Could Really Use Some Expert Opinions...
shudson
Posts: 108
Hi folks,
I've been mulling over the idea of taking up detecting as a hobby for a few months now, and the more I research the different detectors and pin pointers, the more overwhelmed and confused I get... there are so many choices! So I thought if I gave you some background info on what I want to do with it and how much I'd like to spend, I could maybe get some suggestions.
I'd like to keep my purchases around the $500 range and I understand that I may need to also buy a pin pointer. This will be my first detector so something fairly easy to understand and get used to would be ideal, but I am a quick study.
I'm interested in hunting for coins, jewelry, and relics in primarly urban and beachfront (not necessarily sandy) environments, and to a lesser extent, forests and parks.
Any help or advice you could throw my way would be greatly appreciated... the last thing I want to do is buy the wrong gear for the job!
Thanks in advance!
Scott
I've been mulling over the idea of taking up detecting as a hobby for a few months now, and the more I research the different detectors and pin pointers, the more overwhelmed and confused I get... there are so many choices! So I thought if I gave you some background info on what I want to do with it and how much I'd like to spend, I could maybe get some suggestions.
I'd like to keep my purchases around the $500 range and I understand that I may need to also buy a pin pointer. This will be my first detector so something fairly easy to understand and get used to would be ideal, but I am a quick study.
I'm interested in hunting for coins, jewelry, and relics in primarly urban and beachfront (not necessarily sandy) environments, and to a lesser extent, forests and parks.
Any help or advice you could throw my way would be greatly appreciated... the last thing I want to do is buy the wrong gear for the job!
Thanks in advance!
Scott
0
Comments
(Note that Kellyco is not the ONLY place to buy metal detectors, just the biggest. I provide a link to them because they happen to break it down by price.)
You've got a lot of good choices in that range. My personal pick would be the Garrett GTAx-550, mostly because I had that one before upgrading to the GTI-2500, and I also used the 550's earlier counterpart, the older GTA-500, for twelve years. Now of course, Garrett does not make the ONLY detectors out there, and like I said, there are plenty of other worthy brands, as I am sure others here will point out. I just happen to be a "green machine" user, personally (or a member of the "Garrett Mafia", as we're called here). But I have used other brands and saw a lot to like, having owned White's, Fisher, Bounty Hunter, Tesoro, and Troy detectors.
Pretty much all of the major name brand detectors will perform as well as their counterparts within the same price range. It's mostly a matter of comparing what features and style you prefer (if you have even formed such opinions).
If you went with my personal pick, at $424.95, that doesn't leave you much money for a probe, unless you find a cheap one like the Tinytec (which I do not see on Kellyco's site). The Tinytec probes are good for the money, but I have had two die on me now, so maybe you should try something else. I see for another $140 bucks Kellyco offers a probe with the GTAx-550, but that puts you a little over budget.
NO... WAIT! They say the Automax probe is "Free with Metal Detector Purchase of $299.95 and up", so there you go! They hit you with an added shipping fee, but that is worth it. So you get the detector and you get a probe, and you're still under about $450, I think, which leaves you some money for a good digger like a 3-In-1 (or "hori-hori") knife, or a Lesche digging tool or something of that ilk. I suspect the free digger you are gonna get in that package deal with the detector is not going to be great, but you can keep it as a loaner or backup. I'm not familiar with the Automax probe, but if it is free with the detector, what have you got to lose?
And I can certainly recommend that detector as a very good, solid, middle-of-the-line model, capable of finding the good stuff. The vast majority of my past finds have been made with either the GTAx-550 or its GTA-500 predecessor. And it is not a difficult machine for a new user to learn, whereas some of the top-of-the-line monsters in the $800-1,000 range have steeper learning curves. These medium-price detectors have the important features you will need without the expensive bells and whistles and added complexity. The middle range is a good place to be. I only upgraded to a top-tier detector in the last year or so, and my finds aren't really that much better than they were when I was using a middle-tier machine. So far everything I have found with my 2500 I know I also could have found with my old 550. The only difference with the top-tier machine I now use is just "toys" like a backlit meter for night hunting and a surface elimination feature and so on- basically just unneccesary-but-nice "bells n' whistles" like heated seats would be in an expensive car.
