New Member from Fresno, CA ... San Joaquin Valley Area (Fresno, Tulare County) :-)

[falconman515]

I am 36 and have not detected in a little over 15 years now! Started with a Whites Eagle II (ya that beast with crazy I think it was C Batteries..LOL) then was able to move to a Spectrum for a while along with my step-fathers Garret (don't recall model) that found some great coins. Detected with him for a few years and had an Excellent time doing so even being in my teens at the time till I was about 20 I guess. After that I had interest in other things then my daughter came around within a year from then and have not picked up a metal detector since in the last 15+ years now!

I have thought for years now as I have gotten older that I would Absolutely Love to get back into the hobby and oddly enough the one thing that has pushed me to want to start back in again is watching those crazy whack jobs on Diggers!!! LOL ... I know many think they are a joke but I think it's good for the hobby to have a show like that and you gotta know it's the show making them a bit nuts I think and excited to pump up the drama a bit and make it exciting for viewers to watch I think. So that has REALLY got me excited again since the new season just started and I am now starting to research and look at getting a new detector.

I am here to read, read, read and ask some questions and be well informed getting back into this hobby!

I also wanted to find out if there is any local San Joaquin Valley ... Fresno, CA. area based detecting guys out there on this forum or if there are any clubs around my area to talk more with local guys as well.

I enjoy researching the area I live to find many new places (if that even exists anymore ... I'm sure many areas around here have been picked clean in the last 15 years since I have been away) to detect! I know a good amount of the Lindsay, Porterville, CA. area as that's the area and outlining cities I primarily detected back then. Living in Fresno now for the last 6 years I do not know much of the area as far as history goes, and hope to find some local guys who I click with that could show me more and detect with occasionally as well.

I am excited to get back into this hobby again ... hopefully my bad back since being 20 can handle this kind of thing but I guess we will soon see how it holds up.

Any detecting brothers in my area hit me up!

I look forward to learning more here and asking questions from the pros that know and soon ordering my new detector and getting out there and finding tons of junk with hopefully some nice treasure and coins mixed in with that every now and again!

Thanks for having me guys!!!

-Chris

 

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[Rookster]

Welcome and good luck.

 

[River Rat]

 

[armyeod81]

I see A lot of guys digging on the week ends around the Lost Lake and Millerton areas. You should start there.

 

[voodoo]

welcome! I am a life long Garrett user. I am not bashing any other brand. I just grew up with Garrett and stuck with them. If I ever get out to the coast or overseas I would look into a Minelab for the salt water. Until that time my AT Gold is more than adequate for my purposes. Cheers and good luck. Let us know what machine you end up getting. Happy hunting.

 

[voodoo]

oh yeah and make sure you get a pro pointer. (worth the $$$ in my opinion)

 

[vpnavy]

Welcome aboard! Take a look at Sub-Forums: California for information (i.e., clubs, etc.) directly related to your state.

 

[falconman515]

Thanks for the welcome guys

Got a few MD'ing guys here in my area hit me up already .... in fact there is a local treasure club as well that one has told me about and they meet once a month at a local hall and get together to detect as well I'm sure.

Great place for me to start to learn more again and meet some other local members.

I will be hitting them back and hopefully sometime in the next few months I can get my new detector and start getting out to find some new awesome stuff.

 

[voodoo]

great news good luck and happy hunting!

 

[falconman515]

oh yeah and make sure you get a pro pointer. (worth the $$$ in my opinion)

I am going to be going with Vulcan 360 Pinpointer from KellyCo looks like.

For the price of the Garrett AT Pro Spring package and the extra coil etc. etc. it just comes with that pointer for a tab bit extra price and I can't pass it up.

From what I have read it seems to be a solid pinpointer aside the PP .... one thing I read though its not a instant on ... so not sure how much I will hate that but we'll see.

For $700 for the AT Pro, Headphones, 5x8 coil, both coil covers, Garrett diggers pouch, Vulcan 360 pointer, detector bag, razor edge digger W/ sheath, and a handful of other goodies it's basically a No Brainer and is a 100% fulll package to get my on the filed day 1 without needing Anything else.

The Garrett PP may be a tad bit better pointer but for the price of almost nothing I am getting the Vulcan 360 for it's just gonna have to do.

Garrett AT Pro Sports Pack Spring Special Metal Detector For Sale - Kellyco Metal Detectors

 

[falconman515]

Anyone else have any further suggestions other then the Garrett AT Pro?

From what I read it is the overall pound for pound winner in this price class ... and I wanted to stay in the $500 odd dollar range.

I see this new Whites MX5 detector that looks appealing but not enough info or reviews on it yet seems like. I prefer a unit with an LCD for sure as I am more of visual person, helps me connect the dots a tad bit better with the audible tones.

Anything else that I should be looking at in my price range? Or is the ATP the way to go .... plus you can see from the link above it has a FULL package deal with Everything I need to get started for 700 bucks flat .... I need to factor that in as well as that is max I want to spend but still want the extra coil, pinpointer, digger, bags, etc, etc, (so if another machine is say 600-700 bucks it may not fit my budget as I need to have everything for that kind of price).

Thanks so much for all the info you cna provide or help me with.

 

[armyeod81]

The MX% is a dam good machine!
So is the whites coin master.

 

[falconman515]

Ya that MX5 has me looking into it a little further ... from what I can gather so far not enough to get me to go with it unfortunately but still seems like one of the top contenders to go up against the AT Pro in this price range for the most part ... has some great features but just not enough reviews and info that I can find to consider it. I have always liked whites as that was the main machine I used back in the day but I want to make sure I get the best bang for my buck this time around and find one that is the best for my price point and will be something I can learn easily and use for years to come. The MX5 all in all though will cost more by the time I buy everything else I need to hunt along with maybe a smaller coil etc. (the AT Pro's Spring kit has all of that at a cheap price of 700 bucks) .... I think the whites would put me in the 800-900 price range with all the extra stuff, PP pinpointer, smaller coil etc. .... so I gotta take that in to account as well ... the Whites has to have a significant advantage over the Garrett for me to pay that 100-200 bucks extra when it's all said and done.

The new Coinmaster looks like a nice lower to mid end machine to compete directly against the Garrett Ace 350 line-up I think ... I myself would like something with a little more technology.

Thanks ... I have not bought anything yet so I am still in research mode for a bit till I pull the trigger sometime this month hopefully.

 

[smalltowngirl13]

Welcome aboard...

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Welcome, lots of good choices out there in that price range.

Wayne

www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[usher21]

Between detecting and prospecting, I am working my way to an XP Deus! My name is Mark from North Cali- Modesto, even. Enjoy!

 

[falconman515]

Between detecting and prospecting, I am working my way to an XP Deus! My name is Mark from North Cali- Modesto, even. Enjoy!

If you ever make it south my way hit me up!

I will to the same if I ever make up further up north in your neck of the woods.