
IRON. A toggle switch to turn IRON DISC on and off.
SILENCER. The second toggle switch which functions only in the NORMAL DISC mode. You may well need to search in this mode on junky coinshooting sites where IRON DISC doesn’t provide enough discrimination. Switching SILENCER on will reduce or eliminate chatter from some of the junk and bad ground.
TRIGGER. The third toggle switch, to be found underneath the control box within easy reach of the index finger. The forward and rear positions are spring-loaded, returning the switch to central when released. How this switch works depends on how you’ve set the controls. Central is your primary search mode, push forward for the secondary one. The rear position is unaffected by control settings, it always switches to non-motion all-metal for pin-pointing.
With IRON DISC and ALL-METAL switched off the primary search mode will be NORMAL DISC and IRON DISC will be secondary.
Switch IRON DISC on and the above is reversed, i.e. IRON DISC is now primary, NORMAL DISC secondary. Switch ALL METAL on and this will now be primary with IRON DISC secondary.
Switch IRON DISC off and NORMAL DISC will become secondary if ALL METAL is left on.
So whatever primary mode you choose, which will naturally vary with target/site conditions, you will always have another mode quickly to hand to check target responses - an excellent idea! The modes are easy to remember too. Just remember IRON DISC overrides NORMAL DISC and ALL METAL overrides both. Logical and easy!
Sundries
The 1270 is finished in Fisher’s normal handsome black and gold colour scheme. The control box is not detachable and two PP3 batteries live in two seperate compartments (with snap-on lids) on the underside.
Re-chargeables can be used and battery life is 6 to 12 hours between charges and can be re-charged up to 1,000 times. Alkalines give 30 to 40 hours.
Coils are concentric, 8 inch standard with 5 and 10.5 inch optional. The shaft breaks into three for compact transportation, should it be required.
The Handbook
The handbook follows Fisher’s normal format of handy A5 size and contains everything you need to know to get you started. The previous section listing the primary and secondary modes is shown as a flow chart on page 16.
Testing
It’s virtually impossible to contrive really meaningful tests. Any method is going to be a compromise and contain drawbacks. A favourite is a test bed where items are buried at set depths. Tests can thus be carried out when the ground is dry, moist or wet which is useful. But how do you know the items remain static? Suppose they sink deeper or turn on their sides? “They don't make ‘em like they used to” would thus be heard when new detectors seemed to be less responsive than those used when the bed was new! I devised the following:
A cigar tube made of thick plastic was just wide enough to contain pieces of dowel and a hammered penny, not in A1 condition by any means. Other suitable targets could be used of course. The dowel was measured and cut to various lengths and marked with numbers up to 6. So put the one marked 4 in, then the hammered which would be 4 inches deep when the tube was pushed fully into the ground. Simple, portable and can be used anywhere with minimum disturbance of the ground. A maximum of six inches on a hammered is, I think, fair enough for a simple test.
I tried it in my garden. Hopelessly mineralised and, as I know from experience, a really rotten area (for detecting that is, the apples, strawberries, raspberries and flowers are fine!) The 1270 got the hammered at six inches o.k., very loud in all metal, quieter in either disc mode. Sens. at 8 and normal disc set low. The coin was rejected above a disc. setting of about 3.5, which shows that discrimination does affect depth. All metal as the primary mode would thus be fine on some sites, but not this one! Just use the 1270 as the site dictates, you have enough modes to choose from!
The Great Outdoors
The beach first. Excellent depths on dry sand, but this unit is obviously not suited to wet. Oh it works there o.k., but it is noisy and some of you might find that too obtrusive. A different story inland though as I found on a local playing field where I have been many times before.
Too much junk to search in all metal so it was NORMAL Disc. with the SILENCER on. Targets were checked in all-metal pin-point (trigger pulled back) and only the fainter ones dug. This is my normal technique here and it produced the deeper finds, which is what I was after of course!
The thirty years plus since decimalisation was thrust upon us have given these coins plenty of time to sink quite deeply. So I found some which had eluded previous searchers (including me!) at depths where I’d prefer not to find them. I don’t think the last 1/2p will ever be found! The odd ring-pull too plus yet more pre-decimal and light bulb bases - this was once a fairground site. The usual good depths from Fisher? Of course!
Couldn't find any ploughed fields, so I had to settle for a set-aside one which was pretty well covered with grass and weeds and the ground was very hard. I had to thump my digger in to make a slit into which I inserted my test “tube” with hammered penny at six inches. Response was a bit better here as the ground, though bad, is not as bad as my garden.
A few hours later found me homeward bound with a sore foot from thumping the digger in. Deep detecting isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when the ground is hard! It fact it was that which sent me home, I sure would like to have stayed longer with the 1270! Still, there’s always another day, hopefully when rain and plough have made things easier.
During the time I had the 1270 I made many finds, many of which were mundane such as decimal and pre-decimal coins and the usual fishing weights and bits and pieces one gets from beaches and recreation areas, no point in listing them all. Finds of note were a crucifix and a general service button, notable because of their small size, A silver button with St. George and the dragon and bearing the legend “S. GEORGIVS. EQVITUM. PATRONVS”. What I thought was a two-piece army button turned out to be spoof one. Inside a horseshoe is written “ALF’S BUTTON” and around it is written “IV BATTALION GOOD LUCK REGIMENT”. Wonder who Alf is or was? A thin copper or bronze plaque says “HE KNOWS IT” at the bottom and above is a cricketer getting the ball smack on his nose! Ouch, he knows it all right! This was the last find I made with the 1270. It came from the set aside field and, being quite large, read at a good depth. Hard work digging it up!
Last find of note was an RAF sweetheart’s brooch, very much the worse for wear. I find such things quite poignant, I trust the sweetheart came home o.k.
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I found the “extra” controls on the 1270 very useful. The silencer made things easier on the mineralised recreation ground where I needed to use the normal disc. to deal with the junk. The iron disc. was used on the last field and eliminated much chatter on iron nails etc. Mode switching was easy via the trigger and very useful for comparing target responses.
For really deep detecting the all-metal mode comes into its own and each signal can be easily checked out - again with the trigger. Faint, narrow targets which give no response in either disc. mode must be dug.
On the right site the good, deep finds you will make will more than makeup for the junk!
Finally
Many of you will note features to be found on other Fisher detectors.
Nothing wrong with that, all detectors are developments of previous ones. As it is the 1270 has the power of the 1266-X PRO, the silencer and iron mask found on the 1236-X2 plus adjustable ground balance and iron mask and all in Fisher’s usual neat, attractive package.
I liked it - you will too!
The Fisher 1270 is available from Joan Allen Electronics Ltd, 190 Main Road, Biggin Hill, Kent TN16 3BB, UK. Telephone: 01959 571255, Fax: 01959 576014, E-mail: sales@joanallen.co.uk.
© Reproduced with kind permission of The Searcher Magazine.
