good beginner detector?

[nuclearwhiskey]

I'm 100% green to metal detecting and was wondering if some of you guys wanted to post up models that you liked. You know, the good the bad and the ugly. Keep in mind I know nothing about detecting so a beginners model, if such a thing exists, would be ideal.

 

[kcm]

Best thing I can recommend is to search around (as in my post - using the search feature and words), write down the makes/models of salt water (beach) detectors mentioned, then look online for used units in good condition. As someone said, you can sometimes pick up truly amazing deals, if you're not too worried about not getting a warranty.

Beware eBay - in the sense that many folks may try to sell a detector that is not in good working condition. I bought my wife a Tesoro Silver uMax (land only) on eBay for $140. It's in VERY good condition, and the seller was ("is") a metal detector dealer of some sorts - probably a small shop somewhere who has had this detector for longer than they wanted.

CraigsList is another possibility; same cautions as eBay. There are also detectors listed for sale here on Tnet - some by members; some by sponsors.

As you are looking for a salt water detector, that limits your choices considerably, down to just about price as the deciding factor.

One other question that has not yet been asked - is there a chance that the detector would want to be used underwater? That would up the cost even more.

 

[Disd123]

Thank you so much for all of your info and advice! I'll do exactly as you said. Thanks again!

 

[kcm]

I'll do exactly as you said.

Trusting soul, aren't they!?!

 

[cudamark]

Kcm and coda mark - thank you! I've been reading the forums, but got a little confused. I want to buy my husband a gift. He's interested in beginning to use an MD. We live in FL so it would be sand, wet sand and very shallow water. I saw lots of responses about land vs. water, but I wondered if there was a good entry level model (under $400-$500) that would work for sand and shallow salt water. I really appreciate the help!

In that price range, you're not going to find a new detector that will work well in the wet sand or water (salt being the main problem). A Tesoro Sand Shark would probably be the closest, however, it's a Pulse Induction (PI) machine, which can't discriminate between iron targets such as nails, staples, nuts, bolts, etc, and good targets like jewelry and coins. For a machine that has good discrimination, you'll need one with at least two operating frequencies, such as a Fisher CZ20/21, White's Beach Hunter I.D., or many of the Minelab machines....Soverign, Explorer, E-trac, (for very shallow water) or Excalibur and CTX3030 for ones you can submerge. You'll have to go used on them unless you find a larger budget. Keep in mind that you'll want a good sand scoop too. For one to hold up in wet sand and rocks/shells, you need a good quality one, and they're not cheap either. $150 to $300 from decent to great. If you're going to just hunt dry sand, there are tons of options in your price range.

 

[eddiecurrent]

I hunt in florida on the beaches... in your price range I think a good starter detector would be a whites treasure pro at $369. It has a beach mode, so it should be stable in the wet sand.

 

[SouthFLdigger]

Go for a multifrequency unit on the used market, very few single frequency machines will work well in salty wet sand. The Whites Treasure-pro will not do well there.

 

[adamBomb]

Per the original posters question, I dont get how anyone is recommending anything since we know nothing about how they are going to detect. For all we know this person is looking of a beginner detector to scuba with

Kcm and coda mark - thank you! I've been reading the forums, but got a little confused. I want to buy my husband a gift. He's interested in beginning to use an MD. We live in FL so it would be sand, wet sand and very shallow water. I saw lots of responses about land vs. water, but I wondered if there was a good entry level model (under $400-$500) that would work for sand and shallow salt water. I really appreciate the help!

Unfortunately, there isn't one. Now, you can find used PI detector, like the White's Dual field for that price or a new tesaro sand shark. Keep in mind that these detectors require you to dig everything. They are awesome detectors but tough if its your only one and I would never recommend a PI machine to a beginner unless I had a really good reason to. If you wanted to get a VLF that discriminates junk from the good stuff then a used Whites BHID 300 would be your best bet. they can be found in the $400-$500 range. The better VLF detectors (CZ21/Excalibur) are going to be much closer to $800-$900 used.

You could also get him a used CZ3D or Minelab Soviergn. Both are great on the beach/wet sand but are not waterproof so they could only be used on the sand but they are both as good on the sand as the best detectors. They can be found used for $400-$500

And no the whites treasure pro will NOT work on the beach. You need a machine with dual frequencies. You only options are really the ones I have mentioned here with very few exceptions. Beach mode is meaningless without dual/multi frequency

 

[Normsel]

Call Bart at bigboyshobbies @ 405-206-9010 He is a Tnet advertiser. I have bought plenty of stuff from Bart and he is a straight shooter.

His website is Bigboyshobbies.net

You can email him at Bart@bigboyshobbies.net