California, sub $2500 MD...

[GoldenNerd]

Hi everyone!

Just getting started, and being in California (Bay Area, specifically) I have a wide range of options.

The beaches about 1 hour away.
Gold country is about 2 hours away.
My parents live in Henderson, NV.
My wife has family in Phoenix, AZ.
On the side it would be nice to hit local parks and hills.

Now, given a top-end of $2500, which detector do you go with?
Saltwater + gold country = highly mineralized ... PI system? This is where most of my time will be spent.
NV/AZ prospecting = less mineralized ... VLF? Minor portion of time.
Side work ... VLF for trash screening? Unknown. PI might be just fine without losing too much sanity.

I've been looking at the Garrett ATX, and from all of the videos it looks solid enough (thanks Bearkat and everyone else who's done comparisons and writeups!) but it's at the top-end of of the $$$ range for me. Since I probably won't make the money back from a detector then something like the GPX is just way too far out. Also, I haven't seen much done with the ATX DeepSeeker mono-coil ... only one video from a NZ guy.

Obviously there are lot of other options but, as a newbie, all research seems to point towards a PI machine. The ATX's "close-to-GPX" performance and the submersion factor seemed fun since I used to dive and enjoy working in the water.

On the other side, there are a LOT of competent machines, including PI systems, which are lower in price.

WWTND? =)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... I just thought of the perfect machine for parks and gold prospecting, and it has a beach mode, the Xterra 705 gold pack for less than $1000.

Fletch, I normally doubtful of any machine that's supposed to be able to go back and forth between nuggets, and coins/relics, with the flip of some switches. Any example (MXT, etc...) I've seen always ends up in steep compromises. Ie.: yes you can do both, but .... you'll get spanked if hunting side-by-side with others who have machines for either a) strictly nuggets, or b) strictly coins/relics.

But I've never personally checked out the 705. There's a fellow in my town who's got one on order. Because he too just couldn't bring himself to buy two machines, and he too has read that this one excells in both venues. When this fellow gets it, he and I are going to get together over flagged signals at the beach, turf, etc... I'll be swinging my exp. II

No nugget duels though, as I already KNOW the exp. II won't find nuggets. Doh! haha

 

[Fletch88]

Fletch, I normally doubtful of any machine that's supposed to be able to go back and forth between nuggets, and coins/relics, with the flip of some switches. Any example (MXT, etc...) I've seen always ends up in steep compromises. Ie.: yes you can do both, but .... you'll get spanked if hunting side-by-side with others who have machines for either a) strictly nuggets, or b) strictly coins/relics. But I've never personally checked out the 705. There's a fellow in my town who's got one on order. Because he too just couldn't bring himself to buy two machines, and he too has read that this one excells in both venues. When this fellow gets it, he and I are going to get together over flagged signals at the beach, turf, etc... I'll be swinging my exp. II No nugget duels though, as I already KNOW the exp. II won't find nuggets. Doh! haha

I will be curios to see the results because I have never used the 705 either. I have only watched videos of the prospecting feature of the 705, and it seems like it will be a decent machine for that purpose, at least well enough to get away from the in-laws a few hours . If anyone can produce a machine that can be somewhat proficient at both types of hunting I would put my money on Minelab. Does anyone have any experience at nugget shooting with a Sovereign GT? I didn't bring it up as one of the options but I know it is awesome everywhere else he wants to hunt, and does have Accu-Track digital ground balance in its All Metal mode and may be an option for nuggets, beach and coin shooting, unless you have to have a VDI screen to hunt.

 

[Fletch88]

With his budget, there are many better choices in all aspects of hunting, than the TDI. At the beach, you would be overwhelmed with iron sounds in some areas. I've only used a TDI a couple of times but some of the folks I detect with have used it extensively and they prefer the Gold Bug. (That's how I was able to use the TDI) They say the Gold Bug and it's high operating frequency will find the tiny nuggets that are the most common gold finds in their area. The small elliptical coil of the Gold Bug is easier to use in rocky or tight areas too. Big nuggets? I don't know....I've never found one!

Cudamark, do you know anything about the Gold Bug DP. I saw an ad in a magazine that says it's a good machine for coin, relics, salt, and prospecting. Looks like a good machine but I have no experience with it.

 

[Mach1Pilot]

If you are doing just prospecting and the beaches, then the ATX will perform well but has less than ideal ergonoics. Simply put, its heavy. Performance wise it would be outstanding if you can work with the limits of limited discrimination. If you are looking at PI, you also may want to consider some used machines - namely the Minelab SD series or the GP series. Both can be bought for less than the money you are looking to spend, and they have more flexibilty in coil options than the ATX.

There were some other good suggestions in this thread, it would be hard to argue with any of them. The Gold Bug is a proven performer on small gold, and the choice of many prospectors. The X-Terra 705 is a well rounded machine, and aside from being not waterproof is adaptable to just about all of the situations you wish to hunt. It has the plus of being cheaper too.

Since you are mentioning being new to this hobby, I'd suggest spending less money to start and see if this hobby is for you. There are a ton of expensive detectors setting in closets because the owners don't have the time to use them, gave up because they didn't find anything, etc. If you find youself finding nuggets like you hope to, then upgrade to the ultimate tool at that time.

Hope that helps!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

.... Does anyone have any experience at nugget shooting with a Sovereign GT? ....

Sov. is a coin/relic/jewelry machine. Will not find nuggets. Unless of course the nugget is much larger. But no, not grain-of-rice and bird-shot sized nuggets. And as you know, 99% of all nuggets found in nature don't get bigger than grain-of-rice size. Thus, no, the Sov. is not for nuggets.

 

[Fletch88]

Tom, I know the GT is not a top choice as a small nugget machine just thought it may work somewhat for some prospecting since it has automatic ground tracking and was advertised as being able to nugget shoot in mineralized ground. It is definitely a good coin, jewelry and relic machine! I have zero experience nugget detecting but would like to try it one day.

 

[cudamark]

Cudamark, do you know anything about the Gold Bug DP. I saw an ad in a magazine that says it's a good machine for coin, relics, salt, and prospecting. Looks like a good machine but I have no experience with it.

No, I haven't used that particular model yet but if you look at the specs, it looks almost identical to the Pro but with a different coil. Seeing as how it has target I.D. like the Pro, I suspect it's another machine that tries to be all things to all people at the expense of being excellent in just one area. Having been a lifelong mechanic, I've always tried to have the right tool for the right job. Can I use a Crescent wrench as a hammer? Sure, but don't expect the same results in performance.