Brand new: Deciding between 2

[CyrusKain]

Good day! I've taken the time to review a lot of posts on these forums, and I look forward to seeing familiar faces from now on as I venture into detecting.

First: I'm a newcomer, so if I'm asking a question that's already been addressed, I apologize; I did try to search and look before I posted.

Second: I'm a beginner, but I want a machine I can "grow into" as my experience grows. I can detect 2-3 days a week for a couple hours each day. Hobby

From articles, reviews, and these forums, I've come across a plethora of seemingly great detectors, but I think I've narrowed it down to two:

Garret AT PRO
or
Minelabs X-Terra 705

I live in northern Virginia (high mineralization) and won't be on the beaches of Eastern Virginia (I'm not in the mountains, but probably will go to mountains). I don't plan on diving into lakes and streams (although I wouldn't rule out sticking my coil down under water), and I'm mainly going to be searching for coins, civil war relics, and perhaps jewelry (naturally occurring gold isn't found in this area; any gold would be lost jewelry, which I wouldn't mind in the least)!

Could you seasoned pros help me in my decision on which device to purchase? Budget isn't an issue (I know the AT PRO is cheaper, but I'm comfortable paying more for the X-Terra if it's better for my use/environment).


I appreciate the help!

V/r,

Michael

 

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[bigfoot1]

welcome..you will want the best machine you can afford and as you say it isnt a problem.The definition of"best machine"is a bit tough to nail down.If you have shoulder or back issues weight and/or balance could be a factor worth considering.I know nothing of the 705 but do own an atp.I like it and have had a number of nice machines.I find the 5x8 coil to be a must have.of course you will want a pinpointer,good digger etc.
A call to one of our supporting vendors would be wise as they may know a bit about the geology of your area.local club also a good source for advice.Watch you tube videos of the machines you have narrowed it down to.

You need to be ok with the sounds it makes...you are gonna hear it a ton !!!!

good luck and again..welcome

 

[team sidewinder]

This may not help but you will not go wrong buying either of those brand detectors. Both fine detectors from established companies backed by quality customer support. I own the 705 and love it. Great detector once you spend some time learning it which is true of whatever detector you decide to buy.

 

[CyrusKain]

Bigfoot1, you mention that I should get the "best I can cafford." Well, what about the Minelab E-trac or White's Spectra V3i? I'd rather not go above that price point as a beginner. Any recommendations in the $1500 range? The problem with "best I can afford" is that many of *those* type of detectors require experience to truly understand (from what I've read). I'm a fairly quick study, though, and I do full diligence on anything and everything I do (which means I'd read the full manual, watch all the videos, etc...)

So I'm looking at the X-Terra 705, AT PRO, E-Trac, or Spectra V3i. Two "mid range" and two "upper range" detectors.

I'm understanding now that between the 705 and AT PRO that they're so similar in quality that it's going to be a personal decision and I wouldn't be held in rebuke for purchasing either one. Any consensus on the E-Trac vs. Spectra V3i?

 

[Phantasman]

Have you gone to each site and read the manuals for each unit you are pursuing? The higher end units are not learning units. They take experienced people into the higher level with more features for ID, not necessarily deeper. The 705 and AT Pro are good units. If you want to go for broke on a higher end detector, you can't go wrong with a Fisher F75. Not complicated to learn and you won't outgrow it. And if you decide you have to sell it, it has a higher demand in used detectors.

Between the AT Pro and the 705, I'd vote the AT Pro because it has a faster recovery rate, the conductivity arc numerics are from 1-99 and not stepped in 3s, and it has segment descriptor's to help ID for first timers. I'd take the F75 over both, though. You can't get much better than the F75 and you'll love the trigger PP over pushing that little button all the time.

 

[airscapes]

no matter which one you buy, if you continue to hang out on forums, you will be buying another one in a year or less.. Take it from me.. just over a year and already up to 4MD.. So if you can find a shop that sells all the brands you are interested in, even if it is a day or over night trip, take it and HOLD each of the machines.. You do not have to buy from the shop, but most likely you will feel compelled to do so. So in advance of your trip, contact the vendors of the forums and get pricing so you know what you can negotiate at the brick and mortar store.

