Want a metal detector beyond that very confused

[Flintstock]

Hello thank you for reading this. In researching I am getting pretty confused as to what features are the most important to have in a good quality metal detector. In all my reading these are the things that jump out at me as to being important. Depth indication-I don't want to dig to China. Secondly target identification, I'd like to know what I am digging up. I am also a little confused as to the difference between discrimination and target identification. Sound like the same thing to me. How important is coil size? I'm not sure I understand the frequency thing. If anyone would be willing to enlighten me I would greatly appreciate it. If there are other features that are more important then the ones I have mentioned I would appreciate being made aware of those also. If anyone answers this thanks in advance.

 

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[vpnavy]

1st - I noticed this was your very first post Flintstock - so, Welcome Aboard! You didn't list your state (or country) in your profile. So, you might consider jumping over to Sub-Forums: Select Your Area.... and selecting location information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state (or country).
2nd - Whatever you finally decide on - please consider buying one from one of

's Supporting Vendors.

3rd - Hang onto your shorts - a lot of recommendations are on the way!

 

[Flintstock]

Thank you, I am from Kansas

 

[angelito1]

welcome to Tnet...........

 

[Flintstock]

Thank You angelito1

 

[RustyGold]

Most of your questions could be answered by telling us what environment you will be using the detector in.
Does it need to be waterproof for searching in water like lakes, creeks or at the beach.
Or are you wanting to coin shoot in the parks. You may be wanting to use it in the field or cellar holes to search for relics.
So first decide where you will be treasure hunting and that will help narrow it down to which detectors and what features you would need in a detector and what those features will accomplish.
Best of luck and welcome to TNet!

 

[against the wind]

I would recommend that you visit KELLYCO metal detectors. They have numerous detectors on sale that have videos. I don't know what your budget is, so I'll recommend a mid-range cost. Also a machine that will function well in the Kansas dirt or lakes. The AT PRO by Garrett is an all terrain machine and the learning curve is not difficult. IMHO
Good luck

 

[dsdigger]

Welcome from Virginia! I would add my two cents but I believe that RustyGold and against the wind have given a good start. As vpnavy stated, check out sub-forums:select your area-Kansas and see if there is anyone or info there to help also. Lot of good people with a lot of good knowledge on here.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

No metal detector can tall you ahead of time what you are digging up. Most will tell you whether something is ferric (iron) or non-ferric. From there they can tell you what you are digging up has conductivity and field eddies that resemble standard US coins by themselves and away from other conductive objects. But they are just "guessing" based on programmed in parameters. Some have little icons that say "25¢" or "1¢" but that just means what you are over has those characteristics. Statistically they'll be close very often. If you find a detector that has "3¢" or "Large Cent" that might be a good one for the older coins. ;-)

Gold rings and aluminum pull tabs have similar conductivity and field eddies so if you want gold rings you'll just have to dig aluminum tabs as well.

Frequency: Lower frequencies penetrate soil better. Lower is better for finding high conductivity items (like silver). Higher frequencies are better on smaller objects and lower conductivity (like gold or iron). High frequency is also going to be more accurate at discriminating shallow targets.

So, for relics go for 7KHz. Gold nuggets go for 71KHz. All purpose: somewhere in between.

 

[Flintstock]

Hey thanks for all the responses! Yea I would be searching old homesteads that use to be in the area plus we have a mile of the Santa Fe Trail that runs thru our land that I have always wanted to check out

 

[huntsman53]

Hey thanks for all the responses! Yea I would be searching old homesteads that use to be in the area plus we have a mile of the Santa Fe Trail that runs thru our land that I have always wanted to check out

Welcome from Tennessee! I bet that you will find a lot of interesting items, relics and treasures on the Santa Fe Trail. Folks would likely have lost coins, other precious items, tools and who knows what while fleeing from bandits and/or a War/Raiding Party of Native Americans. Don't forget to metal detect up to at least 20 yards or more on each side of the Trail as some folks likely buried valuables, so they would not be taken by bandits and/or Native Americans. Also, since the U.S. Cavalry traveled and patrolled the route fairly regularly, they likely lost a lot of items on and along the Trail as well. Good luck!


Frank

 

[patiodadio]

I would recommend that you visit KELLYCO metal detectors. They have numerous detectors on sale that have videos. I don't know what your budget is, so I'll recommend a mid-range cost. Also a machine that will function well in the Kansas dirt or lakes. The AT PRO by Garrett is an all terrain machine and the learning curve is not difficult. IMHO
Good luck

I agree, Kellyco is a great place to start looking. They have a very helpful staff that can answer a lot of question for you.

 

[SweepNbeep]

Hi Flintstock,

Guess what, today is my first day on the forum too. This place is awesome. This time last year, I was in the exact same spot as you. I was just looking into the sport, but I didn't have anyone to personally guide me. I did all my research on the internet, and ended up getting a Garrett AT Pro for my first detector, and have never regretted it. Some people would say it's expensive, but it is far from the most expensive, and you get a heck of a machine in what I would consider the mid-range on price.

The AT Pro has several detection and discrimination modes, and you can also custom set your own. I'm still new to metal detecting, so someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I would say the difference between the two is that detection gives you the ability to have a pretty good idea what you are digging, it gives you an ID of sorts before you even get a shovel in the ground. Most, but not all of the time, you can tell just by the tone, and by the number on your display, what type of metal you are detecting. The AT Pro also tells you approximate depth of the item, but mine tends to display objects a little bit deeper than they actually are.

