Brand New Here!

[madfranks]

Hello all!
A couple of friends and I are beginning our adventures in metal detecting and treasure hunting this week. We toyed with the idea for a while but are now starting to get serious. We've begun getting our materials and supplies and our first venture will be this Saturday up in Caribou, Colorado. My father gave us a quick lead on a small abandoned cabin about a mile or so outside of the old city that's been abandoned since the late 19th century. We're going to try to find it (or the foundation/footprint if the house itself is gone) with a map my father drew and see what we can dig up around the area! Quick newbie question: I haven't purchased my metal detector yet and am undecided on what make and brand to buy. My budget for a new detector is around $500 or so, and I would greatly appreciate any advice on what to get. My main ambitions are to find old and rare coins, gold and silver, and whatever artifacts I might find. I imagine these things are buried deeper than other things so would I need a special or otherwise different detector to find these types of objects? Thanks for putting up with my newbieness, and I look forward to sharing what I find!!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[jeff of pa]

Welcome to TreasureNet and the Hobby madfranks.

Altho it is Probably a Good Idea to Read alot before you decide.

I would Probably suggest a whites as your First Detector.
Maby an MXT.

You Can also Read up here on Some User Reviews to also Help in your Decision. http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?board=208.0

GOOD LUCK !
Jeff

 

[Jeffro]

Welcome to the fold, and the best site on the net! A lot of people have good luck with the Garrett Ace 250, or so it seems on here. Whites MXT may be a bit out of your price range ($800), but they are great detectors, as Jeff recommended.. Probably could find a good used one on E-bay though. Tesoro makes good detectors as well, and so does Garrett.

 

[Sandman]

Welcome to the hobby and addiction. There is only one recommendation I can give you and that is to stay away from cheap Radio Shack or lower priced Bounty Hunters as they don't hold up. The Ace 250 is easy to use and only near $200.00, but I would check out the manufactures web sites to learn what types are out there in your price range. Coins and relics are buried at all different depths and many of us have many detectors, but we all started with one and learned from there.

There are no stupid questions. Ask away any time you need an answer and someone here will answer.

HH,
sandman

 

[madfranks]

Thanks alot for the replies! I'm most attracted to the White's detectors, so the next step will be to see if my local dealer carries that brand. I was reading elsewhere on these forums and I was pleasantly surprised that alot of people find enough money through hunting to eventually cover the cost of the detector itself!! That will make my wife happy. I'm already an avid coin collector with a chest full of older mercury dimes, silver quarters, half and full dollars, even some gold! I hope to improve my collection through this hobby.

 

[Sandman]

Most of us have paid for our detectors many times over, and I mean all the detectors we own. You may not find a rare coin while detecting, but the chance is there. Gold and Silver rings now your wife will love an soon will be asking you to go detecting. Mine did.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Welcome and the best medal detector you can buy for your type of hunting in your area is the Tesoro Vaquero $420.20 postpaid.

It will go as deep or deeper than machines costing more than twice its price. If you plan to hunt the good sites like you mentioned in your post, make sure you get a detector with manual ground balance.

Again, get the Vaquero.

http://www.ronsdetectors.com/tesoro-metal-detectors.htm

 

[iherbie]

Hey all! I'm one of Mad Franks friends who is beginning treasure hunting as well! I'll be going with him this Saturday up to Caribou, and we're stoked!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

So, as far as metal detectors, we were looking at a Tesoro Cibola. What are your feelings regarding it?

 

[Michigan Badger]

Hey all! I'm one of Mad Franks friends who is beginning treasure hunting as well! I'll be going with him this Saturday up to Caribou, and we're stoked!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

So, as far as metal detectors, we were looking at a Tesoro Cibola. What are your feelings regarding it?

The Cibola is a great machine if your soil is low in mineralization. The Cibola has a factory preset ground balance. That means you can't ajust it yourself.

But, the Cibola may work for you. If it can handle the soil where you plan to hunt you've got it made.

 

[iherbie]

I like that Vaquero, too, now that you mention it...

Can you explain ground balancing just a bit?

Sorry for thenewbish questions!

 

[beachgirl]

Simple explanation is that ground balancing allows you to adjust your metal detecor. The cheaper metal detectors are set at the factory and do not always provide the best results. The more expensive metal detectors allow for adjustment and thus can handle different situations much better.

 

[Mighty AP]

check the classified section on this site for good deals on good detectors. I think you need a machine that will ground ballance & has "turn on & go" capabilities as well. Ive seen a lot of good deals on Whites MXT's for around $500.

 

[madfranks]

So the Cibola doesn't have a ground balancing feature, and if we're planning on hunting in the mountains alot, I'm assuming we're gonna need that ability. Do all the Whites have this feature, or do the less expensive ones leave it out as well?

 

[Mighty AP]

I think all of the major brands make lower end models with factory set ballance. Bottom line..........you get what you pay for, but with a $500 budget Im sure you can find a real good used machine that will have you finding the good stuff right away. I've heard that Whites & Garett (& possibly others) have excelent customer services & usually will fix any defective machine whether it is under waranty or not, so you can feel confident buying a used upper end machine for a good price. As I said, check out the "CLASSIFIED" section on this site, also look at the classified section at "Finds Treasures" forum. Good luck & if you see something you might be interested in ask for feedback here, someone who owns one can give you the skinny on that particular model.

 

[iherbie]

What about a White's Prizm III?

I was reading the specs and it has adjustable sensitivity, does that mean manual ground balancing?

http://www.whiteselectronics.com/prizm3w.php

 

[Jeffro]

No, they're two different buggers.
Sensitivity is how big an object it will detect, and from how far away.

Ground balance is adjusting the detector so that it will "see" through the minerals in the ground better.

Most all detectors have these functions. Some have factory preset ground balance, others have adjustable (preferred).

Sensitivity is pretty much always adjustable, at least on all the detectors I've seen.

 

[madfranks]

In the original post I mentioned that we're heading up into the mountains this weekend, and though we're still quite newbies, I had to make a quick desicion regarding what detector to buy in order to have it this weekend. I'm proud to say that with all my research and all your help, I've decided on the Tesoro Vaquero! Nobody in town had one in stock, or could get one by this weekend, so I bought one online and had it overnighted. Should have it tomorrow.

By the way my wife says that Tesoro Vaquero is Spanish for "Treasure Cowboy". Sweet. That's what I am.

 

[Mighty AP]

Congrats on the Vaquero! Ive never used a Tesoro but there are lots of fine people here who swear by them! Take a camera & post pics of your hunt & your finds, and GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[iherbie]

I ended up getting a Prizm II.

I couldn't afford much more

Oh well though! It works great!! I wish I could have thrown that extra $100 in to get a Prizm III with the depth reader. That would help a lot for a newbie!

Anyway, between Madfranks Tesoro Vaquero and my Prism II, we make a pretty good team, I think!

We went to a park and found some goodies, and went up into the mountains and didn't find anything. We've got some pics that we'll post soon.

Thanks for all your help you guys! You really made us feel welcome here!

 

[slow sweeper]

i,herbie. Depending on the soil your Prizm II should pick up a coin sized object 6"-8" deep. After locating a target just slowly raise the coil while still sweeping over the target. If you lose the signal pretty quickly it most likely will be a deep or smaller than coin sized target. If you can still get a signal with the coil 6" or more off the ground it is most likely a shallow or larger than coin sized target. THIS IS NOT A HARD AND FAST RULE. Just something that may help you determine what the depth of a target MIGHT be. Good luck and have fun.