Whats New in Metal Detectors

[doozis]

I know Fishers has a new detector or two but what are the other guys
doing ? Does anyone know of any ( latest greatest ) new detectors
ready to launch for Tesoro, Garretts, Whites , Bounty Hunter or Minelabs ? The holiday season is coming soon !

Doozis

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[Michigan Badger]

I know Fishers has a new detector or two but what are the other guys
doing ? Does anyone know of any ( latest greatest ) new detectors
ready to launch for Tesoro, Garretts, Whites , Bounty Hunter or Minelabs ? The holiday season is coming soon !

Doozis

My guess is they're all trying to figure out how they can stop the current trend to Minelab without making it look like they copied them.

 

[EasyMoney]

Hmmm...

Let's see..

Most of the Minelabs I've owned or used or seen other people use have;

#1 Somewhat mediocre depth compared to White's, Nauties, Tejons, and Fishers, and especially the old Compasses, Barons, Teknetics, and others that George Payne developed.

#2 Very "iffy" pinpointing,

#3 Really HEAVY weight in most cases,

#4 15+ minutes to set up each time,

#5 EXTREMELY high cost,

#6 Relatively poor resale value, compared to their initial cost. In fact, there are more (used) Explorer 2's and Garrett 250's for sale than any and all other detectors, and mostly because they don't deliver what they were supposed to.

If they were so good then why aren't people keeping them? Hmmm...?

So far Minelabs have never matched the success of White's, probably NOT exactly a perfect machine in itself either. The DFX has been the biggest seller on the market for several years now, and in most forums it is clearly the most preferred of all new and used detectors.. Right now the Fisher F-75 is a close second. Minelabs aren't. More Bounty Hunters are sold, than Minelabs.

I'm guessing maybe "NO".

PI's and magnetec imaging will be improving and will likely be the next little phase we all will go through. In fact, magnetic imaging is already taking hold in European science and in government work, especially with the Germans. Carrying size and price are the only real obstacles right now. An object as small as a Coke can already be visualized on a screen. And it is not just about iron or steel either. ALL objects can have a small (but electronically amplified in a circuit) magnetic field induced into them, even into glass, and that is exactly how the concept works.

If any company will be copied, it will be White's. So far, the deepest detectors ever documented in medium to gentle soil is a Nexus first, a Garrett 2000 and Compass Goldscanner Pro second, a Garrett 2500 third, a Garrett 1500 fourth, and a Garrett 1350 fifth. It's tough to beat a Garrett for depth in gentle soil, for coins. Nauties beat them for relics though.

Four detectors, the Garrett 2000's, Fisher 1270's, Tesoro Tejons, and Compass Goldscanner Pro's (same as GS R&C's) have shown an air test of 42+ cm with a standard, stock 7"-8" coil on a European coin the size of a dime. That equates to roughly 16+ inches, and so far nobody has recorded that depth with any Minelab using a coil of equal size. It just hasn't happened and it won't either. A Nexus goes even deeper. And a Minelab NEVER has beaten a Tesoro or a Compass for target seperation or discrimination. Neither has White's.. BTW, Minelabs do NOT use all frequencies in searching all at the same time, regardless of what rumors say. They can only use a max of 3 at the same time, but seldom do, and that's why they have a few of their problems in some instances..

Nope, I don't think the next will be a Minelab copy of any type. Most people want more a bit more detector and a lot less weight the next time around.

Just some thoughts and observations.

Time for a good donut or two, and a good cup of Kenya-Arabica.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Easy Money, you say: "Somewhat mediocre depth compared to White's, Nauties, Tejons, and Fishers, and especially the old Compasses, Barons, Teknetics, and others that George Payne developed." I don't know where you're detecting, and who's comparing, but around here, all the brands you mention come kicking and screaming to Explorers, when comparisons start in the turf. Actually, they're taking down Whites (for example) in other venues too: surf/beach, demolition sites, etc....

I was one of those who reluntanctly believed I could match the depth of my fellow Explorer hunter, using my Whites. But when he kept out-hunting me 3 to 1, I had to investigate for myself. At first, I hated it (tooty fluty tones, swing speed differences, etc...), and switched back to Whites. But eventually the "lights went on", and those tones start saying things I didn't realize.

