ADVICE PLEASE

[saltydog1733]

I am looking for suggestions for a good discriminating detector for trashy areas, hopefully one with a good iron masking feature. I want to find coins and jewelry. A PI unit is all I have ever used in the past. Price is not an issue. Suggestions?

Thanks!

 

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[Frankn]

Saltydog, I don't think you are going to find what you are looking for. I haven't seen a detector yet that is dead on. The detector works on trying to identify objects using a ratio of return to transmitted signal and matching this against a list of probable targets in it's memory. The problem lies in that several targets have the same return ratio. Frank

 

[stevemc]

Yes, the discrimination thing is not real good on any of them. But some do let you know a "range" of conductivity on the target, but still it is not a definite. Both meters and sounds, dont go by them until you are certain you know what it is saying, and still then you should dig it all if in a new area or target rich area. Gold jewelry can sound just like an aluminum pull tab, the pre 1972 type-especially if it is folded over, which there are still billions of them out there, and foil, aluminum bottle caps, all sound like gold rings, so you never know. Plus gold jewelry is all over the board, so are coins, they are alloys or differing amounts, with the conductivity, or what they sound like or meter like is all over the place, depth can effect that too. Most detectors work worse in conductive soils-the opposite of a PI. But Minelab makes some that will actually let you know there is iron under the coil. Explorer, Soverien, Excalibur. Fisher makes some that also disc well-the CZ lines. What kind of soils will you be working? Saltwater, salty wet sand, iron soil(Red clay), black sands, or regular sand and soil? That might help us get you closer to a good unit. What ever unit, you will need to get used to how it is set up, ways to work different soils, and what it is saying to you. That all takes some time and field work. Also, there is no single detector that will do it all, just like there is no single purpose auto, or fishing rod, or TV, or clothes, or shoes, that can do it all. You will most likely, like most of us here, own several metal detectors, and use them all. I own 4 PIs, an Excal, and a single band VLF. I have owned TRs, other VLF detectors in the past. 2 of my PIs, actually 3 of them are not good gold jewelry finders, but do work for other types of work.

 

[saltydog1733]

Well there sure are a lot of different brands and models that claim to discriminate, tell you if you have found iron or coins or jewelry before you dig-some even estimate the depth for you.

Nobody has any suggestions?

 

[Sandman]

Steve gave very good advice. Most VLF detectors hav e good disc abilities, but the trouble is they can mast out gold and coins if you are disc out Iron and the good target is close to the Iron. Your Excal and the Sov GT are not troubled with iron mask and will report on a gold ring under a nail unlike other VLF's. If the SOV GT was waterproof it would be the perfect beach machine.

 

[therover]

If the unit you are looking for is to be used in trashy land sites, where iron abounds and you are looking for gold jewelry as well as coins, then I would suggest the G2 or Gold Bug Pro.

Super fast recovery, hot on low conductors, light weight and the ability to set the tone break point, as well as target ID. Plus, they have auto and manual override ground balance features and can be ground balanced in the wet, salt sand if you wanted to take a trip to the beach.

They are not depth demons in the wet sand ( they are SUPER dry sand hunters) , but they can run there and are quite stable ( at least my Gold Bug SE running the 11 inch DD is).

For trashy sites and tot lot adventures, start out with the smaller coil.

Just bear in mind, these units will hit hard on foil and aluminum so if you are in a spot where there is a lot of that garbage, dig the targets that ID 65 and above if strictly coin hunting, unless you are also gold jewelry hunting, where you then have to dig all the mid range numbers anyway.

Only bad thing I can say about these units is, they like bottle caps and will ID a lot of them if shallow, like a quarter !

 

[kayden]

I am looking for suggestions for a good discriminating detector for trashy areas, hopefully one with a good iron masking feature. I want to find coins and jewelry. A PI unit is all I have ever used in the past. Price is not an issue. Suggestions?

Thanks!

If you find a detector that good ...please let me know im buying it!

 

[iCandy]

Simply doesn't exist bud. Gotta go through the trash to get the treasure. Trust me, I'm 30 with 30 plus yrs experience. Ask my mom. They even had to use 4 kt gold forcepts to pry me out of the womb. Tried using some cheapy ones....& I guess when they pulled them out they had bite marks on them

 

[Michigan Badger]

I've used all the brands and models that count. Working around iron masking is not solved with any brand or model of metal detector. Some things that do matter are size & types of coils and experience.

Badger

 

[George (MN)]

My favorite so far, Garrett AT Pro. It comes with 8.5x11.5 DD coil that can handle mineralization & gets good depth, especially if using manual ground balance. It has 40 step iron disc, and the iron sound can be on or off. STD mode quiet & stable. Pro mode can detect dime under nail.

It will detect small gold nuggets but not flakes.

The ID at depth is amonst the best, 7" deep dime IDed correctly every pass #s 80-85 & high tone. In dry,hard ground, with some minerals. The DD coil also gives good separation in trashy areas.

AT Pro is very quiet on rejected objects & has stability that allows sensitivity to be at ot near maximum, except under powerlines or on wet salt beaches or in ocean. Has simple programs auto notches.

It's high frequency increases depth on low conductors, like nickels and gold. Air test STD mode sens 7 of 8 dime 10" 25c 11" nickel 12".

Gold objects like rings will probably bounce less than odd-shaped objects.

I've turned the disc way up (rejecting most gold) & dug very little trash, with nearly every object being small & round. Seems no loss of depth on clad when turning the disc way up & presumably same is true with silver.

Detector can go underwater to 10', & best concentration of gold rings with least pulltabs is waist-deep water that shrivels fingers.

The weight is just over 3 lbs. Uses 4 AAs. MAP price is $595. Some may sell cheaper in e-mail or on phone. Display somewhat hard to read.

Just got Teknetics G2, same innards as Gold Bug Pro DP. It gets my 5"+ slighly tilted dime loud with ID jumping between dime & zinc. Still hear it easily with coil raised 2-3". Separates real good. Larger displat than AT Pro. Has ground phase readout to tell you when you need to redo ground
balance. Uses 1 9 volt. Best wishes, George (MN)

 

[justanotherbarber]

Hey George. What part of MN are you in? I'm from the Fargo, Moorhead area. The soil is the best in the country for detecting, except the Iron Range area in the NE part of the state and I had really great luck with the Explorer. If you are around that area look up James ND. That guy is a deamon with the Explorer. There are a few times that his detector didnt make a sound on a target and he was able to tell what it was just by the numbers.

 

[greydigger]

My first detector was a cheap one from a mail order catalog.
Where metal was it would beep.
I dug a lot of pull tabs and some coins.
But once I dug a tab and rechecked th hole - still something.
Got a very nice fat gold chain.
Paid for my MXT.
Discriminate too much and you may lose the good stuff.
Grey

 

[Swartzie]

For a trashy area something with fast recovery will work well. My Tejon is very fast and works well in rejecting iron. However, the discrimination is pretty generic since it's a relic machine. But, I would look for something that is fast on recovery.

-Swartzie

 

[saltydog1733]

Thank you all for your input and advice.