What to buy? (Changed the poll)

[sportinwood]

Hi Everybody

I have been detecting for about 23 years now. I currently use a Whites XLT E-Series and love the machine. My wife has recently become interested in going out to some ghost towns and such with me. So I started looking into getting her a machine to hunt with. I have been considering a Whites Prizm, Quantum, XLT, or something comparable for around $200-$300. However as I have been looking for a machine for her I started seeing some VERY impressive machines on the market namely the Whites V3I and the Minelab E-Trac So now I'm considering upgrading my own machine to one of these and letting her use either my XLT or the new one. She will probably only use the machine two or three times a year so she can use either machine she wants. I've always been a Whites guy but that E-Trac sure is lookin good.

I just edited this poll because its not really a matter of which machine to get for myself (I would be happy with either) it's more about should I spend $200-$300 now for the wife or save that money and put it towards a high end machine later.

Please vote or post other sugestions
Thanks in advance
Ryan

 

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[TORRERO]

I'm confused...
If you buy a new machine, you can't get a Minelab E-trac or a Whites V3 for $200 or $300
If you wait then your wife does not have a machine to use..

That said...
Why would you invest in a cheaper machine now, if your only going to buy a very expensive
machine later ?

Then what do you do with the one you just got cheap ?

I say that if you can wait it out, then save up for one you really want..
Richard

 

[mlayers]

I say if you are going to buy you another machine. Don't buy a chaper one for the wife go for it and get the newer one for yourslf and left your wife use your old one.......Matt

 

[charlie8137]

I would consider a Garrett AT Pro. It will give the same results as the high end machines for $599. That's my 2 cents and I'm sticking to it

 

[Terrafisher]

Get the Minelab...

 

[diggummup]

I say if you are going to buy you another machine. Don't buy a cheaper one for the wife, go for it and get the newer one for yourself and let your wife have your old one.......Matt

Sounds like the only reasonable choice to me.

 

[extractor]

get a Minelab E-trac

 

[bill-USA]

I my mind, it makes a lot of sense to get your wife a turn on and go machine. The learning curve on the XLT and the E-Track would not be conducive to her continuing interest.

I also would take the Garrett 250 over the White's prizm, but thats really a personal choice. I sold my XLT after six months of attempting to learn all the nuances and finally gave it up. The MXT was a much easier to learn machine.

Of course, if you want to discourage her, then by all means give her the XLT and the operators manual and head out!

 

[sportinwood]

I'm confused...
If you buy a new machine, you can't get a Minelab E-trac or a Whites V3 for $200 or $300
If you wait then your wife does not have a machine to use..
That said...
Why would you invest in a cheaper machine now, if your only going to buy a very expensive
machine later ?
Then what do you do with the one you just got cheap ?
I say that if you can wait it out, then save up for one you really want..
Richard

Sorry about the confusion. I'll try to clarify

I know I cant get an E-Trac or V3 for that price. I'm trying to decide what to do with the $300 I have right now. I can get a decent USED machine (Prizm, MXT, QXT, or something along those lines) for my wife to start using now or I can save that $300 and put it towards the E-Trac or V3 for myself and let her use either the new machine or the XLT. Whatever I decide I DO want her to get excited about it and want to go out with me and have some fun.

I would consider a Garrett AT Pro. It will give the same results as the high end machines for $599. That's my 2 cents and I'm sticking to it

Ill check that out. I have also considered a bounty hunter. I already own a bounty hunter but its been my experience that some machines interfere with other brands quite a bit like the bounty hunter. I cant hunt within about 50 yards of the BH with my whites. Have you had any experience with using the Garrett next to a Whites? If so How did that work out? I want to be able to hunt very close to my wife for a while so I can help her out.

I my mind, it makes a lot of sense to get your wife a turn on and go machine. The learning curve on the XLT and the E-Track would not be conducive to her continuing interest.
I also would take the Garrett 250 over the White's prizm, but that's really a personal choice. I sold my XLT after six months of attempting to learn all the nuances and finally gave it up. The MXT was a much easier to learn machine.
Of course, if you want to discourage her, then by all means give her the XLT and the operators manual and head out!

