Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? Im thinking about buying one and need help.

[snyper77]

Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

I am getting ready to buy an Ace 250, but I see it's available in 2 ways:

• Ace 250 only $212
• Ace 250 sports bundle with large coil, headphones, bag (cheap), and rain cover for control unit $297

If the bundle isn't really good quality stuff, then I'd rather use that extra expense to buy good quality headphones, etc. I have heard that the large coil doesn't offer good pinpointing as well. Your thoughts please?
Thank you for your help.

 

[hollowpointred]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

the headphones that come with the ace are pretty crappy quality. you would probably be better off getting your own pair. the large coil is nice to have in areas where theres not a ton of trash and you want to get deep, like a cornfield. it will also help you to cover more ground per swing when detecting a large piece of land. in high trash areas like a park or a school i dont have much use for a large coil since more than one target can get under the big coils footprint at a time and give you false readings and mess up your pinpointing. in an area without a lot of trash pinpointing should be no big deal.

 

[sniffer]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

I've only heard good things about the ace, as far as the big coil with the package, the bigger the coil, the heavier it is, and harder to separate trash, pin pointing really doesn't change all that much.
Like Hollow said, invest your money in a good pair of headphones. I suggest Gray Ghost or Killer Bees
either way, good luck and let us know what's going on

 

[luvsdux]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

I agree with what's been posted. Large coils have a limited use and good headphones are worth the cost.
Bill

 

[mastereagle22]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

Just to add my two-cents worth, a good set of head phones can make a HUGE difference in your finds ratios. I agree with the others.

 

[dahut]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

Ive owned the Ace 250 for a while now.

I find it capable, but kinda rough around the edges. With me, it's a love-hate thing. There is none of that deep-target "whisper" stuff you hear about... or really even any subtlety. And I like subtlety and nuance.
Now, if something is there that you have notched IN, then the detector goes off like an alarm. Simple as that. It also has good separation between targets and a fast reset time. There really is a lot going on for the money, and if that is the money you have to spend, then you can hardly go wrong. But $100 more will get you into something a bit smoother to use.

As for the larger coil, the group is right. It has limited use, but can be a boon when the conditions are right. Open fields and other clear areas, areas low in trash and mineralization where targets are expected to be far apart are it's strong suit. Under general conditions, however, it isn't a first choice in my book. Keep in mind, these coils aren't overly expensive, so you can pick one up later and go the heaphone route you've suggested.

Headphones? Here's my take as they relate to the Ace 250. The ones that come with it are junk; use them, but upgrade as soon as you can.
You can spend as much as you want on upgrades, but I find high quality digiphones to be adequate. 20-30 dollar$ is a practical expense for such headphones.

Also, ensure your phones have:
1. A volume control, either on the earcuff or inline.
2. A coiled cord

The Ace has a high power audio output with little sublety. Like all the newer digital format Garretts, it just 'bongs' or 'boings' when it detects a target that is notch-selected. SO having phones that have an adjustable volume control is a good thing - the Ace is loud and lacks this control.

However, Garrett dropped the ball on the audio output jack. It's on the right rear of the housing, which is, frankly, a goofy place to put one. Whatever phones you use, the cord will be in the way almost all the time.
I moved my output to under the arm cuff, so the cord comes out under my elbow and up behind my back. For most people, this will not be an option and they have to live with the placement as it comes. In that case, a coiled cord comes in mighty handy. It eases the dreaded "cord in the way" effect to some degree.

 

[sqwaby]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

Get the basic pack. Buy your phones, be sure and get switchable(stereo/mono) with a volume control (got mine at radio shack,light weight behind the neck type). I just use a old canvas foldup chair bag for my ace, its not padded but it does what I need it to do. When I use it at the beach or bad weather I wrap the head unit in plastic wrap, seals up much better than the ace cover to keep the salt air and fine sand out. How often are you going to need a cover anyway?

 

[The-Bone]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

dahut hit this nail squarely on the head...i would buy a cheap headset with volume control...depending on what you want to hunt will determine the additional coil you'll want to buy....for me i bought the small sniper coil..this is used for seperating good from bad targets in trashy areas (much more useful for hunting parks/public areas than the larger coil)

 

[sqwaby]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

Can't really tell you why, but my ace won't sound off when the phones are in the mono mode, they have to be in stereo.

