$1000-1500 to spend on new detector

[SpecialFarces]

I have been looking at units online and need some help. I want to hunt for artifacts, coins, etc. Money is not really an issue; all I want is solid, best technology, quality unit, ease of use - sophistication doesn’t deter me as long as it works. Any recommendations? The choices seem to be mind-boggling, however, I seem to get the feeling that Minelab, Fisher, are better units? Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

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[Charlie P. (NY)]

I just sold a house that was paid for in full and used a bit of the money to buy a Fisher F-75. Haven't received it yet, so I can't say it was a good move, but based on what I have read and researched it does what I need and well with minimal fuss and is fast, light, deep and easy to use. Can't give higher recommendation than that. Point is I could have bought an Explorer SE or a White's DFX if I thought I'd get what I needed out of them. Money is ALWAYS an object and I don't buy what I don't need if I can help it. And if I ever beach hunted or had gold nuggets to hunt I might have done differently. I also ordered an HP R967 camera to take pictures of my hunts and finds as my HP 618 is becoming a bit unstable (and 60 images max with about 4 Lithium AA's consumed to do it is a pain).

 

[jeff of pa]

The only detector I can Honestly Recommend is
the Minelab Sovereign.

I am not saying there is anything wrong with the top of the line.

My reasoning is I never Regretted Buying one.

Cost : around half of what you have.
you can then buy a good set of headphones.
a Small 5" coil a large 15" Coil
and a pinpointer.

Drawbacks: it's a little Heavy.
& if you need them ; No Visual ID
unless you purchase a Digital ID Meter.
which I think is Optional on the newest Sovereign.

 

[warsawdaddy]

If I was you,I would go to a couple of different dealers and try the different units before,as a newbie,spending that much money.As far as artifacts,there probably isn't any deeper unit than the Nautilus(heavy/no ID,built like a tank),Tejon(light/no ID),and as Jeff says,the minelab.For coins,any of the following would be great;Vaquero(no ID),with ID,the DFX,XLT,MXT,2500,1350,T2,F4,F75,Cortes, so you see,there is such a variety and each one that someone has,in thier opinion,is the best.When I say no ID,I mean no visual ID but they all have tone ID.Go to some dealers and physically find the one that seems to fit you,not the dealer, at this time.Personnaly,I would not spend more than 500-600 on your first unit.Trust me,when you learn that unit,you will know then more of what you want in your next unit and you will have a trade in.Goodluck and I probably didn't help one bit.

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Get to a dealer and try them out, or find a
club in your area and you can try out other
member machines.

Don,t, don't, don't just read the reviews and
other "stuff" that comes out.

have a good un.........
SHERMANVILLE

 

[Born2Dtect]

Try the Minelab Exp SE, Garrett Infinium LS, or the Fisher 75. All three are hot machines that you will make good finds with. They all have good features and the Garrett Infinium LS is a land sea machine, good to 200 ft. if you want. Either will be a good machine. I would not mind having all three.

Ed D.

 

[thompy]

some good units are fisher f75, tesoro vaq. or tejon, minelab xterra 70, and the teknetics t-2, all are light and have fast audio responce to targets, give it some time and read plenty, all are versitile

 

[spez401]

I'm a huge fan of White's DFX. My only complaint is that it isn't waterproof. Since I mostly hunt beaches now, It tends to take a backseat to my Excalibur.

steve

 

[Michigan Badger]

I recommend the Tesoro Tejon.

Badger

 

[AgileMJOLNIR]

First let me say that you have a good price range to work with which can sometimes make the decision of "which detector is right for me" that much more difficult. These are my choices but I highly recommend that you research all the detectors listed by all of us and make your own decision as to which will work best for you based on the type of hunting you want to do.

1) Minelab Explorer SE
2) Minelab Sovereign GT
3) Fisher F75

These are good all around machines in no particular order.

 

[TonyinCT]

The SE is hard to beat for most hunting. The F75 is an up and comer and should also be considered although it is new to the market and most of the jury is still out on it. If you need more help with your decision please let meknow.

 

[SpecialFarces]

Ok, I took the plunge and bought a Minelab Explorer SE. Can't wait until it shows up. Thanks for everyones feedback!

 

[Gribnitz]

If your going to be relic hunting, a non-VID machine is what I would recommend. The Tejon is the best of the bunch IMHO. Light, lifetime warranty, and deep, did I mention light ? That's important. A machine weighing a couple pounds more may not sound like much, but swing it for about 5 hours, then try a Tesoro. Your tennis elbow will thank you. VID machines are going to make you second guess digging and your going to stare at that screen wondering if you should dig it or not. Now, if you have your dreams set on a VID machine, the T2 and I have heard, the F75 are very good in highly mineralized soil.