I think you are right about the turn on and go logic however I have spent countless hours learning my XLT. My dad who bought his XLT a couple of years before I bought mine has also spent countless more hours learning these machines. We have written a few programs that function very well and our machines basically are turn on and go machines. Now granted there will be a learning curve for her with any machine she picks up. I don't want to discourage her I want her to get into it and have fun. I have looked at the MXT also but I don't have any experience with it maybe you could enlighten me a little bit about it. The only reason I am leaning towards another Whites (if I buy her a cheaper used machine to get started with) is that I know Whites play well with each other in close proximity and I want to be able to hunt side by side with her at least for a while so I can help her out. Do you happen to know if there are any other brands the don't interfere with Whites that I should look at?


Thanks for everyone's input and advice. I'm still on the fence about it though. I want to get her going I just don't want to spend $300 and regret it later.

Ryan

 

[Hunt4Fun]

Hi Ryan,

I understand wanting to hunt near your wife while she is getting her feet wet in the hobby. However, I think you already have the interference solution for most any detector you buy with the exception of a PI model. Your XLT has 7 different operating frequencies you can select ... look at page 48 in your XLT Instruction Manual.

If you are seriously leaning toward a step up to a V3i, I would consider purchasing a used MXT for your wife. Search coils for the MXT can be used by a V3i. For best performance a V3i needs “V rated” search coils but any of the earlier “Eclipse” search coils will work reasonably well on a V3i. If you purchase any extra coils for the MXT simply make sure they are V rated.

In my opinion, the MXT has the best auto tracking ground balance White’s has ever developed. There is a ground balancing procedure in the MXT Instruction Manual. However, my experience is that if the ground switch is in the appropriate position, Ground or Salt, you can simply start hunting and the machine will ground balance itself in seconds. However, if you are hunting in iron infested ground, it is best to do a good manual ground balance and then flip the switch to the Lock position.

Some have said the MXT is a noisy machine and it can be if operated at the edge of stability. However, if the Gain is reduced just a little and the Threshold set at just barely audible, it will run very smoothly while still searching deep. And, if the threshold is set just a touch lower it will behave like a silent search machine.

You indicated whatever machine you buy for her, you want your wife to have fun right from the start. And, I believe you stated that she would only use it a few of times each year. That being the case, I suggest you mount a concentric search coil ... pinpoints much easier than a DD coil, set up the MXT with a barely audible threshold, or maybe just under adible. Set the Gain fairy high but well below any falseing. Turn the Discrimination all the way up. Start her off hunting in Coin & Jewelry mode ... this way she will see coin, jewelry and pulltab type of icons. With this setup, good audio signals will come from all clad coins, bronze pennies, all silver coins and most silver jewelry ... all other signals will be suppressed. Unfortunately nickels and gold item signals will be silent but iron items, nails, foil, pulltabs and almost all other junk items will also be silent ... their VDIs and icons will still appear on the display. Teach her to only listen for the good repeatable “round” audio signals and she will have fun with the MXT right out of the chute if there are any good "high conductive" targets at the search site. In the future, after she is comfortable with the MXT, there is plenty more for her to learn about this powerful machine

I strongly suggest purchasing headphones with a limiter circuit for the MXT. With the Gain set high while searching for deep targets, a shallow target will give you a painful blast with standard headphones.

Good luck with whatever choice you make.

Bob

 

[sportinwood]