 

[CyrusKain]

airscapes: lol. I'm hoping to prevent that by "future-proofing" myself with a mid-higher end model so that I can "grow into" it over time. No $100 model that I'll replace with a $300 then to a $500, etc... I'll spend the money up front to try and prevent that (not saying a $2k+ model won't be in my future, but that will be determined by my aggressiveness). If I get addicted to detecting (which is very possible as I detected with my father as a child and have extremely fond memories of it), and I buy an AT PRO, for example, I'm sure I'll find small weaknesses in it and look to shore those specific weaknesses with a different machine.

I'm a tech guy, and recently I bought a new router for my house. I remember researching and doing all this time, studying, work, etc... and there was no general consensus on "best." They all did something better than the others, and they all had features others may not have which were specific to the environment it would be in. These detectors are exactly the same. I'm just trying to make sure that, say, an e-trac is well worth the $500 in cost over an F75, and that the AT PRO, which seems to be unanimously lauded, might be the best overall bang for the buck. What I *don't* want to do is pay hundreds of dollars more for a machine that is going to provide minimal improvement. So questions such as "Is the Etrac THAT much better than the AT PRO that it's worth 1k more?" or "Does the customization of the X-Terra 705 make it a steal for its price point?" are what I'm seeking to find answers to.

As a beginner and amateur, I'm struggling with these questions. That's why I'm reaching out. And listening. Intently.

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

C.K. Have you looked at the differences in the coils for the X-Terra, the CoilTek 6 inch digger is interesting. I think then if your wanting to hunt for gold jewelry there are higher frequency coils elliptical for the machine also.

 

[CyrusKain]

CoinandRelicMan: I'm in the northern virginia area. High Mineralization. I'm fairly stationary around here and won't be going over 5-6 hours away from home (unless I'm vacationing). High mineralization all around me for the most part. I'm going to be searching near battlegrounds, old farmhouses/colonies (I'm right down the road from Mt. Vernon, Washington's home, for example [although it's illegal to detect there]), etc... I saw one guy pull a $500 coin from a nearby battlefield about a year ago. Places like that.

I'm mainly coin-shooting, as I'm an avid coin collector and part-time dealer and want a hobby. I'd also like to pick up civil war artifacts as a secondary; third, I won't turn down any jewelry I find. In that order.

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

For field hunting I would check into the larger low freq coils, think that CoilTek has a larger coil that would be great for some of the less trashed ones to.

https://www.minelab.com/treasure-talk/three-new-x-terra-coils-from-coiltek

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

On reading that article they mention medium mineralization. If your soils are really high mineralization, PI is the only thing that will get real depth most likely. Maybe a multi-frequency machine would handle more minerals better than a single frequency one. Have you considered the Safari yet ? I really liked the coiltek 12 x 8 DD coil on it.

 

[Skippy SH13]

CyrusKain,

You'll find that both of those detectors retain their value pretty well. Which means once you get the experience you'd like, you'll be able to move upward by selling the other, if you care to. One thing I like about the ATPro is the fact it essentially has a "newbie" mode. You'll quickly want to move to the Pro mode, but it definitely helps build a little confidence with the product to just get out, swing, and catch a ding.

Regardless of which you choose, expect to put in 10-15 hours before you're able to start discerning what those beeps mean. At around the 100 hour mark, you'll find you're able to determine what is in the ground by how it sounds, rather than what the screen says (which is a HUGE help for speeding recovery of targets you're seeking). Before that point, the very best advice I can give (regardless of which product, as both are VERY capable), is to dig EVERYTHING. This will help you identify what you're seeing/hearing, and your brain will automatically start triggering you to dig things that are "off" from normal trash. It's amazing how the brain works that way. I still don't have a good explanation for it, other than your brain processes faster than you can think. LOL.

I'm sure you'll have a great time with either of the products!

Cheers, and welcome!

 

[Skippy SH13]

I'm mainly coin-shooting, as I'm an avid coin collector and part-time dealer and want a hobby. I'd also like to pick up civil war artifacts as a secondary; third, I won't turn down any jewelry I find. In that order.

