Is all cheap detectors, Junk

[DeepseekerADS]

so a whata ya doin with the 1260?

That baby is still a forever keeper! Rugged! Used that beast for over 4 years of hard detecting. The coil is twisted to about 90 degrees on the shaft, so awkward to use. Contacted Fisher and they said I needed to replace the coil - NOT!!! It's the plastic connector rotated in the shaft. Don't want to try to force it back into position, might break it. And it was so good to me, I don't want to hurt it....

Still thinking about it though. Thinking about asking Fisher if they have a lower shaft & connector available. Wasn't satisfied with that "cheap" response from Fisher support...

 

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[liftloop]

dude
you bought a 5900 di pro
way to go....
that detector my friend is a great detector I've found copper real deep deeper than the mxt... learn to ground balance look for a clean spot too balance over if you have to hold the loop off the ground at the height it will balance out and start walking g.E.B.norm is my mod it will hit on every thing but will id whats there I have the 15" loop and I would not hunt with any other it can get heavy it does have some faults but there miner learn it and you will be happy the 5900 is what all the other company copied but the way they did it was they went to a computer rise tuner to stop the drifting all you have too do is click the trigger I use to hunt with my mxt and dream of a 5900 di pro I own two 5900 now one thing i don't under stand is Old man Garret says he was the the one to stop drifting in a detector but on the other hand you have tesoro claiming they came up with a computerized board that stopped the drifting white's don't claim that.... they just make darn good detector they use good speakers so there pleasant too the ears....the xlt I can't stomach multi tone ...if the 5900 keeps drifting out the batteries are getting low ....good luck and happy hunting and bring a shovel you will need it with that detector if you go relic hunting .....

liftloop

 

[Frankn]

Thanks guys for all the great, advice. I have found a, whites/5900DI pro SL, he wants 300$, is that a good detector.thanks Justintime

That was a good detector for it's time But the electronics are a bit dated and it is overpriced. I still stick with the Whites XLT. Their current V3 , top of there line general purpose detector technology are an advancement of thr XLT with more bells and whistles plus multi frequency and other things you will probably never use. As stated before, you can find one for a bit over $300 and it will do everything you want except deep cache hunting. That requires a 2 BOX, But you can pick them up cheap too. Good luck on your start in the hunt But remember once you find something, there,s no turning back! Frank...

 

[Justintime]

I have found a whites XLT,but the trigger is broke,is that something that's a easy fix,and what would would be a fair offer. Thanks Justintime.

 

[Frankn]

The trigger is basically for pinpointiog, but has other usages you will probably never use. It's probably going to be sent to whites. I would guess about $75 in repairs. Whites is reasonable. Or if you are into electrical work, just buy the part and install it. It's a little tricky because it's behind and below the display and access is from the front only. I would make them an offer of $325, but only if they had it fixed first. There should be more of them floating around on the market because people bought the V3 and now have the XLT just sitting there. Frank...

 

[GoldenEagle]

I've never owned a detector before. When looking them up there are a wide variety, of detectors and prices. Do the cheap detectors work as efficiently, as a expensive one. I need one to try to locate drop age, around the treasure area in question. Looking to get one, don't know all the brands, need one for under 400$, that's all I got to work with. Thanks Justintime

Justintime-

You need to figure out if want you want to find,


Everything including gold and silver
underwater
coins
relics
Just gold
civil war
sand and beach

Next decide how dedicated you are to the hobby?
Daily
Weekly
Monthly
Yearly
Lifetime commitment


I noticed your a senior member. what kind of treasure hunting do you do? Also, are you going to want a removable battery pack? What is your tolerance level?
Then I would consider what type of metal detector to buy.
Hope this helps
GoldenEagle

 

[chaseadams]

I got a cheap Bounty Hunter QuickSilver. It may be a toy but that's what I wanted. Something to have a blast with! I have a good time going out with my friends to find buried treasure! Mostly junk but that is fine with me. I have found some coins and a buried gun. My mom even gets out with us sometimes. My nephew also enjoys going. I think what I have will do for now but don't get me wrong, I would love to have a more expensive detector. If you are looking to get rich then I don't know what to tell you. If you are looking to have fun then so what if it's a "toy?" Anyway, just my two cents.

 

[chillicothedirtdigger]

I use the At Pro and it has found many many things for me. Example 1898 barber jhalf, 1913 barber dime, 1844 braided hair large cent 7 inches down in the dirt with the 5x8 coil. Garret At Pro is a great Detector for the 595 price it sells for

 

[Justintime]

I,got a xlt,for a fair price,and a Beachhunter ID,for trade, not as easy as first thought, productive practice hunts. I got a bulls eye2 pinpoint from a guy I,know, it helps...the xlt is easy,but complex machine. I like it..thanks Justintime

 

[Frankn]

Looks like you are off to a good start. Good luck, Frank...

 

[Jarl]

Get a list of detector brands, already mentioned in this post(Fisher, Whites, Garrett, Tesoro, Minelab, Teknetics etc etc.) then go to youtube and search for instructional or tutorial videos on each of those brands. Figure out also which of those are higher and lower end models in their respective brands. Unless you just buy one within your price range and just start using it, it will be hard to know for sure. If you know someone with a detector, ask to try it out. I always look for videos of people using their machines or anything else before I consider buying. This kind of helps put you in the user perspective and gives an idea of how intuitive and user friendly the machine might be.