 

[BioProfessor]

I think you made a wise choice. It is a good machine. Now take the time to learn the machine. That is probably worth more in terms of success than the machine you chose. Set up a test bed. This will allow you to use all your junque (see I remember) for a purpose. Try and take some of the most common items you will encounter and need to know how they sound: Pull tab with and without the ring, pop top, bottle screw cap rusted and new, beer bottle crimped cap rusted and new, nails (old rusted iron ones, new galvanized ones, new ones, short ones, long ones, bent ones, straight ones), pieces of wire straight and coiled, rusted steel cans, pieces of aluminum beer cans cut up by a lawnmower, crushed aluminum beer cans, old rusted tools picked up at a flea market, a wheat penny, a copper/zinc penny, a corroded penny, a Jefferson nickel, a silver nickel, a clad and silver dime, a clad and silver quarter, a clad and silver half, a silver dollar, a new US dollar coin, a gold ring, a silver ring, some costume jewelry and some gold/silver jewelry, paper clip, bobby pin, paper staple, thumbtack, key, key ring, and other stuff you find. You can glue them to things like tongue depressors or strips of rigid plastic cut to the length you want to bury the item. Leave the top flush with the top of the ground so you can easily retrieve it. I like to push in a top to a milk container with the identity written on it so I can know what it is as I listen. I can them move stuff around and turn the milk top over so I can practice without knowing at the time I scan but I can immediately know by turning the top over.

To get the stuff you will have to buy, go to a coin dealer and buy the coins that are not worth more than scrap value (no date, no details, etc) they are cheap but the detector can't tell the difference. Go to a pawn shop and try and find rings that are again worth no more than scrap (rings with no stones, bent or broken rings, etc.) they will be one of the more expensive things but will be worth it in the long run. Gold coins are extremely hard to pick up and will require some practice to get to know their "signature." For your purpose, they don't actually need to be coins. They can be flat gold disks. Locate a goldsmith in your area and ask them if they will make you a "coin." The easiest thing is for them to take some scrap gold (they have bits and pieces) and melt it, pour it on a charcoal block to cool as a "button" of gold and then run it through the rolling mill to make it appear as a coin. I don't think you can get one much cheaper and it is something you really need to practice on.

You've spent a lot of money on the detector, now spend a little more to learn what the sounds mean.

My 2 cents worth again.

Daryl

 

[Michigan Badger]

Ok, I took the plunge and bought a Minelab Explorer SE. Can't wait until it shows up. Thanks for everyones feedback!

Congrats on your new purchase! 8)

I've never owned the SE but from what I've heard you'll need a little help from others who know it well. I'm sure Jeff and the others here with experience will help you along.

If one can trust the depth charts, the SE is rated the deepest VLF detector under the Nexus.

The bottom line is none of us really knows what a detector is like until we own one ourselves and use it in the field for a reasonable amount of time.

I didn't buy a Tejon until a couple weeks ago because I believed the negative reports I read online (they were all BS).

Learn from those who know the SE.

Keep us all updated on your progress.

Badger

 

[thompy]

hey Badger is it tough maintainng your gb, and how is it in the heavy minerals. i thought abought one before i bought my T-2

 

[AgileMJOLNIR]

Congrats on your SE purchase. Let me say this, there is a learning curve with that detector more than most others. Be patient and try to join a club if your not already, get to know the detector. there will be days when you want to wrap it around a tree but keep your nerves and you will master the machine in no time.

 

[Born2Dtect]

The Explorer SE like any good brand name machine can be learned. I had no second thoughts while learning my EXP II. With every new find, every outing I learn more. The only problem with such a high end model is trying to remember how to do the setiing you want to change. I suggest putting a copy of the manual in your detector bag. Also read it many times. And by all means if you run into something you don't understand ASK. Someone on TNet or Minelab can answer every question you have. The EXP II is a lot like the EXP SE so if you find out something about the EXP II it wil most likely apply to the EXP SE. Good luck.

Ed D.

 

[Michigan Badger]

hey Badger is it tough maintaining your gb, and how is it in the heavy minerals. i thought abought one before i bought my T-2

I've only been using it for about two weeks now so my experience is very limited. But at this time I'd say the ground balance seems very stable. But I don't know how it would do over where you're located.

In fact, all the complaints I heard about the Tejon haven't materialized for me. I heard they're not really good for coins in trashy areas. All we have are trashy areas (above and below ground ) and I've found the Tejon to be better than any other brand I've owned.

If you run the detector on maximum sensitivity it will have background noises but good targets are easy to ID. It will pick up on the mineralization in the ground in this setting. You'll find things like BB sized shot and tiny rivets. It will get 1 to 2 inches more depth on coins but more depth isn't really needed. A sensitivity of 9 or 10 is as deep as I want to dig (8-9 inches on a dime easy).

The big thing with the Tejon is ground balance. It must be done right or your depth may be crappy and the machine may be noisy. A few days ago I was disappointed in the Tejon's depth until I finally figured out how to properly ground balance the animal. It balances easily but you absolutely must have a spot clear of metal trash in order to get a good GB and great depth. But this is really true of all manual adjust ground balance machines.

At any site the first thing a person should do is swing the coil in all-metal mode until one finds a spots about 2 feet square free of trash. Then ground balance and you should be good for most of that site. Once the animal is balanced it's a breeze to use. Any kid 12 years old could master this machine within 20 hours.

PM me if you ever buy one and I'll share a lot more.

Badger

 

[SpecialFarces]

My new Minelab Explorer SE came via UPS today. The weather is bad so I settled in with the manual this evening. the learning curve looks challenging for this machine, but I can't wait to try it out tomarrow night (or when the rain stops). I live in a mid 1800's home so I can hopefully do some hands on training right in the backyard and my even find something of interest to post on the "Todays Finds" section of this board. Let you all know how it's going. Best to all.