I hope I'm doing something wrong...

[Dodqe]

I was given a White's Goldmaster II by a friend a couple years ago. I searched my yard and found some cool stuff, like colonial copper, silver buttons, and an Indian head penny. I talked to people on these forums and did some research on metal detectors and learned that the machine I was using wasn't suited for coins and relics due to it's frequency (~50KHz). It's a prospecting machine designed to find small fragments of gold.

So I saved up about $550 and started shopping for a Pro Pointer and a new machine that is supposed to be better at finding coins (~7 to ~17KHz). I was headed towards the Garrett Ace 350, but after reading several reviews, and comparing a few similarly priced machine/coil combinations I decided to get the Ace 250, the 4.5" Super Sniper, and the 8.5"X11" DD. I figured with the DD it should be about as deep as the 350, and for the price difference I could afford the 4.5 coil.

I've been using it for about a month now (still in my yard), and I was still finding cool stuff like colonials, buttons and I found a 1927 Merc, my first silver coin. Being that I finally found silver I figured the 250 and coils were a good investment.

Then today I decided to do a side-by-side, in-the-field comparison between my two detectors, just for gits an shiggles.

I am seriously disappointed. The Goldmaster II was able to detect and discriminate every good signal that the 250/DD could, and then some. There were signals that I hit with the GM II at 7" (a Roosevelt dime) that the 250 couldn't even see. During the comparison, I turned the Garrett's sensitivity up to max to try and hit the targets I found with the GM II, but it still couldn't reach them.

What could I be doing wrong? I always search in all metal mode with no notches. I prefer to hear all the signals. I sweep slow enough that it doesn't false, but fast enough to give good signals. I take 6" steps while searching, so I know I'm overlapping enough... There are no real adjustments on the 250 other than sensitivity, which I usually run at the default setting. I tried the stock coil, figuring maybe it would do better with that, but it seemed shallower.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I plan on calling the dealer for suggestions, and if I still can't figure this out, I'm calling Garrett's helpline. I just wanted to try here first because I figure there's quite a bit of experience on these forums... Any ideas?

 

[Fishers Ghost]

HI Dodge.

I would suggest to you that you are likely not doing anything wrong with the ACE and also say that the VSAT II is a deeper detecting machine by quite a bit and is an excellent coin and jewelery finder.
I have the earlier Vsat and it easily finds my test patch coins much more strongly than my SOV with a similar size coil. The Vsat of course will not be much good on wet beach sand.
I donot have an 250 but I believe it has a fixed GB setting ((I may be wrong) whereaas the Vsat can be tuned exactly to your ground and that will give it an destinct advantage

 

[john4840]

Sounds like you are doing pretty good with the Ace 250, Their has been a lot of Ace 250 users who have found some valuable items with them. The Ace 250 is a entry level detector, I bought one for my 11 year old Son because it was simple to use, didn't have number display, had a non-motion pinpoint, and he doesn't like to use headphones, You can hear the Ace 250 a mile away without the headphones plug in. When I played around with it I was able to find coins down to 6 inches plenty deep enough for my son. If you want to go deeper you are going to need a machine that has some type of ground balance or ground elimination. HH


John

 

[Salida]

" I decided to get the Ace 250, the 4.5" Super Sniper, and the 8.5"X11" DD. I figured with the DD it should be about as deep as the 350, and for the price difference I could afford the 4.5 coil"

The Ace 250 has a fixed ground balance you can use the coils that come with the Ace 250
on the Ace 350 BUT NOT the other way around. The DD coil will not operate effectively on the
Ace 250; this is what I was told by the people at Garrett. This is why your not getting the depth.

There is a guy at Garrett amed FRANK? I think that is his name. He works customer service some times.
Ask for him and get the straight dope on this. Sounds like you wasted good money on the DD coil.

Salida

 

[Dodqe]

On the Kellyco website the dd coil had the 150 & 250 listed as compatible... Well, this sucks. Hopefully the Kellyco people will take it back. I think I will talk to Frank first, then Kellyco.

Thanks for all the input, guys.

 

[Salida]

Maybe Kelly co was talking about an after market DD?
Salaida

 

[Dodqe]

Nope. It's listed under factory coils, 'Garrett 8.5"x11" PROformance DD coil (Ace 150, 250, & Ace 350) catalog no.- 14-2222000'. Cost me about $120.

When compairing the dd and the stock concentric the dd does get more depth and is more like a line. But the depth is about 6" for accurate id. Pretty shallow imho...

I might have some time today to talk to someone at Kellyco during my lunch break today...

 

[slingshot]

Well, the dime is a small target. Sometimes a stronger beam into the ground gives better signals. Have you tried the standard coil, which is about what you have on the Coinmaster?

 

[Dodqe]

I have to do a direct comparison between the stock and the DD. I think I will plant a coin garden for that this weekend. Should be easier than swapping coils on every new target. I do like the DD over the concentric. Seems a lot more precise. The White's is a Goldmaster which is a 50KHz machine. If it were a Coinmaster I could see why, but being such a high freq signal, I would think that the Ace would have the edge over the White's on coins.

 

[Salida]

Sorry. I said there was a guy at Garrett named Frank. His name is Brad. Guess I'm memory impaired too.
Unfortunately this was is last day with Garrett. No longer works there.
Ask for Sue. She's been there for years and started in the back room, I am told. They have some
new people there but they sound like they are reading from a FAQ scrip or something. Diffinitely
talk to Sue. She has actully had some first had experience with the machines.
Salida

 

[Dodqe]

Thank you. Asking for someone by name is much better than going in blind. I appreciate that help.
Hopefully I actually get a chance to call after the holiday. I'll let you all know how it goes...

 

[salmonriverhotrock]

I've used my GM V/SAT on some of our fresh water river beaches that are frequently used and detected and it never fails to locate coins others have missed.