Striker z60 Review

Striker z60 Overview

Striker z60 is a beginner-level metal detector by Striker Detectors. This machine is all-purpose, user-friendly, and has enough functions and features to help anyone learn metal detecting in a productive and efficient manner.

Striker z60 works best for coins and relics, shallow and small targets, but its tech specs allow it to detect gold and silver, too. It is a Grab-and-Go metal detector that requires minimum theoretical knowledge, and offers simple and comprehensive tuning processes. It is powered by the AAA battery and holds a 1 years limited warranty by Kellyco.

Control Box

The control box for Striker z60 is simple, we would even call it primitive, but it is comprehensive and easy to master even if you are a total newbie having your hands on a metal detector for the very first time in your life. In other words, this control panel is simpler than some TV controls, so beginners should not sweat.

The buttons on the panel include Power On\Off, Left Arrow button for menu items/settings, Enter and Pinpoint button, Ground Grab and Right Arrow button, and Settings button. The backlit LCD display contains the next indicators: Settings Menu (Discrimination, Pinpoint, Ground Grab); Sensitivity Level; Metal Categories; Battery Life; Signal Strength; Depth indicator; Discrimination/Notch modes; Volume.

Due to the simple Metals Categories section, trashy or low-value metal items become obvious and comprehensive even for beginners; this section makes target identification way easier, solving one of the biggest problems all newbies face.

Striker z60 Features

Beginner detectorists often have little understanding of all the bells and whistles of features many brands stuff their metal detectors with. It can be challenging to understand what setting is proper for what case, let alone tune it correctly immediately when you are in the field. However, with simple metal detectors like Striker z60, the story is different. It has only bare essentials in terms of functions and features, and you can look through the most important of those in the list below:

• backlit LCD screen – makes signal interpretation and tuning the settings easier even under poor visibility conditions or in the dusk
• waterproof search coil – waterproof coil makes wet grass, wet sand, and shallow water metal detecting possible
• VDI Target ID – Target ID is numeric value assigned to different suggested targets depending on their expected chemical composition
• Pinpoint mode – this feature helps locating the targets more accurately before digging them
• 8 Metal Categories – allow to tell good targets from trashy metal targets easier
• Auto and Manual Ground balance – being able to manually tune the Ground Balance is important, because it gives the detectorist more tuning flexibility under unusual conditions
• Ground Grab – analyzes the response of the minerals in the soils and compensates for the noise they cause, to make spotting the targets possible
• decent Recovery Speed – this feature helps the metal detector to identify separate targets when they are located close to each other, and give separate signal for every target
• right or left handed use – this is an unusual and handy feature which makes the detector versatile in terms of design

Ground Grab

All soils contain minerals. Signals from ground minerals interfere with the signals from metal objects. If metal is detected in this mode it will make a sound. It doesn’t detect any of earth’s natural minerals so you can get a more accurate reading on what you find. Put simply, Ground Grab analyzes the signature of the natural minerals and local conditions and compensates for their frequencies so that only actual targets register a hit.

Striker z60 Search Coil

The default search coil which is included into the Striker z60 kit is the 10 inches round concentric waterproof search coil with coil cover included.

While the size of the coil is a bit larger size to make it maneuverable, its configuration provides smooth performance and decent depth. Moreover, the coil is waterproof, so it is safe in wet environments and even underwater. The coil is protected from damage with the coil cover.

Striker z60 Settings

By looking at the list of features you can guess that the settings are not very complicated, even if you only make your very first steps in the niche of hobby metal detecting. Yet, there are two settings we would like to pay more attention to, just to give a bigger picture of the tuning process.

To use the Ground Grab feature which is Ground Balance, find a patch on your location where you are sure no metal is present. Switch on the Discrimination mode, but do not discriminate any targets out. Put the coil about 6 inches above the ground, make sure it is parallel to the ground, and press the Ground Grab button.

After you activate the feature, lower and raise the search coil above the ground for around 2 inches, up and down, slowly and several times. The display should show you the GRAB OK message. If you see the GRAB RE message, it means the ground cannot be cancelled due to the level of soil mineralization, or because there is a metal object somewhere near the search coil. Repeat the procedure until you get a GRAB OK message.

Ground Grab is especially important when you want to use the Pinpoint mode.

Pinpoint is used to locate the target underground more accurately before you start digging it, firstly, in order not to waste your time and effort for an unworthy target, and secondly, to avoid damaging the target as you dig it out. If you do not pinpoint the target properly, you may eventually find out it was just a cavity in the ground which the metal detector saw as a target due to unusual mineralization around. If you use the Pinpoint mode, it will help you understand this is not an object, but a cavity, etc. If you spot an object, the Pinpoint mode will help you define its shape and location better.

To set the Pinpoint mode, hold the PP button and activate the mode. Then move the coil over the patch where you expect the target, and notice how the signal changes as the coil moves. Find the place where the signal is the strongest, and dig there. After you have identified the target, release the PP button to deactivate the mode.

Striker z60 Discrimination Chart

One of the methods to define the potential buried target is to listen to the audio signal given by the metal detector. However, the signal may be hard to interpret for a beginner treasure hunter, and under complicated environmental conditions, even for an experienced detectorist. This is why VDI Target ID is so handy, since it gives a visual numeric value to the suggested target, helping the user to analyze both the visual ID and the audio signal. This way, the user gets more information. Below is the visual categorization of metals on Striker z60 control panel.

Striker z60 Problems

There are two issues with the Striker z60 metal detector which immediately become obvious from the features list. Firstly, the metal detector is not waterproof. Only the search coil is waterproof meaning you can perform detecting in shallow water and in wet environments, but the metal detector must not be submerged deeper than the search coil, because the control box is not protected from water. This fact limits the areas of detecting, and moreover, accidental splash, or rain, or dropping the metal detector into the water will most likely render it inoperable.

The other obvious issue is that the software on Striker z60 is not updatable; but let’s be honest, it would be weird to expect updatable software from such an affordable metal detector. It has enough functions and features to suit beginner detectorists, it does its work, and we should be satisfied with that.

However, there is another issue which is not obvious from the tech specs, which becomes obvious only after usage, and which should be taken into consideration by the potential buyers before they actually buy. The point is that the handgrip area in this machine is covered with a foam sleeve, but this sleeve tends to move and rotate around the shaft when the user swipes with the metal detector. Striker should have definitely replaced that with a rubber grip that would not move around the shaft.

Tips & Tricks for Striker z60 Users

Striker z60 metal detector does not have Frequency shift feature that would allow it to avoid the electromagnetic interference in the field. Therefore, the detectorists may sometimes encounter abnormal or erratic sounds made by the machine. These are usually caused by power lines above, by wire fences, or by other metal detectors around. To reduce the noise, reduce the level of sensitivity in the metal detector. The noise may not go away completely, but will not prevent you from detecting. In other cases, it may be better to change the location.

Striker z60 Kit

The kit by Striker detectors is very minimal and does not contain any additional fluff:

• metal detector
• search coil
• coil cover
• user’s manual
• warranty certificate

If you need some additional tools like knee pads, gloves, carry bags, etc., it is a good idea to check out your local retailers and see what packages they offer. Many retailers have their own bundles including accessories and gifts.

Striker z60 Manual

While this review gives a pretty much exhaustive description of the Striker z60 metal detector functions, features, and nuances, any potential buyer should anyways read the user’s manual before they decide to buy. The manual will give a complete picture of the machine, and the user will be able to understand whether the machine will meet their requirements.

Download Striker z60 Users Manual