Returning To the Hobby

[CSB]

Hi everyone. I am returning to the hobby after a 12 year break and would appreciate some advice. My old detector is a Whites Eagle ii sl90 which after dusting it off and giving it a try seems to still work OK. I am unfamiliar with the advances in detectors since mine was made and would like to know if the newer ones would be a step forward, or if I should stick with my old one. I have been looking at the Whites MXT Pro and the Garrett AT Pro with some interest and would like to hear the opinions of folks with experience with the old and newer machines. My main interests are coin shooting and relic hunting, but I am also interested in nugget hunting one week out of the year. Thank you.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Diving for Pleasure and Treasure - Grab it through Amazon!

[smartmoney]

Hey CSB welcome, I was in a similar situation as yourself. I took a 15 year hiatus and came back to MDing late last year. My last machine was a Wites Eagle Spectrum but I recently purchased a Whites V3i. I think the new machines are way better than the old ones. Yours is still a great machine but the better your machine, the better finds you will get. Take some time with your old machine and if you stick with it this time, consider buying a newer model.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

The SL is a good machine. Newer detectors give you more features : target ID numbers, multiple tones, depth indication, etc. The Garrett At Pro is great mid priced unit, offering all theses newer features and water hunting capability.

Wayne

 

[goldentruth]

Whites has come a long way like the others who keep up with upgrading their models. You have a good idea with the Whites MXT which is a great depth/target machine along with the GMT which has a super fast Auto-Ground balance circut built in which is good for small gold targets. Do check the videos and finds. I can't discount others but you have to be the judge rather than some salesman trying to make a sale with price the only issue. Our members who own MD machines are a good bet with their success which they will share advice. Happy Hunting.

 

[George (MN)]

Gotta say I love my Garrett AT Pro! I have ground at least moderately mineralized, the depth & ID at depth is very good. I use it the easy way, STD mode, sensitivity 7, coins program, iron completely rejected, manual ground balance, about 0 learning curve this way. In first few hours of use, I got a very tilted quarter. Then another loud beep. 100% repeatable high tone and #s 80-85 indicating dime. Dug down 7" & there was a dime! Every sweep got it right! In a park detected hundreds of times. Goes to 10' underwater but water phones are $85 more. Best wishes, George (MN)

 

[williamsingr]

The MXT and the MXT Pro are both great at finding gold and everything else for that matter, check out the reveiws but you cant go wrong with one of them models

 

[deepskyal]

Newer detectors give you more tools to ID targets but your Eagle would be competitive as far as depth and findings.

I still like using my 6000DiPro from time to time but like the visuals I get with the Vision. (Vision was the original V3i)

If you're just getting back into the hobby, use your Eagle and make sure you want to stay in it before you spend on a new one.

Al

 

[Chuck In Oregon]

I was in almost the same quandary in January. All I had was my CZ-20, which had served me well for a lot of years, in and out of the water, but I had dropped out of MDing years before. When I decided to give it another try I chose an AT Pro and I have been very happy with it. I visited the White's factory with some friends in February (only about an hour from home), took a tour and tried out their machines. I was very impressed with their MDs and with their commitment to customer service. If I had it to do over I might buy one of their top end models. Hard to go wrong with the top brands. The visual models are really nice.

Chuck

 

[johnedoe]

I still have my Eagle Spectrum I bought in 1992 and it STILL does an excellent job finding the coins and relics.
I also have an MXT and I use it the most, My wife uses the Spectrum and quite often beats me in coins taken.... but I think it is because she just digs more than I do....lol.

As far as a good multi purpose machine it's really hard to beat the MXT.... It was designed after the GMT which is a proprietary gold machine. While the MXT which runs at 14 Khz may not be as sensitive to the smaller gold that the GMT can see which runs at 50 Khz.... The MXT will do you an excellent job when you do get to the gold fields.

Another option would be to dust off your Eagle and just get back out there, when you want to go prospecting see if you can't just rent a GMT or some other good gold machine for the weekend and see if your going to like it first.