$300-$500 range

[lost hunter]

which detector would work best in Pa mineralized soil ? I now own a Bountylesshunter 505 only finding minerals I would like a coin now & then

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Be tough to finds machine in that price range that can do really well in mineralized soil?

[lost hunter]

really can't afford the big $ detector just looking for something alittle better than the one I have

[mts]

Are you willing to go with a beep and dig machine instead of one with target ID? If so, how about the Tesoro Vaquero? It has manual ground balance which might help with the minerals. But I can't be sure. I have to admit that I've never had to contend with highly mineralized soil. The soil here one state over (OH) isn't that rough.

Good luck.

[lost hunter]

I know we have lots of iron over here, I was thinking of the fisher F5

[Sandman]

Either the Vaquero MTS suggested or that F-5 would work though I think the Tesoro is the better deal.

[lost hunter]

Thanks Sandman so many detectors out there, hard choice < best info on the net no sales pitch Lol >

[richbat]

I'm pretty much in the same situation as yourself.I have researched so many machines,did side by side comparisons,watched countless numbers of videos and still can't quite decide.Don't know why but always come back to looking at the Fisher F2 with DD coil,some replies through PM's and to my posts say that the DD coil may help abit and then some come back saying you'd be better off with something with a manual GB.I also have been thinking on the Minelab 305 or 505 but like yourself trying to stay within a budget but also trying to get the best machine i can with the money available.Another thing to consider is what you need to get with it as far as digging tool,pinpointer ect. all that stuff can add up quickly to your final purchase price.It's definately something to think about if you don't have those things already.So my final thought would be get what you can afford within your budget and try and make due with it the best you can and maybe when the time comes and money is abit better you can always upgrade to something better.Just one more thing call some of the sponsors on here and describe to them what you want and what you can afford they will be more then happy to help you out.Rich

[lost hunter]

Thanks for the reply Rich,
I see alot of people are using the Tesoro with the lifetime warranty. that sounds good. The Fisher has a 5 year, at 61 that may be all I need So far it's between those 2, Maybe my Bounter Hunter 505 will make me rich enough to buy them both

[Smudge]

With that kind of ground, you'll need manual ground balance. I have to join the herd on this one and vote Vaquero.

[lookindown]

Smudge, I just noticed what you wrote under the detectors used under your avatar....Ive heard of sniper coils but you just took it to a whole new level.

[birdman]

Vaquero is the one to go with. Ground balance is the key.

[LuckyLarry]

Naaahhh...

Come on guys, you all know better than that. If the soil is really bad you need a dual frequency. Anybody who's been in this game long enough knows that. That's why the cz work so well on salt beaches, AND why the multi-freq Minelabs do well in it too, AND some dual freq Whites.

Even if it's U-S-E-D... buy a detector with at least 2 frequencies and you won't wind up wrapping it around a tree somewhere (like my old friend did with his). Fishers, Teknetics, most Whites, and most Minelabs handle bad ground fairly well, as does the Garrett AT Pro, but not so with (most) Garretts, (all) Nautilus, and most Tesoros. The latter are primarily designed for lighter European clay-style soil, with little Fe (mineralization) in it. But a dual freq gives a slight edge in handling iron mineralization ground, not depth, but better operation with less falsing (feedback).

LL

[liftloop]

go with the company who came up with ground balancing, the first to implement it . and that would be.. drum roll..."White's" with there G.E.B that's right White's was first, and they all copied it. white's are second to none when it come to implementing technology. ...liftloop....................................... ...........

[LuckyLarry]

Liftloop (and all others too)..

Just a bit of metal detector history..

The company that invented "ground-balancing" (called Z-response, also called "induction balance" between soil iron minerals matrix and air) was done by Robert Gardiner of Gardiner Electronics, back in Nov 14th 1967, US Patent number US3601691, using a VLF BFO hybrid. Then the concept (AKA "rough discrimination" AKA "ground balance") was improved on Jan 24, 1973 (also by Gardiner Electronics), US Patent number US3823365. Dual frequency metal detector circuits were also invented by Gardiner in 1976. The first really practical ground balance was invented by A.H. Pro Electronics credit to Mr. Gardiner using an off-resonance detector when he eventually went to work for A.H. Pro. The patent was filed on May 30, 1978. A.H. Pro is the first to combine induction balance AND ground balance together in a metal detector. The first ground canceling discriminator was created by Mr Gardiner while working for A.H. Pro and was called the "Phantom", and it will find pennies in 1/2 magnetite/1/2 humus soil at 4+ inches. Whites didn't get into the ground-balance game until 1975, and it was a rudimentary TR with a metal-mineral (GEB) adjustment pot. I have one of the original A.H. Pro ground-cancel "Backpacker" detectors and it actually goes deeper than an Ace 250 in the really nasty, high Fe soil.

