Buying my first detector soon, would appreciate any advise....

[Pecos Pirate]

I am planning on purchasing my first metal detector very soon. I would really appreciate any help or advise on the subject. I am looking at a few models of Whites. I have 100 acres on the Pecos river in TX. Just a few miles from Judge Roy Beans saloon and the historic High Bridge over the Pecos. Hopefully some interesting finds.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[RON (PA)]

Hi Pecos,

Whites has some good detectors. I can't comment on them. Have you looked at Tesoro?? They have 3 machines that go pretty deep. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

RON(PA)

 

[hollowpointred]

a couple of questions first to help answer your initial question..................how much money are you looking to spend? what kind of detecting to you plan to do?( relics, coinshooting, jewelry,beach hunting,underwater) whites makes great machines as do a few others. in the entry level catagory garrett has a great machine for coinshooting for only $200 (ACE 250) that in my opinion is better than any other detectors in its price range at this time but...............it may not be the right one for your needs!

 

[Visionquest]

I will second the Tesoro recommendationi, they have turned out some really decent machines with great capabilities, ease of use and decent price. You should definately consider them while you are deciding.


-Mike

 

[rvbvetter]

? ? ? ? I would suggest checking around, to see what machine seems to work best for your soil conditions. ?You can contact the various dealers in your area. But you might run into a little brand bias. See if you can find out if theres a detecting club nearby, or within your range. ?And either attending a meeting or be able to meet an talk ?with some members. ?Will give you some idea of which ones work best in your area. There will be some brand bias there as well, but i think it will be easier to get a better idea of what works in your soil and what doesn't.
?For instance, ?if 70% percent use Tesoro or Fisher or Whites and so on. Then that might be a clue. ? Which ever one you ultimatly choose, i strongly suggest you stay with a name brand.
? ?Such as Whites, Tesoro, Fisher, Garrett, Minelab and the like. ? There all proven detectors and the companys stand behind them. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?HH

 

[Monty]

A little advice from one who has been there. Instead of buying a "beginners" machine, buy the best you can afford. Sure they will be frustrating and hard to learn at first but in six months or a year you won't have to spend the extra $$$ to upgrade. I did the normal start out with a basic machine and now I have four detectors, three of them are "upgrades"! There is a wealth of help here on this forum that will help you struggle through the learning curve. Good luck and most of all have fun! JIM

 

[slow sweeper]

Here's my two cents worth. When budgeting your dollars for a metal detector it is my personal opinion that you include a decent pair of headphones and a smaller than stock coil for trashy areas or highly mineralized ground. Although it sounds like you have plenty of your own property to hunt that will not have the trash like a park or school ground. Headphones will increase the life of your batteries. And allow you to hear fainter, deeper targets if you get a metal detector with an audible threshold. Some detectors have a "silent search". With a silent search detector you either get a good audible signal or you don't. A detector with an audible threshold will hum along and react to the slightest disturbance of it's electromagnetic field.
I may offend some people but do what jimmileo suggests and don't get a cheapo detector. My first detector was some plastic piece of garbage from a mail order company that I paid $95.00 for back in 1985. It worked. I found some coins with it. But as far as depth and discrimination and versatility it just didn't hold its own against a brand name detector. The day I got my first Whites I tossed it in the trash.
One more piece of advice. Try not to get discouraged when you don't find that Wells Fargo strongbox your first day out.

 

[Bill(de)]

Seems to me you have a real nice area to detect and perhaps you should look at a detector that is capable of both relic and coin hunting and also whether you want metered or non metered detector or one with tone ID which in my opinion is very helpful and more accurate than visual ?ID. Another thing to consider into your budget is leaving room for the accessories , like an extra battery pack, good digging tools ,an accessory coil either larger or smaller than factory coil depending on conditions you find. As far as a recommendation i agree with jimmileo and would ?go with a mid range detector first and my favorite non metered machine is the Minelab Advantage and feel it gives more " Bang" for the buck than almost anything out there, my favorite metered machine is the XLT but you can get the same basic performance from the XL Pro and the analog meter is supposed to be about the best in the business and there are so many coil choices with the Whites 6.5 kHz line.There are so many good detectors out there and my two picks aren't meant to imply they are the best for you but i feel you can't go wrong with either. Good Luck and whatever you buy take the time to really learn your detector by experimenting and don't be afraid to DIG everything in the beginning especially until ?you know what the detector is telling you and the only way to tell is to dig it. ?HH Bill

 

[Bulletboy]

I'll second the ML Advantage. It was my 1st machine. The Advantage has manual ground balance that works well in highly mineralized soil , goes deep and the discrimination is really good too. I've read in other forums that some call it the best $800 machine you can get for $335. That may be an little optimistic but some with more experience than me say it does well against a lot of the high end machines.
Treasure Depot has info and forums dedicated to different brand names.

 

[Matejko]

I am planning on purchasing my first metal detector very soon. I am looking at a few models of Whites.

Hi Pecos !!

Jimmileo is right, don't buy the cheapest one. Get the best you can get, for the money that you've got.
To say the truth, if you're a beginner I would recommend PrizmV.

My first detector was RUTUS (polish brand, very good for the prize I got it brand new), some day I decided to buy one of White's detectors.
I thought about XLT, but it was too expensive. So I decided to buy PrizmV.

