EasyMoney
Sr. Member
- Sep 15, 2007
- 476
- 7
- Detector(s) used
- Primarily my Fisher cz-70 and Compass Relic & Coin, plus many others
If you live in NC the soil isn't normally that bad but it sounds like your Ace is maxed out for it's depth potential. I own more than 20 detectors and have used about twenty times that many, I repaired detectors for 10 years.. I used to own an Ace 250 and wanted to try it out for it's light weight. but it had too much trouble with bad ground so I gave it to my daughter. My Tesoro Silver and Golden Sabers had a little better depth and so did my White's Prism III, so I just gave it to her to see if she liked metal detecting. The Ace is a fun detector but it does have some limitations.
Here are some facts:
Most detectors don't go a whole lot deeper than others, regardless of price, maybe 1-2" greater in most soils, and that is all. Only a very few go deeper than that in the ground, regardless of the ground or the price of the detector.
In bad soil the demands are different than using detectors in gentle soil. For example, in my soil here Explorers and Sovereigns don't go deep at all, but they do handle the ground very smoothly. Tejons really suck in this soil. Fishers and White's work very well here though. Garrett vlf's really have problems here. They just can't deal with the high mineralization and the rapidly changing ground conditions..
The deepest detectors for your soil (using discrimination) are the Tesoro Tejon and Vaquero, a Nautie DMC2b, DMC2, a Fisher 1270 and cz-3d, Compass Goldscanner, Compass Relic&Coin. These get outstanding air tests too, between 14" and 20" on a nickel! Even KellyCo advertises the 1270 as getting 18"-20" on a coin. I have NEVER seen a MInelab that could get that good of an air test, and air tests ARE a good measurement of a detector's depth potential. They wouldn't advertise it unless it was true, or they could be sued for false representation.. ALL the various Minelabs DO NOT go deeper than the above mentioned. I have tested them against each other, and other experienced Minelab users have tried them too. Hype is just hype, and if you would like a more qualified other opinion call Keith Wills of East Texas Metal detector Sales and ask him about it. Keith is the best detector repairman/modifier on the planet. Better than me.
The Ace 250 is not designed to be a depth demon. It is designed to provide a lot of fun for a novice, not a seasoned veteran. Large objects will cancel good small objects very near it, count on it. They do not cherry pick as well as say, Tesoros. A Tejon really does cherry pick well, and it goes REAL deep in moderate to mild mineralization..
If you can get a Tesoro Silver of any age or configuration ($50-$100 on eBay) you will likely find an old coin or two in the same area. especially if it has a big coil. They are SUPERIOR cherry-pickers and discriminators without cancelling good targets next to them. They are worth the $$. Keep the Ace though, it can still be a lot of fun and it works pretty well im most soils.
I think that your Church has had fill deposited on top of the old soil, but that does not mean that an old one or two hasn't been routed up near the surface again. I've seen 2 1/2 feet of sawdust or sand dumped on old schools, and later I've found old wheaties and silver dimes resurface right up within 1" or the top of it all. I even found an ancient Mexican gold ring, a size 3, that resurfaced the same way and in that same schoolyard. I found it with mz cz-70.
Good luck and HH
EasyMoney
Here are some facts:
Most detectors don't go a whole lot deeper than others, regardless of price, maybe 1-2" greater in most soils, and that is all. Only a very few go deeper than that in the ground, regardless of the ground or the price of the detector.
In bad soil the demands are different than using detectors in gentle soil. For example, in my soil here Explorers and Sovereigns don't go deep at all, but they do handle the ground very smoothly. Tejons really suck in this soil. Fishers and White's work very well here though. Garrett vlf's really have problems here. They just can't deal with the high mineralization and the rapidly changing ground conditions..
The deepest detectors for your soil (using discrimination) are the Tesoro Tejon and Vaquero, a Nautie DMC2b, DMC2, a Fisher 1270 and cz-3d, Compass Goldscanner, Compass Relic&Coin. These get outstanding air tests too, between 14" and 20" on a nickel! Even KellyCo advertises the 1270 as getting 18"-20" on a coin. I have NEVER seen a MInelab that could get that good of an air test, and air tests ARE a good measurement of a detector's depth potential. They wouldn't advertise it unless it was true, or they could be sued for false representation.. ALL the various Minelabs DO NOT go deeper than the above mentioned. I have tested them against each other, and other experienced Minelab users have tried them too. Hype is just hype, and if you would like a more qualified other opinion call Keith Wills of East Texas Metal detector Sales and ask him about it. Keith is the best detector repairman/modifier on the planet. Better than me.
The Ace 250 is not designed to be a depth demon. It is designed to provide a lot of fun for a novice, not a seasoned veteran. Large objects will cancel good small objects very near it, count on it. They do not cherry pick as well as say, Tesoros. A Tejon really does cherry pick well, and it goes REAL deep in moderate to mild mineralization..
If you can get a Tesoro Silver of any age or configuration ($50-$100 on eBay) you will likely find an old coin or two in the same area. especially if it has a big coil. They are SUPERIOR cherry-pickers and discriminators without cancelling good targets next to them. They are worth the $$. Keep the Ace though, it can still be a lot of fun and it works pretty well im most soils.
I think that your Church has had fill deposited on top of the old soil, but that does not mean that an old one or two hasn't been routed up near the surface again. I've seen 2 1/2 feet of sawdust or sand dumped on old schools, and later I've found old wheaties and silver dimes resurface right up within 1" or the top of it all. I even found an ancient Mexican gold ring, a size 3, that resurfaced the same way and in that same schoolyard. I found it with mz cz-70.
Good luck and HH
EasyMoney
