In the old days, metal detectors died a natural death: if a model stopped being sold, it was honorably (or without fanfare) discontinued. Today, if a model stops being sold, its demise is commonly associated with an unpleasant story. And it’s all right if it is simply a disappointing machine. Much worse is if it’s the Chinese who will finish it off – shame, lot of fuss about fakes, loss of reputation… As you all already know, at the end of 2018 there appeared a perfect counterfeit of the most mass-produced machine from Minelab’s model range, the Minelab X-Terra 705. The quality and realization is astonishing – the copy is as like as two peas. Even the coils for the fake and original units are interchangeable. So, what will become of Minelab in 2019? Here’s the prediction from Lopata. Continue reading