Being unbiased, best depth detector

[49er12]

Once again giving a unbiased opinion, what’s the best depth detector regardless of price, is there a machine for 1000 bucks, ok if u used one give your opinion on your experience, I no regardless go slow but what’s the fact of the matter not a brand preference thanks

 

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[Icewing]

I know the XP Deus can run deeper than most.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

49-er-12, you have not said the size of objects that your objective is for. Eg.: Coins ? nuggets ? Volkswagons (caches) or what ?

Let's just assume, for the moment, that you mean individual coins. Then: Hands down, there is Minelab nugget machines,like the GPX 5000. That can get a coin to well over 1.5 ft. deep. That will spank any wussy coin machine (like the XP dues and the CZ 6 and the 1266, etc....) by multiple inches !! Who can argue with depth like that, eh ? And as for caches, I have no doubts that this GPX 5000 will match or exceed the depth of 2 box machines like a TM-808 . Who can argue with that, eh ?

But the devil will forever be in the details. Go ahead and take this "deepest seeking machine" out to the nearest ghost town (for caches) or parks (for coins). And report back to us how it works. I believe you will quickly see that asking "what is the deepest seeker machine" is not the only question you should be asking . Doh !

 

[Terry Soloman]

The deepest machines on the market are Pulse Induction. The size of the coil matters, as does the frequency when using a VLF machine. The XP Deus; Minelab E-trac; CTX 3030; will get you down to 16" with the right coils and settings.

Depth is not that important unless you are hunting relics or Civil War trash pits, as most good stuff is found between 4" and 11" deep.

 

[IDXMonster]

The deepest machines on the market are Pulse Induction. The size of the coil matters, as does the frequency when using a VLF machine. The XP Deus; Minelab E-trac; CTX 3030; will get you down to 16" with the right coils and settings.

Depth is not that important unless you are hunting relics or Civil War trash pits, as most good stuff is found between 4" and 11" deep.

“Between 4” and 11” deep”....this is where 99% of my old copper and silver coins have come from,spot on Terry. Of course this 11” depth is where most machines peter out on a quarter and won’t give ID,if a signal at all. But it has been where basically all of mine have come from. Other Conductive garbage-type items and small iron REALLY wreak havoc when trying to “see deep”! So we use processing,speed and newer tech to try and weed it all out. Good post!

 

[Tpmetal]

The deepest machines on the market are Pulse Induction. The size of the coil matters, as does the frequency when using a VLF machine. The XP Deus; Minelab E-trac; CTX 3030; will get you down to 16" with the right coils and settings.

Depth is not that important unless you are hunting relics or Civil War trash pits, as most good stuff is found between 4" and 11" deep.

Yes mostly true, Though it largely depends on the site. I have at least one or two I know of that would have stuff easily over 12 inches, and have dug lots of goodies over 12 inches there. So though usually true, a lot of my best stuff(both my seated halfs, some seated quarters, and some large cents, silver pocket watch, other silvers) all these were 12+inches deep. I have been considering a pi for these types of sites that have less trash.

 

[A2coins]

It depends on many variables ground mineralization so many things that the question really can't be answered in a general way plus detector settings ECT ect

 

[smokeythecat]

Terry stated it well. If you are in the middle of nowhere a pi machine is deepest. In nails like he said the Deus, etrac
3030 or a few others.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... If you are in the middle of nowhere a pi machine is deepest. In nails like he said the Deus, e
3030 or a few others.

And humorously, there will be well-meaning newbies who will insist that they want "depth at all costs". And when you warn them that those "deepest seeking machines" will ring the bells of Notre Dame over every single nail, staple, BB, etc.... they will insist they're willing to "dig all" in order to "get the most depth".

But I have a sneaking suspicion that they will quickly go psycho, if they tried to do that.

For example: There is a certain park in San Francisco CA, where thousands of silver has come out of a certain field at this park, over the past 40-ish years. And it has always been perfectly stratified, where .... the 1940s silver was, for example, 6" deep. And the 1920s silver was 7 or 8" deep. And the 1900-ish losses (barbers) were 8 to 10" deep, etc... And we know for a fact that this field was heavily used in the 1870s to 1900. Thus it stood-to-reason that seateds were "just out of reach". Eh ?