PS- don't forget that you can also perhaps find a slightly-used, higher-end model at a good price, somewhere like eBay. When I am entering a new endeavor, I often want a piece of new equipment so I know that any potential problems will be with the user and not the machine. But I did well getting my first digital camera used, and I have likewise bought some very nice used detectors over the years, and saved considerable money. But if you want to buy new, with a $500 budget, you have my personal recommendation above.
(Note that some of the Fisher detectors there in that pricerange look interesting, too, but I am not familiar with those particular models. Fisher makes a good machine. After all, Gerhard Fisher was the man who invented the modern metal detector.)
Prizm V
This one comes with the pinpointer in the package. Better hurry though because I don't know how much longer that will last..... In talking with most people I have found that the average detectorist, that stays with the hobby, will buy 3 detector's for it is said and done with. I went ahead and saved my money and got the top of line DFX so I could skip buying to other detectors. Problem with that was the learning curve is huge. I figured if I have to learn might as well start at the top. If you have moderate intelligence, which most of us do, you should be fine with any higher end detector. Now, I'm telling you this because I just started myself so I know what you are going through. You also have to take into account what type of detecting you want to do. Coin shooting in the park for clad or looking for jewelry is one thing, going deep for old relics and silver, well that's another ball game. I wanted a detector that could pretty much do it all, a jack of all trades, if you will (Coin shooting, jewelry, relics, prospecting)... Now I can't refute what LordM has said about Garret detectors. Having never owned one or used one I can only go off the remarkable finds that he has. In contrast I go over to the www.dfxonly.com forum and look at all the things those folks find. Either way, be sure to get one that will suite what you are looking for and definetly get a pinpointer.
Todd
Seriously, though, that Prizm V looks cool, and White's is a fine brand. Used to be the #1 brand, too, and may still be, for all I know. If they ain't #1, they probably duke it out with Garrett for that position. I think in the hobby detectors, White's is probably the market leader, but in the security detectors, Garrett holds the lion's share.
Fine machines, either way. I haven't used a White's since the early 1980s, but always wanted a Spectrum when that was their top of the line. Now I hear all this DFX talk. I looked at the DFX when I was ready to move into the top tier machines, but it looked complicated, and in the end, I got my Garrett 2500 for a really good price, and was able to finance most of it with a coin trade right here on the forums, meaning less cash out of pocket.
Re. the question of base model machines versus midlevel versus top of the line, as a detectorist of nearly 30 years' experience (if rather sporadic on-again off-again experience), I have used machines from all three price levels now, and I can summarize thusly:
1. The base models like the Bounty Hunter Quick Draw and Garrett Ace 250, for example, have everthing you basically need for day-in, day-out coinshooting and basic hunting. Today's base model machine has features I could've only dreamed of when I bought my first "real" detector in 1981. Back then, the big deal was whether or not you had discrimination- which seems laughable today. Nowadays even several of the $200 base models have digital target ID meters, which was what sold me on my first midlevel Garrett GTA-500 back in 1992 (my first "modern" VLF detector). You could spend something like $220 on a Garrett Ace 250 (or similar model from most brands), and do just fine, never needing an upgrade.
2. The midlevel detectors in the $400-500-ish range have all the basics PLUS some very useful extras, like depth meters, dual modes, audio tone ID, etc. These extras are not vital, but nice to have. Today, the base model, $220-ish Garrett Ace 250 packs almost all of the features my $480 GTA-500 did in 1992.
3. The top of the line machines have all the bells and whistles you'd ever need, and then some. They might even have features you'll never use. Some nice features many of these have are backlit meters, target size "imaging" (on Garrett GTI series), changeable frequencies or multiple frequencies, etc, etc. Again, not vital, but nice to have. These machines are of course more expensive, and a bit harder to learn, but as Todd said, they're manageable for the person of moderate intelligence who can read a manual. He wanted a "jack of all trades" detector and he got a terrific one, but one need not buy top of the line to have a useful all-purpose machine. Even the base models cover the important features, as long as we're talking about stuff that runs $200+ new. Below that level, you do get some stuff that is better considered as a toy.
I have to tell you, I'm still doing some of my own research but I'm leaning heavily towards lordmarcovan's recomendation of the Garrett GTAx-550.
