How many remember the very first detector you started the hobby with and how long ago ??

[Mark ( ohio )]

Bought a Red Box Teknetics Mark 1 in 86 --paid top dollar over 650 bucks from Kellyco. I was apx 30 years old at the time --mainly used locally --old lots and such and on vacation in Tennessee--. The Mark 1 had 8 knobs -- just set each on the "blue" preset marking and go ---.used this detector till the end of the 90's --moved up to a Garrett 1250.

that was a top performer back in the day, right ?

 

[rljehart]

Yes Sir Mark --- The Engineer George Payne designed this 2 filter machine -ok in low mineral ground (done great in my area)- great Tone ID and Target ID and fairly simple to use - the main completion
was the Whites 6000 Di Pro- (4 filter fast sweep machine) and the Garrett Master Hunter 7 --

 

[thepest]

My first hands on was when I was 10 yrs old.... My older brother gave me his Techna TR-7 to play with (to get rid of me *girlfriend* )... As I was goofing with it in front of the house... one of my neighbors across the street saw me with it... He said he'd pay me to help find is sprinkler system.... so I did... we found all 8 nozzles down under the grass.... but there was a stray hit out of the pipe grid.... it turned out to be a gold class ring.... which Mr. Maxwell immediately pocketed.... I remember him saying pen state(whatever that was, I was 10)... he gave me a 10.00 bill ... and off I went for a ton of penny candy... and a 6 pack of coca cola in the bottles no less.... and I still had five bucks and some change left over... but I never forgot that ring.... or the Techna... ( *not actual pics , I was 10* )

 

[Jason-ks]

My first metal detector was a Minelab Explorer XS and I bought it from KellyCo in 98-99. Before buying that one I got to use my friends Nautilus DMC II-B . That was the point that I decided that I needed to own my own metal detector. The minute that I decided to buy a Minelab Machine was when I became a die hard Minelab owner that would never turn back again.

 

[Mark ( ohio )]

My first metal detector was a Minelab Explorer XS and I bought it from KellyCo in 98-99. Before buying that one I got to use my friends Nautilus DMC II-B . That was the point that I decided that I needed to own my own metal detector. The minute that I decided to buy a Minelab Machine was when I became a die hard Minelab owner that would never turn back again.

Well, I gotta believe you started out with thee best detector on the market in that time era, ( and for many yrs after too )... Those fbs units were just amazing period !!

 

[Jason-ks]

Well, I gotta believe you started out with thee best detector on the market in that time era, ( and for many yrs after too )... Those fbs units were just amazing period !!

You know your correct on that comment! I'm a big Minelab fan and I've since then bought and own the Explorer 2, ETrac, Equinox's, CTX, soon I'll be using the CTX4040 hopefully in the next year and a half. I own a whites coinmaster, and a Deus 1 as well with so many different coils to go with them all. My favorite by far is the low and slow Explorer XS. Minelab took time producing that FBS unit and their factory coil and wow it remains an amazing deep silver machine especially in hunted out parks.

 

[Wild Willy]

Mine was a White's bought in June 1974 at Cook's Appliance Repair in Albany, Georgia. Can't remember the model number. I think most towns in America had a White's dealer back then. They were a great company to do business with. Ron, that's a funny story about the Jetco coils. Oh yes, I just ordered, my 55th detector from Richard Robinson of Backwoods Detectors. He's still a great guy to do business with. I might be one detector off but what the heck, I'm 86 years old. I refuse to give up but I know that day is coming.. I'll sure miss this hobby. ws

 

[Coin Magnet]

1975 with a Garrett BFO Discriminator. The local guys using the “all metal” Fishers detectors would probe to do their discriminating with an ice pick or screw driver. Supposedly they could tell bottle caps from coins. They made fun on me using a discriminating metal detector until I started blowing them away with all the good finds compared to theirs. I think that’s when they quit inviting me along.

 

[xwyokid]

My first was a Coinmaster 4 in 1970-71. If I remember correctly.

 

[Phillip_in_NM]

Big Bud Pro mid 80's

 

[Stuff1180]

I personally started with a whites black box 4900 d that my wife bought me for christmas back in 1993 then moved to a whites silver eagle.... then probably 25 more models after that..

Mark ( ohio )

 

[TreasureTrove]

I started with a 1974 Whites GoldMaster TR66b BFO Straight metal machine NO discrimination.
I still have it and it’s still working, I called whites and wanted to know what the was frequency it operates on, no one knew, but the oldest employee Mary might know? My answer was anything over 10 - 1,000 KHz! Fun big blue / green box a real arm killer. Now after owing almost every top end model, I’m down to just 4
Whites detectors, a TDI Beach Hunter, V3i w/ five coils, a DFX 300 & a Beach Hunter 300.
The Beach Hunter 300 is a waterproof DFX easy to use simple machine. (All DFX machines are always working in salt mode) Shame whites didn’t per-sue making a waterproof V3i, would have maybe been a killer machine.
I’m at an older age where walking the beach, enjoying the scenery, swinging a detector is good exercise, not to mention that every once in a while you find that treasured prize.
As far as Pulse machines “Silence is not Golden” yes, you could dig everything. Also remember that “Even a blind squirrel will find a prize” if it tries hard enough!

 

[OldBeechnut]

1993? I had a chance to snag a Whites SurfMaster PI 1000, had it for a few months..got out a few times, only found trash in the bay. Sold it, Work, divorce, to busy with life to get into hunting.


2007 Explorer XS, a close friend I worked with kept talking about detecting so I picked up a used Explore off ebay,, think I paid 450.? Anyway all had settled down and I was rarely find much.. The same friend invited me to Ocean City MD to hunt the beach that year. Might know all I could find was clad coins in the dry sand. He walked over and showed me nice gold ring. Gold from the water..... That's all it took for me to start looking into a water machine, found a Excalibur 800 on ebay.. 495.oo used. Summer 2008 I got my first gold and I was hooked. To this day I still use the excalibur model most of the time.

Reading several of the stories, Looks like I'm a rookie!

 

[casull454]

A Radio Shack model (don't remember the model name or number). That was around '76 or '77. First "real" detector was a White's 5000 around 1980.

 

[C.J.M.]

Fisher 1265x over 30 years ago now

Do you still have the 1265x?

 

[C.J.M.]

Cannot say enough about the 1266 x and 1265x.

 

[coffeecan]

Wood dowser. 1889

 

[Rob183]

Bounty Hunter TR500

 

[Odanscoils]

Wood dowser. 1889

Love to see that. Some of those loaded with Crystal's and coils they say were Magical.

 

[coffeecan]

Love to see that. Some of those loaded with Crystal's and coils they say were Magical.

Sprinkied with fairy dust