mk3 ferret finder

[trapper25 0]

bought a mk 3 finder just before christmas, used it once and it was fine, on the second outing it was showing allsorts beeping and flashing all the time took it home changed the batteries it only shows 16 ft on led whether your 16ft or 6" away it also beeps and flashes anywhere in a 4ft radius of the collar put it on locate and it does nothig at all not a beep or a flash sent it back to deben over a month ago, came back today with a report saying it has been tested and its "not faulty" so in theory i can pin point my ferret to the nearest 16ft IVE GOT A LURCHER THAT DOES BETTER THAN THAT!can any of you lads tell me what your mk3 are like ? have i got a dud or are they all crap? not to pleased with deben either telling me its not faulty! anyone else had probs with deben customer services?

have i just blown £130 or should i send it back with a freindly message

[stubby 175]

firstly, when its going haywire, have you got ya mobile phone in ya pocket, seems they interfear with them,

 

check all batteries, although deben quote 300 hours in the collar, which i worked out to around a years worth of ferreting, in reality it aint true, have had simular stuff to you, even after changing locator battery, thinking collars were fine, THEY AINT

id say get the cheaper collar batteries in bulk, and throw them away after each use

 

make sure you have the pinpoint control turned off, gets confussing with that sometimes

[ferret 1 0]

i had the same troble with my mk3 i found it was the collor batteries so now i change mine after each trip also the slightest bit of c**p in the collor will make a big difference, always a good idear to tape them up with a bit of electrical tape

[ferretville 69]

Had exactly the same problems trapper put the collar on the floor and walked 10ft away i know i measured it with me mate and it was reading 16ft put the colar 5ft away and it still read 16ft. When you put it on locate if it was 3ft above it it would read 4 to 5ft i measured it again however when it was a 1ft away it was spot on. Send it off to deben and they returned it saying it had been tested and was fine so i phoned deben up and spoke to a engineer and explained what had been happening. Deben explained that while`st on search it was a approxamate reading and that on locate the closer to the collar ie right above the fecker it was spot on how ever the further you moved away from the collar it could be up to at least 1 1`2ft out with this information on board now at least i know where i am with the fecker. I`ve dug 1s since i got it back and got the ferret so in the end as long as i can find the ferret or rabbit then thats ok. This is just what deben said to me other`s may of had a different explanation. Happy hunting FV l

[comanche 3,031]

bought a mk 3 finder just before christmas, used it once and it was fine, on the second outing it was showing allsorts beeping and flashing all the time took it home changed the batteries it only shows 16 ft on led whether your 16ft or 6" away it also beeps and flashes anywhere in a 4ft radius of the collar put it on locate and it does nothig at all not a beep or a flash sent it back to deben over a month ago, came back today with a report saying it has been tested and its "not faulty" so in theory i can pin point my ferret to the nearest 16ft IVE GOT A LURCHER THAT DOES BETTER THAN THAT!can any of you lads tell me what your mk3 are like ? have i got a dud or are they all crap? not to pleased with deben either telling me its not faulty! anyone else had probs with deben customer services?

have i just blown £130 or should i send it back with a freindly message

[/quote Keep your terminals clean with cotton buds,take out a mortgage for batteries,keep out the dirt/damp with tape,learn to accept that the depth indicator is as it says on the box"only a guide/may vary with conditions etc",enjoy the pinballwizard sound -effects.Keep writing to Deben to say how much you love their product.(nuff o us do it they'll get the message).Out of interest have a go with the old grey box(so-calledMK1)locator using your MK3 collar .It'll show you how simple it can be to locate your ferret -one finger operation,subtle sound.You only have a maximum range of about 9or10 feet but the sacrifice is worth it .I feel an electronic locator should be an unintrusive piece of back-up equipment .Sadly the the Mk 3 is a fussy,user intensive ,intrusive ,noisy refugee from the 1968 StarTrek props department.This is my honest opinion and I've told Deben so -twice. Can't fault Debens' customer relations staff but I 'm stuck with a device that I really wish I'd never bought.Now that Ive realised belatedly that the MK3 collars work with my old grey box ferreting is fun again.

[mooster 1]

I've got an old Mk1 set up and have read hundreds of threads complainng about the new models and fancy collars.

 

Is it time ferreters approached Deben to suggest reproduction of the the Mk1?

Mine works fine on the occasions I have had to use it.Simple sturdy and basic and cheaper I would have thought.

Just a thought. Mooster.

[comanche 3,031]

I've got an old Mk1 set up and have read hundreds of threads complainng about the new models and fancy collars.

 

Is it time ferreters approached Deben to suggest reproduction of the the Mk1?

Mine works fine on the occasions I have had to use it.Simple sturdy and basic and cheaper I would have thought.

Just a thought. Mooster.

The very fact that the market is divided on the Mk3 must be telling Deben something.Dunno if it's tru ebut someone told me the Mk3 was actually designed for finding blocked drains.Maybe that's why it works best if the ferret is absolutely motionless.Dunno if Deben 's MK1 patent is still sewn -up but I'm sure the Chinese could do something very competetive.