This may vary d/t soils, but out here in CA, there is no way Whites out-hunts Explorers, when you have an even playing field where both are equally qualified users.

 

[erikk]

Not here in FL either-not even close

 

[EasyMoney]

Well, I was fortunate enough to be able to live in and around some of the the nastiest soil area on the planet. The worst soil I've ever seen is black, as in shiny black with black round rocks, and the only detector that works well enough there is a PI. I tried a couple of Minelabs there and all they would do is howl real loud, a steady loud sound like a cow bellowing. A cz worked a bit, but made a lot of noise. My Tejon sounded like a popcorn machine, and the Compass Scanner would only find things about one inch deep and it too made a bit too much noise, in fact, it made a lot of noise, but less than the others. The area was about 2/3 the way up the Washington coast up near the rainforests in a very remote place.

I live in the general area where Teknetics, Fisher, Compass, and White's were started. The reason they were started here is because of the high iron soil that was needed to test detectors so that they would work better in other soils too. Unfortunately, the market went East and to Europe and consequently most detectors now are best suited for soil that has less iron.

A well-known detectorist (name withheld at his request) says that on Texas beaches, nobody really needs an expensive detector there becuase there aren't any minerals in the beaches. I don't know, I've never checked there.

There must a real good reason why nearly nobody sees a Minelab within a hundred miles from here, except for at the beach or once in awhile out in the high desert. Yes, I own a Minelab still but only because I wanted to try a couple of them to see if what people claim is true. They do work very, VERY well here on high iron/high salt beaches, but that is where it seems to end.

Many Minelabs run like a brand new Lexus on salt or high-iron beaches many do very well for prospecting too, but here it's a very different story, because most people don't have as good of luck for coin searching here as in other areas..

Here is another good question to consider too;

Why are Fisher BoldBug 2's the most prevalent gold nugget hunters in Arizona?

They are. Overwhelmingly.

The lady who owns the local detector sales shop uses a Fisher Goldbug 2 to hunt nuggies in AZ. She sells White's and Fsihers of course, and she also carries Minelabs, however, the ones she sells seem to leave town or disappear somehow, because nobody ever talks about seeing one here, except for mine. People have a rather strange look on their faces when they see mine and say; "so that's a Minelab"?

I have never seen another Minelab within a hundred miles of here, except for in a metal detector sales shop and on the beach. The lady who owns the shop doesn't use a Minelab to hunt nuggets except once in awhile, isn't that curious? She doesn't use a White's nugget hunter either, unless she is trying to sell one, and she lives just 1/2 mile from White's main plant. Rather curious, I'd say.

Much of detector behavior does seem to depend much on the type of soil one hunts in, and in fact, there is an area about 80 miles N that was NOT hit by that (iron) meteor shower some 10,000 years ago. It's up in a town called Newberg, Oregon and even a cheaply made Bounty Hunter works well there. Actually a BH keeps up with the rest of the VW's just fine. GB is almost unnecessary, and there is less than 2 inches depth difference between a high-end White's, Fisher, Minelab, Tesoro, Garrett, Bounty Hunter, or a Compass, for depth of detection. And the discriminators work better there too..

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Let's see..

Most of the Minelabs I've owned or used or seen other people use have;
First I am a "Newbie", only detecting 14 months and I can only speak for the Excal and Sovereigns and don't see how they can be included in your findings

#1 Somewhat mediocre depth compared to White's, Nauties, Tejons, and Fishers, and especially the old Compasses, Barons, Teknetics, and others that George Payne developed.

I can only speak for the the Excal and the Sovereign, but depth is NOT a problem, With Excal I have started digging hole in surf for a target when I was waist deep and recovered the same target when water was approaching my neck, I was pulling up chunks of clay in surf at Daytona. The Sov, when I first got it I was thinking something was wrong with it as I had a signal, but no target, I found that I wasn't digging deep enough. The target was over 14-16 inches deep..


#2 Very "iffy" pinpointing,
I have no problem at all pinpointing with either of the 2 Excals or the Sovereign GT I own.

#3 Really HEAVY weight in most cases,
Excal is heavy, but since it is built for the water I expect that, Sov is not heavy at all to me. I never hunt with out a harness with bungee, including when I hunt with my Whites 6000 XL PRO.

