beginning to realise ACE 250s limitations

[hollowpointred]

i think i am just beginning to realise the limitations of my ace 250. when i first detect a site, i have been finding a lot of targets to about 4 inches at the deepest.but when i go back over the site in all metal mode, with the sensitivity cranked up, i still don't find any coins deeper than 4 inches. is it possible that the weaker signals from deep coins and those turned on their sides are not strong enough to trigger the target id and belltones of the ace 250? i am beginning to think i may be outgrowing the ace. what is a good choice for a coinshooting machine in the $1000 and under range? i have been reading good things about the whites xlt and mxt, but then there is also the Garrett gti 2500 as well.and i haven't even started looking into the tesoro,minelab and fisher machines yet! any thoughts?

 

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[Leon]

Are ya sure there is anything past 4 inches? I would think the ACE250 would go deeper than that after all I've heard about them...
I have the luxury of having a partner with a EX II and sometime when he run across a deepie, he will let me see if I can pick it up with mine... Makes it real intersting seeing how the two compare. Most of the time I can detect what he does, but sometime a coin on edge will get past the CZ-3D and sound very iffy...

I'm a long ways from being an expert on this one, but... I would go with Minelab Explorer II. I have used one a few times, and have seen them in operation, they will go deep, and their also good at finding coins on edge, ex-specially with the 10-1/2" coil...
Next in line for me would be one of the new Fishers, They are very well know for their depth...
Good luck in your choice, & Happy hunting!

 

[stoney56]

I'd be interested to see if the meter pegs on the coin range without setting off the tones. Just curious.

 

[dano91]

Moisture seems to be the only problem I've seen, mostly in sand or gravel after or during rain.
My 250 has been hitting things at 8" with the power turned up to 5 notches. I try not to use the read out, its a bit jumpy.
I use all metal mode with only iron discriminated out.

 

[hollowpointred]

i too have found coins at 8 inches dano,but they all seem to have one thing in common. they have all been laying flat with the most surface area facing up.......leon..... of course i cant be certain that there is anything deeper,but it just seems strange. i posted something of Fri about a site i found that held older coins. when i returned to work the site more thoroughly,i came up with nothing.logic tells me there HAS to be more there.on the first pass i quickly scanned the area and didn't overlap my swings. i was trying to cover a lot of ground. i had to have left targets in the ground. i have done this at several sites that were productive,kinda quickly scanned the area and took the shallow stuff then went back to really slow down and look for deeper stuff and i always get the same result. i only get large iron hits at deeper depths. its got me wondering.thanks for the help!

 

[hollowpointred]

sorry stoney i kind of left you hangin there! thats an interesting idea you have. i dont know if the target id is showing anything and the machine is just not ringing a tone. i will pay closer attention to the target id display next time i go out to this site. i did leave a lot of iffy signals in the ground up there and im going to go back soon to dig them and see what they are.

 

[dudes2112]

Mine is detecting mostly trash in the over 4" range so I was wondering as well. I buried a dime and quarter in my back yard at 6" to test it out. I can pick up both coins but their ID jumps all over the place in the coin section, from a penny up to $1 depending on the direction of my swing. So it will pick up the deeper stuff, but the ID is lacking on anything over 4" on a sensitivity of 4 or 5. At least on mine. It can't be beat from the 1'-4' range though.

Dudes

 

[hollowpointred]

thats interesting dudes! what did the belltone do when you scanned over those "iffy" coins? did it ring solidly or did it only ring in one direction,kind of intermittantly? i have noticed some indecision in my ace as well but if i didnt get a solid belltone i assumed it was trash. maybe ive been wrong in thinking that way!

 

[rusty nails]

the last penny i found on edge was 6" deep (in my yard) the ace 250 gave a undecided ding dong then went i pulled out the massive plug saw the coin on its side it went crazy - by the way it was a regular penny - 82' - it did not have that decisive pinball sound like when u have one thats 2" down
LBP in a 100 deg. warehouse wore out , dirty and ready to go home !

 

[stoney56]

I also wonder if the 250 gives a more iffy signal on a zinc cent vs. a copper one, since there's a difference in metal content.

