NOTE: This page contains some outdated material and is provided for historical reasons only (illustration of early ideas and developments). For more recent material for example the GICHD "Metal Detectors Catalogue".
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| Foerster | Ebinger | Schiebel | Vallon | Guartel |
The following short profiles of European metal detector companies manufacturing systems for demining applications, in particular those of Förster, Ebinger and Schiebel, have been compiled at the beginning of the DeTeC project (early 1996) with the aim of understanding the metal detector market and listing the available systems. Their use was intended to be internal, but given that we are not really telling any secrets and that the information might be useful... here they are. For no specific reasons we somewhat neglected Vallon at that time, and were unaware of Guartel.
Please note that the emphasis is on metal detectors for demining operations. Many manufacturers feature other products such as magnetometers, intended for the location of ferrous objects such as UXO (UneXploded Ordnance), vehicle mounted sensor systems etc. Those have not been the focus of attention. These profiles are therefore intended to give a first idea of the products, more information being available in brochure form or on the corresponding Websites.
Finally, note that for metal detectors used in Humanitarian Demining sensitivity ("performance") alone is not sufficient. Many end users do indeed put great emphasis on ease of use (automated mode of operation, user friendliness), ruggedness, reliability, battery life and battery replacement, etc. An improved system which is either not affordable or which cannot be deployed in the field, for whatever reason, is indeed likely to be practically useless.
1) (INSTITUT DR.) FOERSTER Web: http://www.foerstergroup.de/
Address: Institut Dr. Förster, Division S, In Laisen 70, D-72766 Reutlingen, Germany
Tel +49-(0)7121-140-312, Fax +49-(0)7121-140-280
Location: Reutlingen (near Stuttgart, Tuebingen), Germany
Contact Persons: Tim Gaetcke, International Sales
Klaus Auslaender, Project Engineer
General contact: Foerster.S-ALL@t-online.de or s-all@foerstergroup.de
Report date: 3/1996
Revised: 5/1998 (no major changes known), 6/2001 (some input from Foerster directly)
Foerster is a medium-sized enterprise (a couple of buildings) specialized in instrumentation for precision measurements and process monitoring. They have been active for many years in magnetometers (bomb location with the FEREX system and data evaluation with the DATALINE evaluation software, as from the FEREX 4.032 modular multi-channel system). They decided to get seriously involved also in the metal detector business at the beginning of the '90s, apparently when the US Army decided to renew its stock and requested bids*. They invested a considerable amount of money in the development of the two frequency detector Minex 2FD (later upgraded - mainly weight reduction); the contract was eventually won by Schiebel. They have sold about 500-600 Minex 2000 2FD metal detectors over this period, mostly in small batches [1996 figure, "thousands" quoted in brochures dating from 2001].
[*: The company was in fact already producing the METEX metal detector during the '80s.]NOTE: useful technical comments. General positive cooperative attitude.
The MINEX metal detector is available in two versions:
1.1) MINEX 2000 2FD 4.400 (2 frequency continuous wave detector)
The search coils are actually composed of an eight-layer printed circuit board which, together with the microprocessor control, makes this model technically more demanding than a simpler pulsed version. It is also more complicated to build arrays of these sensors (interference effects), but they should deliver superior results.
The price of a complete system is around 10 kDM (transit case, batteries, headphone etc.), whereas the basic components sell for around 7500-8000 DM and should be readily available. A two year warranty is given.
Detection distances reported by Minex 2FD users (from a company brochure): Type 72A: 8cm, M14: 11cm, SB33: 12cm, PMN: 22cm, VS50: 28cm (fitted with metal reinforcing plate?!).
1.2) MINEX 2000 2FD 4.500 (Latest development, 8/2000)
A "traditional" pulse induction system, cheaper than the 2FD model (around 5 kDM) and less critical. Easy to build arrays of detectors (as done by Schiebel). Not well suited (for magnetic soils?? and) for low conductivity metals (e.g. stainless steel) or small quantities; this is in general true of most other pulse induction detectors.
