There are many many good machines out there from different companies. There are some really crappy ones as well, but all in all
I'd say that most companies, if they want to stay in business for very long, will and have, produced some good machines.
What do you want in a machine? If you have never metal detected before that's a hard question for you to answer, albeit, most people just
want to coin shoot and maybe find some nice gold rings etc. For that most low budget machines will find the bacon, but if you want to hunt gold
nuggets then you have to start looking for a detector that you can manually ground balance. Most gold nuggets are found in mineralized ground conditions
and you need to balance the machine to meet those condition so you don't miss any nuggets and so you don't get false signals. Although sometimes even
if your coin shooting one does from time to time run into some mineralized ground and you need to manually balance your machine.
Most lower budget machine have factory presets which means the machine is already ground balanced for most normal ground conditions, but you
might want to check the State you live in and find out what the ground conditions are. Thats what makes these metal detecting forums great because
you can usually find people you metal detect in your area who can clue you in.
Whites and Garrett make some great machines. At present, Garrett probably has the best deals for the money when considering the low budget
machines. Whites has a few low budget machines but are a" wee bit" over priced for what you get. Whites put out the Prizm, a low budget machine for awhile but have
scaled back on them. People were just not happy with them. You can buy the Whites Coin Master, they have to different price versions. Lots of good reviews on the Coin Master.
Visit the Whites Forum and post a mesage asking about them.
I had a Tesoro machine that cost me $400 and I ended up sending it back, not because it was a bad machine, but because I and that particular machine were not a good match. It
also did not have VCO pinpointing, something I have gotten very used to and would miss on a machine that doesn't have it.
The Ace 250 danced circles around it and for half of what I paid for the Tesoro, but Tesoro makes some damn fine machines just be prepared to pay a wee bit more.
If your just getting started and want to save some money and get a top notch machine then start with the Ace 250 or 350. The 350 operates on
a slightly higher frequency and has a bigger coil for more depth. Coils from the Ace 250 operate on the 350 and vice versa.
You can pick up the Ace 250 NEW for $212 and feel sure that your getting a machine that could sell for alot more money. It also has VCO pinpointing
that most low budget machines don't have. The 350 also has VCO pinppointing.
ANother excellent machine that many people use as a stand by is the Minelab 305. It operates on three frequencies, 3khz, 7.khz and 18khz which means
that while its not a gold nugget machine, you could and people have, found gold nuggets with it at 18khz. Many people like it better that the Ace 250 and it is
reasonably priced. I have not owned one but have been seriously considering getting a used one at the right price.
If your just starting out the Ace 250 or 350 will serve you well and if you feel metal detecting isn't for you, then you haven't put out much money and
can get a decent resale on Ebay.
Katz
Sorry Dear. I forgot to pay the Electric bill, but
I did get us a fine new detector!
.....It's as addicting as metal detecting, AND you can do it when there's snow on the ground !!.......Jim