Discrimination on the other hand, is the ability to filter out certain signals. A lot of times you will get into an area that is just full of old rusted nails and other junk. If you are getting sick of listening to, and digging up every nail, you can set your discrimination to filter out those low tones all together. Does that make sense? Also, you mentioned that you will be in old farm sites. Those are almost always high trash sites, you will have to look through a lot of rusted old junk to find the treasure. That's where a smaller coil comes into play. I switched from the standard 8"x11" DD coil to the 5"x8" because of that very thing, and I love the smaller coil. You can focus on a smaller area, and pin point those high tones much easier. It's much lighter as well, which helps the old arm a lot on those all day outings.

I also have an Ace 400, and I like it a lot too. Usually when I go detecting I'll use the AT, and the kids or wife will swing the Ace. But if I were to only have one it would be the AT, simply for the ability to take it underwater if nothing else, which I do regularly, and that is where I have found my most valuable items thus far. I wouldn't trade the ability to go underwater for anything. But Kansas is mostly dry I think, so maybe that's not a concern to you.

I can't comment on any other detectors, because I haven't used any others. No doubt there are many great choices out there. Just giving you my first hand experience, from a guy whose been doing it less than a year, but totally in love with it.

Best of luck!

 

[Geochem]

Hey thanks for all the responses! Yea I would be searching old homesteads that use to be in the area plus we have a mile of the Santa Fe Trail that runs thru our land that I have always wanted to check out

I hope you enjoy the hobby. Sounds like you have prime land to search.

There is a lot of experience here on Treasure Net to help with questions and what you eventually dig up.

Doing a little research on how to use metal detectors can go a long way in finding the right detector for you and recovering neat lost items in the soil waiting to be found.

 

[asrussell96]

I think everyone has already answered your questions but welcome from Louisiana...I love my Garret AT pro it is easy to learn and waterproof...However does not come with waterproof headphones

 

[KirkS]

Another question that hasn't been brought up is; what's your budget, and do you want new only, or are you comfortable with a used machine?

There are a number of excellent machines out there ranging from $160 to $3000.

Other things you may want to consider - hunting at night, a backlight is a necessity IMO. Frequent rain, weatherproof at the minimum.

I would guess your relic targets (and coins) will be deep based on age, although soil conditions have a lot to do with it. I know lots of folks like the Garrett ATPro, but for just a little more, you can get an awesome (used) Minelab etrac.

Good luck, welcome to a great forum, and let us know when you decide on!

 

[Rawhide]

Im sure you have received several good answers here. I would suggest a two coil package from Barts Big Boys Hobbies. I love mine. I use more expensive detectors but love my AT Pro. You will have everything you need, and will enjoy your hunt as its fun little machine. If you want a deep serious detector go F75 or T2 they are on sale. The F44 is decent too from the reviews. I see a lot of new machines out there too, so just depends on what you what to hunt. AT Pro is waterproof also which opens up some of the water you have there in Kansas.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Welcome to Tnet, there are many thing to think about,
Do you want to hear tones and see target ID numbers or are tones alone okay? I like to have both.
Detector weight To me under 3 lbs or less is my preferrence
Coil choice (DD coil or concentric), both have their own advantages, I am a DD fan, but own one concentric
Coil size, Bigger coils are great for low target dense areas, they go deep, and cover more area per swing where small coils (sniper coils) are best in trashy areas, I have 5 coils for my detector
Tones/Sounds watch some videos and listen to the sounds all the brands make, determine which sounds appeal to you. Know that this is the 1st thing you use in determining whether you dig or not.
Frequency To me, in layman's terms the higher the freq, the smaller the target it can detect
Some machines run FBS technolgy and some VLF can be used in more than one frequency
Waterproof, weatherproof, or not. For water hunting I have a waterproof detector, but for land hunting my detector is not waterproof nor weatherproof but it has a cover the allows me to hunt in the rain.
Depth meter is not a necessity, but is stock on most detectors.
Ground Balance capability Most lower costing machines come with a preset ground balance, Ground Balancing is a necessity for highly mineralized soils. Most allow you to set the GB with a ground grab, many people like to set their GB manually, some detector use ground tracking and adjust GB automatically. I am good with a detector that can ground grab and can be set manually.
Recovery speed quicker recovery speed allows for better target separation and a faster sweep speed.
Notching allows you to discriminate all metals and then go in and allow a certain segment to be undiscriminated.


Discrimination is what you use to hide certain metals/target segments. Most detectors will not allow you to discriminate out copper or silver.

Target ID is the number a target registers on a unit with a VDI screen

I use the Kellyco site to review up to 4 detector specifications side by side.
You will be able to see how the info you require is presented on the detectors.

Do some homework and watch some videos on the detectors that pique your interest.

I started with an el cheapo, the detecting bug hit hard and in 60 days I upgraded to a mid level detector and before the year was over I went with a top end machine. Each detector paid for themselves.

Good Luck on with whatever detector you choose.

 

[tammy74370]

Ive had a cheap detector for years, today I bought a Garrett ace 300. we shall see how that goes

 

[RustyGold]

Watch YouTube videos to see what and how they're using their detectors. Best of luck out there!