Newbie - need straight advice

[amberoom]

Hello all,

Im trilled to get going with my new interest. I want to buy a detector
but I am confused... it would be nice to have one detector that can do it all beach, land etc. I live in CA but am traveling to Florida for a few months this year. Can someone tell me what would be the best detector for me. I plan on using it several times a week. I would like something that is relatively user friendly. Is the right one out there for me or while I need to just try one out and grow into other detectore. Your valuable opinioin means alot. thanks

 

[Fred (S. Indiana)]

n/t

 

[amberoom]

thank you will the W-5900/6400 be good for both land and beach?

 

[Fred (S. Indiana)]

and you can hunt in the water as long as the control box doesn't get wet, I have used mine in up to wastew deep water......

 

[Bobbie]

Minelab makes some excellent machines but they are expensive but worth it. If you want a lightweight machine that you can go in the water with, then DetectorPro is very good. White's makes very good machines also but you need to do your homework on all the different types and what you exactly want to do.

 

[Ed SW Fla]

...easiest machines for a beginner to learn how to use.

Amberoom, without knowing how much disposable cash you can throw at your new hobby, it's tough to direct you to the right machine.

Unfortunately, there is no one machine that can do it all. You need to first determine if you'll be doing most your detecting on the beach and in the water or on the beach and inland.

In the water you don't need as many features as you will appreciate having on land. Tone ID is nice, but discrimination and max signal depth is more important as is weight and durability of the machine. Water machines are mostly very basic and easy to set up and use.

On land, what you'll want to look for as a newbie is simplicity, good depth seeker, light weight machine, target depth indicator, and some form of target ID ... tone, tone and analog meter, tone and LCD number screen, or just analog / LCD without tone.

Plan to spend as much as current cash flow allows. If that means less than $200, ... for land, look closely at the Garrett ACE 250.

If you have $600 to $700 to spend, look at White's Beach Hunter ID for beach and water, Detectorpro for the same, and White's M-6 for wet salt sand, beach, and inland .... if you got more $, look at White's MXT, or DFX for beach and inland.

Minelab's Excalibur is considered the premier water machine. However, Big $, heavy, and has had quality / repair issues ... but does sniff out good stuff in wet salt sand and under the surf to 200 foot deep.

You really need to visit your nearest dealer that has detecting experience and where you can kick the tires on various price point / brand machines.

 

[Fred (S. Indiana)]

I've seen a few "newbies" who never owned a detector buy the cutting edge technology detectors only to become uninterested, and sell the machine on e-bay, like I said, bottom line whites w/analog meter, and the most important thing, find out the sites that yield the best finds.........fred

 

[Ed SW Fla]

... the MXT is perhaps the easiest to set up and use and the deepest seeking of anything near it's price point + or -.

I agree with what you said if you are thinking DFX and ... if the newbie ventures from the factory presets without some prior experience.

Think about it ... with the MXT you choose the "mode" ... jewelry / coin, relic, or prospecting. Then set the gain for your local conditions ... most places allow you to use it it "warp + 3 ..., and allow it to auto ground by setting the ground selector to "ground". The discrimination setting is just like any other detector ... with the MXT, most nails and small iron can be descrimed out at a little below 3.

That's what I like about the White's machines, even a newbie can easily learn to effectively use a mid range to top of the line machine as easily as the beginning price point machines such as the PRIZM's up to the M-6.

The 5900 and 6000DI are a terrific machines but FAR to complex for a newbie to be comfortable with it right away, right out of the box ... I sell them, been there, done that.

The MXT in my opinion is as easy to learn and use as any "beginner / simple to use" machine made ... and is a high performance machine without complex settings. It has to be easy to use or I couldn't use it.

 

[Elson(La)]

First mistake you made was to come here for advice,hehehe Most of these fellows here are people that believe in White and Minlab M/D's(M/Ds mean Metal Detectors)Just in case you didn't know what M/D ment.hehehe I guess I'm the odd ball here,But a smart odd ball,Well would you believe just a odd ball with a little sense,Well O.K. just a odd ball.After they tell you all the junk they will tell you,Get this one ,Get that one,No,Get this one.Take a good look at a Garrett (better known here as a Green Thing)It's a real user friendly M/D,Turn it on and go.No setting and nothing to know,Unless you want too.Damn did I put it on you guys didn't I ??? I think I did.hehehe

Oh,Amberoom,I hate to say this,But,Most of these guys and gals are real smart with this kind of stuff.And that ain't no joke. Life is good my new friend.

