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Need help with detector purchase
- Thread starter spiral
- Start date
coin hunter
New member
You do have a problem. I glad it's not me wondering if I should have bought the other model. At least you are switching to a Garrett machine maybe. I have both the 1500 and the 2500. Really like the imaging on the two. I bought the 2500 as a second machine but really didn't need it . The 1500 does most of what the 2500 does and the depth is about the same. It depends on the head used. Been looking at the AT Pro but that's all , just looking. I decided to buy a DD coil head that's like the AT pro head and but it on my 2500. Did loose imaging thou but seems to picked up a little more depth. I know the 1500 is a proven machine Some of the threads I read about the AT pro people are complaining about the head phone hook up, the head when you shake it gives off false signals and what ever. Some other people say its just fine. I think if you buy either machine it will be just fine. I guess you still have a problem which machine to buy. Good Luck!!!
The AT Pro would allow you to search in water and bad weather.F70 is too similar in performance and catigory,Garrett 1500 is a descent unit.Though to compliment your Omega you may want to consider a used Explorer for older coins after searching an area. Good Luck Ron
SteveP(NH)
New member
I currently own an AT PRO and used a GTI 1500 for 4 years. I also have a White's DFX and a Fisher F75 along with the AT PRO as the machines I currently use.
The first thing I will say is don't expect any additional depth, target ID accuracy, or recovery speed from any of the units you mentioned as possibilities. Your Tek Omega is already as good or better as any of the other models you mention. If you are a coin shooter than the Imaging feature on the GTI series machines might be worthwhile but the GTI 1500 is based on 15 year old technology and isn't as deep or as fast as your Omega which is based on a 2007 (I think it is) design.
The AT PRO might be a good choice if you want to hunt in water environments. A good environmental cover will protect your Omega well enough against rain and will also keep the display plate from getting scratched so the AT PRO isn't really going to give you anything you can't already do with your Omega in the rain. The AT PRO is a brand new design and although I haven't had a chance to take it relic hunting due to the deep snow cover here in NH it seems to do ok at salt water beaches and it is waterproof to 10 feet. One thing you should consider is that it uses waterproof headphone connectors so you have to use the supplied headphones or buy the water proof headphones from Garrett and if you have any high quality detector headphones (such as Grey Ghost, Killer B's, or Sunrays) you won't be able to use them with the AT PRO. The machine is also poorly balanced and so will feel clumsy to swing next to your perfectly balanced Omega.
The F70 is made by the same company that makes your Omega so it will seem very similar to you, however if you buy the 11" DD coil for the F70 (assuming you don't already have one on your Omega) than you might get a little better performance from the F70 as it is based on the T2 platform while the Omega is based on the BH Platinum/Fisher F5 platform so they do have different designs with the F70 being based on First Texas' top performance platform, while the Omega is based on their mid-line platform. Also with the F70 operating at 13Khz instead 6.5Khz (or something like that) like your Omega does, it should perform a bit better on lower conductivity targets.
All and all if I was limited to choosing from among those 3 machines with the idea of keeping the Omega I would probably choose the AT PRO and buy a $30 Garrett Gizmo off of Ebay to help lessen the balance issue and also to extend the back rod of the AT PRO so it would be less uncomfortable to use.
A few other ideas you might want to consider though is getting a machine that will be operating more differently than your Omega such as a multi-frequency machine. For example you should be able to pick up a used Minelab FBS machine such as a Explorer 2, or a Safari for that price range, or perhaps even an XTerra 705 as you can change its frequency by changing coils and so it can operate at 3 Khz, 6.75 Khz, or 18.75 Khz by changing coils.
The first thing I will say is don't expect any additional depth, target ID accuracy, or recovery speed from any of the units you mentioned as possibilities. Your Tek Omega is already as good or better as any of the other models you mention. If you are a coin shooter than the Imaging feature on the GTI series machines might be worthwhile but the GTI 1500 is based on 15 year old technology and isn't as deep or as fast as your Omega which is based on a 2007 (I think it is) design.