 

[sniffer]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

I've got 2 diggers in my bag. the first is a lesche, which will go through more abuse than most. the second is a little eagle from predator.
don't scimp on headphones. if you want to hear those deep whisper tones, you need a set designed for MDing with good, around the ear cups, detented volume control, coiled cord and comfortable to wear. stress the comfortable, you could be wearing them all day. go with the stereo headphones most detectors are set up that way on the 1/4 plug in
as far as finding jewelry, I found part of a necklace stamped 925, that had a amber center with a bug in it.
in a park that is about 50 years old, under the edge of a merry go round. Treasure can be found anywhere so don't give up because of your location
keep us posted

Sniffer

 

[cerF]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

don't scimp on headphones. if you want to hear those deep whisper tones,
Sniffer

The ace does not 'whisper'...it yells...always. There is no range in volume when it detects something, it simply sounds off. That being said, I love my Ace 250. It has paid for itself 8 times already, and I've only had it since May. Headphones are nice if you dont want to disturb other people around the area you are detecting, plus you save some battery power as well. Personally, I never use headphones with my Ace. If you do elect to use headphones, do not buy super expensive ones. The only feature you must have on the headphones is volume control, because the ace will blow your eardrums out otherwise.

Also, as far as the package deal goes, I elected to go for the $200 package. The stock coil works fine for me and has great depth. The only "accessory" that I did opt to purchase was a coil cover. I love my ace and highly recommend it to the novice and experienced detectorists alike.

 

[sniffer]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

if you check out the resistance in ohms on headphones, you'll see that not all headphones work the same
and wearing headphones also helps to eliminate unwanted attention

 

[Dr. Ace]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need hel

My experience: I bought the basic Ace package. I later bought the larger coil and that is what I now use exclusively. I have never used headphones with the Ace. I have, however, put tape over the sound outlet holes to cut down the sound level, since it is pretty loud and will definitely attract attention. I like the larger coil for it's added depth and larger area that can be covered.

The other posters are correct in that there is no difference in sound level regardless of target depth. The Ace either recognizes a target or it doesn't. It's all or nothing sound-wise.

If it were me, I would probably just buy the basic package and learn the machine - see if you like detecting, etc. Then if you think you want other coils, buy them later. There is not a lot of savings in buying the 'sport' package.

But, I do love my Ace. I can't recommend it highly enough for beginning detectorists.

HH,

Dr. Ace

 

[Digginman]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

If this is your first machine, the Ace is a great choice. I have moved on to another detector and passed mine to my daughter. In the schoolyards, she usually matches me coin for coin. We have the large coil, also. It's good for relic hunting, thats about all. I don't recommend it for general hunting.

DM

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

Re: Anyone familiar with the Ace 250? I'm thinking about buying one and need help.

Get the basic package and use the money you saved to buy a good set of headphones. You will definately a pair that have an inline volume control, or you can buy tha tlittle part separately at radio shack for a few bucks. Somewhere down the line, you may opt for a second coil, and if you hunt in trashy areas like many of us do, you'll want to get the sniper coil as opposed to the larger coil first.

 

[Pa_Dirtfisher]

The Ace 250 is a decent machine for the price, I had one for a few years. I would recommend purchasing a Garrett Gizmo for it to prevent arm fatigue as it's not balanced very well and is coil heavy. You can pick up a decent used one on the line at really good price. I sold my sports pack Ace 250 for $175 6 months ago. Good headphones help a lot too, the ones that come with it are not that great.

 

[Boatlode]

Why are you set on the Ace 250? Its junk. Get a Tesoro Compadre. Better machine and $50 less expensive. Plus you get a lifetime warranty.

Edit: Never mind. This thread is six years old.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

I would just get the machine, I used it for 3 years and found alot of good things with it...Headphones arent really needed on this machine, since its got a bell tone. I ran mine with headphones for a walkman and just had them around my neck so i could hear it. I did get the larger coil and it seem to help balance it out, but the smaller is better in trashy areas.

As for Warranty, Garrett will fix that thing forever if you have any issues. I never had any real issues with mine. Its a great starter machine. But all the "extras" are pretty much just a way to jack the price up

 

[Boatlode]

Holy crap, who keeps resurrecting these ancient threads? I'm sure after six years he has already made a purchase.

 

[CincinnatiKid]

6yr old thread or not, the Ace 250 is the best selling entry level detector.
Peace