#4 15+ minutes to set up each time,
I spend less then 30 sec to set up Excal or Sovereign. Start to finish.

#5 EXTREMELY high cost,
Again, speaking only for the Excal and Sov but I find the cost to be very reasonable, especially considering I can get almost all of my money back on my Excals since I bought used, if I wanted (roflmbo sell my Excal, no way ) to even sale one.

#6 Relatively poor resale value, compared to their initial cost. In fact, there are more (used) Explorer 2's and Garrett 250's for sale than any and all other detectors, and mostly because they don't deliver what they were supposed to.
I watched Excals on EBay for quite a while before buying mine, and I quickly learned they hold their values on resale for years. The same for Sovereigns. Both my Excals I bought used and I could get 90-100% of my money back if I wanted to sale either one. There are 2 used Excal 1000s on EBay now, one at $720 (65.7% of full retail value) , with 34 hours to go the other at $770 (70.31% of full retail value) with 2 hours to go.

If they were so good then why aren't people keeping them? Hmmm...?
There are currently 4 DFX's for sale on EBay and 5 Explorers (includes all models)
So far Minelabs have never matched the success of White's, probably NOT exactly a perfect machine in itself either. The DFX has been the biggest seller on the market for several years now, and in most forums it is clearly the most preferred of all new and used detectors.. Right now the Fisher F-75 is a close second. Minelabs aren't. More Bounty Hunters are sold, than Minelabs.

Bounty Hunters are in the range of $250 might be the reason more are sold.

[/quote]

Good luck and good hunting.

 

[Sandman]

Treasure_Hunter you hit the nail on the head a couple times. I've used many different brands for more than a few years. They all have they're proper place and places to hunt. How come Whites can't be hip mounted, except for the water units. An what good is a water detector with a floating coil?

On the popularity of some brands in one local over another doesn't have much to do with how good or bad a detector is really but how much it is promoted. All these Bounty Hunters that are sold are sold because of the price point and that big box stores carry them for newbies to buy on impulse because they wanna find treasure and get discouraged when the gold bars don't appear. The same type people that usually buy and sell Explorers and Ace 250's maybe can't set the clock on the old time VCR's.

I think the Minelabs are the deepest detectors in most areas I've hunted except for PI's with the Tesoro's a close second. The Fisher GoldBug II is still a fine gold detector and much cheaper than a GP4000. The other gold detectors are also great and popularity plays a part in which is used along with the type ground they work in best. Still because of the weight difference, I would rather sweep a Bug in the desert than a heavier detector. If given my choice, I would like a Lobo instead or even a GMT. /

These are my thoughts this morning on the subject. As for new things coming out, Fisher is supposed to have a upgraded? CZ20 in the CZ21 out early Sept, but it is now almost Oct. and still no new detector.
Sandman

 

[doozis]

This post was not intended to be a brand war. All I wanted to know
was , what changes or improvements if any are in the near future for any brand. It might help some of us who are thinking of a new purchase soon. Nothing worse than putting out a big pile of money for something, then a week later seeing something newer, better and at a lower price :P

Doozis

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Personally I'm not in a brand war, I only disagreed with points made on Minelabs based on what I have experience on the Excal and Sov.

I currently have a Whites 6000 XL PRO I use in parks and playgrounds, it is a coin and jewelry magnet. I had the Whites Beach Hunter ID, and I really liked it, but the battery compartment door has a poor design, it leaked on me, Whites repaired it and I traded it. I still liked it, but I did not trust it in the surf, I traded it in on my Sov GT and I love it.

 

[Born2Dtect]

I am just curious if EasyMoney possibly works at the Whites facility in Sweet Home, OR. ?

Ed D.

 

[bakergeol]

This post was not intended to be a brand war. All I wanted to know
was , what changes or improvements if any are in the near future for any brand. It might help some of us who are thinking of a new purchase soon. Nothing worse than putting out a big pile of money for something, then a week later seeing something newer, better and at a lower price :P

Doozis

OK Doozis
You asked for it. First off I am Biased. I have been following Dave Emery's posts and information about the Pulse Devil for many years. I am a believer that he really has something beyond today's detectors. His pulse devil PD1000 and his lower cost Nemesis versions will be out by X-mas. His discriminating PI will probably blow away all
current coin/relic machines in the depth and depth of TID areas.

