Same old question: Which general purpose detector to purchase?

[GrievousAngel]

Hello All,

If you had 3 budget groups, which detector is overall better for general use?

$600 to $1000:

$1000 to $1500:

$1500 to $2500:

I wonder which feature is better?

1. Single freq or multi-freq? Does this effect speed of detection? Advantage of higher freqs?

2. I would like to have both water/beach and land capabilities, but does that require water-proof to 10'?

3. How important are easy setup verses steeper learning curve IF you are an engineer and somewhat anal about technology?

4. I like the Garrett AT Pro, MineLab Safari and the CTX3030, plus Fisher 75 models. What others should I check out?

5. Actually I would like to be able to do relic/coins, meteorites and some gold/silver hunting to maybe 8" to 10" or so. Is that reasonable?

6. How big a deal is having multiple coils? Like small verses large?

If this post is to broad to cover, please direct me to a site that summarizes topics like above. Thanks,

Billy

 

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[luvsdux]

The broad range of detecting you want covered is why many detectorists have more than one detector. For instance, for dry sand, general coin and relic huntiing and prospecting I'd personally recommend Whites MXT pro with several different coils, multiple coils are a big plus IMHO. However, for any kind of serious water detecting, I'd suggest one of the dedicated water machines and that leads to mostly (or all) fresh water or salt water? Two different environments with different requirements for the best results. Multi-freq machines have an edge in some conditions, Higher frequencies are preferred for prospecting. As to easy setup and steep learning curves that's a pretty personal selection. I'd rather be digging targets than tweaking a bunch of settings for just a bit more depth -- and, tweaking can also go the wrong way and be detrimental to performance. That's why the design in a way to go back to the factory settings. And, if you decide to purchase the detector with the most bells and whistles, don't be surprised if someone comes along with a decent beep and dig detector and does just as well or better, especially if they really know their machine.
My two bits,
luvsdux

 

[Frankn]

Forget all the questions. You are talking about 2 detectors. One for the beach and water would be a PI detector like the Whites Surfmaster PI. It will pull ringes and coins from 10" on wet or dry sand. It will even pull targets from the black metallic sand. Now the other detector should be a top of the line general purpose detector. I would get a used one to start that had all the features except mufti-frequencies which I consider a sales gimmick. Look for an XLT by Whites. You can start right off by turning it on and following the directions on the screen to pick a program. You can later custom tune any setting in any program. I have been using these 2 detectors for over 12 years for all types of detecting except deep cache detecting which requires a 2 Box specialty detector. I use my Hays 2 Box for that. I speak from experience of 40+ years with outstanding results. But you are just going to do what you want to! Good luck anyway! Frank...

 

[Ronzie]

$600 to $1000: Tesoro Tejon is $590 and is a deep machine.

2 - water/beach and land capabilities : AT Pro ($600) is an all round machine up to 10ft. Tesoro Tiger Shark w/10" coil ($660) is good up to 200 feet and has the same disc & ground balance as the Bandido series.

5 - relic/coins, meteorites and some gold/silver hunting to maybe 8" to 10" or so : Tiger Shark can be used for coin and relic hunting and even gold prospecting. By using the four controls on the outside, you can fine tune your detector to handle whatever conditions you are working in. Never used a Garrett that can reach double digits.

I think the only detector I'd spend more than $1000 would be a Minelab GTX model. That is if I lived in an area to go nugget hunting.
IMO a lot of the higher priced machines aren't the that much better. If I'm going to pay out $2500 for a detector over my $600 one, it had better be 4x better.
My Tesoro Outlaw can do everything my Explorer SE w/Pro coil can do for half the price & half the weight.

 

[Keppy]

Forget all the questions. You are talking about 2 detectors. One for the beach and water would be a PI detector like the Whites Surfmaster PI. It will pull ringes and coins from 10" on wet or dry sand. It will even pull targets from the black metallic sand. Now the other detector should be a top of the line general purpose detector. I would get a used one to start that had all the features except mufti-frequencies which I consider a sales gimmick. Look for an XLT by Whites. You can start right off by turning it on and following the directions on the screen to pick a program. You can later custom tune any setting in any program. I have been using these 2 detectors for over 12 years for all types of detecting except deep cache detecting which requires a 2 Box specialty detector. I use my Hays 2 Box for that. I speak from experience of 40+ years with outstanding results. But you are just going to do what you want to! Good luck anyway! Frank...

/QUOTE]......Well Frank is right there every one ask's what detector .......... Then do and buy what they want any how....... But that is how it should be... Make up your own mind don't have every one else make up you mind .....

 

[Digger2]

Get one of each!

 

[liftloop]

two is not enough

 

[Terry Soloman]

Easy answer - Tesoro Outlaw with three coils.