All around detector question

[Crickhunter]

Hello all. I'm new here obviously. Had a friend in NC on vacation take me prospecting with him in a crik (proper pronunciation) and I found my first flakes of gold. Had a blast. I also live in South East Florida. Which leads me to my question.

I'm looking to find a detector that will A: work in shallow creeks (say 2 feet depth or less) for gold, B: also work for relic and coin hunting while I'm at home as well, and C: comes in around 700 or less.

Is this an impossible task? I appreciate your input.

Steve

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[Tom_in_CA]

There are a few detectors made that can go back and forth between both venues of metal detecting. The MXT is one that comes to mind. But the problem is, none of these "crossover" detectors is going to excell in either venue. There will be better nugget/prospecting machines, and there will be better coin/jewelry/relic machines.

It's no simple task to design a machine that can effortlessly switch back and forth with merely adjusting some knobs/controls. The goals of each venue, when you think of it, is opposed. The nugget guy needs to find teeeesnnnsy pinhead, grain-of-rice, and crumb type nuggets, right? (that is the normal size of naturally occuring gold in nature. A pea sized nugget or larger is veerrryy rare). So a machine designed to be squirelly sensitive enough to do this job, has to be designed form the ground up, *just* for this purpose.

And on the other hand, a coin/relic/jewelry guy DOESN'T want to hear every single piece of birdshot, staple, paperclip, fleck, nail, etc.... So it's not a simple task to make a machine that can go back and forth. If you're not too gung-ho in either dept, the MXT is sufficient to get started.

 

[Smudge]

I'd talk to Mike at Woodland.

Take a look at the Tesoro Lobo.

Great on gold and can be used for coin and jewelry hunting on land.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I'd talk to Mike at Woodland.

Take a look at the Tesoro Lobo.

Great on gold and can be used for coin and jewelry hunting on land.

Good Choice Scott. Don't forget Tesoro's Lifetime warranty.... That or the Minelab Eureka Gold. The Eueka gold is fantastic on nuggets, and with a coil change, you can turn it into a good relic machine.

 

[Crickhunter]

Thanks fellas. Mike I'll prolly call you tomorrow. Most of the gold where I'm looking, at least I'm told, is more along the lines of flakes and very small nuggets (smaller than bb's). When I'm in NC I'll use it mostly for gold hunting in streams and relic hunting in extreme western NC. But, while I'm sitting down here in ol south Florida I'd like to use it here and there.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Thanks fellas. Mike I'll prolly call you tomorrow. Most of the gold where I'm looking, at least I'm told, is more along the lines of flakes and very small nuggets (smaller than bb's). When I'm in NC I'll use it mostly for gold hunting in streams and relic hunting in extreme western NC. But, while I'm sitting down here in ol south Florida I'd like to use it here and there.

Please take into consideration, flakes and tiny nuggets wont report to the control boxes of even the best gold machines. Panning is the only way to retrieve.

 

[Sandman]

Listen to Tom of CA. as you could easiely use two detectors to enjoy the hobby more.

 

[Crickhunter]

Thanks Mike. Didn't know that. We were panning and that's what got me fascinated with gold hunting. That's why I'm here though, to learn. I still may be interested though. I'm not sure whether there's places close to the far west of NC (murphy, franklin, blue ridge (ga) area that hold nuggets but I'm willing to investigate. I'll still call you just to talk about detectors. Taxes are coming back (I hope), so I may be able to gift myself a present.

So far I've looked at (online) the Gold Bug pro, MXT, Xterra 705, Tesoro Lobo (since you mentioned it) Whites M6. Looking to spend between 5 and 7 hundred (unless I can find a good used one a little cheaper-that would make wifey happy).

Sandman I don't think I could talk the wifey into two detectors, not ready to try to jump that hurdle yet :-)

Smudge and Tom thanks again.

Steve

 

[AUDuke]

The Gold Bug Pro will find a 1 grain piece of gold and is a very good all around detector for coin and relic hunting. I use the GB pro in Az. for nugget hunting in the winter and for coin hunting in the summer in the mid west. I have about a dozen detectors and the GB Pro is my favorite for Nuggets and coin hunting in trashy areas. It also sells for less than $700.

 

[Swartzie]

Whatever you get I would make sure it will run in a true all metal mode. True all metal is very sensitive and will pick up tiny little pieces of metal. My Tesoro Tejon will pick up birdshot when I run it in all metal. I run into the stuff all the time when I'm relic hunting. I have been told that if a machine will detect birdshot then it can detect flakes of gold. There is a difference between true all metal and just using zero discrimination. Article on the here: http://www.akmining.com/forums/showthread.php/722-All-Metal-versus-Zero-Discrimination

-Swartzie

 

[Crickhunter]

I haven't forgotten you or avoided you Mike. I'm just kind of waiting on my taxes to see when I get them. I've been doing a lot of reading and searching as well. I know you'll have much more detailed information when I do call. So far the one's that peaked my interest based on what I want to do and how much I have to spend are as follows:

Gold Bug Pro
Xterra 705
Tesoros Lobo

Gotta stay around 600 dollars or so.

Seems I'm gonna need a pin pointer and a few tools as well so we'll see. I'm still gonna call you, just waiting on the word from the IRS........boy that's dangerous.

Steve

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I haven't forgotten you or avoided you Mike. I'm just kind of waiting on my taxes to see when I get them. I've been doing a lot of reading and searching as well. I know you'll have much more detailed information when I do call. So far the one's that peaked my interest based on what I want to do and how much I have to spend are as follows:

Gold Bug Pro
Xterra 705
Tesoros Lobo

Gotta stay around 600 dollars or so.

Seems I'm gonna need a pin pointer and a few tools as well so we'll see. I'm still gonna call you, just waiting on the word from the IRS........boy that's dangerous.

Steve

No worries. I just want to see you are well taken care of and not misled.