Need a Detector, badly

[becky21b]

Man, I have always wanted to get one, just haven't had the money. From looking at this forum, I'm just dying to get one!! I have to start saving up, I'm itching to go dig and find. Any suggestions for someone who hasn't even held one? I have to get in on this. I live by the ocean in a tourist town so I know there has to be goodies out in the sand.

 

[GopherDaGold]

Welcome to T-Net! When you are ready to buy, SHOP HERE FIRST! You will be directed to several guys who will steer you straight and not try to sell you more detector than you need. I'll be watching for your posts!

 

[treasurehound]

Welcome to T-Net! When you are ready to buy, SHOP HERE FIRST! You will be directed to several guys who will steer you straight and not try to sell you more detector than you need. I'll be watching for your posts!

You can get a lot of info on here like Gopher said. It sounds like you are going to be doing a lot of beach hunting. You want to make sure the machine you are looking for works well on the beach. I would hate for you to purchase a machine and not get what you want to use it for. You may want to visit some dealers and get a hands on to see which you like the best. I have never hunted the beaches so I can not give you any advice as to which machines work best. I do know that there are some machines that do not do well on the beaches. Welcome to T-net and we can't wait to see your finds.

 

[bootybay]

Becky,
welcome, I know you wanna do alot of beach hunting..Might I suggest a good entry level machine, you can use it on the beaches in the dry and damp sand.. the ace 250 its 212.00 shipped to your door..but you cannot get it wet or in the water..but then again its an excellent starter machine..and if you look around on tnet, maybe someone will have a good used one.. once you gather up enough funds and feel ready, then get a good water machine like the xcallibur II..then you can hit the water, wet sands, heck the whole beach..Wait till you find your first good find, either a old coin or pc. of jewelry then you will hooked and the addiction will begin..

best of luck.. and happy hunting..

Rae

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The ACE 250 does poorly on the wet salt beaches in our area Becky (I'm in Salinas, 45 min. from your beaches, so we hunt S. Cruz all the time). The Ace 250 doesn't handle the mineralized wet salt. It would be *ok* on the dry, but once you go on the wet salt, you'll decrease down to 5 or 6" max. A better choice would be the an Excaliber, CZ6, Explorer, etc... (depending on various factors of your tastes). Or if budget is an issue, the 6000 Di pro. does well on our beaches (both wet and dry) and can be had on fleabay for fairly reasonably, since it's been out for 15+ yrs. (make sure it's the "di pro" version, and not the earlier versions).

If you want to try a loaner of various options, you can probably hook up with some locals who've got spare machines to sample, compare flagged signals, etc...

The the wet beach up your way can be good when a south swell combines with high tides. That erodes the wet, and mother-nature can turn her beaches into a natural sluicebox Contrastly, when the sand is "coming in", it can be seemingly sterile. Get on the kinzli CA forum, and there's some S. Cruz area hunters who post there. To get to the main page, you have to sign up. But it's easy: just make a name and password, and you're on.

 

[Iron Patch]

You gotta decide what your absolute max budget is and go from there. For where you want to hunt the more $$$ the better, but even a low budget you still can gat a good start. I have salt water all around me, and my first detector hated it, but that sure wasn't going to stop me.

 

[mlayers]

Look into the Tosoro Tiger or Sand Shark. Life time warranty.....Matt

 

[becky21b]

Thanks for all your replies! I'll probly be willing to spend around 250 bucks max. I will do some research to see what will work for me. Sure Ill be going to the beach but there are other places I can detect too, and I doubt that I will be going into the water at all. lol That water is cold!! I just want to start out with something basic not too complicated.

The ACE 250 does poorly on the wet salt beaches in our area Becky (I'm in Salinas, 45 min. from your beaches, so we hunt S. Cruz all the time). The Ace 250 doesn't handle the mineralized wet salt. It would be *ok* on the dry, but once you go on the wet salt, you'll decrease down to 5 or 6" max. A better choice would be the an Excaliber, CZ6, Explorer, etc... (depending on various factors of your tastes). Or if budget is an issue, the 6000 Di pro. does well on our beaches (both wet and dry) and can be had on fleabay for fairly reasonably, since it's been out for 15+ yrs. (make sure it's the "di pro" version, and not the earlier versions).