Just thought I'd let you all know..

HH,

Larry

[Sandman]

Larry, Liftloop is a White's fan and won't listen to reason.

[LuckyLarry]

That's funny Dennis.

I'm a Whites fan too, but the US patents do all their own talking:

It only takes me 20 minutes to walk to Whites main plant so I do that now and then just to see what else they might be cooking up. I like the TDI best I think, but the V3i seems to have a bit of an edge (maybe 1/2"?) on the eTrac. (Now THAT is going to get me in hot water with Minelab shills I'll bet!)

The best Whites I've ever seen though is the old Surfmaster PI, a real sweetheart, and it rejected small brads and 1/4" tinfoil while it kept most rings!

Take care Dennis, and always look over your shoulder in the bad parts of town.

Larry

[liftloop]

Gee's, I was told on the dual frequency was invented by mine lab and they sold it to White's so know what's up. Why would white' say there were first on the ground balance they put it on the gold detector there explanation was once you can-sell out the ground you can see the gold in the ground that what I read some were on the Whit's page. you could not find gold un less you knocked the ground out.

[liftloop]

A cording to Wikipedia link Gerald fisher 1920 was the first white's in 1950 oar master Geiger counter and Charles garret invented the bfo detector and in the 50's and 60's transmitters came out making the metal detector smaller and lighter. and so on

[LuckyLarry]

Well, someone is pulling your leg Liftloop.

The US Patent office (assumes) that you are an engineer when you read the patents, and if you are not, you won't be able to read through the engineer's jargon and the "lines". Here are the US Patents for metal detectors. And not in 10 light years did Whites invent ground balance, Whites wasn't even in existence when it was invented more than 100 years ago. Herr Geiger and Herr Muller of Germany invented the first geiger-counter (AKA Geiger-Muller counters, AKA "particle detectors", and they measured ionizing radiation). Whites had nothing to do with it.

http://www.eudem.vub.ac.be/publicati...s/geotech.html


*Heinrich Wilhelm Dove of Germany invented the (first) induction-balance system (AKA "ground-balance) in about the year 1860, but it wasn't used in application to a metal detector until 100 years later, first by done A.H. Pro and Mr Gardiner of Gardiner Electronics. Whites had nothing to do with that either.

The first metal detector was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, the guy who invented the telephone, and in 1881 he tried to locate the bullet shot into President James Garfield. It would have worked, but the detector got confused because Garfield was lying on a metal table. In 1920 Gerhardt Fischer invented the "radio direction-finder" used for accurate navigation, but Fischer didn't apply for a metal detector patent until 1924. His first patent application for a hand-held (hidden) metal detector was in Feb of 1924 but not approved until July 1928.

In 1950 Whites Electronics began trying to build a machine called the "Oremaster Geiger Counter". Charles Garrett invented the first BFO metal detector before that time. Compass Metal Detectors invented the DD searchcoil, and the multi-filter system, plus greater than 8" air depth detectors, done by the MASTER Keith Wills who now owns East Texas Metal Detectors. He is the best metal detector repairman on the planet.

Westinghouse Corporation invented the first application of harmonics (riding on a square wave, or "multiple frequencies") more than a hundred years ago. Minelabs tries to take credit for that, but they didn't invent it. It was invented so that more than one conversation could be achieved on telegraph wires. Don't believe the stories that metal detector manufacturers tell you, they are just trying to make a buck, and you are just a number just like the rest of us are, and they don't care if they stretch the truth a little to sell more metal detectors.

What most people don't know (or accept) is that metal detector manufacturers commonly borrow and steal ideas and plans from each other. It is protocol, and been going on for decades, and that's why there is little difference between one brand and another, save for toys , bells, and whistles.

HH

Larry