Whats HOT In Detectors?

[Michigan Badger]

What's HOT In Detectors?

I stopped buying and testing metal detectors about 2 years ago and I'm wondering if any maker has come out since then with anything really (I mean really) improved?

Or are we basically still talking the same old Explorers, Tesoros, Whites, etc., that have been around for a decade or more?

What's hot today?

 

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[Shambler]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

Ask him to redo the compass test but let you see the meter while he's "detecting" the "coin". I assure you that regardless of how wonderful the (quite common) discrim circuit is, you can't hunt like he has that compass configured. It is misleading at best.

Those videos are horrible and I encourage anybody new to the hobby to ignore them. They're not even a good starting point.


Nice post Digger.

 

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[Shambler]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

For us to become argumentive with other people over such a simple situation seems petty to me at best, although again, I could be wrong about that. I have an idea; Why don't you, others, and myself see if we can prove the videos poor examples by posting our (own) that use the same exact type of test?

What is the test showing? Raise one of the nails an inch like in the REAL world, and every detector there does poorly. The videos are bad, and the fact that you posted them with the commentary you did shows you didn't think it out. Regardless of your ability to write well and deflect the criticism others have presented by saying you're just the messenger, posting them left the more responsible members of the community trying to explain why you were wrong so others weren't as mislead you.

There are zero detectors that can be set up EXACTLY like another one.

No one said anything about "EXACTLY". You can't set a few of them up with nearly zero discrimination and claim you're detecting the dime when, in fact, you're detecting iron (at a slightly higher conductivity), then set up another one to discriminate ALL iron signals and claim it can't see the dime.

My main detector is a $59 one I bought on Amazon.

Oh brother....

As to the success of the old Compass metal detectors I applaud them gladly, because without that old team of engineers and technicians there - you and I would not be enjoying the great technology we now use.

Wait.... I thought the discrimination circuits were still patented... Since Compass is no longer in the business of making detectors, how could this protected technology help us unless we're still using a Compass? That's like saying you'd like to thank Minelab for the FBS technology because it helped us all.... when in fact it's so securely patented that it didn't do anything for other manufactures - only Minelab. I smell a google search or wiki check in your response disguised as your knowledge.

You certainly aren't the first to post those videos on a forum. BUT - those videos aren't normally posted by people who understand the technology and hobby. That's what's left me scratching my head.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

I know Whites thought high enough of the Minelab technology that they paid to use one of Minelab patents for multiple freqs on their BeachHunter ID. I made a post about it back in 2006. My BHID had the Minelab Patent number on the side of it.........

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,52448.0.html

 

[Smudge]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

MB,

I don't know enough about technology to tell you what's hot and what's not. I can tell you I've played around with a bunch of detectors, but the Tesoro Compadre is what I settled on. Seems odd because I've worked with detectors that cost a lot more, but the Compadre just seems to "fit" me for land hunts. Really sensitive to gold and it has a really fast recovery speed, better than of the more expensive units I've used.

I guess in the end what really matters more than the state of technology is how well the technology in the detector you're holding works with you.

And besides, state of the art technology means nothin' in you don't swing your coil over the right spot!

 

[Shambler]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

Haha! Where'd Larry's expert posts go? Geez.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

Haha! Where'd Larry's expert posts go? Geez.

He pulled all his posts..........

 

[gleaner1]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

Lucky Larry. Badger. I know and love you guys. The memories of the days when tector's were hot and there were targets for them hot tectors to find torment me too. Larry, you can remove any stinking post you want.

 

[Digger]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

I would agree the newest whats hot would be the Garrett AT Pro. Great performance at a budget price is what makes it hot. I evaluated the AT Pro and concluded it was the most sensitive to gold of any detector, at any price, I have ever used. I prefer a more featured detector myself with tone ID, a threshold and a more adjustable discrimination system, but for $600 the performance is great.

____________________________________________________________________________________
Current: E-Trac, DFX
Past few years: F75 LTD, V3i, MXT, X-Terra 70, F4, GMH CXiii, ACE 250, GTAx 550, Soverign GT, Omega 8000

 

[Michigan Badger]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

Thanks for all the replies and sorry I missed the ones that were pulled.

Like Sandman I date back a while in the hobby and have spent way too much money on it. I'd have to find another Nuestra Senora De Atocha to recoup the loot I've spent on trips and equipment over the last 40+ years.

But it was all worth it and it was great fun even though I never found a gold coin.

