A first today, and a realization

[fender346]

I'm pleased to report that I dug my first buffalo today at about 5 inches with my trusted 250!

I'm very happy with this find, however it led to the realization that:

1.) I love metal detecting almost as much as fishing.
2.) Its about time for me to move on to a "better" machine.

The Ace250 has treated me very well over the past couple of weeks,
but I just can't deal with the possibility that I missed some deeper coins that other machines would have heard.

Can anyone recommend a solid upgrade that won't exactly put too much strain on the wallet?
thanks

 

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[DrGrip]

Fender,

I'm late coming in, but let me say this...

The Ace 250 is a @#$% good machine. I use a White's XLT, but I GRADUATED to this machine because an associate needed cash ASAP and let it go for $300.00. Prior to the XLT I was using an OLD Garret and a BH Quick Draw II. I found a LOT of great things with those 2 sticks, and my BEST find ever came with the QDII.

A good friend of mine has a 250 out in NM and we have compared the XLT and the 250 on some test sites. The test sites are comprised of 13 different items buried at known depths. For all practical purposes the 250 is VERY comparable to the XLT EXCEPT where we buried the silver coin with a lot of "ground up" slag from a copper mine. By ground up I mean almost down to the size of typical "play sand" in size.

The XLT has the capability to "ground balance" in the area so it "sees" the slag chips as something NOT to register, whereas the 250 cannot. Other than that test the 250 held its own.

BEFORE you spend more cash on this hobby I'd do as some others have suggested, stick with the 250 until you have enough scrap gold and silver to "cash in" for the "next level" up.

I'd bet you will do fine with the 250, and you're NOT missing much that the XLT, DFX, Tessaro, etc, would find.... This post may screw me for the "favor" I am about to ask of White's, but I won't lie to a fellow detectorist!

Just my 2 cents...

Grip

 

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[JP]

I left fishing behind a long time ago. The fishing rods are all covered in dust sitting in the corner of the garage.

As for an upgrade, I would say if you are finding goodies with the 250 stay with it. For the money it is an incredible machine. I bought one for my son and can't believe how well it works. In my opinion, again my opinion, the 250 does a lot better then my GTi 2500. At the beach I was finding stuff everywhere with it and the meter seems to be a lot more accurate then the upgraded cousin. Again, that has been my experience, others may say different.

Congrats on the first buffalo. I've only found one myself.

 

[ringfinder]

Congratulations on all your finds. As for a upgrade, there is nothing wrong with your ACE
250. I have many detectors and the ACE 250 is one of my top picks while hunting. The first year I had my ACE 250 I found over 4,000 clad coins with it, not counting over 100 silver coins, many rings and many tokens. I also found a 6 pound cannonball 10 inches down in the ground.

Wow, this is amazing. I bet you sell a few Aces every time you post this pic somewhere. You should get an affiliate-account with Garrett and post a link to their sales page so you can get a cut of the sales for each reference! Very inspiring, man, thanks for sharing this. I think you've probably made fender reconsider throwing his Ace under the bus!

Thanks for your reply, I have to admit that I am using a Minelab Explorer II right now and a Fisher F-75, only because I hunt in Virginia sometimes and the ACE just won't take the Virginia hot soil. I still have my ACE 250 in the my Treasure van at all times. I do have the bigger coil on my ACE and also use the SunRay probe on it. I like the ACE so much that I have two of them, just in case one breaks.

Some people say they need a meter or numbers, guess they don't water detect. In the water, you dig all signals and you don't have a meter or numbers to go by. Just my two cents.

Good Luck with what ever detector you upgrade to and when you upgrade, learn your new detector inside out. As I do with any new detector that I buy, I go back to my old spots and try my luck again. Remember though, don't sell your ACE, always keep it for a backup, you will never go wrong with the ACE 250!

HH, Ringfinder

 

[relic lover]

Wow I was you at the beginning of this season I hunted 2 seasons (w/Ace) and never an 1800s coin. I blamed it on depth decided to upgrade started research. I realized info on depth is elusive but it came down to the fact that I would pay $800 to $1500 for another inch or two plus theres the complexity of the advanced units which scared me way more than money. Bottom line I decided on a big coil but the reviews of the Garrett 9x12 did not impress me as much as the Excellorator 10x14 DD. I went with the Ex. DD found a large cent the first day and never looked back. Now I have a pile of old coins all found by the Ex. coil on my ace I still may get a top-o-the line unit someday but not too soon because I now know I have the depth and that gives me peace of mind that if it is there it will sound off. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[jbow]

Nice buffalo, most don't have a date anymore. I know what you mean about detecting, it is an obsession.

The Tesoro Tejon is the best detector for the money. It has no screen, it is all audio but once you learn it you will do very well with it. Another good choice is a used T2... (of course I meant to say a used Tejon too).

If you want to go ahead and make the jump go for an E-TRAC or a Whites V-3 bi=oth are incredible machines. The Whites MXT is also a good machine. The F75 is also good but is very similar to the T2, both are noisy and hard to learn because they hear every little thing in the ground and you will think they are chattering and picking up interference at first, and sometimes they do. The Tejon on the other hand is quiet as a mouse, ignores iron very well, and hits hard on brass.
The Sovereign GT is another good choice but it is a little heavy but solid and stable. The Tesoro Cortes, even with the TID screen, is not as good as the Tejon.

My favorite two are the E-TRAC and the Tejon. I am going to buy a Whites V-3 and a Garrett Infinium LS in the near future.

The thing is that there are places that one detector will work well and another will not. Some are better on coins, others better on relics, some work better than others in mineralized ground and some work better than others at old homesites that are littered with nails and small iron. The Tejon excells in iron, the Explorer and E-TRAC excell in bad ground, the V-3 has an excellent TID system, the Sovereign GT is excellent on the beach and in relatively clean ground searching for deep bullets and/or artillary. The Infinium LS and Whites TDI are both good on the beach and good in really bad ground and they go deep.

You will find that one detector will not do. I would recommend the Tejon for a start. They are lifetime guaranteed and you can pick pne up for under 400 bucks used. If you get a Tejon, get a 5.75 DD coil. Everyone I know uses that small coil, you lose little if any depth and you can swing it as fast as you want to.

Well, I guess you're really confused now...

J