What is the best metal detector for your buck?

gary in idaho

Full Member
May 7, 2008
138
3
Thanks EasyMoney, for telling it like it is! I for one appreciate it. Don't let a few uneducated persons (best way I could put it)keep you from posting here.
Gary
EasyMoney said:
Well folks, I decided to pull all my posts because talking to a wall of "opinions" is not my idea of showing someone something educational, so I decided to not waste my time any more here..

But here is a different version since my words have somehow gotten lost in the translation: I want to try again to seperate the apples from the oranges. Just one more time.

The Aces are NOT designed for high-iron soil, they ARE designed for LOW iron soil. High iron and low iron are not the same two terms. Their intentional design is why they do such a bad job on high iron or salt beaches and have so much troubles with hot rocks. And when I say "Hot Rocks" I am not talking about those wussie stones found in Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma, or S. Carolina, either, I'm talking about the ones here in the west from the Rocky Mountains to the Western Seacoast. Cheeeeeze guys, how difficult is that to understand? Why do you think that Charlie Garrett himself posted on HIS OWN charts the fact that the Aces are not recommended for beach hunting? Don't you all realize that he knows what he is talking about? Is that one too tough to understand too? And by now CERTAINLY most people know that the 1200 through 2500 series Garretts need an aftermarket chip (designed by Garret Metal Detectors too) to compensate for the high iron found elsewhere besides the Eastern USA and GB, and that the new ones have that chip in them too, otherwise they would have the same problems. The western USA does not start in Ohio or Illinois, it starts East of the Rocky Mountain area as in just west of Central USA. Most people already know that the Garrett chip didn't quite take care of the problem completely, and that people still have troubles with Garretts in high iron soil. This is no military secret secret folks, it is a fact, and if you want to learn more about it, that's what browsers are made for. Frankly, I'm a bit tired of telling it to closed deaf ears and closed minds.

If you want to hunt the Eastern or UK soil you may well like the Aces because they do much better in those soils, but they STILL are not as good a pinpointer as a cheap White's, Tesoro, or Fisher, period. Nautilus doesn't make a cheap detector and neither does Minelab, except for the xterra-50 which is basically in need of a whole lot of work just to start with anyway.

The question at hand is; "What is the best metal detector for your buck". That is not a difficult question to answer. The cheap $59 one is almost as good as a Tesoro Compadre for depth and discrimination in high iron soil and it cherry-picks almost as well too. It also costs little more than 1/3 what the Compadre costs, hence, it is the best deal for the money in high iron soil. The Compadre is the next, more powerful, and better made choice. However, again, the Chinese one IS NOT as much detector as the Compadre is! The cheap Chinese junk detector functions better as a cherry-picker and small item finder than any Ace ever made though, regardless of the soil, and I know this because I have tested them side-by-side in various soils, so I know this 'personally", not from heresay. In fact I found a silver pendant, a war penny and a silver earring in a small area about 10' X 30' with the Chinese junk detector that NONE of all my detectors had ever found, and that alone should tell someone with less than a room temperature IQ something too. I figured it out and I'm sure someone else can too.

The Ace 150 and 250 get 9" on an air test on a quarter and the cheap Chinese one gets 8", just like the Compadre does, and just like all the Chinese cheapie's reviews say it does too. Go read them, they are written for 4th grade level readers. You will find them at Amazon.com

In bad soil the Aces lose more depth than the F-2, Compadre, and Silver uMax, and even the cheaper White's. And it's because of their really slow processing rate of retune and return to GB. It's because they use an older type of circuitry than the others, much like the very antiquated (early 80's) Bounter Hunter Red Baron, and that's why the tone ("BONG") is delayed, just as the Red Baron's was. Every one of you know what I'm talking about if you own or have used an Ace. This too is not a Top Drawer Military Secret.

I even tested the "Chinese junk" one against the Ace 250 for depth on a BB sized nugget and they both got the same depth at 2 inches.

In milder soil (and I've probably written this more than 30 times already) the Aces do go a lot deeper than in bad soil, but they DO NOT, CAN NOT, and WILL NOT differentiate between a nickel and a pulltab, and if anyone says otherwise then they must not be able to read TID numbers at all..