Back to the subject, I was wondering if anyone had come out with some truly new technology but it seems not. Years ago I had a contact in England who kept me up on the most affective machines over there but no longer have that connection.

It was funny though back when I was still ordering new detectors that I'd get one and hate it. I'd sell it and maybe 6 months later get the same machine again. Maybe the 3rd time around I liked it.

Of all I tested and hunted with up to about 08 the Tesoro and Minelab machines impressed me most. Some of you might recall I posted a lot back then about the Tesoro Silver uMax? I used it with that 12x10 concentric coil and loved it. Often I dug Indian Cents right where I had covered the area with my Explorers. But when it came to silver the Explorers and Sovereign GTs kicked. I recall one day I took my new Explorer XS to an old site I totally had "cleaned out" with my Tesoros. Within couple hours I dug 5-7 dimes (forget the exact number) with the XS! This blew me away! All dimes gave a loud signal and were about 3-4 inches deep (had been there a long time). I did a post here about that back when I did it (as I recall).

But in the end it's probably a matter of learning the machine. This most likely applies with any of them.

 

[Cuisinier]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

Hi all, just to add my late entry to the discussion with a view from the other side of the "pond". Put your minds at rest there are no super strength detectors over here and this is not because of any legal restriction, there are a few new makes coming out of the old Eastern block that come with the usual promise of extra depth but as gleaner 1 has said VLF technology has gone about as far as it can and these newer machines are just "fine tuning" an old design.
The reason we over here can't have the extra power is to do with iron contamination, even the F75 ltd and T2se which can go deep aren't proving to be that great over here because of iron. The majority of detectors up to now have been designed in the States or with Minelab it was Australia and for those soil conditions. The UK only being a very small part of the detector market has tended to have to adapt to what you guys over in the states come up with. Now our problem is that where many parts of the Eastern seaboard has at most 400 years of "iron age" habitation, we have 2500 years of nails, rust and all the other bits of detritus that man has left behind and the better sites are obviously those with more history of habitation. These newer machines with a "Boost" facility are in parts useless because when you turn this feature on the signals are suddenly like the fairy lights on a Christmas tree, everywhere and 99% are iron and we are stuck with not being able to discriminate much out, for as many of you will know much of our Medieval and Roman coinage has a conductivity that is not much higher than foil, so we are caught between a rock and a hard place.

 

[sandtrout]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

The "hottest" technology isn't for me. In photography, I used manual cameras (Minolta SRT 102's) and Rolleiflexes that were sharp and adjustable....no bells or whistles but GREAT images and cheap to fix. Now I'm using a Canon Something that's digital and I'm on my 5th one.

I think that the AT PRO is the "HOT" thing out right now. But for now, I'll pass. I would want a BUG FREE machine rather than something new that still has bugs to work out. I'm using an ACE 250 (have over 1000 hours on it) and a Vaquero (with ~ 400 hours on it). Both machines are simple to use and seem to be bug free and do their intended job. I think that Garrett will combine what's on these forums and the repairs given and upgrade the AT PRO to correct the problems (AT PROi?) so, even though I'm considering the AT PRO, I think I'm doing fine with what I've got.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

Teknetics T2 and The G2
Minelab Etrac, GPX4800,5000, Xterra 705
Fisher Golbug , F75

 

[Frankn]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

How deep will it go? There's so much detector biased BS on depth out there so we need to have a standard. Here it is : Air test a modern dime. Air testing eliminates The ground factor which varies from place to place. A modern dime is something that is a common target that can be used as a standard. Allright lets hear some honest results. Woodland, you could use this to compare your different brands. It also makes BS easy to spot. Frank
PS: it won't work with 2 Box units, but we all know they go deep for large items.

 

[Lowbatts]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

How deep will it go? There's so much detector biased BS on depth out there so we need to have a standard. Here it is : Air test a modern dime. Air testing eliminates The ground factor which varies from place to place. A modern dime is something that is a common target that can be used as a standard. Allright lets hear some honest results. Woodland, you could use this to compare your different brands. It also makes BS easy to spot. Frank
PS: it won't work with 2 Box units, but we all know they go deep for large items.

I was out on Friday morning with a friend hitting the old sidewalk tearouts. I'm using my F70 with the 11"DD coil and he's using his ETrac with the 6" Sun Ray coil. He wanted to know why he was getting mems almost exclusively so we tossed some of my finds on the sidewalk bedding. One merc dime, one SLQ and a 10 cent tavern token were air tested using the two rigs. The bedding is a mix of sand, gravel, cinder and nails that makes detecting rather hard to begin with.