2) EBINGER Pruef- und Ortungstechnik GmbH Web: http://www.ebingergmbh.com/
Address: Hansestrasse 13, D-51149 Koeln, Germany
Tel.:+49 (0)2203/ 97 71 00 (prev. 36063), Fax:+49 (0)2203/ 36062
E-mail: ebinger@ebingergmbh.de
Contact Persons: Oliver Bartsch, Sales Dept
Theodore Steinbüchel, Sales Manager
Report Date: 3/1996
Revised: 1/1999 (some comments), 6/2001
Ebinger is a company specialized in the construction of metal detectors and seems to be widely regarded, in particular by NGOs such as Halo Trust, MAG, MgM (Stiftung "Menschen gegen Minen" - Foundation "People against Landmines"). Steinbueschel in particular seems to be a very competent person.
Some products have been specifically tailored for humanitarian demining applications, putting emphasis on ergonomics (battery life and replacement, handling, integrated electronics etc.) (5/1998).
Ebinger has a large number of metal detectors (EBEX series) for routine and specialized applications, some of them differing mainly in their mechanical construction, which makes them more suited to one application rather than another. Amongst them we have the following:
Addendum (6/2001):
Additional Notes (3/1996):
Steinbuechel thinks that it will not be easy to understand the large amount of "visual" data which a hand-held system will generate in as short time.
3) SCHIEBEL Web: http://www.schiebel.com/
Location: Vienna, Austria
Contact Persons: Hans Georg Schiebel, Managing Director
Peter K. Platzer, Marketing Assistant (Vienna, Austria)
James E.Rolig, Marketing Manager (Warrenton, VA, USA)
Contacts homepage (Global Offices): http://www.schiebel.com/industries/ww.htm
Report Date: 3/1996
Revised: 4/1997 (some input from Schiebel directly), 8/2001
Schiebel owes probably much of its reputation to the contract with the US Army for the replacement of all their 30000 metal detectors (although they seem to have delivered less, approx. 21.000), as well as with a number of other armies (their AN 19/2 system is NATO standardized) and for almost all UN demining operations.
They seem in fact to have just one type of metal detector available, which has been in production for well over 10 years with continuous refinements; a miniature version (MIMID) has also been introduced. They also sell a bomb locating set (magnetometers). As a general impression Schiebel seems to be a rather aggressive company and does certainly well in the PR sector.
Available at http://www.schiebel.com/industries/an-19-2.htm:
Their pulse induction detector, the AN 19/2, uses two concentric search heads (receiver and transmitter) to deliver an acoustic signal that reaches its maximum strength directly above the center of the object. Schiebel thinks that less than 8 h of training are necessary to use the equipment with proficiency, and that an experienced operator should be finally able to estimate size and shape of the object. Recommended search speed is about 1 meter per second.
Schiebel is one of the few companies quoting a sensibility figure, i.e. 0.15 g of metal up to 10 cm max (correspond to a given type of minimum metal mine, the Chinese Type 72). The detection of metallic objects is possible "at limited depth" in fresh or salt water.
The Schiebel metal detector is priced at around 4000 CHF. It is on stock and delivered with a one year warranty, while its spare parts are guaranteed to be available for a 10 year period.
Schiebel has recently added the MIMID Miniature Mine Detector, specifically for certain Humanitarian Demining Tasks) to its product line, information at http://www.schiebel.com/industries/mimid.htm.
Addendum (6/2001):
Schiebel has recently released the ATMID, All Terrain Mine Detector:
"[ATMID] is designed to detect low-metal-content mines in all types of
soil and is especially effective in areas with severe laterite (a high
content of iron or aluminium oxides). ATMID incorporates digital
spectral technology to compensate for soil effects and provide reliable
and consistent mine detection in any type of terrain (including beach
and shoreline)". See also: http://www.schiebel.com/industries/atmid.htm.
