Considering a Whites 5900 DI

[New Orleans Relic]

I see an ad for a Whites 5900 for $100. Headphones, 2 coils and a case included. Want to get one for a friend that thinks she wants to beach/relic shallow hunt with me. Wondering its ease of use, weight, and if it does well. Arn't these analog machines? Started production in the mid 80's. When were they discontinued? Who has/had one of these? Any replies will help.
Ray

 

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[digitall]

Yes the 5900 di is discontinued. It's still an excellent machine I've been using that detector for 18 years I still have it and it works great though now I use a Mxt. The 5900 is a fast swing compared to new machines hope this helps.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Are you talking about the last generation of the 5900, which had the 950 loop? If so, they were the same as the 6000 Di pro, except that they had no auto ground track.

It would be an excellent all-around machine. Except that without auto-ground-track, you wouldn't want to use it on the wet salt beaches. You'd end up having to continually ground balance, and would never know when you drifted, etc... So it's not a good wet salt machine. But for regular land and/or freshwater beaches, it'll be a great machine. Not as deep seeking, or as fast processing as other machines that came later. But for a general all-purpose machine, a good machine.

 

[New Orleans Relic]

Are you talking about the last generation of the 5900, which had the 950 loop? If so, they were the same as the 6000 Di pro, except that they had no auto ground track.

It would be an excellent all-around machine. Except that without auto-ground-track, you wouldn't want to use it on the wet salt beaches. You'd end up having to continually ground balance, and would never know when you drifted, etc... So it's not a good wet salt machine. But for regular land and/or freshwater beaches, it'll be a great machine. Not as deep seeking, or as fast processing as other machines that came later. But for a general all-purpose machine, a good machine.

Thank you both for your reply.
I just texted owner about the auto ground track, Tom. I need it here for wet salt sand, so that is very important to me. Sure hope it is.
I understand it calls for four C batteries, but will take rechargable.
Thanx again
Ray

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I can save you some time : The 5900 does not have auto-track.

 

[jmoller99]

I have a Whites 5900 Di/Pro SL. It's a great relic hunting detector, but has a fairly steep learning curve (however, once you understand it well, it can be adjusted/tuned quite specifically). It's not a beginners detector. Manual ground balencing takes a long while to get used to.

I have never tried mine in a salt water beach area - that is not usually handled well with any VLF metal detector if the sand you are searching is wet.