I could easily pick up all targets at 10" while he could get barely a blip at 6". I've posted before how my F70 just does not ID coin targets past 8" in the ground. If you're familiar with the F70 then you know sound is not a factor, it mirrors numeric ID. I think the ETracs excel in their audio capability and sound seems to be what one would key on for deeper, more elusive target info.

Granted he is as good a user with his ETrac as a turtle is at flying but we sat there awhile adjusting a lot of the parameters and could not get good target info beyond that 6" range. I'm fairly certain other users would have better results with their ETracs, seen it plenty of times including deep targets even in difficult conditions.

But that's my take on air tests. Only good for learning how to pinpoint with your machine.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

How deep will it go? There's so much detector biased BS on depth out there so we need to have a standard. Here it is : Air test a modern dime. Air testing eliminates The ground factor which varies from place to place. A modern dime is something that is a common target that can be used as a standard. Allright lets hear some honest results. Woodland, you could use this to compare your different brands. It also makes BS easy to spot. Frank
PS: it won't work with 2 Box units, but we all know they go deep for large items.

Personally airtests mean nothing to me, Minelabs do not airtest well, I have pulled some targets over 14 inches with both my Excals and my Sov GTs ( no exaggeration here), and routinely pull targets at 12 inches, anyone who uses Excals or Sov will tell you they pull up deep targets......What good is a detector that sees 10-12 inches in the air but can't see squat in heavy mineralized ground...

I want to know my detector is going to see deep targets in the ground with the ground conditions I have to deal with, I rarely ever hunt targets in the air... .......

 

[gleaner1]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

This is a good topic. Today, after 40 years of brutal tectin, nothing is left to find. Almost nothing. You don't need a hot tector anymore, just a hot spot.

 

[Digger]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

That sounds about right Lowbatts. A general rule of thumb is that you get about the same depth as your coil size. I.E. a 11" coil should get roughly 11" and a 6" coil should get roughly 6".

Where I see a big advancement in detector technology is making high performance availible to those new to the hobby. It used to take years of experience with a detector to get good performance/depth out of a detector. Todays turn-on-and-go technology along with good VDI systems make finding deep coins much eaiser for first-timers.

 

[Frankn]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

When someone tells me he is pulling targets from 112" (that's over 9'), I consider that a bullpark figure unless he is using a 2Box of high end PI and blanket antenna.

That coil to dept ratio doesn't hold water ! My 10 year old XLT with it's stock 9.5" coil has pulled targets from 19" loude and clear. Of course it was a license plate, not a coin.

Why would a detector not air test well. You are only dropping resistance to signal between coil and target.

The suggestion of an air test with a dime was meant to be a standard that eliminated the factor of soil condition. I realise that reaction of soil on the signal varies with detector. An air test would be a max pickup distance under ideal conditions.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

When someone tells me he is pulling targets from 112" (that's over 9'), I consider that a bullpark figure unless he is using a 2Box of high end PI and blanket antenna.

That coil to dept ratio doesn't hold water ! My 10 year old XLT with it's stock 9.5" coil has pulled targets from 19" loude and clear. Of course it was a license plate, not a coin.

Why would a detector not air test well. You are only dropping resistance to signal between coil and target.

The suggestion of an air test with a dime was meant to be a standard that eliminated the factor of soil condition. I realise that reaction of soil on the signal varies with detector. An air test would be a max pickup distance under ideal conditions.

My apologies Frankn, my 112 is a mistype and I will correct it, it is suppose to be 12"... Airtest on my excal with the stock 10 inch coil was maybe 6 inches, but it was pulling targets over 12 inches when I was using it.....I no longer use any coil smaller than the WOT 15 inch coil or the SEF 12X15" SEF on my Excals and I uas WOT or SEF 15x18" Butterfly on my Sovereign GT.... I haven't airtested either because airtest mean nothing to me and under hunting conditions it is pulling targets well over 14 inches on the WOT, and the SEF is even deeper, but haven't measured any of it's targets.....

Again my apology for my mistype........

 

[Digger]

Re: What's HOT In Detectors?

That coil to dept ratio doesn't hold water !

Well I'm sure you could also pick up Volkswagenon at 4' with your XLT also, but I wareferringng to coin sized objects. That is what the general coil depth is based on and it does hold water very well.