Please help with 1st time MD purchase - To F4 or Not to F4 ?

[Cal_Cobra]

Greetings!

I've been wanting to buy a MD since I was a kid, and finally (at 41 years old) am at a point in life where it's the right time to (finally) get one.

I live in Northern California about 1.5 hours away from the California Mother Lode area (James Town, Angels Camp, Sonora, etc) so I'd like to use a detector to do some prospecting, but would also like to use it at the beach which is also about 1.5 hours away (hopefully the Treasure Coast in Florida in the next couple of years too), as well as coin shooting in local parks and such.

Initially I was going to pull the trigger on the Garrett ACE 150 to get my feet wet thinking I'd upgrade later, the ACE 250 also looked good and a step up from the ACE 150, but further reading and research tipped the scales towards the Fisher F4 (the F4 is at the upper range of what I'd like to spend). I like the fact that it (at least for now) comes with three search coils - a waterproof 11" Open Frame "DD" Biaxial Search coil, 8" waterproof open search coil and a 4" search coil.

When they state that the coil is waterproof, does that mean I can wade into the water and detect? Is it OK to use at a salt water beach in the surf ?

One thing that concerns me is the lack of adjustable GB in disc mode. I would assume for searching gold areas, black sand and wet beaches (salt water and fresh water) this could be an issue, especially in gold prospecting areas.

Should I be looking at another detector in the same price range, or is the F4 going to do a good job ?

Any advice/feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Cal

 

[thompy]

generally i hunt in all metal when looking for gold, i believe the f4 still gives you a target # in all metal

 

[Cal_Cobra]

So if the F4 gives you a target # in all metal, then it's kind of like a manual (IE your doing it) disc mode ?

Interestingly I called Kellyco and told them what I was looking at, and what I wanted to do, and the gentlemen I spoke with said that in California adjustable GB would be important due to the high mineral content of the soil.

He actually suggested a Titan 3000xd because you could adjust the GB for BOTH the All Metal and Discriminate modes. Looking at it compared w/the F4 they appear to be almost identical, with the exception of the GB being adjustable in both AM and disc modes (I still like that you get three search coils with the F4 though - LOL!). Hmm... the Titan 3K is a detector I totally hadn't considered.

He also suggested for a bit more $$ to look at the Minelab X-Terra 50 due to it's multi freq VFLEX coils. I did read about it, and it's an interesting (and I'm sure very capable) MD, but by the time you add in an extra coil, your well into the $600+ range, which unfortunately is quite a bit more then the ~ $400 budget I have.

 

[thompy]

i would go with the f4 befor the titan,which is the same as the discovery 3300, the titan has a little better rod assenbly than the 3300, to set the gb on the 3300 was a real pain, seamed to only work at times, this was also to have been inproved on the F4

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I had my mind made up to buy the F4 until I read the thread posted here about the non-adjustable GB in disc mode.

Maybe someone will make a hack for the F4 to adjust the GB in disc mode

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Cal,I have had gold metal detectors that I have used to coin hunt with and they just don't work very well.There are very few units that can be used to search for both coins and gold,but the detectors that could be used for both the price is a lot higher than the F4..Of course a gold unit can find coins and vice versa but not very well.Even the frequency's are a lot different.If you want to look for gold go with a Gold Bug 2.A great coin metal detector to start with you won't grow out of in a couple of weeks the 1236x has excellent depth,and will work for relic hunting.

 

[Mike Hillis]

I don't blame you a bit.

You mentioned inland coin/relic hunting, gold prospecting, and a salt water beach.

Of all of those, the most difficult will be the wet salt water beach. Any metal detector will work for coins/relic and the occasional gold prospecting.

I'd recommend you take a look at the CoinStrike.

#1. You can buy them brand new for $550

#2. You can buy them used for around $400 with the extra 5" small coil included and you'll want the small coil when you are gold nugget hunting.

#3. It has a salt water beach mode of operation. The thing about salt water beach hunting is that you have to balance to both ferrous and conductive ground. The beach mode will allow you to hunt the wet salt water beaches much better than a normal single frequency machine.

#4. It is a very good coin and relic hunter. It can be set very stable in any environment and it loves round objects. It is deep. It works well in iron/ferrous trash, and it is THE fastest responding detector with a 8" concentric coil you will ever use. Recovery speed means a lot.

#5. It has an excellent auto ground balance and ground tracking features. When you prospect you will love a machine that has the automatic ground tracking feature.

#6. You are getting a professional grade detector that will take you a long way into the hobby for a mid grade price.

Look for the field tests, the manual, and the CoinStrike homepage. If you need any help researching this detector, send me a PM and I'll send you all the information.

Good luck to you.

