spending $500 or $600 - what metal detector to buy for beach (not in the water)?

[EMTFlorida]

Alright, so I've gone back and forth for months and what I want to get and what I plan on doing. I'm in St augustine so hunting in the water is a no no.

I'm looking to spend $500 or $600. Maybe $700. I considered the Deus detector but it's at $800...not sure if that's necessary.

I'll be hunting on the beach, not in the water. Mostly looking for coins and jewelry. What detector would you recommend? I want to make the purchase today so I can finally get out there (been dreaming about this for MONTHS)

Any help is greatly appreciated.

quick edit: I'd prefer not digging up a ton of trash, so I'm guessing the $200-$300 are not a good idea. Will the $600 models still be giving me aluminum tabs and other trash?

is the garrett 350 ok for beach? decent detector?

another edit: I might be steering away form this and just shelling out the cash to get something that goes DEEP. Depth is important to me

 

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[adamBomb]

Thanks. St Augustine law is "no hunting in the water." So I won't be submerging it, just hunting on the wet sand. Did I spend too much? You think I'd be better off with one of the others?

The DF is awesome. Its a very good and deep detector. You will be digging everything though so if you go into trashy areas like the dry sand you might go a bit crazy. I would usually recommend getting a machine that discriminates and really learning what you are doing on the beach and then getting a secondary PI. If you want a machine to compliment your PI or you find its just too much to dig get a minelab sovereign for like $400-$500. Its probably as deep as the PI on low mineralization beaches and discs out iron, bobby pins, pieces of fish hooks, etc.

 

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[EMTFlorida]

Welp. You guys are right. I spent the morning digging two-three foot holes in the wet sand at the beach today and wasted so much time finding nothing. Literally nothing.

I'm just going to return the DF and go with the ace 250 and hunt in the dry sand. This went from excitement to frustration lol

 

[zilx]

I live on the panhandle of Florida, in Panama City Beach, I have only been detecting for a few months now. I went with the Garrett AT Pro. I have only used it on the beaches, in the dry sand it does so great, discriminate out all the iron and trash. wet sand again it does amazing, with the sensitivity all the way up she is still quiet as can be. I have even hunted in the water with it, it gets a bit noisy so all I do is turn down the sensitivity a few notches and boom, does great there also. I have only been out detecting about 5 times in the few months I have been detecting and I already have found 2 gold rings and a silver 925 ring with real stones. I'm using the stock coil as well, I plan on getting a few NEL coils soon. I wouldn't discount this detector for a second ! GL with your decision. Keep swinging and don't give up, take it from a noobie, all it takes is that first ring to get you instantly hooked! Happy Hunting from another Floridian! Remember Swing Low and Swing Slow my friend!

 

[Fletch88]

That was quick! Do you mean you were chasing false signals and found nothing in the holes or nothing but bobby pins and trash targets? The dual field is a deep machine but I remember it was a smooth running machine when I had one. I dig several 15-20" deep coins but no rings. ST Augustine was replenished pretty recently so there is probably several feet of sand may be why you aren't finding much.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Welp. You guys are right. I spent the morning digging two-three foot holes in the wet sand at the beach today and wasted so much time finding nothing. Literally nothing.

I'm just going to return the DF and go with the ace 250 and hunt in the dry sand. This went from excitement to frustration lol

Sorry that your experience was so bad. Maybe you should get some advice on setting up the machine properly, and getting your scooping technique down a little before you trade in the Dual Field?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Remember the danger isn't just going in the water, there is salt mist in the air that can and does affect detectors that are not warter proof. Need to keep that in mind when buying.....

 

[adamBomb]

Welp. You guys are right. I spent the morning digging two-three foot holes in the wet sand at the beach today and wasted so much time finding nothing. Literally nothing.