The cheap Chinese detector I speak of D-O-E-S get better depth in high iron soil than an Ace 100 through Ace 500, and this is not an opinion either, it's something that I discovered after testing oodles of detectors in some of the nastiest soil on the planet, the aforementioned ones too, some soils which have as much as more than 1/4 a cup of magnetite (iron ore) out of a full cup of dirt.

As far as a "rant"?

A rant is a loud and noisey, wild, dissertation done in an extravagent way; violently; rave, and "boistrous". (Webster's New World Dictionary).

My two short and individual sentences were none of the above and were intended to show a relationship between one liar (Obama) and another lesser liar (anyone who makes ridiculously false claims about certain metal detectors). Or which one is the bigger liar? Do I have these confused with each other?

Nevertheless, if someone prefers to give examples by making comparisons between one liar and another regarding a detector's depth it should not matter if he or she is refering to Richard Nixon, Joe Schmoe, Ivana Kruszhneczhek, Barak Obama, Adolf Hitler, Sonny liston or... ? It is our right to write and report as best as we see a reason to, and to copy another person's method is called plagiarism.

Personally, I have no problem with someone else's poor grammer, or poor writing style, because I believe that people should have the right to explain their viewpoint or show facts in their own special way, as long as they are not tossing stones at the immediate group or calling another participant bad names, of which nobody seems to be doing here.

As far as Garrets go, and I have said this nearly countless times, Garrett primarily designs their VLF's with an Eastern US and Central Europe market in mind, save for their mining machines and PI's which are absolutely TOP DRAWER in my book. But meanwhile the Western USA finds that Garrett vlf's basically suck for depth in much of our soil here in the "Far West" (from the Rockies westward), and this is not an opinion either, it's just the way it is.

Years ago, both Garrett and Fisher had the absolute deepest (vlf) all-metal detectors made for hard high iron soil, but that is no longer true because Garrett switched to a higher frequency from around 3.5 to well over 10 Khz. Now Garrett uses ancient technology in their vlf's with a lot of bells and whistles tossed in for fun - and Fisher, Tesoro, White's, Minelab, moved forward with circuitry much better designed for bad soils - while Garrett and Nautilus lagged behind - with circuitry designed for superior depth in much milder soils.

BTW, in mild soils both Nautilous AND the Garrett 2000 and 2500 have the deepest recorded readings of ALL (VLF) detectors ever done. The test was done in Europe in Czechezlovakia, I think.

I hope (again) that this is a bit easier to understand, and that my statements as regard to the above are no longer misunderstood, or misconstrued or misinterpreted again. And yes, the Chinese detector is a litle flimsy, at a mere 1.5 pounds, has a short shaft, but at 6'1" and 210 pounds I was able to use it for several hours without getting a backache, and I am 64 years old too.

Note: If you get 10" on a coin on Florida beaches with your vlf detector, you will only get 7" in California, Washington, or BC, or Oregon beaches. If you get 10" in Ohio in a normal park you will get only around 5 or 6" in normal soil in most of the western USA.

Now have fun all. And I hope you find that $5 gold piece.

EasyMoney
 

EasyMoney

Sr. Member
Sep 15, 2007
476
7
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Primarily my Fisher cz-70 and Compass Relic & Coin, plus many others
Cobra, you got a great machine!

Did you know that the GB2 is the most popular, quickest and most selling, most productive nugget detector ever made, except for the Compass au52 and au2000? And except for the fact that the Compasses dominated that field for 15 years, the GB and GB2 are just about to pass that mark.

On top of that the GB2 is an excellent gold earring and ring finder on salt/iron beaches too.

Good for you. Have fun with it and do you have the eliptical coil?