I don't regret. It is the best detector for me, light, readable (lies sometimes ), and just "handy".
I know many people in Poland, who get themselves DFX or XLT, and now they don't know how to use it to get the best of it.
It seems to me like their's detectors are to clever for them...

My Prizm is nice enough for me.
Simply, is simple....
And is light, important when you walk with it for a couple of hours...

Pozdrawiam Matejko

 

[xXx]

I personally use the MXT on land and absolutely love it. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles the XLT or DFX has, but makes up for it in other ways. It will detect a VERY small gold nugget and is a great prospecting machine. It is probably the best relic hunting detector out right now. I think even the other manufacturer users will agree with that. It has three settings; coin/jewelry, Relic, and Prospecting. They have done a great job seperating these for you and making the machine excelle on each setting.
Under water I use the Beach Hunter ID, which is basically a DFX without an LCD display. Man, what a great machine. It gets awesome depth and works in harsh conditions.
My point is, Whites is a great company, and you should determine what you are planning to hunt, and where, to help make your decission.
xXx

 

[birdman]

The Fishers are hard to beat for good (turn on and go ) detecting.I have a CZ5 and am very pleased with it. I have done much better with this detector then my last three detectors. Also look on the 4sale section of this forum and you my get a good deal on an almost new machine.

 

[cryptodave]

I'm not as fancy, nor made of as much money as some of the other board members, so I don't know what stock you can take in what I say BUT, here is my two cents.
My wife got interested in detecting with me recently. I thought about purchasing a really cheap POS just to get her one, but ended up buying the Whites Prizm III, and upgrading the coil from the stock to the 9.5 inch.
The Prizm IV is the same price as the III with the upgraded coil, but the only thing you get different is th 3 tone ID and the smart notch. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't like the smart notch, all it does essentially turn the sound off of certain things, but it still shows on the digital read out. The 3 tone ID is something I think she can live without.
So, I suggest ordering a catalog from Whites, it comes with a coupon for $50 off a Prizm until the 30th. After reviewing the Prizms, I realized that with each number (II III IV etc etc), it increases about 2 inchs roughly. The new coil adds depth by itself, so I just went with the middle of the road. If your on an extreme budget, you can get the Prizm II for $199 right now with the coupon, and upgrade the coil later.

My two cents.... Everyone else, flame on I'm sure.

 

[Dave45]

hey Pecos got to put in my 2 cents it all depends on what you want your detector to do?
if you want to look for coins rings jewelry at a depth of 10 inch's or under go with all the top brands whites minelab etc etc
I own a bounty hunter 505 a minelab sovereign elite which are great for coins at about 10 inches
my next detector is going to be for cashe hunting http://www.jwfishers.com/frames.htm dont have it yet so cant say you should buy this one its a dig all detector which is what I want for cave and cashe hunting

 

[neilo]

Hi my advice is to approach a few dealers and ask them if you can try out some of their detectors for a day or so.You ?being ?inexperienced with detectors and not knowing your soil type could ?buy a detector which could be ?useless to you. Some detectors are hopeless in highly mineralised ground,ground with a high ferrous content and wet or salty soils. Multi frequency machines fitted with double d coils are your best option in that they can handle nearly all soil conditions and are more versatile in their different applications.Single frequency machines are limited in their uses and cannot handle mineralisation and wet salty situations very well.The coils fitted to most single frequency machines are of a concentric nature which whilst they can sometimes detect deeper than a double d coil are limited in the actual area the coil detects because of the shape of the signal emitted.The concentric coil will not penetrate as deeply in poor and wet soil conditons as the double d coils and are also ?more prone to electrical interference.
So my advice is try before you buy, take your time dont rush in, try looking for a top of the range second hand machine you will probably find one cheaper than a new ?inferior machine. From experience I would favour Minelabs machines,Sovereign,Quatro or Explorers1 and 2. ?
You mention you are on a river these machines will all handle wet,muddy conditions of the river bank with no problems, where as some other brands could not.
Another thing to consider is once you start detecting you will not just stay in that 100 acre site you will want move out in different areas and have a machine which you can use just about anywhere. So once again these machines will be a better bet for you.
Dont throw your money ?away buying a poorly made cheap detector with no resale value . Buy quality top of the range secondhand machine which will out perform most brands and have a good resale value should you want to sell it later.
? ? ? ? Thats my thoughts and ideas ?on the subject seeya Neilo

 

[DigEmAll]

Living on a river, make sure that you get one that at least has a waterproof coil. You'll be surprised what you will find just past the water's edge! I personally like the Whites and Fishers. Had good luck with the both of them. If you wanted to hunt the deeper water in the river, get a sealed unit like the Cobra Beach Magnet that also works well on land but it has no bells or whistles. Depending on what you like that may not be a bad thing. Although, IF I were just getting started and didn't know for sure that I was going to make a lifetime hobby out of it, I would most likely buy an ACE 250 from Garrett. It'll do about everytime that you need.

 

[DigEmAll]

Also, if you ain't to picky about having a brand new machine, watch E-bay for a good used machine. Just don't overpay!

 

[neilo]

Ive already given my two cents worth but If you are able to test a few machines try burying ten of the same coins starting out at one inch gradually getting deeper down to about a foot deep space your coins about a foot apart.Do this on the waters edge.
You will soon see which detector detects the deepest and is the best for your needs.If the detector excells in those conditions it will certainly out perform the other machines in dry mild soil.ps, Garrett 250 not good in moist conditions must be turned down other wise lots of false signals. seeya neilo