If you're coin shooting, you won't be disappointed with the selections you've made. Heck, you could go down a few product notches and still have a ball. I prefer the Double D coin on the Garrett's, though, as they really allow very nice discrimination of close targets (it's like using a vertical blade signal, rather than a ball of detection), a little wiggle and you can isolate the location along that vertical line. Makes recovery faster, in my opinion, and reduces the need for electronic pinpointing with the coil.

-Skippy

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

I did a bit of a search on Safari and mineralized soils, it seems the machine does well in the higher mineralized soil types from what I read. I read about a hunt where they compared some machines that were single frequency ones and the Safari beat them. the only deeper machine was the PI types. One article mentions that it definitely beats the XTerra in more mineralized soils. And this hunt was done in the highly mineralized soils of VA.

 

[BadM0nkey]

I'd imagine that at some point you will take your detector to the beach. While both will do great in the dry sand, I would see what you can find out about the 705 in the wet sand / surf. If you are looking for a multi-use machine it should be able to do well in the salty wet sand / surf in addition to dry sand and inland. From what I could tell the 705 needs to have the sensitivity cranked way down for hunting wet sand / surf. Oh, the AT Pro is also waterproof, not sure about the 705.

 

[airscapes]

Whichever you choose, once you get the hang of it, stay the heck off the forums unless you have VERY good willpower.. Or you will certainly get upgradeitis!

 

[Carolina Tom]

I bought three machines in my first seven months! Bounty Hunter then ATP then Deus.

I have an ATP... good machine... works well and will find treasure at a good price point.

If money is not an issue, look at Deus ($1300 or so). I have been using it for 10 months now and I like it. It is the lightest machine in the whole wide world! It is wireless, which you do not realize at this point, is a big deal. Wireless makes hunting a lot easier. That is why I gave up the ATP, that cord was a constant source of frustration. Deus can also be "configured" to your specific hunting needs.

The other choice is Minelabs CTX3030 ($2000 or so). I consider it to be the best machine out there. If you "outgrow" this machine, there is nothing "upstream", it is the best (IMO). I do not own one because it weighs over 5 Lbs., and that is just too much for me to tote around all day (Deus weighs 2.2 Lbs). Etrac is excellent, but if you are going to go that far, you might as well get the CTX (it's waterproof and the Etrac is not).

I hope that this helps. Don't hesitate to PM me if you have questions.

Ed at Treasure Mountain is a quality guy to do business with. Don't hesitate to mention my name, it will go a long way (not really, I am just kidding myself).

Best of luck to you!

 

[CoinandRelicMan]

Quoted "I'd imagine that at some point you will take your detector to the beach. While both will do great in the dry sand, I would see what you can find out about the 705 in the wet sand / surf. If you are looking for a multi-use machine it should be able to do well in the salty wet sand / surf in addition to dry sand and inland. From what I could tell the 705 needs to have the sensitivity cranked way down for hunting wet sand / surf. Oh, the AT Pro is also waterproof, not sure about the 705."

The Safari (coil waterproof but rest isn't) is a definite salty or mineralized wet sand hunter, those others are not.

 

[Loco-Digger]

You may want to read up on the T2, T2 SE, F75, and F75 SE. If you mainly a coin shooter, please disregard the T2 and T2 SE, if you are more of a civil war relic hunter, the I recommend the T2 or T2 SE.

I understand your dilemma and price point. but as stated by others if you become obsessed with this hobby as many of us have. You may want to try other makes of detectors in the future. I started out with an El Cheapo detector, got bit by the bug, and within 45 days I upgraded to a mid level machine. I did run across a great deal on my current detector that is an F75 LTD SE. I do not plan on upgrading anytime soon, but may want to buy a different brand to experience other technologies. I currently have 3 detectors, My primary, a back-up/loaner, and a fresh water machine.


Good luck, take your time, watch MD videos from manufacturers, vendors and individuals.

and by the way, welcome to T-Net

 

[airscapes]

Please note: Not all folks that make YouTube Videos know what they are doing (many are just starting out) so like all things internet, make sure you verify something in at least 3 different places before you take it as correct.