Whats a good Detectors to get ???

[Martin R.]

Hi everyone
I'm new to the world of gold hunting ..and would like to know so honest opinions about what are some good detectors to buy ...since there are so many out there these days what is a good one to get has anyone got one of these and let me know if they had any luck finding gold with them TREASURE HUNTER 3030 or the Garrett Ace 250 are these good units to start with ? any help would be great full ...

thanks Martin

 

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[wepc]

Price range $1,000 and over the newer Minelab Gold Detectors SD2100 and up.
Price range $300 Used Minelabs starting at the XT18000 and other models above the 18000
Fisher Gold Bug 2, used $450. New $650
Whites MXT used $500, new $650

So I would buy Minelab or a Fisher Gold Bug 2. Minelab makes quite a few models from the XT 1800 all the way to the GP3000 that are good machines. The higher the model number, the higher the price.
Fisher Gold Bug 2 has probably found more gold nuggets than any other detector around.
Whites MXT is a dual machine used for treasure hunting and gold detecting. I do not believe it would be as sensitive as the Minelab or Fisher gold machines.
Whites also makes a line of Gold Detectors that are pretty sensitive. It's all about what you want to spend. Look into used Minelab gold detectors on Ebay and Treasure Hunting forums. Ebay also has Gold Bug 2's on there quite a bit.

 

[Martin R.]

Thanks for that
what about this One ...Minelab FT1600 were they any good I can get one that has done hardley any work at all
thanks M.

 

[Hoser John]

I'm a GB2 and tesoro Lobo ST fan for many years.I can afford whatever I want and for many reasons I'm a happy miner.There are many good machines out and used but not abused are usually great bargains as nugget hunting is the absolute hardest form of detecting their is!!!Tons a au 2 u 2-John

 

[wepc]

If I bought a used Minelab I would purchase XT1800 and above. The lower the model number, the older the machine.
And If I had a lot of cash I would buy a new Minelab.

 

[Martin R.]

Ok so the older the unit ...there no good anymore?
what do they do to the newer ones that makes them so much better ?

is this a good one to get "" Fisher Gold Strike""

thanks M.

 

[bakergeol]

Martin
To be honest Fisher makes some great detectors -just look at the Gold Bug, however, the Gold Strike is not a popular model- (just being honest).

Now Martin looking at this thread I realized no one has told? you why folks buy high end PI detectors versus less expensive VLFs(besides the money issue).
PI detectors can handle bad ground(mineralized soil) a lot better than VLFs. So they have better depth. PIs do not detect most "hot" rocks. There are some areas which you can not use a VLF because of the high ground mineralization and the amount of high rocks. The Minelab PI is the weapon of choice for serious nugget hunters in the SW, however, they usually have a VLF(Gold Bug) on hand in those situations where a PI is ineffective.

VLFs can offer you discrimination in trash areas- while current PIs on the market can not discriminate(dig it all). VLF gold detectors such as the Gold Bug with higher frequencies than regular VLFs are also more sensitive to the very tiniest of gold particles than PIs(Yes some GP3000 owners may argue this point). Also PIs will not detect some non solid gold pieces like wire gold. In the mine dumps/areas which I check- I can not use a PI because of the gold character and/or the incredible amount of iron trash.

PIs work best in desert areas looking for normal nuggets with little trash and? high? ground mineralization. VLFs work better in milder ground? with high iron trash( Ganes Creek AK) and also for specimen hunting in mine dumps.

So a lot depends on where you plan on detecting as well as what you are looking for.

The older Minelab PIs? are still great detectors but the newer models are slightly more sensitive and deeper. So the serious nugget shooters? move up in technology when newer models(with slightly greater depth) are introduced. Yes for these folks depth matters. They can go back to their old sites and detect deeper nuggets if there are any there. So there are usually a lot of bargains out there for older PIs.

What you see on the forums are the beautiful nuggets found with detectors. What you don't see is the incredible? amount of? hard work needed to find those beautiful gold pieces.

George

 

[Martin R.]

Thanks George
PI detector's as I'm very very new to the game of hunting ,,,The ground that I will be working is mainly new un-trashed ground here in Australia in the hills where most pan for gold and good nuggets can still be found a little of the beaten track ...
What are some model's that use the PI technology

thanks Martin

 

[bakergeol]

As you live in Australia- There is only the Minelab PIs to consider as you have incredible mineralization- ineffective for VLFs.
Used inexpensive Minelab SD2100- Going up the ladder is the GP Extreme and than the deepest PI out there(actually deepest detector period) is the GP3000.

Being from Australia- you really don't have many choices- it is a Minelab PI for gold prospecting unless some other company comes out with new PIs to compete with Minelab.
George

 

[Martin R.]

Ok so one needs to spend a fair bit of $$$ to get good gear ....and if I wanted to start of a little slower and get used to the hole idea would a minelab musketeer pro do to start of with and work up to a better one at a lter stage ??

thanks Martin

 

[Noble Metal]

Yes, but finding nuggets with that might be tuff in Australia. What do you men think; if in Australia, and the gold value per ounce, I would say you had better push towards a GP 3000, or start with a really nice beach water machine for less than half the cost and attack the low tide beach where people have been swimming... If in the desert, better try to go for the GP 3000....

 

[Martin R.]

Well I'd better start saving for a top of the line unit if you say it makes all the difference in finding nuggets ,,,better do a little more research as well
But Surly not everyone out there has a $3000 unit !!!!!!!!!! everyone started somewhere I'm after a unit that will teach me and not empty my pocket at the same time ....



thanks Martin

 

[Willy]

Take a look at the Garrett Infinium. A lot of Minelab boys seem to hate this detector, rather unreasonable since it has proven itself as a nuggethunter (check out the Alaska Prospecting Forum & what Steve has to say 'bout it). I've seen it being used up in highly mineralized ground in the Brooks range with great success & was impressed enough to get one myself. Right now it's too cold (ground frozen) to use it for prospecting here, so I've been hunting for coins/rings in the lake. One thing about it is that (unlike what I've heard about the Minlab PI's) the dual tone ID works at depth. This adds to the versatility of the detector. I took it to a stretch of beach that has many thousands of nails of different sizes strewn about & was able to cherrypick coins out of it. Noisier than all hell, since it signals on everything, but was able to pass by the majority of iron. I actually found the Infinium to be superior to VLF's in this location. Another thing to consider is that the Infinium is waterproof and uses readily available AA batts. It's also way cheaper than a Minelab PI (new) in N. America. ..Willy.? ?

 

[Lanny in AB]

Martin,

If you're in Australia, get on the Finder's Forum and have a look at some of Chris Hake's (Hakey) posts. He's found a lot of nuggets in your country, and he loves the minelab 2000. He says he's had his modded--he know's someone that can do this, and he says the machine is incredibly stable.

So, maybe see if you can get enough info from his posts, or maybe they'll have an email address for him. If you can't find a 2000 to mod, then try to get a good used 2100. They sell over here for around a thousand USD, and trust me, they will sniff out the gold in bad ground too1

Good luck,

Lanny in AB