The AT PRO might be a good choice if you want to hunt in water environments. A good environmental cover will protect your Omega well enough against rain and will also keep the display plate from getting scratched so the AT PRO isn't really going to give you anything you can't already do with your Omega in the rain. The AT PRO is a brand new design and although I haven't had a chance to take it relic hunting due to the deep snow cover here in NH it seems to do ok at salt water beaches and it is waterproof to 10 feet. One thing you should consider is that it uses waterproof headphone connectors so you have to use the supplied headphones or buy the water proof headphones from Garrett and if you have any high quality detector headphones (such as Grey Ghost, Killer B's, or Sunrays) you won't be able to use them with the AT PRO. The machine is also poorly balanced and so will feel clumsy to swing next to your perfectly balanced Omega.
The F70 is made by the same company that makes your Omega so it will seem very similar to you, however if you buy the 11" DD coil for the F70 (assuming you don't already have one on your Omega) than you might get a little better performance from the F70 as it is based on the T2 platform while the Omega is based on the BH Platinum/Fisher F5 platform so they do have different designs with the F70 being based on First Texas' top performance platform, while the Omega is based on their mid-line platform. Also with the F70 operating at 13Khz instead 6.5Khz (or something like that) like your Omega does, it should perform a bit better on lower conductivity targets.
All and all if I was limited to choosing from among those 3 machines with the idea of keeping the Omega I would probably choose the AT PRO and buy a $30 Garrett Gizmo off of Ebay to help lessen the balance issue and also to extend the back rod of the AT PRO so it would be less uncomfortable to use.
A few other ideas you might want to consider though is getting a machine that will be operating more differently than your Omega such as a multi-frequency machine. For example you should be able to pick up a used Minelab FBS machine such as a Explorer 2, or a Safari for that price range, or perhaps even an XTerra 705 as you can change its frequency by changing coils and so it can operate at 3 Khz, 6.75 Khz, or 18.75 Khz by changing coils.
Go with a Whites XLT - MXT or MXT Pro...The best machines for the $ and way better then the machines you have or are looking at....The AT Pro is junk they made alot of mistakes on the detector and will surely be coming out with a new version next year to correct the issues. Plus the coil choices with garretts are minimal..
SteveP(NH)
New member
BIG-BOB said:
Jeez how long have you owned your AT PRO to be able to be so sure of your opinions on it, how many hours have you spent using one? or have you even owned one? Like any new detector (including White's, look at how many V3's have had to be sent in for some tweaking?) some of the early units have had to be sent back for replacement. However Garrett customer service is every bit as good as White's and they will take good care of anyone whose units aren't up to standard. Garrett has a long history of doing whatever it takes to make things right. They also have a good reputation for making quality products. However the fact of the matter is that the vast majority of folks who have bought one are quite happy with it. Garrett has already sold thousands of them and look at how few have been placed up for resale on the classifieds, that speaks volumes all by itself about the accuracy of your ill informed statement that they are all junk!
The folks over on the Garrett forum sure seem to be having a lot of fun using it and posting a lot of nice finds made it with it. Mine seems to be working ok and definitely gets depth in the same class as my DFX, though the DFX is deeper in tough environments such as salt water beaches due to its dual frequency design. The AT PRO is a great machine for the price and gets performance in the same class as machines costing hundreds of dollars more like the MXT.
I have owned and used machines from Whites, Garrett, Minelab, Teknetics (both old and new), and Fisher and they all make quality machines that depending on the soil you are hunting generally get about the same depth due to the limitations on the VLF technology that all are based on. The older designs are in general slower on recovery time than newer designs. There are some important differences between the various machines and some are going to better choices than others depending on personal preferences and soil mineralization levels but they have all been quality machines.
