It Isnt Easy...

[Smudge]

It Isn't Easy...

I guess I ought to consider myself lucky. I have local metal detector shop that carries most of the well known brands of detector, with samples on the shelf for people to play around with.

I went there this morning and literally spent three hours looking around and using some in the test garden, and I left the store empty handed.

It's not that I'm indecisive. I'm willing to shell out some serious cash ($1,000+) IF I think the machine is worth it.

I am not going to name any names. I refuse to trash any brand, especially when I have no real experience with them. That's not what I'm after here. It's just that in exploring this and other forums, when you read posts by people using these top of the line machines, and you compare it to people using mid-range detectors ($500-$800), it turns out they complain about the same things.

Even with all those bells and whistles, they're still digging a ton of trash like can slaw, pull tabs, and bottle caps. They dig them because they don't want to pass up gold. But heck, folks using the mid-range detectors complain about the same thing.

The thing for me is, if I'm going to shell out over $1,000 for a top of the line detector, it had better give me a lot more for my money than a $500 detector will.

But in reviewing these posts, I don't know, it just doesn't seem to be happening for a lot of users. Is it lack of experience? Sure they post some great finds. But so does everyone else. Sure, I know, luck and swinging your detector over the right spot is the majority of the battle.

I'm going to wrap this up, I swear, but here's my issue. Right now I swing the humble Tesoro Compadre. I played with other detectors but liked this one because it was simple to use, ran great for gold at 12" kHz, used a 5.75" coil which is perfect for the trashy areas I like to hunt.

But still, I'd like an edge in my hunts and thought about upgrading. I'm looking at all these detectors and asking myself "do I need a TID screen?" No, it'd be nice, but if I get a solid signal, I'm digging it no matter what the screen says. "Do I want a depth meter?" Nope, they're notoriously inaccurate. "Do I want a bigger coil?" Not typically.

So folks, please straighten me out. I feel like I'm missing the big picture here. These companies wouldn't be offering these high end machines if they weren't a cut above the rest. But if the big machine can't tell the difference between a pull tab and gold ring or a bottle cap and quarter any better than a mid-range machine, what's the point?

Thanks for reading all this. I'd really like to know what you folks think. Gonna go put an ice pack on my head now.

 

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[Montauk3]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

Excellent question. Every time I think I know everything, Someone comes along and gives me something new to think about.

Ralph

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

Even the top of the line detectors are going to have trouble telling a pop top from a gold ring since in the end it still comes down to electrical conductivity of the target.....

I have a couple if you want to test them out sometime.....I have used several different brands and models in the midrange and I still prefer higher end models of a certain brand.......

 

[Keppy]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

Like i always said they all do the same thing............. And a lot think the more they pay the better the finds will be........... But that's in there dreams . If you buy Garrett , Whites , Tesoro or Minelab ...& Fisher .. No matter what price they will all find the same thing............... The same with cars... You hear some say that Audi or Lexus or Volvo Are better than Ford or Hyundia .Dodge ............. I have been around cars to long to Know that ............I have seen the high price cars have the same problems as the mid & low price cars................ And a lot of times with a lot less miles on them than the cheaper cars........ And they all do the same thing get you from point A to point B............... Like i always said it is ego and status ............

 

[Goes4ever]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

No detector is gonna tell you gold from aluminum scrap, I don't care what anyone tells you, gold can come in all over the place depending on size, purity of gold etc......

No as far as quarters and bottle caps....lol.....those are not even close on my detector. They are so far apart I have never dug a bottle cap thinking it was a quarter.

 

[Jerry-Wi]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

Well the people that use the high dollar detectors for the most part will tell you how much better they are. I am not willing to spend that kind of money on a detector so I probably will never know for sure.

What I do know for sure is the 25 year old detector I was using found all that I wanted to dig and then some. This year I bought a 500 dollar range detector mainly because it is two pounds lighter than the older one. I was starting to have problems swinging the heavier detector. One thing you do not have to worry about with your Tesoro

Regardless of how much your detector costs you still have to put the coil over the target before you are going to find anything. I think that much of the reason you see people with high end detector coming up with all the cool finds probably has more to do with their skills and experience than it has to do with the actual detector. I am sure that many of these folks could take a cheaper detector and still find tons of good stuff. On the other hand, going out and buying the most expensive detector made is not going to do a thing for you unless you have the skills to use it properly.

Jerry

 

[Sandman]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

Most people are impatient and believe the higher end detectors produce more good finds. It is the reason people buy expensive cars like Keppy said. The bells and whistles you get with the high priced detectors only adds or subtracts from your fun. You don't need those extras, but manufacturers make them because people want them and are willing to pay the extra $$$$$ for a detector that isn't worth half that. As for the great finds people find with the $$$$$ detectors, some do and some show fakes or stuff they bought at a coin shop. They only want the "atta boys" from others and lie about how good their detector really is. Sorta like bragging about your deer rifle in deer camp. Most of the medium priced units made are more than adequate for what we want to use them for.

Gold jewelry is alloyed with many metals so the conductivity can change a lot. White gold rings mostly come in the foil range which is just above iron. Screens give you info that only lets you leave great targets in the ground I'm sorry to say. But some newbies only want to dig quarters and won't bend down to get a dime.
You wanna find it all, get a Pulse and wear yourself out digging holes or getting shot by a park ranger for damage to the grass.

Manufacturers make the high cost detectors because they get a bigger profit and repair cost from them. Why do some dudes spend the extra money on XM Radio for their car when they can listen to AM-FM for free?

 

[Smudge]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

I really want to thank everyone for their comments so far.

The impression I'm getting from all this is that if you have someone using a $500 detector and someone using a $1200 detector and both users have the same high level of experience with their machine, the $1200 detectorist might have an edge over their competition because of the additional information the $1200 machine provides.

