Beginner here, 700~ USD to spend. Any recommendations?

[Spider-Man]

No idea what to hunt for. I don't even know many places nearby aside from a local playground park thing, but I'm hoping to get really serious and into it. It's not something that I will just mess around with for a week or two and then quit. I plan on sticking around for the longrun, so please don't get offended if I come off as someone who doesn't really care about metal detecting. It's the opposite, I'm just clueless at the moment.

I live in Lansing MI, and there aren't any beaches here, so I won't be doing any beach hunting. I will most likely head out to the fishing hole and do it there, though. I'm a bit too paranoid to put a metal detector in water.

Sorry for the lack of information. If you need to know anything else, just let me know and I'll try to answer. I guess another way to put it is... if you were in my position (700-ish budget, lansing mi, no beaches, most likely not gonna go in woods/forests either without a buddy or two), what would you buy and what would you try to hunt for?

Thanks in advance!

 

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swiped verbatim from Inokuma's thread:

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Inokuma, I stayed away from your first post because $400 is sort of a "dead zone" in metal detectors. There's a value sweet spot in the $200-300 range and another in the $500-750 range. Since you decided to move a bit upscale, we've got more to talk about.

Of the stuff that's made in El Paso and which is generally "street price" in the $500-$750 range, I suggest looking into the following: F70, F5, Omega, and GB Pro. We have other models, but in my "well informed" opinion those are the ones which offer the most bang for the buck for the kind of metal detecting that is most prevalent in your region. Here's how they stack up.

Ease of use for a beginner: first Omega, then GB Pro and F5, then F70.

Just plain hots: F70, then the others.

Ability to work in iron trash and heavy mineralization: GB Pro, then the others.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The F5 user interface is basically analog, even though "behind the curtain" it's done mostly in computer software. For some users, the F5 interface just plain "clicks" with them (everything is always in plain view and under user control), and for other users the front panel seems cluttered with too many knobs. The people who tend to like the F5 are older folks who grew up with radios and TV's that had knobs, and people who hate auto trannys and love stick shift. You'll either love it or at best will decide to live with it. Personal preference.

The Omega comes in a very different package, but its actual performance and target responses are fairly similar to those of the F5. Between the two, my personal preference is the Omega but that's just a personal preference. From a purely technical perspective the F5 is arguably superior because of its independent control over gain and threshold.

The GB Pro is Arguably (with a capital A) inferior to the Omega and F5 for deep coinshooting, but when it comes to searching iron-infested sites, the GB Pro and its Tek G2 brother are king, with many experienced users saying that on such sites nothing can beat it no matter what the price tag was.

In this price range, if your criterion is "deep", the F70 is it. Its "slow mode" is roughly comparable to the "boost mode" on the F75SE. And battery life on 4 AA's is typically about 40 hours. ......When we introduce a new product we never know for sure what the market will do with it. The F70 is the most advanced electronic platform of the related T2-F75-F70 series. Feature-wise however, it was a step down from the F75 and T2 product series. The high end machines got the attention and the F70 became the "sleeper". The high end machines do offer a hair more in most areas than the F70 does, but if the question is bang for the buck the F70 kicks it.

I'm not on commission, I'm in engineering and I've worked for several different metal detector companies. I don't badmouth other companies' products unless those products have earned it. I don't care what you buy, other than that I hope the time I've spent on this post steers you to a machine that will work well for you and turn you into a dedicated and competent "beeperist".

In your region, there's a lot more than coinshooting in schoolyards, there's everything from modern clad back to 18-19th Anglo midwest expansion to French trappers to Copper Culture. Everything you dig is history, and if you are concerned only about what its value is as metal, you are throwing away the big picture. In your region, you aren't likely to earn minimum wage by digging metal and selling it. Your most valuable potential contribution is as historian. I highly recommend joining a local metal detecting club (if you haven't already) and finding out who among the archeological and historical community is friendly. And then collaborate with them. For metal detecting to have a future, that's what it will require. England has metal detecting laws that protect both the hobby and archeological resources more or less (such things are always compromises), but the USA has hardly begun on that path and we'll never get there without sensible people leading the way.

Wishing you the best,

--Dave J.

 

[Tnmountains]

Another good way is look at what people are finding and where they hunt and what machine they are using. At that price you are close to getting an at-pro and maybe a pro pointer.Most places will throw in the little leche digger tool as a freebie.Jmho.

 

[Terry Soloman]

TESORO TEJON [TESORO TEJON] - $594.15 : New England Detectors USA, Discover the Detectorist in you

X-TERRA 705 ULTIMATE BUNDLE [X-TERRA 705 ULTIMATE BUNDLE] - $795.00 : New England Detectors USA, Discover the Detectorist in you

AT-PRO GOLD -KILLER B HEADPHONES LESCHE [AT-PRO GOLD -KILLER B HEADPHONES] - $713.93 : New England Detectors USA, Discover the Detectorist in you

Good Luck!