EasyMoney
 

luvsdux

Bronze Member
May 16, 2007
1,767
690
Lewiston, Idaho
Detector(s) used
Multiple Tesoros and Whites
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Easymoney, here's a pat on the back from another Idaho guy.
I've gotten weary of all the claims for some detectors on the different forums with no comparisons to back them up. It's refreshing to read the input from a person that has the hands on comparisons and experience you've had.
Too many times we read how GREAT a machine is because it found such and such. Never mind that 99% of the machines available would have found the same item easily if the coil were passed over it. Also, many posters don't seem to realize that the size of the detected foot print 6-9" under the soil is so small that even the deepest reaching machines will miss targets unless there is a sincere overlap from swing to swing. This is one of the reasons that sometimes the person that follows with an entry level machine behind a hunter with a higher end machine finds a goodie the first hunter missed. Doesn't mean that magically somehow that machine is better, just lucked out swinging over the target.
Anyway, I find your posts informative and thought provoking so keep at it for those of us who want to hear solid, researched facts rather than hear say or popular, often unfounded, opinion.
Thanks and HH,
Bill
 

EasyMoney

Sr. Member
Sep 15, 2007
476
7
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Primarily my Fisher cz-70 and Compass Relic & Coin, plus many others
Thanks Bill.

I look at all this as "we are all in this together", and we need to look after each other and this super hobby. However, there are certain groups of people who want to strip us of this hobby and make it only legal to use detectors if we are Government employees. Some people even hate us. You all know what I'm saying too. We all need to always be ready to try to stop that nonsense any time we can. And yes, if we all began to "play ostrich" and bury our heads in the sand, that's exactly what would happen too, especially in the USA. So let's all do our part to protect our hobby. Einstein once said that except for a few good and decent, dedicated men, mankind would eventually destroy himself. We need more good and dedicated men to help us, and even to protect this great hobby. And yes, this may be a political statement, but sometimes politics are a bit too closely related with what we do for our hobbies and liesure. This is not a rant, it is goodwill done to protect us, nothing more, nothing less.

The man we need to thank the most for all our detecting fun is Gerhardt Fischer (Mr. Fisher, of Fisher Electronics).

Although Westinghouse Corporation is the company that invented metal detectors it was Mr Fisher who made them available as mine detectors and hobby detectors. George Payne is the man who improved our detectors the most, with Compass Electronics making the most important and dramatic changes offering automatic ground balance, automatic threshold, and DD coils to handle bad ground better. Compass technology and innovations put their detectors heads above their competitor's. Eventually, Compass had the deepest detectors made, and in fact, as one person queried, the Compass GoldScanner Pro and Compass Relic & Coins went deeper, cherry picked better, and discriminated better still than anything currently made today, with Tesoro Electronics currently coming in at a tie in many but not most cases concerning discrimination and cherry picking..

Note: The Tesoro Silver uMax is currently the best overall detector for in the $200-$450 price range for most hunting conditions than nearly every other detector currently made. A decent range of coils makes it able to nugget hunt, search really deep, and cherry pick with the best of the best. It handles bad ground extremely well too.

Here is a link that best describes Bill's statements about varying conditions when using metal detectors:

http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/

Bill, this man really says a lot of good and useable things about the discussion you write about.

EasyMoney
 

dl_mooney

Jr. Member
Jun 26, 2008
33
0
Just got a Bounty Hunter Time Ranger(july 3). $395.50.Havent got it together yet but will soon. dl_mooney
 

EasyMoney

Sr. Member
Sep 15, 2007
476
7
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Primarily my Fisher cz-70 and Compass Relic & Coin, plus many others
Hey Jim.

Glad to have you aboard. Your command of the English language is not only evident, it is also well-appreciated. As I have pointed out before, without people's personal opinions science would have never been invented. We all have opinions at one time or another although some people only speak or write that way without knowing the facts, while still others "feel" a certain way. To arrive at a truth though, it requires us to put away the opinions and set the feelings aside.

Hope, hype and imagination creates opinion
Knowing results from reasoning
And "feelings" evolve from emotion

All three are required to cause one to invent, but only one gets the job completed in the end, and that is the realizing (reasoning), not the other two. As one very good philosopher once said; "Without being able to think, we would never be able to realize. And without something superior to us to ALLOW us to think, we would therefore not ever be able to exist, otherwise we would be able to determine that ourself, and we cannot".

I try to stay with whatever is overwhelmingly evident, and not obscure. It must be the 100% Kraut blood coursing through my body that is the causation, but it's my way of communication and I can live with it just fine..