I'm just going to return the DF and go with the ace 250 and hunt in the dry sand. This went from excitement to frustration lol

If you are going to give up after one day I wouldnt recommend buying another machine. Learn the dual field. Its an awesome machine. You bought it knowing it was a PI, not for beginners, and knowing you would be digging everything and now you are returning because you bought what you asked for? You dug holes that deep because you were not pinpointing/digging correctly...not because the machine was going 3 ft deep.

I would just save up and get a sovereign...the sov is 10x better than the ace 250 you are considering. the ace 250 is an absolute beginners model that probably gets 6 inches on the dry sand. You can buy a sov for like $450 used that will go 12+ inches on the dry and wet sand.

 

[RustyGold]

I'd keep the DF over the Ace. The DF is subtle with its tones. You will have to listen closely for any changes in them.
After you learn the DF's language you will do better.
Then buy a detector that discriminates to compliment the DF. Also, start up in the dry sand to learn your detector first before tackling the wet.
You see, it's not really the amount you spend on a detector but rather or not it functions well in the beach environment!
Knowledge that one acquires with experience with different detectors and learning what the detector's are trying to tell you.
As always, best of luck out there and make SURE you fill in your holes.

 

[EMTFlorida]

That was quick! Do you mean you were chasing false signals and found nothing in the holes or nothing but bobby pins and trash targets? The dual field is a deep machine but I remember it was a smooth running machine when I had one. I dig several 15-20" deep coins but no rings. ST Augustine was replenished pretty recently so there is probably several feet of sand may be why you aren't finding much.

Yeah, ordered it on Amazon with the 1-day shipping. I was indeed chasing false signals; found nothing. Was hunting at Vilano Beach

 

[RustyGold]

Really!? Wow, maybe I shouldn't have bought the DF lol. I figured I'd find more in the wet sand, though; things that have possibly been there for years and years. I'm mostly hunting for old spanish coins.

Picture the sand more like a liquid from the top of the beach to the trough line in the water. The heavier gold sinks deeper than other objects then starts moving over time toward the lower end of the beach then may make it into the trough line from wind, storms and beach sweepers.
Of course there are fresh drops mostly at any depth but the lighter metals, foil, pull tabs and twist caps will remain higher in depth in the sand than a heavy gold ring which will sink deeper.
Also invest in a good sand scoop like a Stealth 720i or 920i and it will make short work of retrieving finds.
Best of Luck!

 

[EMTFlorida]

If you are going to give up after one day I wouldnt recommend buying another machine. Learn the dual field. Its an awesome machine. You bought it knowing it was a PI, not for beginners, and knowing you would be digging everything and now you are returning because you bought what you asked for? You dug holes that deep because you were not pinpointing/digging correctly...not because the machine was going 3 ft deep.

I would just save up and get a sovereign...the sov is 10x better than the ace 250 you are considering. the ace 250 is an absolute beginners model that probably gets 6 inches on the dry sand. You can buy a sov for like $450 used that will go 12+ inches on the dry and wet sand.

That's the thing. It could be my digging method, I don't know. I was having a HELL of a time with the wet sand/coquina mixture we have here. Really, really difficult to shake out of the scooper. I was considering getting a pinpointer, not sure if it's necessary.

 

[Fletch88]

I didn't find crap there either! I chased a screaming signal down about 2 feet that wound up being a beach umbrella post pointing straight up! Very cool beach though!

 

[EMTFlorida]

I didn't find crap there either! I chased a screaming signal down about 2 feet that wound up being a beach umbrella post pointing straight up! Very cool beach though!

interesting! maybe it's the composition of the sand, then? perhaps I should try st aug beach with the DF instead of vilano

 

[adamBomb]

That's the thing. It could be my digging method, I don't know. I was having a HELL of a time with the wet sand/coquina mixture we have here. Really, really difficult to shake out of the scooper. I was considering getting a pinpointer, not sure if it's necessary.