 

[rvbvetter]

My old Garrett ADS would give a kind of half bell tone on zinc pennys. I guess you could say not quite the normal echo or reverberation, as it would on a copper or dime and so on. In 1982 the penny was copper for the first half of the year and zinc the latter half. On my minelab the tone doesn't get as high a pitch on a zinc either.
My only knock on so called ( entry level ) machines, is that it seems often times people, after owning it a short time run up against its limitations and have to look at putting out a sizable chunk of money to upgrade. After having put out a fair size bit of money only a short time back.
It's just my opinion, and possibly mine alone, but i think a person should start with a mid level or priced detector. Where it has more room to grow into and enjoy longer, and also at an overall less cost.
Okay you can start throwing the tomatos now, and take it easy with those cabbages will ya?!!
HH

 

[stoney56]

?
? ? Okay you can start throwing the tomatos now, and take it easy with those cabbages will ya?!!
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? HH

Not a problem rvbvetter. Will make sure they're cooked first. :P The reason I was asking is that was wanting to get either a backup detector for myself or a machine for the wife and kind of narrowed it down to this or a Tesoro Siver Sabre uMax. Both are itght fairly easy yo operate. She's not a tech. wizard so I figure if she can operate a microwave, she can use on of these.

 

[rusty nails]

maybe its like in the old days when people would start their kids out hunting with a .410 shotgun - because it did not kick - but in reality it is really a good gun for guys/ladies who can shoot the eyes out of an ant - when using it often u would get better than the rest - i know when i hunt junk in my yard then go out where there's really good stuff - i kick butt - sorta like the 410 analogy - I will upgrade someday - little lefty bass will start out with 250 - LBP

 

[dudes2112]

Hollow,

Generally it would ring out one coin on a right to left swing and then another coin on the left to right swing or sometimes only give a signal on one swing direction like you mentioned. The crazy thing is, if I turn 90 degrees and swing again, I may get a third coin reading that will jump on the return swing, or give no signal on one of the directions. All in all it would always be ringing in the coin section but the ID was not so good.

I was having this problem many times in the field and would leave a target I couldn't get a good read on since it was 6" down and I was in a park, the deeper the hole, the harder it is to be neat, at least for me... I dug a few of the iffy signals and would come up with junk but also I was never getting any silver which I thought was probably just due to the locations I had chosen to hunt. But maybe some of those varying targets are coins at the 6" to 8" level. That's when I buried the coins in my yard and here we are. I've gone back to several of the sites where I had been passing up the deeper undecided signals and so far they have all been junk. Still learning....

Dudes

 

[hollowpointred]

thanks dudes! im still learning as well. but learning a bit faster than before! im going to pay another visit to this site and dig some of those weak iffy signals just for the hell of it and see what comes up.i know there is silver and old wheats there, i found them already.....but only a few! logic tells me there has to more!! i would like to upgrade to a better machine in the near future though. a good coinshooting machine that can reach down to where the old stuff is and can also get a read on some of those turned on edge targets we were talking about.so far ive been eyeing the whites xlt,mxt and the minelab explorer 2.can anyone offer any opinions/info on any of these machines?how about suggestions on other good coinshooting machines.

 

[rvbvetter]

Now don't take this as the definitive word. After all, who would, from a guy that's covered in tomatos and cooked cabbage leafs.
I've never had the XLT or MXT, but a few months back i got the EXP II and Whites Dfx. And have been very happy with my choice, and the performance i've been getting from them.
And would have no problem recommending either one.
There's another machine i've been looking at, and that's the Fisher CZ 3D. I know next to nothing about them though. But if you consider that one. Then you might want to talk with Leon, from the forum here, about his. HH

 

[bakergeol]

So Hollowpointred you now want to go after deep coins. The three links I am giving you are sort of out of the mainstream but they should give you food for thought.

Of the three detectors you mentioned I have only used the Explorer 11. I felt it was the best coin hunter I ever owned. Here is a link on finding deep coins with the Explorer WOT coil. Yes you can find coins that deep.

http://groups.msn.com/MinelabExplorerXSusers/wotcoiltips.msnw
I do longer use the Ex11 as it was not suited for the objects I was looking for and it was too heavy and unbalanced for me. It is expensive with a long learning curve.-

The deepest VLF with discrimination is the Nautilus. Although known as a relict hunter it will detect deep coins. It is heavy with a lot of frequent adjustment and lacks modern VDI. Used by the few coin hunters who think "outside the box" Here is a link to finding deep coins with the Nautilus.

http://www.findmall.com/old_forums/index.php?showtopic=913


I would also look at the new Treasure Baron. Here is a link
http://jb-ms.com/Baron/


George

 

[hollowpointred]

thanks for your advise and suggestions,i really appreciate it!