So one day, my buddy and I decided we'd take a Minelab GPX 5000 there, which can effortlessly get coins to 1.5 ft. deep ! Who could ask for anything more, eh ? Certainly seated coins will be "jumping out of the ground" , eh ? We were in for a big surprise, when we realized we could scarcely move the coil a few inches in any direction, without hearing a constant bombardment of pinheads, staples, nails, ttteeennnsssyyyy foil turds, etc.... We immediately went back to our "wimpy" standard coin machines that have disc. on them. Doh !

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Spot on Terry!

 

[Ahab8]

I had a GPX 4500 that I recently sold. It’s a perfect machine if you are willing to completely clean out an early site then bring that monster in. When I say completely clean out I mean every speck of iron you can find with a VLF. I did that an early cabin site that had very minimal trash to begin with and dug a couple of early coins, buttons and cuff links. I also found a natural piece of gold in a tidal river with it....but there’s a reason I sold it. For 98% of people who detect its just too damn powerful and will drive you nuts. You’d be better served buying a Deus or something along those lines. The GPX line is amazing but it’s for very very specific hunting. Hunting that most of us rarely do.

 

[smokeythecat]

I went to my cousin's house yesterday with a buddy on a "we're bored" and the fields are planted dig, so it's my cousin's lawn or a park and I don't like parks. We both had Deus machines and dug wheaties down 10-12". Place was trashy. A pi machine would have been a waste of time. The other machines listed would have been fine also with a small coil. The site conditions mean everything.

You needed something small like our elliptical coils. Now, finding the Confederate button back and the zouave button, I think the Confederates are following me around. Who would have thought.

 

[huntsman53]

While the depth at which a metal detector can hit on a target should always be considered, the quality of the machine is crucial but more crucial is the type of soil/sand, soil/sand conditions (i.e. water-logged, moderately wet, moist or dry), the metal content of the target and how long it has been in the soil/sand. My' very first metal detector was a White's 2000-D which I picked up for (I believe) $60 at a once a year flea market in February 1979 in Key West. I found a lot of coins and jewelry, flip tabs and junk with it but after 3 months of owning it, the sound (external speaker and headphones) went totally out. I sent the metal detector to the White's factory in Sweet Home, Oregon with a note stating the problems and asked when the repairs were done, to please give the metal detector a hot tune. What I got back was a metal detector that was like new but on steroids. They not only repaired the sound problem but replaced every weak circuit and weak component in it, replaced circuits and components that had been upgraded since it came out new and then gave it the hot tune I asked for. I could walk in the steps of other metal detectorists and find more finds than they did. Not too long before I transferred out of Key West with my job, I got a weak signal on Sands Beach very close to the water's edge and over 3 feet later, I was holding a 1953 Franklin Half Dollar that looked like it had been dropped yesterday. I always wanted to keep that Franklin Half Dollar because it was minted in my' birth year but it disappeared and I have no idea as to what happened to it. While I have never tested my' Minelab Sovereign Elite to see just how deep she can hit on a target, I believe she can hit on many items very deep. While swinging the metal detector in the cave with the mud mounds that Limitool found, I kept getting a strong signal when the coil got around 2 1/2 feet from me. It took a little while but we finally realized that it was picking up the Insect Repellant Wipes that were in foil packs in the side pocket of my' cargo pants.

 

[Tpmetal]

And humorously, there will be well-meaning newbies who will insist that they want "depth at all costs". And when you warn them that those "deepest seeking machines" will ring the bells of Notre Dame over every single nail, staple, BB, etc.... they will insist they're willing to "dig all" in order to "get the most depth".

But I have a sneaking suspicion that they will quickly go psycho, if they tried to do that.

I think you under estimate how young, stupid, and stubborn I still am....... I absolutely would dig lead bbs and tin foil all day long for just one more 1800s silver to add to my collection...Not to mention to find that gold coin that is in there somewhere