Dad's Coinmaster

[Coffeemates]

I'm looking for some advice. I just got my hands on a Coinmaster 5500/D series 3 detector. It belonged to a family member. It's in great shape. I've practiced with it in the back yard burying different things.

Is this still a good tool or has the technology progressed so much that I should consider looking for a newer detector.

I'd like to use it on a beach and of course on my local spots.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

[Sandman]

New detectors have gotten lighter with faster responses, but this will still provide a lot of fun and many coins. On the beach this will do fair on the dry sand but the wet sand will cause it to go crazy for lack of a better word. Many detectors can't handle the wet sand either.

[Diggerbarns]

One could only WISH technology has made the old whites obsolete.As sandman said newer ones are improved but when it comes down to it they still work on the same old principal.I think its way overdue for some breakthrough technology.What will detectors of the future be?

[UncleVinnys]

Kinda the same thing happened to me.
I left the old Coinmaster in the garage for 20 years, then got a renewed
interest in it.
It worked VERY well, and I'd advise you don't go out and buy any
new ones until you've explored all the opportunities with the older one.
Sure, newer models may have more bells and whistles, but there is at least
6 months of learning you can do on the old clunker, and get to know the
hobby.

Start off in sand lots or tot lots. Get to know the signals.
See how deep you can go to get the coins.
Hone your pin-pointing skills.
Decide what you like - - i.e., relic hunting or coins or whatever.

If half you time is spend digging up pull tabs, then you will need
learn to appreciate a discrimination circuit.
I found for example that everyone seems to be talking about
"going deep" but I found plenty of coins in the top 2 inches in my
area, and I prefer that as opposed to digging half-hour 9-inch holes
that destroy lawns and are harder to pin-point.

Good luck, and welcome to the hobby!
I found after the first two weeks I was averaging 10 to 12 coins an hour,
and gradually lowered the pull-tab count.
Then I learned how not to scratch the coins while digging.
Plenty of skills you can learn on an old machine as you evaluate
what the next step is for yourself.

[Sarge]

I started with a White's 4900D Coinmaster. It was a great machine & I found many neat things with it.

You can never go wrong with a White's no matter what the age.

[Noodle]

I bought my first detector, a CoinMaster, at a garage sale back in the early 1980s. Had a ball with it, except the batteries didn't hold up too well. I still have it, though, but decided in the 2004s or so to go with a new model. Spent a small amount on a Garrett Ace 250 and am still having fun with it. Batteries last forever, plus it has the ability to differentiate between iron/gold/silver/junk signals. And it's pretty cheap. Go see Garrett at kellyco.com. New technology since the early-gas-shortage days.

[Lizard-Prince]

Hi! I am all around cheaking new users of our faithfull and never forgotten coinmasters,and if you look close under my avatar information you can spot my benevolent friend.Thanks to my "Magic baby" 5000 series 2 I continue to enjoy esporadical useage with him and every time I find an honerable share of goodies.Why esporadical? Because I have to decide over 5 machines I own to give all an even fair shot to prove their honer.You go ahead and give him him a work out,I used baby for 2 years before getting my next unit.I have done some tradeins over the years to try Whites or Garrett updates but baby has remained in the family for the better part of 26 years now.If you get stuck in any way in the funtion of it maybe we can compair knobs information and get you going in the right direction.If you need anything just drop me a pm.So long yours truely "Lizard Prince" Ralph