I read a review where one person talked about the 550 wasn't good near salt water (which is probably where I'll be spending the majority of my time), but it is just one person's opinion and that deal Kellyco has on right now is exceptional!
If anyone else has a link to any other great deals online, I'd sure appreciate it if you could post them. I'll most likely be making my final decision over the weekend.
Cheers.
You know, I did have troubles with my 500 and 550 near salt water. It is a Garrett flaw, I suppose. Or maybe not.
I was hesitant to mention it to you, because I suspect part of the problem might be the user rather than the machine. I saw folks with cheaper Garretts than mine working the beach with no problems, so maybe it is just a matter of sensitivity settings or something like that.
But that IS an issue. On my Garrett 2500, there is a "salt elimination" feature that I meant to try out this morning on the beach (tried it once in the past, very briefly, and it seemed to work just fine). However, it is now pouring down rain.
A friend of mine with a midlevel Bounty Hunter (Big Bud Pro, or something like that) had a salt elimination feature on his machine, and it worked fine on the beach.
My old Troy Shadow X2 (not an expensive machine at all) had no salt elimination feature but worked great on the beach. It was also a terrific relic hunting machine and I used it to dig some deep Indian cents out of a park that had been hard-hunted for 20+ years. It had no visual ID meter, though. But that is not necessarily a bad thing- meters and some "toys" can be a "crutch" at times, and make you lazy. The Shadow was simple in the extreme, and the beginners I trained on it loved the thing. I'd still be using it if it hadn't croaked on me. (I may have killed it by leaving it in a hot car).
Garrett will tell you that just about all of their machines are suitable for beach hunting, and that may be, but you're right to be suspicious of that. One thing to watch out for with Garrett is their ad hype. They build great machines, and their advertising is never truly misleading, but it is sometimes exaggerated a little bit. (I've noticed this with the White's TV ads, too, however. A guy digging multiple gold rings and a $20 gold piece on his first outings? Puh-lease.)
Again, the beach issue might just be a user thing (settings), but I too did have a little trouble with the 550 on the beach.
I wouldn't totally count out the 550, but then again, if beach hunting is a priority of yours, you should perhaps look at some other models, too. I live near the Atlantic beaches but seldom hunt them, preferring sites where I can find old coins. Jewelry is great but OLD goodies is what I like, and I have yet to find anything really old on our beaches. (Perhaps it would take a storm to uncover the goodies for that).
OK- Plan B- what's got a salt elimination feature in the $500 range? Well, let's see.
My old Fisher 1280-X underwater unit cost me $550 used- I suspect they aren't too much more than that new (if Fisher even still makes that model). It was a great dry-land relic hunting machine and of course I could have even gone diving with it, had I been so inclined. But it lacked an ID meter and was a bit bulky.
Maybe one of the White's or Fisher machines will be more beach-suitable. Or let's hear what some of our beach hunters here have to say.
For coinshooting, my advice and pick of detectors are sound, but for beach hunting, you'll want some other input.
Tell ya what- I will bring up the 550-salt-sand issue over on the Garrett forums, and see what folks there have to say about it, and then I'll link the post up here so you can read it.
Hopefully we shall hear from some real users on this topic, and not get some sock puppets with subliminal advertising messages.
The Titan 3000XD Pro which is on the Kellyco site and comes with a bundle, but I can't seem to find much info on it...
And the Tesoro Cibola which has "beach" written all over it. It has some great reviews, but there's something to be said for a package deal that includes a pin pointer and other gear, and I haven't been able to find anything like that online yet (haven't looked at many of the dealer sites yet to be honest).
Does anyone have any experience with either of these brands?
Thanks again for all the advice, guys.
Tesoro is a well-known brand and is the brand of choice amongst our local relic hunting guys. I can attest to it being a good brand but know nothing about that particular model.
It took me awhile to come to a decision, but a very informative conversation with a Kellyco rep led me to purchase a Minelab X-Terra 50!!
It was a little outside my price range, but I can live with that.
Now, has anyone have anything bad to say about this machine? I think I have a few days to change my mind while they do an address confirmation...
-Joe
-Weinman Fan
I hope you do well with it!