Hi Ryan,
I understand wanting to hunt near your wife while she is getting her feet wet in the hobby. However, I think you already have the interference solution for most any detector you buy with the exception of a PI model. Your XLT has 7 different operating frequencies you can select ... look at page 48 in your XLT Instruction Manual.
If you are seriously leaning toward a step up to a V3i, I would consider purchasing a used MXT for your wife. Search coils for the MXT can be used by a V3i. For best performance a V3i needs “V rated” search coils but any of the earlier “Eclipse” search coils will work reasonably well on a V3i. If you purchase any extra coils for the MXT simply make sure they are V rated.
In my opinion, the MXT has the best auto tracking ground balance White’s has ever developed. There is a ground balancing procedure in the MXT Instruction Manual. However, my experience is that if the ground switch is in the appropriate position, Ground or Salt, you can simply start hunting and the machine will ground balance itself in seconds. However, if you are hunting in iron infested ground, it is best to do a good manual ground balance and then flip the switch to the Lock position.
Some have said the MXT is a noisy machine and it can be if operated at the edge of stability. However, if the Gain is reduced just a little and the Threshold set at just barely audible, it will run very smoothly while still searching deep. And, if the threshold is set just a touch lower it will behave like a silent search machine.
You indicated whatever machine you buy for her, you want your wife to have fun right from the start. And, I believe you stated that she would only use it a few of times each year. That being the case, I suggest you mount a concentric search coil ... pinpoints much easier than a DD coil, set up the MXT with a barely audible threshold, or maybe just under adible. Set the Gain fairy high but well below any falseing. Turn the Discrimination all the way up. Start her off hunting in Coin & Jewelry mode ... this way she will see coin, jewelry and pulltab type of icons. With this setup, good audio signals will come from all clad coins, bronze pennies, all silver coins and most silver jewelry ... all other signals will be suppressed. Unfortunately nickels and gold item signals will be silent but iron items, nails, foil, pulltabs and almost all other junk items will also be silent ... their VDIs and icons will still appear on the display. Teach her to only listen for the good repeatable “round” audio signals and she will have fun with the MXT right out of the chute if there are any good "high conductive" targets at the search site. In the future, after she is comfortable with the MXT, there is plenty more for her to learn about this powerful machine
I strongly suggest purchasing headphones with a limiter circuit for the MXT. With the Gain set high while searching for deep targets, a shallow target will give you a painful blast with standard headphones.
Good luck with whatever choice you make.
Bob

Wow great information thanks Bob..

Ill defiantly have to look into the MXT a little more. It sounds like a good one for her to learn on. It would be nice to find her a machine that I can enhance the factory programs a little like I have done with my custom programs for the XLT. I don't know if the MXT is capable of that or not but Ill check it out.

As for adjusting operating frequencies to help with interference with other machines I have tried changeing it on my machine and often do when hunting close to my dad (he also has an XLT) but I just cant get comfortable around my Bounty Hunter with any other machine. Maybe it's just the Bounty Hunter that I have its a "Big Bud" which is about a 30 year old machine. The Big Bud was my first machine and I remember everybody complaining about the interference from it way back when I first started out. I was always forced to hunt alone because of that and it was ok with me because I usually got my pick of the spots to hunt LOL but I don't want to have to send the wife away..

Thanks
Ryan

 

[sportinwood]

So many good choices here. I hunt with my wife and she likes the light weight backup machine I have. But she also likes finding things, it upsets her when we hit a place and Im digging three keepers to her one pulltab.So go light if its really for the wife. Since you already own a good machine with the Whites. I would suggest a machine that is made to do something a little different that gives you options, like the V3I you talked about. Go PI or a Gold Nugget machine if you can.
I have heard some bad reviews on the Etrac. I also hear there is a back log for the AT Pro. I use a Quick Draw II, its good on battery's, works in most soils, and is easy to use. But it can be a challenge with no pin pointer and a motion machine.
Kellyco has a machine comparison chart and Dan the VP is always helping out customers. I dont need the freebies, but maybe your wife would like that. Im looking at the Fisher F4 right now as my next machine. Good Luck.

This is one thing that I worry about turning her off the hobby. This is why Imp kinda leaning towards an easy to operate machine for her to start with and the first few times out I wont even take my machine just walk along side her and try to show her a thing or three. My wife never take advice from me very well though. She thinks I'm being an ass hole and telling her what to do. I don't know why the " Goddammit woman your doing it wrong now get back in the kitchen and make me a sammich" would go over that way?? (sorry that was just a bad joke I had to throw in there ).. But I think I have enough experience that I can get her setup and running pretty well within a few time out and then she can use my machine if she wants. Its all just gonna be a matter of her learning whatever machine I end up getting for her.

I haven't heard any bad reviews about the E-Trac yet what have you heard??