Golden uMax ?

sandnut

Full Member
Nov 17, 2010
149
62
Florida
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Bandido II uMax , Tesoro Silver uMax, Minelab Excalibur 1000
Primary Interest:
Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
I have a Silver uMax and I love this machine. I was wondering if the Golden would help me with the environment that I am in. I hunt in very trashy environments behind 2 very large bars on the beach. There is every thing there bottle tops, cans galore, pull tabs, foil, screw caps, its like hunting in the bottom of a trash can. It is not that I have not found anything with the Silver, I have 26 grams of silver just during spring break. I know 26 grams is not that much for some but for me its alot. We just don't get the gold here. Anyway will the Golden work just as well in this target rich environment or should I just stick with the Silver? Thank you for any help in this matter!!!
 

SpiritRelic

Hero Member
Sep 16, 2012
899
117
The golden is designed for the worst trash conditions.If you did get a golden it would compliment the silver really well.You can trade coils.The golden can go into heavy trash areas and pick out good targets with ease. :-D
 

olfacere

Full Member
Feb 22, 2013
154
61
Georgia, US
Detector(s) used
Tesoro MicroMax Silver
Garrett Pro Pinpointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I own a MicroMax Silver and love it. The MicroMax Gold has a few more features, but I'm not sure that they would result in better performance in your situation. What does the MicroMax Gold have that the Silver doesn't?

1) Notch Discrimination
2) Manual Threshold Control
3) No-Motion All Metal Mode
4) 4-tone Audio Feedback

The Notch discrimination is only useful for coin hunting. If your targets are so standardised that you already know their shape, size, and composition (like coins), then notch discrimination will give you the ability to pick out all the coins and leave the jewelry, pull tabs, and so forth. If your targets really are that predictable, then notch discrimination makes sense. If you don't think you'll ever want to ignore everything but coins, then it's basically useless.

Manual threshold control is a nice feature to have (I kind of wish it was on the Silver too), but it's mostly useful for maximising detection depth/radius in the absence of trash. If there's metallic trash under the coil, your threshold-based advantage will disappear. No-Motion All Metal mode is nice (I wouldn't mind having it), but I have a Garrett Pro Pointer, so I already have a short-range, no-motion device.

The most notable difference is the 4-tone audio system. The Silver provides only one tone with a bunch of different qualities. The Gold provides four tones, each one representing a different conductivity (discrimination) level and bearing similar signal qualities to those of the Silver. This is the only one that might be a significant help in target-rich areas. Honestly, if I were you, I would put that money into a specialty coil for the Silver.

Check out this listing from Kellyco (link below). The first section you see will be regular search coils for Tesoros. The first three rows won't fit the Silver, but are only for the higher-priced (H.O.T.) Tesoro systems. The next three rows of coils will fit the Silver. In the section below that, there are the EXcelerator coils from DeTech. Two of those will fit the Silver. Personally, I haven't ever tried the EXcelerator coils, but I've got my eye on the 12"x10" butterfly (similar to DD, but works around a few drawbacks). If I were about to throw $200 at metal detecting equipment, that's what I would get for my MicroMax Silver.

Metal Detector Search Coils For Sale - Kellyco Metal Detectors
 

mel9861

Newbie
Jul 2, 2011
4
1
Hi,
I have a silver umax also. It took a while to get used to it and even now I continue to learn how to "read" the chirps... Still digging soda cans and screw tops...but won't miss any dimes - ever.
I put a "w i d e scan " coil on it last year and I feel it is the best thing I ever did, makes it not as chatty and when there is a target worth diggin it really is un-mistakable - clean and loud. I still avoid and dislike trashy areas, but that's where the treasures are. At times I will run ALL METAL and flip to dsc to see where it might drop out. Its the silvers best feature...that AM switch and the thumb dsc. good luck learning your silver, my next MD will no doubt be the golden, and the wide scan will screw right in. Go for the wide scan if you can, you will not be dissapointed
 

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