Starter Detector Recommendation

[bergie]

I see lots of people asking for advice about detectors for starting out. I'd recommend the Radio Shack Discovery 1100. I just went and bought a second one for $79 on sale today. I had every excuse to upgrade since mine snapped yesterday (this was my fault, not the detector), but it's worked very well for me since I bought the same one for $150 almost a year ago. I could afford to get a higher priced one, but I like the fact that this is simple to use and works well. I think when you are starting out, the less complex the better, because it makes it easier to enjoy the hobby. This is a Bounty Hunter detector made for Radio Shack, as many of you know. Now I am going to fix up the one I snapped, it's still very usable, and have a second one for taking someone along with me or whatever. For $79, I couldn't pass it up. This way if you don't end up liking the hobby, you aren't out a whole bunch of money. By the way, they had a "Jr." detector for the little ones. Kind of cool.

 

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[alderhills]

Our son, aged 10, wanted a detector from Santa. I searched everywhere for information on a 'starter detector' and finally decided on a BH Tracker IV. I think someone on this site mentioned it worked well. It has. Our son didn't get to use it on Christmas because it was raining buckets, but Sunday was lovely. Then we discovered that 'Santa' forgot batteries, alkaline ones. After begging for batteries from the neighbors, we managed to get two. Then, he was off. He found a quarter (that was ok), an old pull tab (it must have been a relic, he had no idea what it was for!!!), and then part of a cast iron stove door in the field in front of the house. He was very excited!! He also found a washer and a broken kick starter for a motorcycle. We have a box now, it is marked: Jon's finds. He is having a ball! He even tried to go under the deck with it! He decided that was too much work, the detector beeped too much!! He figured that there must be too many screws and nails under there. He knows there are old horseshoes and nails, but he said he'd save it for a different day.

 

[Smitty in Atlanta GA]

Good thing about kids with metal detectors is you can thow'em a hand full of change out in the yard and mash it into the ground with your foot when they're not looking and it'll keep'em busy for days finding all that old treasure which is lot cheaper than taking them to an arcade or movies. Plus you don't have to set in the noisy malls waiting on them to get finished.

Smitty