If you want to try a loaner of various options, you can probably hook up with some locals who've got spare machines to sample, compare flagged signals, etc...

The the wet beach up your way can be good when a south swell combines with high tides. That erodes the wet, and mother-nature can turn her beaches into a natural sluicebox Contrastly, when the sand is "coming in", it can be seemingly sterile. Get on the kinzli CA forum, and there's some S. Cruz area hunters who post there. To get to the main page, you have to sign up. But it's easy: just make a name and password, and you're on.

Thats cool you aren't too far away. How often do you come over this way? Thanks for the info, I will start looking into it,
But for now its off to work, so I can pay for one!

 

[Monty]

Hope you plan on making MDing a hobby and don't plan on getting rich quick. Some people do especially when they see some of the nice finds on Tnet. Go at it with the attitude of making it fun and you will become much more successful. Also, there are dozens of really nice folks here that may become lifelong friends. Monty

 

[becky21b]

haha getting rich wouldn't be so bad, but if it happens it happens, I truely enjoy finding things, and have always wanted a detector just haven't done it yet, something always comes up and can't afford it.. I've gotten all my silver and wheats and indians from the cash drawer at work. I worked in Retail for 10 years and so I would always go through all the coins and pick out any silver or mis prints, one time I found a Indian head nickel I was so excited, haha Ill take pics of all my goods and put em up at some point, But that's the only way I've ever found any silver.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

"How often do you come over this way?" Those of us from this part of the bay (monterey/Salinas area) hit your beaches, instead of ours, whenever the south swells combine with 5.5 or better high tides. And in the winter storm season, when some of the alaskan storms dip far enough south to send swells straight on west, we can be up there every day for weeks straight Just depends on where mother nature is eroding at the time. Lately, the summer waters have been pretty calm, so I haven't hunted up your way for several weeks.

And when I say "In the water", I don't mean literally wading or swimming. Rather what I meant is: to get hip-waders on, and hunt the line of the ebbing surf, at the parallels where it's going in and out. You don't need a water-proof machine for the surf's edge hunting, because the rods and coils of all machines are waterproof.

For $250, see if you can find an Excaliber for that price (I kind of doubt it though). Do not get a used pulse machine, or you will be one-sorry-hunter indeed when you get to some of our more nail-riddled beaches (seabright after erosion, Twin lakes, etc...). Perhaps you can find a used 6000 Di pro, as I said. There's a few guys in your area that do well on the beach with that, and have refused to update over the years, because this machine is that good on wet salt. It's also versatile to hunt land sites (campgrounds, old-town demolition sites, etc...), so that would be what I'd recommend. If you want to try one out first, let me know.

 

[Nugget Hunter Smith]

The closest dealer I can think of is in Foster City, north of San Jose, Trans Bay Metal Detectors. Greg is very knowledgable about detectors. It is a good idea to get your hands on a few to see and hold before you buy.
The 6000 DI Pro is a great machince but heavy in todays market. For the price range you quoted look at the Fisher F2 or Garrett Ace 250.
Unless they have a salt program and are designed for salt beaches most detectors will have a hard time but just turn down the gain or sensitivity and it will work fine.

 

[Keppy]

The closest dealer I can think of is in Foster City, north of San Jose, Trans Bay Metal Detectors. Greg is very knowledgable about detectors. It is a good idea to get your hands on a few to see and hold before you buy.
The 6000 DI Pro is a great machince but heavy in todays market. For the price range you quoted look at the Fisher F2 or Garrett Ace 250.
Unless they have a salt program and are designed for salt beaches most detectors will have a hard time but just turn down the gain or sensitivity and it will work fine.

Good Advice ...Nugget... she said what her price range was and they are telling her Explorer Excalibur . High price detectors ... I don't know if they read or just start putting things down. Most lower end detectors will find the same thing the high end detectors will find . If you can get to a good dealer and check the detectors out is your best bet............