However the OP shouldn't believe either of us, OP go read about the AT PRO on the Garrett forum, or read the reviews on posted on some other websites, such as Nasa Toms, Lost Treasure or several others. Just google "AT PRO" and you will find lots of reviews and videos about the machine and then you can judge for yourself whether it is "junk" or not and which one of us is a brand loyalist with limited experience on other brands and which one has used detectors from enough different manufacturers to best answer your question without having to rely on hearsay or knocking brands one doesn't own.
The 2500 is better then the 1500 because of the true all metal mode. The imaging feature on both of those machines is really a time saver if you are a coin & ring finder. The AT Pro might be the best bang for you the buck though....
1) It has the standard mode, similar to an ACE 250 and is great for beginners, coin & jewellery hunting yet is deep and sensitive to gold.
2) It has the PRO mode, which is one of the deepest metal detectors (single frequency) available today. It was designed to find deep relics, yet with the 15kHz operating frequency and remains very sensitive to gold targets.
3) It is also water proof to 10 feet, so a quick accidental drop in the water or sudden rain will still keep you in the game. And, as a water machine, opens up a new style of detecting and territory in case you were ever interested without buying another water machine.
4) It's made in USA and costs less then half the price of some of the most expensive single frequency metal detectors which are restricted to land hunting only on non-rainy days.
Good luck with whatever detector you choose.
1) It has the standard mode, similar to an ACE 250 and is great for beginners, coin & jewellery hunting yet is deep and sensitive to gold.
2) It has the PRO mode, which is one of the deepest metal detectors (single frequency) available today. It was designed to find deep relics, yet with the 15kHz operating frequency and remains very sensitive to gold targets.
3) It is also water proof to 10 feet, so a quick accidental drop in the water or sudden rain will still keep you in the game. And, as a water machine, opens up a new style of detecting and territory in case you were ever interested without buying another water machine.
4) It's made in USA and costs less then half the price of some of the most expensive single frequency metal detectors which are restricted to land hunting only on non-rainy days.
Good luck with whatever detector you choose.
Thanks for all the replies..Well, I always research all I can before any major purchase and so far I think the F70 and the GTI 1500 are out.The reviews I can find on the F70 are not so good and the GTI1500 has a very sloowww recovery speed from the videos I've watched.I totally disagree that the Garrett AT pro is "junk".Just from the reviews I've seen and some people I've talked to that owns one, really loves it.
I used to own an MXT some years back and really liked the machine and I like the improvements on the MXT pro ($799) but for another $100 I can get the Minelab Safari for $898.I don't know how long the "holiday special" will run.I heard some time in Feb. they are going back up to $999 though..What does everyone think of the Minelab Safari? Minelab worries me a bit because of the service department.From what I've heard on various boards their service sucks..I mainly hunt relics/jewelry but enjoy all types of hunting.So I guess the choices now are the AT pro,MXT pro or the Minelab Safari..
I used to own an MXT some years back and really liked the machine and I like the improvements on the MXT pro ($799) but for another $100 I can get the Minelab Safari for $898.I don't know how long the "holiday special" will run.I heard some time in Feb. they are going back up to $999 though..What does everyone think of the Minelab Safari? Minelab worries me a bit because of the service department.From what I've heard on various boards their service sucks..I mainly hunt relics/jewelry but enjoy all types of hunting.So I guess the choices now are the AT pro,MXT pro or the Minelab Safari..
If you decide on Minelab, think twice about getting the Safari as it is the low end model.
Go ahead and get an Explorer so later you don't have to second guess yourself later.
The Explorers have a lot of extra features over the Safari.
Just my take, good luck with whatever you choose.
Go ahead and get an Explorer so later you don't have to second guess yourself later.
The Explorers have a lot of extra features over the Safari.
Just my take, good luck with whatever you choose.
.I'm sure I will be more than satisfied with it..Thanks everyone..usafaviator
Active member
Good choice. I like mine so far, sure you will as well. I did over two months of research before I bought the MXT Pro. I was going to buy a DX-1 as well, but decided to go with the Garrett Pro pinpointer because of all the rave reviews it has received. I still like the idea of the DX-1 and will probably end up picking up one as well when I find a deal. HH Shawn