Learning The AKA Signum 7272 MFT – Part 1 (Overview, Tips And Secrets +)

Who said that there is nothing innovative in Russia? It seems that innovation is still there, and they are represented in our hobby too. If the neighbors are famous for the Ukrainians coils – as much for the two giants, Nel Coils and Mars, Belarusians are famous for a complete ban on detecting, then in Russia they have a fairly large developer and manufacturer of metal detectors – AKA.

I’ve heard so much about them, both good and bad, and fun, and all sorts of jerkin that their products caused, and it caught my interest. I thought for a long time about acquiring the AKA, with medium range detectors (golden eagle, Sorex), or to go directly to the top and feel the power of the technology of the company AKA. In the end, I ended up at the Signum.

Why did I take the AKA Signum?

• It is a professional grade instrument at the same level with the XP Deus and E-Trac, which I already have big experience with.
• Informativity. I expect to get a highly informative system that is not wrong on dubious signals. (that gives the coin signals at a maximum depth!)
• Depth. (I want to be able to find coins on places i have “emptied” with the Ace”
• Ability to get new coils with different frequencies (sniper 13″ for example) with a maximum budget price.
• Curiosity. (The most important argument, in my case).

And so, what happened?

I bought the AKA Signum 7272 MFT. When it arrived, it was nicely wrapped and everything was protected very good. Here are some photos of how it looked before i unwrapped it:

I took the option of a folding bar, where the device can be quickly transferred to the transport position, but here comes the problem – a comfortable position, but you will need a big backpack. In this regard, the most compact options on the market right now (May 2017) are the XP Deus and the Golden Mask 5+.

AKA also has an option where you can get it with a conventional S-shaped rod of the same weight, and the difference in price is not too big.

 

This detector is greedy – 6 AA batteries! You will need to purchase batteries immediately, my advice to you! This is not the Fisher F44, where you only need 2 AA batteries, and a pack of 8 batteries will last for the whole season!

I would have covered the headset output, but there was no such cap in the set.

I took a standard coil, round, 10 “7 kHz. The manual insists that the frequency may vary by +/- 20 Hz, but this does not prevent the detecting, and the unnecessary information to the user.

The bolt looks massive and durable. It seems that it is made with a margin of safety.

The cable connection to the coil is also protected well, and it will not break at once.

The plastic seemed very strong, but in the assembly rod you should look at different things. Do not hesitate to tighten the clamps tighter, seemingly they seemed stronger than the ones from Garrett, for example.

The first thing I started doing was to read the manual and to study the detector. The manual is small, but is written quite complicated for the ordinary man. There were too much different terms, but I’m happy that everything was meticulously explained. In general, I highly recommend to learn the manual by heart, because the Signum in its combinations of settings can compete with the Deus itself – both are quite twisted in the settings. The Signum is still missing “hidden” settings that appear only in the device menu.

How to insert the batteries in the Signum the right way.

Now a small life hacking, how to insert the batteries in order not to break the tape. I would personally recommend to take a spare bolt for the coil, just in case.

It is inserted by three batteries on each side, a total of six AA.

It is best to first install the batteries on each side, and then put one in the center. Pulling out the batteries should be done in reverse order – first, take out the battery in the middle, and then the ones on the sides.

A brief summary of the Signum.
Signum one of those detectors that you begin to learn just after many trips. It is necessary to shovel more than one ton of earth, to learn how to make the most of this detector. Make no mistake – with any professional detector you will have to spend a lot of time before you truly learn it. Tips and advises, as well as my experience will be written in the next part of the review when I gather more interesting info. The detector is surprisingly very informative, accurate and quite versatile due to the installation of additional coils with different frequencies.

Of the minuses – the ground balance is not the best, I will tell you more about this in the next section. Also, it has its minuses and pluses, as any detector, but if you go with another device on the AKA detectors, you’ll need to learn a lot of new settings and terms that are not available in other detectors.
To be continued …

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