Need a new Detector.....input welcome!

greengold · Aug 10, 2012

Currently I am limping along with my BH tracker IV. It was my first machine and does the trick (I think) but Im ready for an upgrade. I live in the Puget Sound so beach hunting is a must but I also don't want to be limited to that. Any suggestions? I was thinking about the Garrett ATPro. Thanks!

Mzjavert · Aug 10, 2012

Personally I've had a couple of Garrett's and hated them both. (The last one being an ACE 250...I gave it 100 hrs and never clicked with it.) The multi-tones in particular drive me crazy and the id icons tend to jump all over the place. That's particularly true of any metal that's not pure so to speak. So if you can try the detector's you are thinking about beforehand, do so.

You probably want a machine that does not have preset ground balance. You'll want one that sets itself (you have to do what it tells you to complete the process) or with manual ground balance.

I'd actually talk to other people who detect your beaches and ask them about their machines. You'll probably do quiet well if you get the machine most of them use and love.

As far as Brands I personally don't think you can go wrong with Tesoro or Whites. Though in this case I'd give the nod to Tesoro as most of their machines are feather-weight and that means a lot when you spend hours hunting on a beach.

greengold · Aug 10, 2012

Thanks for the input, good to know. I noticed with my BH I get tons of chatter on the beach, If i set it to tone mode and adjust the discrepancy right i can get rid of it but i would hate to know what i have missed.

Treasure_Hunter · Aug 10, 2012

Salt water is full of minerals it will drive most vlf detectors nuts, your best using either a multi-freq detector or a pi. Check with the local beach hunters and see what they are use. Any multi freq detector will be a good land detector depending on local ground conditions but you want one waterproof at the beach. Just the salt spray in the air will damage a non-protected detector.

Some like the at pro others hate it, it will depend on how much black sand is in your area and how much salt is in the water.

greengold · Aug 10, 2012

Treasure_Hunter said:
Salt water is full of minerals it will drive most vlf detectors nuts, your best using either a multi-freq detector or a pi. Check with the local beach hunters and see what they are use. Any multi freq detector will be a good land detector depending on local ground conditions but you want one waterproof at the beach. Just the salt spray in the air will damage a non-protected detector.

Some like the at pro others hate it, it will depend on how much black sand is in your area and how much salt is in the water.

Sorry, kind of newbie. Pi? And yes there is a lot of black sand, and the salt goes without saying.

cudamark · Aug 10, 2012

PI is pulse induction. Great for depth.....crappy for discrimination. You'll dig lots of nails and other iron/steel junk with a PI. If money is not a problem, I'd get a Minelab CTX 3030 (which I may be doing soon myself!) but at around $2500 it's a big investment. If you're not going into the water, the E-trac or even an old Sovereign will work fine. So will a Fisher CZ21 but features you like on land are a little lacking. Just about anything will work in the dry sand at the beach....it's the wet sand and water that is the tricky part. You could try the AT pro.....I haven't used one but they seem to get good ratings for the most part and are a lot cheaper.

dirtscratcher · Aug 10, 2012

I went from tracker 4 to a tesoro vaquero, could'nt understand how a99 dollar detector would have tones and a 450 dollar machine did'nt. Can't go wrong with a sov gt or explorer. My explorer used was less than my tesoro.

Hosensack · Aug 11, 2012

Sovereign GT is going to be your best bet if the majority of your hunting is the beach. 1) You'll have arguably the best beach detector. 2) It will not limit you to the beach...far from it. 3) You can quite often find used ones for very reasonable.