Again, for a small child the cheapie Chinese detector seems to be the best bet. I am amazed at how well it works for such a paltry purchase fee. And the Tesoro Compadre is probably the best/cheapest detector for an adult. The Silver uMax would come next and the F-2 after that. Both the Ace 150 and 250 have operational problems and limitations that the other aforementioned do not have. Yes, I know that the Aces have toys and whistles and bells but the F-2 has more of them and does work better in more diverse soil conditions than the Aces. Again, a person's choice depends primarily on one's preferences AND one's priorities, whatever they may be. Some people buy the Aces just because they like the color of them.

Time for some good Arabica and maybe a chocolate chip muffin.

EasyMoney
 

EasyMoney

Sr. Member
Sep 15, 2007
476
7
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Primarily my Fisher cz-70 and Compass Relic & Coin, plus many others
So Ollie, does this mean that you favor Tesoros, or does it mean that you favor Tesoso lower-priced detectors? I wasn't sure what your message was..

Or are you selling them?

EasyMoney
 

night0wl

Greenie
Dec 6, 2007
14
0
Even though a novice at the hobby I will throw my two cents in. I have done lots of reading and not so much posting, but after much perusing I listened to the folks who had the credentials, wide range of experience, years of said experience, and a modicum of intelligence. Easy Money fit the bill pretty good. When Easy speaks Hodge listens.


I bought a f-2 based off his knowledge of the machine and it performed pretty much as described. I have enjoyed learning and using the machine. For the money it is a sweet machine, more so with the 4" shooter coil. This M/D will not be sold off and will probably be joined by a tesoro (not sure which model yet) Once again based on his knowledge and a few more of the good folks here who know their stuff.

Hodge

By the way Easy, Don't stop giving out good information just because of a few hecklers, I'm sure that there are people like myself who are lurking and listening.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,306
54,467
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
night0wl said:
By the way Easy, Don't stop giving out good information just because of a few hecklers, I'm sure that there are people like myself who are lurking and listening.

No one has heckled Easy, disagreeing with a comment is not heckling. Some disagreed with comment on the Ace 250, I personally disagreed with the comment Easy made that people buy Minelabs "in hopes they live up to the hype". I have owned 2 Excals and 2 Sovereign GT's, I still own one Excal 1000 and still have both Sovereigns and they have more then lived up to the supposedly "hype" as he phrased it.
 

night0wl

Greenie
Dec 6, 2007
14
0
Treasure_Hunter said:
night0wl said:
By the way Easy, Don't stop giving out good information just because of a few hecklers, I'm sure that there are people like myself who are lurking and listening.

No one has heckled Easy, disagreeing with a comment is not heckling. Some disagreed with comment on the Ace 250, I personally disagreed with the comment Easy made that people buy Minelabs "in hopes they live up to the hype". I have owned 2 Excals and 2 Sovereign GT's, I still own one Excal 1000 and still have both Sovereigns and they have more then lived up to the supposedly "hype" as he phrased it.


I was using the term "hecklers" loosely, and certainly not pointing anyone out, however I have also heard "a hit dog will holler". Now I am just pulling your chain a bit so don't get bent.
 

Treasure_Hunter

Administrator
Staff member
Jul 27, 2006
48,306
54,467
Florida
Detector(s) used
Minelab_Equinox_ 800 Minelab_CTX-3030 Minelab_Excal_1000 Minelab_Sovereign_GT Minelab_Safari Minelab_ETrac Whites_Beach_Hunter_ID Fisher_1235_X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Not a problem at all nightowl......... :thumbsup:
 

RJH02

Sr. Member
Dec 30, 2007
438
9
Virginia
Detector(s) used
Silver umax w/ 7in Deep Search Wide scan coil
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
hmmmm...
 

Attachments

  • an_popcorn.gif
    an_popcorn.gif
    4.5 KB · Views: 1,611

EasyMoney

Sr. Member
Sep 15, 2007
476
7
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Primarily my Fisher cz-70 and Compass Relic & Coin, plus many others
Well, while you people discuss Socialism, I've going to get something to eat.