 

[becky21b]

Thanks for your advice. I will have to make a trip up there when I have money and talk to Greg, its not too far of a drive.
I was talking to my boyfriend last night and said " if your gonna get one you might as well get the really good one" Do you really think its necessary that I get the expensive one first? It'll just take me longer to get one cuz I have to save it up longer... and I want one now.. Unless of course HE wants to pay for the expensive one then Im ok with that

Tom_in_CA: I was thinking that just detecting the Beach by the boardwalk and warf places where the tourists are all DAY and ALL Summer, they are bound to drop something (even if its just modern money, I'll take it). I might as well get something out of having to deal with their traffic all summer, right?
Oh yeah, have you ever detected in San Jaun Butiasta? I was thinking about that, I bet theres some good stuff in the ground out there, since its an old Mission alot of people have been through that little town.

 

[Iron Patch]

Thanks for your advice. I will have to make a trip up there when I have money and talk to Greg, its not too far of a drive.
I was talking to my boyfriend last night and said " if your gonna get one you might as well get the really good one" Do you really think its necessary that I get the expensive one first? It'll just take me longer to get one cuz I have to save it up longer... and I want one now.. Unless of course HE wants to pay for the expensive one then Im ok with that

Tom_in_CA: I was thinking that just detecting the Beach by the boardwalk and warf places where the tourists are all DAY and ALL Summer, they are bound to drop something (even if its just modern money, I'll take it). I might as well get something out of having to deal with their traffic all summer, right?
Oh yeah, have you ever detected in San Jaun Butiasta? I was thinking about that, I bet theres some good stuff in the ground out there, since its an old Mission alot of people have been through that little town.

Get an Ace 250 and get started, then start saving again if you think this hobby is for you. You'll get a good % of your money back on the Garrett so think of the little you lose as a rental fee. Waiting to save for a better detector would be crazy.... heck maybe you'll find something with the 250 that will buy you that better one. It can happen!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Yup, detected in SJB. Lots of history there 8)

 

[becky21b]

ok so my budget has changed... my boyfriend (he's great) said hes willing to pay up to $550.00 so i've been doing alot of research and looking around. But I still haven't a clue! only because one person says this and other that... im so indecisive as it is.. I need someone to tell me what to buy! lol I've gotten great suggestions from all of you, But I need you to just say "get this" Who knew it would be so hard to choose. I've looked into the minelab X-terra 505 looks like it runs about 550. what do you think about that one? But I heard their customer service sucks... I just don't know, all I know is I want to get out there and hunt! Thanks again for all your help and advice.

 

[m bryan]

Teknetics Omega 8000 is what I'm leaning toward. It's real close to that price.......

 

[Keppy]

It's hard to tell you what to buy. The information you get here will help some but you have to deside for your self..................... What you will get here is like asking about cars if a person likes Fords he will say the ford is the best car in the world and all others suck........ They will say get a explorer they are better than any other make.... Get a Garrett get a White Get a Tesoro......... To them they might be the best but to you once you get one they told you was best you might not like it................ so it all up to you.......... They will say because it cost more it is beter not so a mid price detector will be as good as the top of the line high price detector but not as many bells & whistles on it that don't really do any thing................ I work for a Lexus auto dealer and drive all thost high price cars every day ..Lexus... Audi.. cadillac...Ect , Ect , ..I don't like them to me they are why over priced for what they do they all do what my Dodge pick up does and i like my dodge better than any of the ones i drive all day. So don't get sucked in to putting out a $1000.00 or more on a detector.............. But stick with Garrett or Minelab or Whites or Tesoro ...........But don't go with a no name detector stick with the top brands made in the USA then it is easy to get parts and get repaired .

 

[Tank69]

Becky Welcome to TNET you've found a great place for our Hobby or addiction lol take your time ask questions , with the vast amounts of knowledge on this site theres never a need to just jump into anything. Like you heard earlier detectors are like cars everyone has their favorite makers .Just do NOT I repeat do NOT buy any detector made over seas , save yourself the head aches an buy name brand .Once again Welcome an hope to see you posting soon


HH Tank