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Choice of new detector?

J

jpm1983

New member
Hi,

I'm new to this forum and just getting back in to metal detecting. I don't currently have a detector yet. I have had 3 detectors in the past a Garrett gta 550 ( i think), a Garrett GTI 2500 and a Minelab Explorer II. I loved the Explorer II and once I got it immediately sold the GTI 2500. Unfortunately I sold my Explorer a few years back due to the costs of starting a family. I'm ready to get back into the hobby but with not quite the budget I had before. If money wasn't an option I would definitely go for a Explorer SE. That said I'm only able to spend about $300 at this time. Last time I was mostly into coin shooting but this time I want to focus on jewelery recovery with some coin searching too. For my budget ($300) is there any Minelab or other brand detector that would be a good choice? I wouldn't mind a used detector either as long as it was in good shape. I will be searching mostly sports fields and private properties, with maybe some freshwater beaches. Thanks for your time.

Justin
 
For 300 your pretty limited, might be able to find a used xterra 50 if you look awhile in that price range, otherwise u really cant get a minelab that cheap unless its a 305 or possibly a pretty old explorer xs. You could always buy a new model other brand detector for 300 or so with a pinpointer and hunt the heck out of clad and jewerly,sell your finds and trade up to something a little better
 
Unless you get a good price on a used detector you are limited as to your choices any more. Fisher F2 ( 2 coils), Ace 350 or bounty hunter. This jewerly search is going to be liimited to mostly rings and difficult to find if you are talking parks. Its going to be LUCK unless you learn how to grid an area and dig everything but bottle caps and iron. Its a slow meticulous process if dont effectively. Worse than using a PI on the dry sand..... which by the way most PI dont pickup the tiny gold either they just get better depth than a VLF.

Dew
 
Well I guess my choices are pretty limited for my budget. I could get a cheaper detector now and then always trade up when/if I do make some jewelry finds. Is the Ace 350 any good at all? I mean even the GTI 2500 wasn't very impressive compared to the explorer ii in terms of discrimination and depth. What about a exterra 305? Would that be a much better choice than the Ace 350 or not really worth it for the extra money?

Thanks, Justin
 
check the classifieds for a used detector or look at all the brands for a detector in your price range. if you have the time to do a lot of hunting it shouldn't take you long to find enough clad to buy a used explorer with what you find. good luck.
 
Everyone gets hung up on depth..... its more about target response when it comes to jewelry. A lot depends on what the metal mix is. I find a lot of jewelry on the beach and most i say most isnt that deep because of the response to say white gold which is a a low conductor mixed with nickel... also a low conductor. Yellow gold is often mixed with copper a high conductor you can get a little better response to it. Size and ever if it has stones or is broken will affect the response. Gold is heavy and we get a lot of movement on a beach so it gets a little deeper much faster than in the dirt of a park. Most gold in the dirt get covered. We have the salt issue and salt setting on the beach and you will have minerals and EMI.

To answer your question yes an ace will find gold jewelry. It likes pull tabs. Prepare to dig a lot of trash if you want to be an affective gold digger because basically it falls from foil to zinc penny.

You might also check some of the dealer web sites like Kelleyco who have some reasonable use/referbished detectors.... like Tesoro, light weight, good machines, simple, and good warranty.

Dew
 
If it was me and you cannot spend more then 300, i would read this whole post on this link and then order the f2 with two coil package like dew said, I almost did just for a backup but decided to spend some more and buy an at pro

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=53930
 
Samuel...... you made a good decission for long term hunting.

Dew
 
Thanks for all the responses. I guess I've narrowed it down to the Fisher F2 or Ace 350. I don't mind digging alot of trash but would like something that can discriminate out some of the bad targets.In the past the rings and necklaces I found registered in pull tab, nickel and foil territory. Which of these would be able to handle a little more trash without losing good gold or silver?

Justin
 
If you want gold you have to dig foil, aluminum pieces, pull tabs, bottle caps, wires and junk of all kinds. AND YOU HAVE TO DIG LOTS OF IT. There's just no way of getting around it. There is no such thing as a machine that IDs gold. There are the zones that gold will most likely fall in on your meter/display but those are the zones where lots of trash ID in. Want to find small gold rings and jewelry-dig lots of foil signals. Want to find bigger gold rings and jewelry-dig nickel signals. Want to find even bigger gold then dig above the nickel zone. I've found gold rings that ID exactly like indian head pennies do, but that's not common. Most are quite a bit lower. And like Dew said, the metal mixture in the gold changes the ID as well as the size.
There are places where the gold to trash ratio is a little better than other places such as swimming beaches and tot lots but even then you have to dig lots of junk to get gold, just
not as much as say a picnic area, park lawn, yards, etc.
If I was just interested in jewelry and modern coins I would not invest much money in a detector because you don't need depth for these finds. The machines that go the deepest in the ground cost the most but you don't need depth for modern coins and jewelry that was dropped in the past couple years. The Fishers and the Teknetics are great for this type of digging. If you can get a used Teknetics G2 or the Fisher F series machines for a good price then they would all be great. The separation on these machines is amazing compared to the technology from the 90's and early 2000's. And the ergonomics/weight of these new machines is wonderful. After swinging an Explorer for years and then trying a Tek G2 it feels like there's nothing there in comparison!
HH
Neal
 
I have to agree with everything Neal said here.

The G2 is a great machine (as is the Gold Bug Pro, same unit, different handle). They get surprisingly deep, but the main attributes are great separation (as Neal said) which makes them super in trashy areas, and great sensitivity to gold. They can be had as low as $400 or so, used. Fisher F-series (F-2 and F-4) units will also do a great job for you, in your price range. Decent depth, great separation.

Steve
 
Agree with Neal 110%. Nice post!
 
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