All around detector question

Crickhunter

Greenie
May 30, 2011
12
0
Palm Springs, Florida
Hello all. I'm new here obviously. Had a friend in NC on vacation take me prospecting with him in a crik (proper pronunciation) and I found my first flakes of gold. Had a blast. I also live in South East Florida. Which leads me to my question.

I'm looking to find a detector that will A: work in shallow creeks (say 2 feet depth or less) for gold, B: also work for relic and coin hunting while I'm at home as well, and C: comes in around 700 or less.

Is this an impossible task? I appreciate your input.

Steve
 

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Tom_in_CA

Gold Member
Mar 23, 2007
13,837
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Salinas, CA
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Explorer II, Compass 77b, Tesoro shadow X2
There are a few detectors made that can go back and forth between both venues of metal detecting. The MXT is one that comes to mind. But the problem is, none of these "crossover" detectors is going to excell in either venue. There will be better nugget/prospecting machines, and there will be better coin/jewelry/relic machines.

It's no simple task to design a machine that can effortlessly switch back and forth with merely adjusting some knobs/controls. The goals of each venue, when you think of it, is opposed. The nugget guy needs to find teeeesnnnsy pinhead, grain-of-rice, and crumb type nuggets, right? (that is the normal size of naturally occuring gold in nature. A pea sized nugget or larger is veerrryy rare). So a machine designed to be squirelly sensitive enough to do this job, has to be designed form the ground up, *just* for this purpose.

And on the other hand, a coin/relic/jewelry guy DOESN'T want to hear every single piece of birdshot, staple, paperclip, fleck, nail, etc.... So it's not a simple task to make a machine that can go back and forth. If you're not too gung-ho in either dept, the MXT is sufficient to get started.
 

Smudge

Bronze Member
Jul 9, 2010
1,532
44
Central Florida
Detector(s) used
A Propointer tied to a stick
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I'd talk to Mike at Woodland. :icon_thumleft:

Take a look at the Tesoro Lobo.

Great on gold and can be used for coin and jewelry hunting on land.
 

Woodland Detectors

Gold Member
Nov 23, 2008
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Smudge said:
I'd talk to Mike at Woodland. :icon_thumleft:

Take a look at the Tesoro Lobo.

Great on gold and can be used for coin and jewelry hunting on land.
Good Choice Scott. Don't forget Tesoro's Lifetime warranty.... That or the Minelab Eureka Gold. The Eueka gold is fantastic on nuggets, and with a coil change, you can turn it into a good relic machine.
 

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Crickhunter

Greenie
May 30, 2011
12
0
Palm Springs, Florida
Thanks fellas. Mike I'll prolly call you tomorrow. Most of the gold where I'm looking, at least I'm told, is more along the lines of flakes and very small nuggets (smaller than bb's). When I'm in NC I'll use it mostly for gold hunting in streams and relic hunting in extreme western NC. But, while I'm sitting down here in ol south Florida I'd like to use it here and there.
 

Woodland Detectors

Gold Member
Nov 23, 2008
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Crickhunter said:
Thanks fellas. Mike I'll prolly call you tomorrow. Most of the gold where I'm looking, at least I'm told, is more along the lines of flakes and very small nuggets (smaller than bb's). When I'm in NC I'll use it mostly for gold hunting in streams and relic hunting in extreme western NC. But, while I'm sitting down here in ol south Florida I'd like to use it here and there.
Please take into consideration, flakes and tiny nuggets wont report to the control boxes of even the best gold machines. Panning is the only way to retrieve.
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Listen to Tom of CA. as you could easiely use two detectors to enjoy the hobby more.
 

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Crickhunter

Greenie
May 30, 2011
12
0
Palm Springs, Florida
Thanks Mike. Didn't know that. We were panning and that's what got me fascinated with gold hunting. That's why I'm here though, to learn. I still may be interested though. I'm not sure whether there's places close to the far west of NC (murphy, franklin, blue ridge (ga) area that hold nuggets but I'm willing to investigate. I'll still call you just to talk about detectors. Taxes are coming back (I hope), so I may be able to gift myself a present.

So far I've looked at (online) the Gold Bug pro, MXT, Xterra 705, Tesoro Lobo (since you mentioned it) Whites M6. Looking to spend between 5 and 7 hundred (unless I can find a good used one a little cheaper-that would make wifey happy).

Sandman I don't think I could talk the wifey into two detectors, not ready to try to jump that hurdle yet :-)

Smudge and Tom thanks again.

Steve
 

AUDuke

Sr. Member
Apr 20, 2008
318
7
Quartzsite AZ
Detector(s) used
TDI, GB, GM-4, Vaquero, F75, Cibola, Compadre, Stingray, ML Explorer
The Gold Bug Pro will find a 1 grain piece of gold and is a very good all around detector for coin and relic hunting. I use the GB pro in Az. for nugget hunting in the winter and for coin hunting in the summer in the mid west. I have about a dozen detectors and the GB Pro is my favorite for Nuggets and coin hunting in trashy areas. It also sells for less than $700.
 

Swartzie

Hero Member
Mar 15, 2009
791
52
Tuscarawas County, Ohio
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Tejon
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Whatever you get I would make sure it will run in a true all metal mode. True all metal is very sensitive and will pick up tiny little pieces of metal. My Tesoro Tejon will pick up birdshot when I run it in all metal. I run into the stuff all the time when I'm relic hunting. I have been told that if a machine will detect birdshot then it can detect flakes of gold. There is a difference between true all metal and just using zero discrimination. Article on the here: http://www.akmining.com/forums/showthread.php/722-All-Metal-versus-Zero-Discrimination

-Swartzie
 

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Crickhunter

Greenie
May 30, 2011
12
0
Palm Springs, Florida
I haven't forgotten you or avoided you Mike. I'm just kind of waiting on my taxes to see when I get them. I've been doing a lot of reading and searching as well. I know you'll have much more detailed information when I do call. So far the one's that peaked my interest based on what I want to do and how much I have to spend are as follows:

Gold Bug Pro
Xterra 705
Tesoros Lobo

Gotta stay around 600 dollars or so.

Seems I'm gonna need a pin pointer and a few tools as well so we'll see. I'm still gonna call you, just waiting on the word from the IRS........boy that's dangerous.

Steve
 

Woodland Detectors

Gold Member
Nov 23, 2008
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Crickhunter said:
I haven't forgotten you or avoided you Mike. I'm just kind of waiting on my taxes to see when I get them. I've been doing a lot of reading and searching as well. I know you'll have much more detailed information when I do call. So far the one's that peaked my interest based on what I want to do and how much I have to spend are as follows:

Gold Bug Pro
Xterra 705
Tesoros Lobo

Gotta stay around 600 dollars or so.

Seems I'm gonna need a pin pointer and a few tools as well so we'll see. I'm still gonna call you, just waiting on the word from the IRS........boy that's dangerous.

Steve
No worries. I just want to see you are well taken care of and not misled.
 

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