Available at http://www.schiebel.com/industries/vamids.htm:
The VAMIDS system consists of a modular array of metal detectors, mounted on a low weight vehicle and capable of delivering visual information at the sensitivity level of the AN 19/2. It is employed by the U.S. Army and by the Canadian Army for their ILDP (Improved Landmine Detection Project) vehicle.
Foerster's detector should perform well, but it remains one of the most expensives [NOTE (6/2001): this comment might not be actual anymore, i.e. after the introduction of the Foerster MINEX 2FD 4.500]. Metal detectors are one of many activities for Foerster, whereas Ebinger is focussed on them and has a much larger field experience (feedback from NGOs). Again, it has to be tested how far we can go with the standard "audio" output, or if we need a richer analog information for which direct contact with Ebinger might be unavoidable. In any case, the Foerster two frequency continuos wave detector and the Ebinger differential pulse induction one seem to be amongst the most promising in the field, and potentially able to deliver additional information on nature/quantity of the target material. The Schiebel looks more like a "honest" device, well priced and readily available.
Date: 3/1996 (see also the first paragraph at the very beginning of this file).
4) VALLON Web: http://www.vallon.de/
Address: Vallon GmbH, Im Grund 3, D-72800 Eningen, Germany
Tel. +49 (0)7121 98550, Fax: +49 (0)7121 83643
Location: Eningen (near Stuttgart, Tuebingen), Germany
Contact Person: Michael Rothe, Mgr. Sales and Marketing
General contact: vallon@vallon.de or info@vallon.de
Report Date: 1/1999
Revised: 6/2001
Vallon is a small/medium sized company, funded in 1965, specialized in UXO and landmine detection equipment. For no special reason we never got into close contact, so that this description will be mostly based on the material available on their Web site and brochures. Overall Vallon seems to have been most successful, at least up to now, with military customers (esp. NATO and USA), and gives the impression of being an innovative company.
Their range of metal detectors for landmine location featured a sinus (continuous wave) detector (ML 1612B, 1990) with "outstanding detection sensistivity" (a tiny German 10DPf coin at 29cm max), and a similar detector (ML 1614A, 1996) built as one unit (integrated search head, carrying bar and electronic unit). Strongly mineralized soil and salt water reduce sensitivity. NOTE that apparently these models are no longer produced, being superseded by Vallon's newer pulse detectors (see below).
Vallon introduced "reliable" pulse technology in their metal detectors in 1988. Better performance in very difficult conditions has been achieved with the ML 1620B (1995), a pulsed version featuring the same mechanical design as the ML 1612B (see above); it can also be operated in a "boost "mode, specially recommended for the detection of plastic mines with very small metal content (NOTE: saw this feature also in metal detectors for treasure hunting). Several pulsed detectors can also work close to each other. Up to now (1998?) more than 4000 of these units have been sold.
The latest, or "C"-Generation, are processor controlled pulse induction detectors (ex. the ML 1614C (1997) and ML 1620C (1997) for Land Search with extreme soils (salt water or mineralized soils containing Bauxite, Laterite, Magnetite, Magmatite). Special programs have apparently been included for metal mines and plastic mines, as well as to reduce interference from power lines (50 Hz or 60 Hz), etc. The ML 1620C has a digital output, useful for data recording and processing.
Addendum (6/2001): Currently featured detectors (see Website), all based on similar technology:
5) GUARTEL Web: http://www.guartel.com/
Address: Guartel Limited, 16 Alliance Court, Alliance Road
London W3 0RB, ENGLAND
Tel.: +44 (0)208 896 0222, Fax: +44 (0)208 896 0333
General contact: info@guartel.com
Contact Person: Ollie Allerhead
Report Date: 5/1998
Guartel is a British MD manufacturer specialized in pulse induction instruments. Again, most information is taken from their Web site as well as product brochures.
Concerning landmine detection they have a couple of rather interesting systems:
http://diwww.epfl.ch/lami/detec/mdprofiles.html
Last modified by CB 23.8.2001 (but check individual dates!)