Sand Sifter
New member
Greetings fellow detectorists & veterans, I’m Mike (Sand Sifter), Air Force vet from Maryland. I’m not new to metal detecting but I recently joined this Forum as I’m coming back after a few years hiatus.
I started detecting 57 years ago when I was 10, my first detector was a Heathkit that we had to assemble, lots of soldering, lol. Then my mom got me a White’s Coinmaster IV. I've owned a bunch of detectors since then, including a Fisher 1225X, Garrett Ace 350, AT Pro, and several Minelab Sovereign’s (love them).
For the last 10+ years, I’ve been swinging a Sovereign Elite (see my profile pic), primarily beach hunting wet & dry sand, but I also love coin shooting old houses, old parks, etc. Since my Sovereign is older technology, bulky, and requires more set up time to get going, I figured it was time for an upgrade.
For those unfamiliar with the Sovereign’s, it’s an audio-only detector that transmits 17 frequencies simultaneously. There’s no bells, whistles or screens. I just set the threshold, start swinging and listen for beeps. Based on the target’s conductivity, there’s a lot of different tones to infer, higher-pitch for higher conductivity targets, lower-pitch for lower conductivity targets, and lots more tones in-between.
But now, I’m older and want a lighter detector, more features, more up-to-date technology, waterproof, a detector I can grab and go AND wireless. So, I just picked up a Minelab X-Terra Elite Expedition Pack, and in the next few months, I’ll be adding a Minelab NOX 700.
I started detecting 57 years ago when I was 10, my first detector was a Heathkit that we had to assemble, lots of soldering, lol. Then my mom got me a White’s Coinmaster IV. I've owned a bunch of detectors since then, including a Fisher 1225X, Garrett Ace 350, AT Pro, and several Minelab Sovereign’s (love them).
For the last 10+ years, I’ve been swinging a Sovereign Elite (see my profile pic), primarily beach hunting wet & dry sand, but I also love coin shooting old houses, old parks, etc. Since my Sovereign is older technology, bulky, and requires more set up time to get going, I figured it was time for an upgrade.
For those unfamiliar with the Sovereign’s, it’s an audio-only detector that transmits 17 frequencies simultaneously. There’s no bells, whistles or screens. I just set the threshold, start swinging and listen for beeps. Based on the target’s conductivity, there’s a lot of different tones to infer, higher-pitch for higher conductivity targets, lower-pitch for lower conductivity targets, and lots more tones in-between.
But now, I’m older and want a lighter detector, more features, more up-to-date technology, waterproof, a detector I can grab and go AND wireless. So, I just picked up a Minelab X-Terra Elite Expedition Pack, and in the next few months, I’ll be adding a Minelab NOX 700.