BH Land Ranger

[Monty]

My first detector is a BH Land Ranger. It is next to the top machine sold by BH and has most if not all the bells and whistles of a modern top of the line metal detector. It has a 3 tone system with three different pitched tones to help identify your target. It also has target Id which is a set of icons that llight up and indicate what the target is likely to be, Ie: Penny, nickel, dime , quarter , half and a dollar as well as a range for gold and pulltabs, etc. There is also a scale that gives you the amount of resistance by the target ranging from zero to one fifty. There is a pinpoint button and an all metal mode. There is three turn on and run modes that you can select and or set the discrimination any way you want it. It has auto ground balance as well as the ability to manually ground balance. It also has a static all metal and pinpoint feature. You don't have to be moving the coil to get a reading in the all metal mode. This is a midrange machine when comparing prices with all the features of much more expensive machines. It will run around $500.00 new with all three coils. The small 4 1/2" coil is ideal for running next to fences and along concrete with rebars. One advantage the Land Ranger has over the high dollar units is that it is light weight and you can hunt all day without wearing yourself out. I can't imagine why anyone would say bad things about a BH machine once they had seen the Land Ranger. Monty

 

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[gunner6170]

Monty....
Good post!? My first and only detector so far, I've just been MDing for about a year now, is the BH Time Ranger.? I wanted a machine with the bells and whistles, and yet still be "turn on and go".? This machine is just that.? I'm making finds and getting better with it every time I take it out.? Most folks go with Whites or Garrett products, which I can't knock cause I haven't tried them, but they shouldn't so easily dismiss BH products!? I hope to one day try them, but I am duly impressed so far with my BH.? The only downside to it is that the depth indicator is normally off... where I find the booty is normally not as deep as the indicator shows.? So while I have to be careful not to scratch a keeper, digging a good plug helps avoid that.? Besides, digging less than you anticipate is a good thing!? And depth hasn't been a problem, maybe just the soil conditions I work in, but I find coins and the like with no problems up to 10".? Maybe not that deep, but I'm still learning it and just getting into looking for the older coins, so I'll soon know just how deep it can go.
Final thought?? Each potential purchaser should try out a variety of detectors at a store before they buy.... wish I could have prior to my purchase.? But for the price and performance of my BH Time Ranger, I'm happy!? ?

 

[Monty]

I have upgradded, downgradded and side gradded but I still pull out my BH quite often an give it a workout.? I almost sold it but I am thinking more seriously about keeping it.? I had two if them for a spell.? My wife bought me one for Christmas nd I ordered one not knowing she bought me one!? I traded one back on another "upgrade" detector.? So, I went from none to two and now I have four!? When I get seven I will have one for every day of the week!? DOH!? I like mine because of the light weight as much as anything.? I have dug coins as deep as 6" but have attempted only a few beyond. I find it really hard to pinpoint targets deeper than 6" for some reason.? ? I have to get my manual out every so often to refresh my memory how everything works as it does have lots of bell and whistles.? In spite of the cheapies at Wal-Mart and Radio Shack the Land Ranger is not the same machine and is fairliy complicated.? Monty

 

[ZumbroKid]

Monty, you might want to reread your last post and possibly modify it a might. Before too many eyes spot a certain something.? ? (Flanders?)

 

[Monty]

Guess I was thinking about Smithers? Monty

 

[gunner6170]

i'm still a noob to MDing, but the difference in the ground probably makes up for the difference
in depth. i read soemwhere else on here about when the ground is wet, folks find objects deeper,
things like this are good to know for a beginner! so i did take my Time Ranger this afternoon since
it's been raining here most of the week. only found a lil change, the oldest being a 1978 quarter...
but i did find more junk in my front yard than i had before! i found one peice of scrap/junk metal
at about a foot deep, my deepest find, also the largest metal find, yet. i plan on taking it out this weekend and hope it equates to some deeper coins now!

 

[Diggincoinz]

I'm still using my BH Pioneer 101 (made for Walmart $99), still going strong after 3yrs of a lot of detecting with it.
It has served me very very well. Most coins found were down to 5-6 inches but found larger objects a lot deeper (9 inches or so). It's only a single frequency but working it consistantly and carefully these "lessor valued" machines can do quite well, newbies will love them for sure. Easy to use and easy to understand. High pitch clear tone beep = Coin or silver jewelry. A good low tone for foil, nickel or gold, broken tones for possible junk. But you learn to dig everything as some of those broken tones for me came up as Indain Head Cents.
The Bounty's are just easy to use and fun, get's you hooked as soon as you pick one up! It worked for me.

 

[ZumbroKid]

Good machine, I own a mxt now but started with a bh. I also can not see why some knock these detectors. all you need is to know your machine and where certain targets read up. Such as Indian heads bounce between zinc and screw cap. unless they are the fatties. Buttons being brass read low as well as tokens. Then you get a little experience in site selection, and these detectors make some great finds. These are also good cause they are affordable and more people get into the hobby cause of this.
If two people found the same year of a certain coin, one with a bh and one with a top end machine. Which hunter demostrated the greater degree of skill? Get the picture?

 

[gunner6170]

Good post diggin'! And yeppers, the thrill of the chase, and being able to get
a MD with bells and whistles that was still affordable, gave me my addiction!

and you're right, too, kid! Folks knock BH cause you don't have to go to
a specialty shop to buy one, but i know folks that have used both and do or did
just as well with the BH instrument. So I do get the picture!

 

[warsawdaddy]

Gunner,I wouldn't worry about the depth being off a little.Most machines have a varience and also some people do not account for the coil being an inch or two off the ground or sitting up on the grass.Keep findin' and keep postin'

 

[jbow]

A little help... from you guys please.

The detector that I use is a Minelab Soverign GT however I got into a big relic hunt on the Bounty Hunter team, it is the G N R S, it will be next Oct. or Nov.
They didn't have a lot of people try to sign up for the BH team and i didn't make the Minelab team so I went for it and got it. Now I need a BH detector, I could borrow one from a friend but it is a lower end model. I am probably going to buy one.

So my question... camp or battlefield relic hunting... which machine? I want fast recovery and depth and well i want their very best machine for relics.

Which one should I buy? BTW, the hunt will most likely be in Virginia if the soil matters.

Thanks for the help!

Julien

 

[gunner6170]

well, i can't speak from experience on all BH models, as i only have a
Time Ranger. Not sure if you want to spend the $500 or so for one
of those, but i like mine and it does well by me. I hunt mostly in Maryland
and Virginia, so I can say it does well in the VA soil. I've used it in all
kinds of soil and beach down in VA and it works! Now if you do get one,
get it early as possible to practice with it. But once you get used to a
decent BH model, its as good as any other! I see what folks say here
about depth detection and discrimination and such throughout the
threads, and my finds match their detection, at least in the soils around
here. Not sure where the hunt is you mentioned, so the ground conditions
and mineralization may be waaaay different, but the upper BH models
have discrim controls and auto balance for that. For me, these work well!
I just rec practicing with it cause the more I learned and play with my BH,
the better I get. I can literally see the difference in how much I detect since
I started playing with the discrimination modes.
No matter which way ya go, best of luck to ya! Please let us know which
model ya went for and how ya did when all is said and done!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, all!