On the other hand, it might not.

I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only one out there scratching his head over this one.

 

[m bryan]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

I use the T2 and am very pleased with it. My hunting buddy swings the Ace 250 and we are constantly comparing signals before we dig to see if one will detect better. So far the Ace finds everything my T2 does.......T2 has a quicker response to targets.....I used a Teknetics Delta and theres not much difference(as I can tell) in the performance of the higher end T2.......

 

[Lowbatts]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

If you walk into a typical park around here trying to find a gold ring with most machines. Well forget it.

You're in for a long day of digging canslaw and pulltabs. One of these days I may have one small area of one of these parks cleared of all the trash that is not relatively recent but it becomes work at some point.

There are a couple high end machines out there that demonstrate edges in different areas whether it be target separation, id capability or depth. Seen enough from the guys I've hunted with to know that this is true but it's only true for those who took the time to learn the nuances of those machines.

Can't make the recoveries some of the guys I hunt with do, can make some recoveries they don't. Very much a function of familiarity with a machine, the site conditions and the targets being sought.

 

[clovis97]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

This is a great thread.

I am a newbie with MD, and have owned an Ace 250 for 2 months.

With that said, a seller recommended a machine that he said was far better than the 250. While I believed him...I'm sure it is far better than the 250 for not much more money...I could only find one or two videos on YouTube with people using that machine. Even they suggested they had some difficultly using that machine.

I am glad I wound up with the 250. There are tons of YT videos of people using the machine.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

This is a great thread.

I am a newbie with MD, and have owned an Ace 250 for 2 months.

With that said, a seller recommended a machine that he said was far better than the 250. While I believed him...I'm sure it is far better than the 250 for not much more money...I could only find one or two videos on YouTube with people using that machine. Even they suggested they had some difficultly using that machine.

I am glad I wound up with the 250. There are tons of YT videos of people using the machine.

What was the detector?

 

[mts]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

It isn't black and white. Gold nuggets aren't the same as gold rings and gold rings aren't the same as silver coins. If all you care about are gold rings then almost any mid-range metal detector will do. If you care about silver coins, there are some higher end units that consistently appear to out search the mid-range machines. It isn't luck and it isn't experience. Time after time these guys swinging things like etracs come back with more silver dimes and quarters from hunted out parks than anyone else in the group. And they aren't "faking it".

Is the etrac worth it over my mildly priced Vaquero? Perhaps. But it will take a lot of silver dimes to make up the price difference. If you are the type of person that digs everything then you will never see the difference. But these etrac guys aren't digging everything and they are still finding the silver...

It is true that you have to get your coil over the target in order to find it. That goes without saying. But the difference between KNOWING that you are digging a silver dime vs. hoping that it isn't can slaw "yet again" may be worth the difference in price for some people.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

I would rather spend my money on a good used high end detector, than buy a new midrange detector......I can always get my money back out of a good high end detector, have done so many times..... I have bought 9 used detectors, of those I still own 5 of them, sold 4 and I was always with in a few dollare plus or minus of getting all my money back when I sold them....

 

[Smudge]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

You are hitting on one of the key points, and that's my big question.

Are these people with the higher end detectors digging less garbage and more treasure because of the information being provided by the detector?

There seems to be a mix of answers. Some forum posters admit they are still digging a ton of trash with their high end units. Maybe its just lack of experience with the machine?

 

[kai_gold]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

If you want to get all of the good targets, then you end up digging all targets including trash. You can ignore most trash and still find good targets, though you will likely miss a couple of good items. This is a personal choice. Some detectorists are ok with passing over a couple good targets to avoid digging hundreds or thousands of pieces of trash.

Just because a detectorist is finding trash does not mean that they are not experienced. They might be looking for a specific type of target whose conductivity is so close to trash that it is not possible to avoid the junk. Generally this happens when looking for gold jewelry or some older non-silver coins. Because silver is a high conductor, it is easier to try and target these coins.

I have found most target id features to work well when looking for silver whether on a $500 machine or $1000 machine. Some of the higher end metal detectors like the explorer and etrac have multi-tone id in addition to numeric which give off a good silver sound on silver coins. This means that you do not have to look at the id of every target, but you can listen which saves time. However, I have found thin silver pendants that id down into the high pulltab range so if you only target the silver sound you will still miss some silver targets. But to find that one silver pendant you might have to dig a thousand pulltabs whereas only digging silver tones will give you a better good finds to trash ratio.

I have used an explorer and it is great for this kind of cherry picking. I currently use a G2 and really like it because I am more of a dig it all but iron person and I really like the G2 for this purpose. Only you can decide if you are a cherry picker type or dig all type.

 

[mts]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

... Only you can decide if you are a cherry picker type or dig all type...

Which can change based on mood, location, etc...

 

[diggingnewengland]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

I feel it is not so much the model but the brand as long as it is a well build detector with a good track record of service. The only real difference that I see is the quality of the components. And it also depends on where you are hunting if you are hunting fields or parks or beaches. Good Luck Hunting

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

"But still, I'd like an edge in my hunts and thought about upgrading. I'm looking at all these detectors and asking myself "do I need a TID screen?" No, it'd be nice, but if I get a solid signal, I'm digging it no matter what the screen says. "Do I want a depth meter?" Nope, they're notoriously inaccurate. "Do I want a bigger coil?" Not typically."


My friend, you just answered your own question. Stick with what you have.

 

[CanadianTrout]

Re: It Isn't Easy...

Let me put it this way....

2 people have to drive back and forth to work, all city driving, obeying traffic laws etc. Standard stuff we all do. One guy drives a Toyota, one guy drives a Porche.

End result? They both get to where they're going but one guy paid 1/4 the price.