Tom Slick · Aug 11, 2012

I'll second the Minelab Sovereign GT or Elite as an excellent beach detector. I think the CTX3030 is an over kill. I know I'll get slamed by CTX owners but here's my opinion. I have GPS in my car so I don't need to pay extra for it on my detector. If it could pinpoint your location to within a foot it may help to show where you found targets, but it can't. It's heavy, only water proof to a few feet so you can't dive with it. You have to use Minelabs waterproof headphones $, Can't use the wireless headhpones when waterhunting, Need an adapter to use other headphones on land. So now I'd need 3 different headphones and a price of $2500. For that much you can have a new Sovereign GT (dry beach), and a new Excaliber (Fresh and Saltwater detector), If you buy used, you could also get a 3rd detector like a used White's M6 (Coin & Jewelry or backup beach machine). If you substitute a Tesoro Tiger Shark (freshwater) or Sand Shark (saltwater) for the Excal. Then you could get a 4th detector like a Tesoro Silver UMax for Tot Lots. Bring it on. :tongue3:

Hosensack · Aug 11, 2012

Tom Slick said:
I'll second the Minelab Sovereign GT or Elite as an excellent beach detector. I think the CTX3030 is an over kill. I know I'll get slamed by CTX owners but here's my opinion. I have GPS in my car so I don't need to pay extra for it on my detector. If it could pinpoint your location to within a foot it may help to show where you found targets, but it can't. It's heavy, only water proof to a few feet so you can't dive with it. You have to use Minelabs waterproof headphones $, Can't use the wireless headhpones when waterhunting, Need an adapter to use other headphones on land. So now I'd need 3 different headphones and a price of $2500. For that much you can have a new Sovereign GT (dry beach), and a new Excaliber (Fresh and Saltwater detector), If you buy used, you could also get a 3rd detector like a used White's M6 (Coin & Jewelry or backup beach machine). If you substitute a Tesoro Tiger Shark (freshwater) or Sand Shark (saltwater) for the Excal. Then you could get a 4th detector like a Tesoro Silver UMax for Tot Lots. Bring it on.

I want to refrain from hi jacking, and this is not a slam. I'll just say if you adjust the cuff correctly the CTX is balanced so well it swings lighter than any of the heavier machines. The GPS is not the feature that sets it apart. That said let's not forget I also suggested the Sovereign GT in this case.

One other note...you realize you just basically said the CTX3030 is like having 4 detectors in one.

Tom Slick · Aug 11, 2012

"you realize you just basically said the CTX3030 is like having 4 detectors in one".
No, you said that. One thing I've found in my years of detecting is that no single detector does it all very well. There are some that cover many types of hunting pretty well but they are a compromise on most. Kind of like an SUV, a sports car it's not, nor a pickup, or a luxury car but it can do an acceptable job of getting you around. I like having different tools in my tool box. I believe that having multiple detectors to cover each type of detecting is the better way to go. Thinking that one detector can do it all is like saying "Here's a hammer, go build a house".

Hosensack · Aug 11, 2012

That was a light hearted after thought addition. I have had three people inquire about the CTX who already had E-tracs and Excals. I did not encourage the CTX to any of them.

cudamark · Aug 13, 2012

I appreciate your opinions on the CTX 3030, E-trac, and Excalibur. So you don't think the CTX 3030 is as good a shallow water machine as the Excalibur or as good a land machine as the E-trac? In what way are they better than the 3030? I'm contemplating upgrading my land machine for finding deep coins and am trying to decide on a machine also. I'd prefer something I can hip mount but I don't see that option on some machines. Also, are there any aftermarket coils for the CTX 3030 yet?

Hosensack · Aug 13, 2012

cudamark said:
I appreciate your opinions on the CTX 3030, E-trac, and Excalibur. So you don't think the CTX 3030 is as good a shallow water machine as the Excalibur or as good a land machine as the E-trac? In what way are they better than the 3030? I'm contemplating upgrading my land machine for finding deep coins and am trying to decide on a machine also. I'd prefer something I can hip mount but I don't see that option on some machines. Also, are there any aftermarket coils for the CTX 3030 yet?

CTX3030 is not as good a salt water shallow machine as the Excal, but it is a better land machine than the E-trac. The Excal is made for salt water hunting.
Everyone compares or judges the CTX on what it does similar to the E-trac and others, but it is the differences that set it apart. The audio adjustments are near limitless, you can hunt by tone ID and never even look at the screen if you prefer. The Ferrous coin setting finds targets in trash that even the E-trac masks. You can run it wide open with no disc. and be fine because of the tone set up and the display showing multiple targets at once.