Mike

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Cal,

As I think you are beginning to realize, your $400.00 budget is not going to get you into a detector that will perform satisfactorly for your needs. Mike's recommendation of getting a used Coinstrike is a good one but if I were you I would also consider the ML X70. You should be able to pick a used one up with the additonal DD coil at a price just slightly over your target range. There is a world of difference performance wise between detectors designed for the specific tasks you need and general purpose detectors.

HH Tom

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I would try to decide what type of hunting coin,gold relic etc..Each one of these takes time to learn and is a career in itself. The C$ could be a bit much for a first time user.The simpler the metal detector for a beginner the better.A great salt water unit a used Fisher CZ . The dual frequency CZ is a lot higher frequency than most units.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

[quote Jackpine Savage]Cal,

As I think you are beginning to realize, your $400.00 budget is not going to get you into a detector that will perform satisfactorly for your needs. [/quote]

Ironically I started off thinking I'd be happy with a Garrett ACE 150 Then after reading reviews, I considered the ACE 250, and then the F4. I thought I was making a monumental leap forward from the ACE150 to the F4...maybe the F4 is still the way to go for me, but the Minelab X-Terra 50 looks like with it's multi-frequency technology it might provide the best of all worlds that I'm interested in.

Thanks Mike for pointing out the Coinstrike, that also looks like a viable option. I checked eBay and didn't see any deals at present, but did see some that had come up on past completed auctions, but it looks like you have to be quick on the trigger if a deal comes up, as they get snapped up quickly. I'll PM you, I'd like to see where the new ones at the price you mentioned are at.

In reality probably 80% of what I'll be doing will be looking for coins and jewelery in parks, old home sites, etc., but I still would like to be able to hit the beach once and a while and look for a few nuggets when going to gold country.

Cal

 

[Jackpine Savage]

make a post on the Classifieds forum to any dealers that may have a new Coinstrike in stock. If you don't get a response from a Findmall sponsor PM me.

Tom

 

[Jackpine Savage]

It is hard to beat a detector designed for a specific use. What you see time and again is exactly what we have here, a newcomer looking for an entry level detector that will do a lot of things well.

As far as the Coinstrike goes, its quite possible a newcomer to the hobby would take to one quite easily. Compared to most other units there is little to adjust. A few basic settings will have you off and running in no time. If they have an "ear" for the quick tones they have half the battle won.
After about 5 mins instruction my 13 yo nephew had no problem with it and that was in an iron filled site!

Tom

 

[ShawnP]

I know this is not within your $400 budget but have you read up on the Whites MXT, from what I have read this detector was designed to hunt gold and has a Salt setting for the beach, its close cousin the M6 which is based on the MXT but is a silent search detector (no adjustable threshold) could also be another option if your budget changes. I currently use an F4, there is no target/tone ID in the auto tune all metal mode, which is the adjustable ground balance mode. The All metal disc mode has Target and Tone ID, but is preset GB as mentoned above. Good Luck.

Shawn

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Shawn and Tom thanks for your posts. I'm looking at a White's Spectrum XLT for sale locally today (although after looking at past eBay sales, his price of $500 with no extras appears to be on the high side), and am also reading up on the Fisher Coin Strike. Both look to be very capable machines for what I'm looking for.

Cal

 

[Ron from Michigan]

I guess the new guys have to learn the hardway.After 100 plus metal detectors they'll be able to determine which ones work. The MXT is a good Used Sovereigns are the best deal out there.

 

[jackintexas]

In my opinion, the Garrett Ace 250 is hard to beat at detectors costing twice as much. Then when you learn more about metal detecting you may want a high end unit. But you won't have an arm and a leg tied up in your first detector. I have owned about fifty detectors, now own twelve, some high end detectors. Also own two 250's which I enjoy hunting with. Recently found a diamond ring appraised for $2000.0 with one them.....Jack

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Jack,Happy New Year.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Thanks for your post Jack.

Ron from MI - I completely understand what your saying (believe me I've been reading tons of reviews, field reports and forum threads) I'm just not ready to buy twelve metal detectors at the moment. I'd like ONE that is at least great at coin and jewelry shooting and can at least have some fun trying the other areas knowing full well there are better units made that will do a better job.

Brian

 

[Rick(ND)]

Used Sovereigns are the best deal out there, but it take a learning curve some don't like. For what Cal_Cobra wants to do I agree the MXT would be the one I would chose as it is a easy one to use plus on the detectors I find fun to use.
I have a F-4 myself too I used one time for a competition hunt and felt it did better than any other one I have used for this, but never got out to try normal coin hunting with it so I cant comment on how well it would work.

Rick

 

[Cal_Cobra]

The MXT does look good, looks like it has a nice prospecting mode on it too (hey if Jimmy Sierra was in on it, it has to be good right ?).

A side question - When they say the search coil is waterproof, does that mean the coil is submersible (obviously not the control box) ?

Cal