Have fun my friend

 

[Fred (S. Indiana)]

n/t

 

[Butch in Colorado]

...While they are very good machines (I presently own both of them) they are not good for beginners. You will be better served using a Prizm, M6 or MXT type of a machine, learning it and then graduating to the XLT/DFX, 5900/6000 (Pro XL).

I also own an MXT and have owned the XLT. I found the XLT to be a very good machine but I would end up scrolling through the menu to change settings more than I would use the machine.

So I moved to the MXT and really enjoy its turn-on-and-go use as well as being able to switch between all three modes, make in the field adjustments and not have to worry about retuning the detector.

You will not have that luxury with the 5900. Being that it is a manual tune machine you will need to pay close attention to the threshold settings, the signal balance settings, and the GEB settings depending on the soil conditions of where you are detecting. You will need to retune the 5900 several times depending, again on soil conditions. You MUST listen to the sound of this machine as it will tell you if you need to retune it. If you are not experienced in detecting, you will get frustrated with detecting and you won't have fun. That is not how you want to begin this hobby.

The 6000 (Pro XL) has the automatic GEB feature so you do not have to retune as much. But you do have to properly tune both the 5900 and 6000 before detecting.

With the MXT/M6 you turn on the machine, balance it (I don't even do that function anymore. I just turn the MXT on and begin swinging. The internal detector circuitry will balance the machine within a couple of swings.) and begin detecting.

With the MXT/M6 you do not have to divide your detection attention between detecting and machine settings. This will give you hours of in-the-field learning experience and, once gained, maybe then you look at the 5900/6000 (Pro XL).

Well that is my 2 cents. Good luck with what ever you end up with and be sure to show us your finds. Welcome!!

 

[amberoom]

This was the nicest read. I sincerely appreciate this advice. I can tell
that all of your are a bunch of really smart folks about this and I cant wait to be on the cover of a Treasure Magazine with my find!!!!
I did not know what M/D stood for thank you for telling me.

 

[Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska]

The 5900 and 6000 are hammering machines but they do take some expertise to use them to their full potential. For the personal settings (which I won't go into here), I prefer the DFX. But if I was suggesting a serious detector that's easy to operate and can handle most hunting conditions extremely well, I would suggest the MXT. In fact, I just did... order an MXT for a friend of mine, wanting to get into the hobby to look for relics. He is very, very happy with the MXT, and his finds have improved greatly over his Radio Shack detector he was dissatisfied with.

Any of the higher end major brand detectors are good detectors. Some do some things better than others, but there really is no king of the hill that does everything better than everything else. You have to decide what type of hunting you're mostly going to be doing, and pick a detector suitable for your quest. If you like lots of bells and whistles, that's a personal choice. You have a lot of information at your fingertips about the target that is less than, oh, say around 6" deep. Deeper than 6" the information on a full bells and whistles detector starts to deteriorate and it'e ID accuracy startls to fall off. You start deciding to dig or not to dig on the "tone" (responce) of the target. So digging a deep target comes down to nothing more than a hunch on a good sounding response. Some people prefer detectors to just go "beep", such as a Shadow or a Tesoro. They are also good detectors, and very simple to use.

Keep asking questions, reading all you can about detectors that interest you, and then make a decision on the type of detector you think you'd like to have, and go from there.

 

[Elson(La)]

Don't worry about the cover of a book,Just bring your crayons here and join us nuts in our rubber room here.hehehe

Oh,All them other people on this forum is smart,I ain't a smart man.

Have fun my friend

 

[Ed SW Fla]

... lift it up and down about 2 times whith the ground switch set to "ground". What I prefer to the MXT over the 5900 and 6000 is lack of decision making in having to set anything other than discrim, gain, and program mode.

 

[Ed SW Fla]

.... If you are considering the PRIZM, ... they do not handle wet salt sand very well. They are fine on dry sand.

 

[cyberdan (SoCA)]

I have an XLT, it was my first and easy to use in the "turn on and go" modes. Everyone has given good advice, mine is only based on the only machine I have ever used, so it is a bit biased.

Bobbie said it the best.....don't go cheap...you will get frustrated when you only find shallow junk...then your will put you MD in the back of your closet and never hunt again.

Where are you in CA? I would reccommend a good MD club. Mine is in the Orange County area. Lots of friendly and knowledgeable people.