Cost will be around $2000 for the PD1000 and probably $1400(guess) for the Nemesis versions. He is going to give Minelab a run for their money.

BIASED- YOU BETCHA- Just you wait- you heard it here first.
George

 

[Michigan Badger]

He is going to give Minelab a run for their money.

George

Gosh I hope so George. I really appreciate your keeping up on this.

I've been a treasure hunter on a small scale for 40 years now and today have zero brand loyalty. I say let he who can makes the best detector get the sales.

I really like Tesoros and Minelabs but I'd drop them in a John Wayne minute if somebody made a better coin/relic machine.

A detector is a tool--not a god.

 

[EasyMoney]

That's a good question about me working at White's. I really don't like White's metal detectors much at all, but I do think they made a very good Pulse detector. I gave it a 5 in metaldetectorreviews.

No, I don't work for Whites, but I did put a roof on the Production Supervisor's house back in the 90's as a contractor. As for realities though, here is one for all;

Back in the mid-80's my friend and I searched an expensive university one Sunday. I was using a Bounty Hunter vlf-tr 800, a cheapie. He was using a White's 6db. In following right in his footsteps I located a very strong sounding target right next to one that cancelled out as a bottle cap. His detector cancelled it one way and almost located it the other. I dug it up and Wow it was a pinkish-colored signature ring with no name on it! I was made in Europe and weighed in at almost 3/4 oz of 18kt rose gold! I sold the ring for $800.

The White's could not discriminate as well as the Bounty Hunter. I tried to tell my friend this before he bought the White's, but he was brand-loyal, and wouldn't believe what I told him until it hurt him in his pocket. He knew that I was a repairman too, because I repaired his detectors and those of a multi-brand dealer in the area. I got my experiences in electronics from a college course and from working as an electronics mechanic at a nuclear toredo station for the US Government.

My friend was pretty unhappy about the ring situation. While I continued searching I heard a strange noise. I turned around to see him wrapping his White's around the nearest tree. He pulled out his bayonette and stabbed the thing right through the ten-ringer. That evening he wrapped it up and sent it to White's with a note saying; "I killed it". White's sent him a brand new detector of his choice. He picked a 5900. The detector stayed for many years hung up on the production wall with a note about "poor quality control". The production supervisor confirmed this too.

No, I never have cared for White's much at all, in fact, if Fisher didn't bite the dust the way it did I'd buy mostly Fishers and be happy with them. I would also get a Tesoro for the light weight, but I would ALWAYS keep a Compass as my main weapon.. The fact is though, that people in this game are emensely brand-loyal, even to the point of letting someone take a rose gold ring away from them because of that personality weakness.

And yes, my experience is that a well-tuned Compass in the Challenger x-100 and especially x-200 and GoldScanner series will beat a Minelab of equal type coin machine any day of the week with an equivalent size coil in medium to bad soil.. This is not an opinion, it is a proven fact. Some people say a Tejon will too. In mild soil it actually does, because I've seen it. And we ALL know a Nautilus will with relics. Competition hunts prove that too, proven and documented. Explorers are fun to play with though, if that's someone's game.

HH all. And no, this is not a brand war. It's an intelligent discussion about metal detecting. With a few opinions tossed in here and there.

 

[bigben]

I'm some what new to the hobby, but I have owned a couple of Bounty hunters in the past. Now I'm sad as I just last week purchased a new Minelab Cobra, buy the way I still have a old Bounty Hunter. Can any one give me some insight on this MD (Cobra)?

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Welcome to TN bigben,

Cobra is not a Minelab, just my personal opinion, but it is junk, I bought one from Kellyco, and returned it the next day.

My advise would be to run, not walk to where you got it and return it ASAP, even if you have to pay a restocking fee, then buy you something you can use for years.

If you post what kind of water hunting you want to do, (fresh, salt, in water, wet sand) and your price range, there are many here who will be happy to help you.

 

[erikk]

I am just curious if EasyMoney possibly works at the Whites facility in Sweet Home, OR. ?

Ed D.