Should I rent a good detector?

[Groovedymond]

Hello all!

I have been hitting this one field pretty hard lately. It has produced 2 mercs, 2 buffalos, 1 Indian, 4 wheats and two 40's nickels. Suddenly, it stopped. Nothing more.

I am SURE there has to be more. After reading up on my detector (Bounty Hunter Quick Silver), I saw that it states that it does automatic ground balancing, and that it's depth is at about 6". This makes me wonder if I'm just not hitting deep enough.

I was in a local coin store the other day (they are a Whites Distributor), and I noticed that they offered metal detector rentals. It's $30 / day. They seemed like much better ones than what I currently have.I'm wondering if I should rent one, go to my spot and see if there is more stuff. If there IS, then I know I have to get a better detector. If I find nothing more, then I will move on my merry way.

What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Depends on how easily you can part with $30 Even if you rented another brand of machine, and even if you went back to your site and found another few coins, you may find that the "jury is still out" in your conclusions. Ie.: you may just end up wondering "maybe I just didn't pass over that spot before, and my Bounty Hunter would've heard it anyways". The only real test, when moving from one machine to another, is to try them side-by-side. If you can flag a few deep signals with one machine, that you have to admit your other machine just doesn't pick up as well, then you will have a better idea of the merits of one machine over the other.

Another consideration is that in a single day, you may not develope enough experience on a new machine (the sound nuances, control variations, etc...) to make an accurate analysis. To speed that up, try hooking up with a proficient user of that brand, who routinely knows how to find deepies. They can show you why they do or don't dig/pass certain sounds that a particular machine makes. Different machines vary on swing speed, tones, repeatibility, etc.. Ie.: what may be a "bad sound" on one machine, may be a "good sound" on another machine.

 

[stefen]

Economically its like building a $50,000 garage to house a $500 junker

 

[thompy]

kind of steep but if you are intrested in updating, it might be worth trying a m-6 to see if you like the machine and if your site holds more or not.

 

[savant365]

If the coin store is a Whites dealer I would think they would let you test drive one if you are serious about upgrading. I would ask to try one out that you are interested in buying, the worst that could happen is they tell you no.

 

[boogeyman]

Tom pretty well said it. Have you considered that you may have hit a spot that was a pocket spill or where someone rolled around dumping change? You might want to try the area around where you recovered your finds. Also, slow down. It's human nature to get excited and speed up trying to find it all. There's people here that have made some really neat finds with "low end" machines.

 

[Ricardo_NY1]

I would say do not rent the detector! The logic is correct, you can find more..........but you are not going to learn it well enough in one or two days to be able to use it proficiently. Any detector can take weeks or months to get the hang of. It's not going to happen in 3 days worth of $90 to do so. Save your money and clad as you go along and upgrade to a good used detector. The White's M6 an such are excellent and can be had cheap used.

 

[gametalman52]

On the other hand, if you can afford the Cadillac, why buy the Volkswagen. I have a middle range White's but every time I went out I wondered if I was missing anything. To erase my own personal doubt I got the DFX. I am sure I am not getting everything and have proved that to myself. BUT, It erased a lot of the doubt as far as my equipment goes, and is a lot cheaper than a new bass boat!!

 

[grizzly bare]

How about asking some detecting "friends" to come by and show you their machines? Almost everyone has a machine or two gathering dust. You could meet some great people and see some better machines. I live way too far away, but if there was a TNet member in a reasonable drive, I know I would pull out the Sovereign and the Quattro and go for a visit.
Our friends are famously good-hearted. Ask. Someone may help. You could make a detecting buddy.
Today is the day!

grizzly bare

 

[relichunters]

I use a bounty hunter quick silver myself, and have found items in dirt at 8" deep. It was on medium depth too. Depends on the soil conditions. The ground balance is one of the best features, it doesn't give you false signals (yes all detectors give false signals) but you can bump this over grass, roots, rocks, etc and it doesn't beep.