On the wetsand you scoop, then test the hole - if sound, pinpoint and scoop again...rinse repeat. Once you get the target in one of your scoops, dump it, spread with your foot, pinpoint, dig a tiny bit to sift through the scoop. This whole process takes a few seconds. You shouldn't need to bend down and you shouldn't need a pinpointer although there are some cases where they could come in handy on the beach. I have a 920 and very rarely will I need to get more than 2 scoops even if the target is 15 inches down...3 scoops if I am having problems pinpointing which does happen on a 17 inch coil.

Also, its going to take many hours to learn your DF. Go slow. Recheck signals for false targets. Dig only good signals at first to learn the tones. Dont dig iffy stuff just yet until you start to know your machine.

 

[EMTFlorida]

On the wetsand you scoop, then test the hole - if sound, pinpoint and scoop again...rinse repeat. Once you get the target in one of your scoops, dump it, spread with your foot, pinpoint, dig a tiny bit to sift through the scoop. This whole process takes a few seconds. You shouldn't need to bend down and you shouldn't need a pinpointer although there are some cases where they could come in handy on the beach. I have a 920 and very rarely will I need to get more than 2 scoops even if the target is 15 inches down...3 scoops if I am having problems pinpointing which does happen on a 17 inch coil.

Also, its going to take many hours to learn your DF. Go slow. Recheck signals for false targets. Dig only good signals at first to learn the tones. Dont dig iffy stuff just yet until you start to know your machine.

Thanks. I ordered the Garrett but now I'm considering keeping the DF :/ Kind of in between right now. I think what happened is I was chasing false signals. There's a lot of black sand on Vilano beach lately, not sure if that contributed to the problem. I'm also not sure what each tone is suppose to sound like, so that's a problem...

All three spots that I found, I dug several, several times, and found nothing. I dug about a foot and a half deep. One of them I dug two feet by one foot. Nothing :/

 

[Fletch88]

I would before I gave up on it! One of the best things about the dual field was how smooth it's threshold was. Are you swinging it really fast or unlevel? You don't want to let the coil angle up on the ends of your swing. Keep it the same height and flat throughout the whole swing.

 

[EMTFlorida]

I would before I gave up on it! One of the best things about the dual field was how smooth it's threshold was. Are you swinging it really fast or unlevel? You don't want to let the coil angle up on the ends of your swing. Keep it the same height and flat throughout the whole swing.

good swing, not curving up, about an inch from the ground. I hear a lot of background noise / feedback, is that normal? like weee...weeee...and then when I hit a target weeee BEEEP. Is that normal?

 

[Terry Soloman]

The "Threshold" is a constant hum, like a mosquito buzzing in your headphones. Is that what you are hearing?

 

[EMTFlorida]

The "Threshold" is a constant hum, like a mosquito buzzing in your headphones. Is that what you are hearing?

Yes! Okay, good. I figured as much, thanks for confirming Terry.

I really appreciate everyone's help here.

I've been doing some reading on the Ace and I ended up going with the Ace 350. I've read people have success in the wet sand when setting sensitivity to 3 or 4 bars. And then 6 when in dry sand.

 

[adamBomb]

Yes! Okay, good. I figured as much, thanks for confirming Terry.

I really appreciate everyone's help here.

I've been doing some reading on the Ace and I ended up going with the Ace 350. I've read people have success in the wet sand when setting sensitivity to 3 or 4 bars. And then 6 when in dry sand.

The dual field is a super chatty machine and is really never stable. Here is what mine sounds like and apparently this is pretty calm for the machine compared to what others have told me theirs sounds like: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_QmSkJJgY0jNktBVEozbmF4UGs/view

Its going to take you some time to get used to it. You need to learn to pick out targets, pinpoint, and dig...so many things. Its not a beginner machine but its one of the best out there. When I first got all of my machine my first few times out were a disaster and it just kept getting better and better each time. Read as much as you can about your machine and reflect on what you did today so that you can improve. Its going to just get better. The DF is a complicated machine but if you learn it you will be happy you did. The ace250 isn't even in the same ballpark.