Choosing a detector for use in the lower peninsula

[midmich]

Hello. I am in the process of sorting through all of the information regarding detectors for new users. I have been emailing with a seller & he suggested I post for help from people that live in my area because they would know about ground composition and what machines would work well there.
I live in central Michigan and plan on spending some time looking in and around swimming areas as well as other areas. For this purpose, the Tiger Shark sounds to be a good choice for me. I feel fairly good about this choice. My wife (who has never used one either) has told me that she would like to be able to detect with me, although mostly on land. She might like to wade knee deep or so too. For this, it seems that I have (3) choices in my price range for this. Ace 250, F2 and the Silver umax. Any thoughts? For some reason, the Silver umax has caught my eye, but I'm not sure how important target ID is and I don't know how well the auto ground balance would for my area.
Thanks for any advice.

 

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[Scott (Mich)]

Central Michigan? Where-abouts? heh heh I also live in central MI, about 30 miles NE of Lansing.

I have used Whites detectors myself, starting with a 6000 di Pro in '96, then a XLT, now a DFX. Since I have not used any other brand I cannot tell you anything about them. My Whites detectors work fine here.

I think if you select any of the ones you mentioned you should do fine. Honestly though I think you can get the same performance out of any of the major brand detectors (Whites, Minelab, Tesoro, Fischer, etc..) It comes down to you learning your machine. I think I have a ways to go on learning mine yet, but I can find stuff so I must be doing something right.

My MDing friend and his wife both use Fischer detectors but the ones that they have only have volume, no screen to look at, he finds just about the same stuff that I do when we are together, but he does dig more trash. Maybe he just has his discrimination set lower. Me, I like to look at a graph just to get a wee bit more information before I dig.

I have not had any ground balancing issues as long as I am not on top of some scrap metal when I do it. Pretty much I just turn my Whites on, balance once, and go.

With the DFX I have a few different programs that I use. If I am hunting a trashy yard I will use a different program then I would at a cleaner homestead location. One of the reasons I like my DFX is that I can program it to my liking.

Happy Hunting,

Scott (MI)

 

[midmich]

Thanks for your input. I live in Coleman, which probably puts us an hour apart. I have read good things about all of the units on my list, but then I've read some opinions that puts me back a little on all of them, too. Actually, I wouldn't doubt that my wife would like a screen to look at. But if a unit like the silver umax could be just as good with just a beep, I think it would less things for her to worry about paying attention to. I just don't know if the id feature means that it will discriminate better than not having it at all.
Thanks again.

 

[thompy]

both the f-2 and tesoro are good choices, if your soil is low in minerals the ace will work as well, i live in the UP and soil conditions vary from so so to bad

 

[Slipperyjack47]

Welcome to T-Net Mid! First the Tiger shark is a great entry level water detector and with some practice it will do you a fantastic job. As far as your wife is concerned I would reccomend the Garrett Ace 250 or a whites M6 as these are a turn on and go type machines that require very little adjustments to mess with and will make quality finds and provide many years of service, but a good tip is if she ends up with a land machine is STAY OUT OF THE WATER! lol I have seen many a detector ruined by an accidental slip and the machine is dropped in the lake. I will again echo what Scott said and I am in total agreement that no matter what machine you end up with, it takes at least 100 hours of use before you will understand it and be able to run it well. Alot of people purchase machines and expect to go right out and find the "Mother Lode" and most don't even take the time to read the owners manual. Take the time! dig everything at first, this will help you to learn what the machine is telling you and soon I hope to see you and your wife posting some awesome finds on T-Net


HH
Slipperyjack

 

[midmich]

I really appreciate every one's input. I can't speak for my wife, but I expect to hang in there. My biggest problem will be finding the 100 hours to play with the machine. Work keeps me pretty busy right now.
Another thing that I know little about is how to find places to look and where to look within a place if I do find one. I'm even looking at clubs in my area so that I can try and learn from other people rather than trying to do it all on my own.

 

[NGE]

Whilst I am not in mid-Mich. area, I run into all kinds of ground near the Detroit area. And I use a Minelab explorer XS, the only bad part of using this machine is that it cross-talks with every brand out there . However, if the other people will just stand near you and not swing their loops, it can be set to eliminate this problem. This machine transmits 28 frequencies. It is an awesome machine. Most male members of our club use this or the Minelab Explorer XS II. Our club is located in Livonia, Michigan. If I am allowed to, I will give the link to our club and a sister website for you to find more info on these machines. http://www.michigantreasurehunters.com and the other is; http://www.greatlakesmetaldetecting.com I am new to this forum, and have been hunting since 1960.