EasyMONEY
 

Ollieboy

Jr. Member
Nov 3, 2006
62
1
America's home town
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Cortes Tiger Shark w/clean sweep
sorry it took so long to respond Easymoney, mom don't let me use the computer to often. but anyway Tesoro detectors will give the biggest bang for the buck and how can you beat a life time warranty? I am pretty sure no one else offers a life time warranty, as a matter of fact i had a chance to speak to Rusty Henry last week "Tesoro's Service Manager" because they were servicing one of mine, but to make a long story short he told me he is still repairing Tesoro detectors that are 20 years old and he added that it's not unusual, and these people would rather stick with the 20 year old machine rather than go to the newer technology.
Ollieboy
 

EasyMoney

Sr. Member
Sep 15, 2007
476
7
Sweet Home, Oregon
Detector(s) used
Primarily my Fisher cz-70 and Compass Relic & Coin, plus many others
Well Ollie, I agree with you concerning the Tesoro line of Detectors. I've always said that a well-made cheap detector with a super-fast auto-retune and super-fast auto ground balance with medium or better depth will find 90-100% of what an expensive detector will with lots of bells, whistles, and other toys, and will also find 2X as many in the same amount of time. This well-describes the lower-end Tesoro detector. I exclude the top-of-the-line Tesoros because they are not designed for the same use and in fact most are PRIMARILY designed for other specific uses, such as nugget hunting, beach hunting, or are TID models that require a lot of attention, etc.

The Compadre, Silver uMax, Cortez, and Vaquero are all good detectors working very well in almost any type of soil, and they are all very affordable.

The Cortez and DeLeon however, do not do well in high iron soils unless they are sent back to the factory along with a soil sample to be re-calibrated to. Otherwise, they are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to ground balance in some soils.

The Tejon is a relic hunter and in high iron soils it is real bothersome to use with all the noises it makes trying to compensate for it's too high of gain and sensitivity to iron. It has EXTREME DEPTH though in medium to mild soil. The Lobo Super Traq is a nugget Hunter, and a darn good one too, although a bit coil heavy. And of course PI's are not designed for all-around use at all.

But here is a news flash:

In some sense, we are ALL STILL USING 20+ YEAR OLD TECHNOLOGY. We still use phase shift detectors, regardless of what different companies have nicknamed it. Garrett and Nautilus however have still maintained their original circuitry with very limited modifications (especially nautilus) save for a few added toys, and in Garrett's case target size (increased phase and voltage) shift. White's, Fisher, Bounty Hunter, and Minelab however, have moved forward with more modern up-to date innovations coming AFTER the mid 90's. Some of it good, some not so good, and some of it doesn't really help at all, but overall, the others have zoomed past that of the Nautilus and Garrett bent for more depth in most medium to low-mineralized ground. And those two really do have some deep detectors when in mild ground.

Overall though, the Tesoro line of detectors probably does offer the biggest bang for the buck.

EasyMoney
 

lockman209

Hero Member
Jun 4, 2005
588
24
Chippewa Falls
Detector(s) used
Whites Eagle SL II, Whites PRL-1, (3) Whites DFX's, Whites Coinmaster 4G, Whites Silver Eagle, 2010 Whites Coinmaster, Fisher 1212-X, Fisher 1225-X
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
All I'm going to say is the machine is as good as the person operating it. Learn your machine and get good at it. It doesn't matter what the price tag is. Practice, Practice, Practice. Learn, Learn, Learn. Good luck with what ever machine you get.
 

Aug 27, 2006
1,643
3
WHAT KIND OF TREASURE ARE WE HUNTING TODAY ?
Detector(s) used
MINELAB E TRAC, EXCAL2,QUATTRO,WHITE 6000 DI PRO SL,EAGLE SPECTRUM,SILVER UMAX ,BANDIDO UMAX VARIOUS VINTAGE
Note: The Tesoro Silver uMax is currently the best overall detector for in the $200-$450 price range for most hunting conditions than nearly every other detector currently made. A decent range of coils makes it able to nugget hunt, search really deep, and cherry pick with the best of the best. It handles bad ground extremely well too.

RIGHT ON ;D ;D ;D
 

Keppy

Gold Member
Nov 19, 2006
8,318
2,870
N.E. Ohio on lake Erie
Detector(s) used
** WHAT ONE I FEEL LIKE ON HUNTING DAY *****
Primary Interest:
Other
??? ???Question ??? ???...Why is it we hear so much about the... Silver U Max...and nothing about the............Golden U Max......is it a dog no one talks about it ??? ??? ???....or is it the price?
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top