Compass

Compass was founded in 1970 when engineer Don Dykstra left White’s Electronics and joined up with Ron Mack, who became Compass’ president. Compass (of Forest Grove, Oregon) was an early innovator in TR and TR discrimination, and the Yukon series (especially the 77B) was very popular in the 1970s.

The later Magnum series combined VLF with a TR-discriminator. The Coin Magnum, in particular, was a unique no-motion VLF discriminator. Compass also produced more conventional VLF motion discriminators with the Challenger series, and its final and very capable line was the Scanner series. Many of the Challenger and Scanner models still bring premium prices on the used market, and their early TR detectors (like the 77B) remain a specialty unit in some arsenals because their high operating frequency was effective in ignoring nails.

Compass had some very competitive and well-respected detectors in its day. But, as with so many other detector companies, mismanagement caused its downfall. The company was already struggling in 1994 when the factory mysteriously burned to the ground and brought Compass to an abrupt end.