 

[Jarl]

Ok, oops, didn't see that you already got one...nevermind...now you are on your way.

 

[Lifes A Garden...Dig IT]

After reading your question , couldn't help but to scratch my head. It's just that I noticed you have a Whites Spectrum XLT, Whites Beachhunter ID, whites bullseye ll pinpointer. In addition you have posted 900 comments and gave 98 likes.

What was your question again?

 

[Lifes A Garden...Dig IT]

Justintime,
Okay, just saw were you had picked these items up since you posted the question. I was getting a bit puzzled. Frankn gave good advice, and it looks like you worked it out. HH

 

[Nickleanddime]

No they are not all junk. I bought a used one at a garage sale for ten bucks. The original price at best buy is 39.99. It's called a target shooter that's it. No other name at all. And I find clad, stainless, found a silver ring that I know for a fact 1500 dollar machines passed on many occasions. And it gets good depth up to 8 inches on good days, when battery is about low it get less. The disc doesn't work, you turn it up more then a hair above on it'll chatter and give false hits, she's temperamental lol. But it finds stuff and put gas in my car many times this fall. The best thing is it doesn't pick up rust iron and will only pick up steel if its big. It seems the higher dollar machines have quirks that need a steep learning curve. Their overly sensitive, temperamental, and difficult. But stay within your budget, being new you may not enjoy it, so get one that's low priced but still a good resell value so if you hate it you'll get some back.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

You say you know for a fact $1500 detectors missed that ring, problem with that statement is you don't know if they put a coil over the target. It wouldn't matter if they owned a $5000 detector if they don't put coil over target they will not see it. If they use improper sweeping method (swinging like a sickle) they want see it, swinging coil too fast odds are they want see it either. ..






3%

SI VIS PACEM, PARA BELLUM

MALO PERICULOSAM, LIBERTATEM QUAM QUIETAM SERVITUTEM


We will NOT go quietly into the night!

 

[Dirt.Hound]

Even Minelab users say their visual ID is not accurate beyond 7".

Really? I use an X-Terra 705 with the 10.5" 7.5khz DD and can accurately ID any coin at the maximum depth.

do not confuse the FBS/BBS tech. of Sov. and Ex-cals, Explorers, Ctx3030 etc. etc. with the new line of ML "X-Terra" which use a different kind of tech. (not FBS/BBS) which is one reason they are MUCH "cheaper". There's a reason (or reasons) the X-Terra line is much cheaper and why they won't ID at depth like the FBS/BBS Minelabs will (among other things)!

I hunt side by side with someone that uses a CTX and we've tested deep targets with both machines... let's just say I still have a great deal of confidence in my X-Terra 705. Have also had no problems picking silver/copper coins out of iron infested areas. At $729 (not including coil upgrades), it isn't exactly a "cheap" machine, either. Best bang for the buck on the market, IMHO.

 

[newgoldfinder]

Garrett has more than one tone in the AT Series, but that is out of his budget. Consider the Whites Coinmaster GT, it has ground balance capabilities and is in your price range. Fisher F4 also has ground balance in your price range. Call me if I can help with your decision.

Wayne

www.metaldetectingstuff.com

Tone as in Ping right? My Garrett Ace 250 has about 2plus different sounds allowing me to tell iron from other metals. Also it was less than $300 and came with a bounty hunter pin pointer, headphones, carry bag, and more.

 

[barrywk]

I really don't know why people talk smack about the bounty hunters,I have an at pro,a f2 and an xterra 505 and other than a few bells and whistles my bounty hunter 505 can hold its on on finding metal objects under ground and the depth is about as good if not better than some of the ones I just listed and it discrims just like the others listed.....bottom line I paid 150.00 and that's with two coils.I wouldn't have a bit of problem laying my at or xterra down and using my bounty hunter barry

 

[heepiepow]

Three years ago my mom and I combined funds to buy a $180 Bounty Hunter Tracker IV. I've since upgraded, but together we've found thousands of coins with it, almost a hundred wheaties, coins back to 1848, dozens of rings (including two golds I sold to a refinery for $408 and two mom sold for $420), etc. etc. etc.

Soon after we purchased it I was on here asking for advice. Some of the best were: Dig Everything; and Trust Your Ears. Both were incredibly valuable, as I learned to listen very carefully; even while on sweeping a split second sound might be better than another, leading me to refocus. Digging everything has gotten us a lot of great finds despite a "low-sounding" or low-number tone. If it's strong sweeping in every direction, dig it! And there are a tremendous amount of cool pins, badges, buttons, etc. that are made out of random metals.

A $200 detector would imo serve you very well for a long time. Just be aware there may be a long learning curve. Took me a month to get used to our Bounty Hunter, then another month to get used to my Teknetics upgrade. Don't be discouraged! Your ears and technique and digging time will all get better. And of course, I imagine just about every single detector here finds 10X as much bottlecaps and pulltabs as good finds. If you find a ton of them in area--at least take solace that other detectorists may not have been there!