Cheaper metal detector VS expensive metal detectors.

[digger460]

I wasn't "being silly", FYI. I think perhaps introducing one's "intelligence" into this discussion may have been "better" referred to as "knowledge" or just as you stated "experience". It almost sounds as if you don't own a high end complicated multi frequency programmable machine with new software updates from the internet ya' might be kinda' "limited" by your "intelligence" or "lack of" as stated in your post. Please forgive me. Been praying for rain for weeks just not on my weekend! Been too caffeinated and bored in front of this damned computer not being able to go out hunting. LOL! I was bound to run into something to "trigger" me. I did get out in the rain and dug a rusty square nail and a gob of flat rusty crap. I feel better now.

So you were the one praying for rain! Well we got it . Should be ending by you any minute, so get out there and get it done!!!

 

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[Loco-Digger]

A majority of my keepers could have been found with a cheaper machine, since they were only between 5" & 7" deep. I started with an El Cheapo TC-1023 and it helped me learn the basics. It had a meter that pegged on every hit so it was just eye candy and had no impact on deciding whether to dig or not. It had 3 tones and a pin point button. I wanted to go deeper, have the availability of additional coils options, notch ability, and ground balance so I moved up to the Fisher F4 with a DD coil. Granted it had a few more features that the El Cheapo and was easy to set up and hunt. It only had 2 draw backs, it took 2 9V batteries and GB did not transfer over to disc mode. You see I am not a fan of the VCO tone in AM mode. I ran into a great deal on a used F75LTD with Boost, it also came with a Whites Classic ID II detector. The Whites is the only detector I needed to use the arm strap with. It had target ranges which gives you an idea as to what was in the ground along with the tone, but I want Target IDs to display on the screen. Target IDs can tell you more than a simple range indicator. The F75 has many options, more than I have used, it is a detector I can grow into. Just having the ability to switch frequencies to lower EMI chatter from utilities or other detectors is a good option to have. I had 5 coils for the F75 but sold one that I barely used. Having the ability to hunt a site numerous times gridding it in multiple directions a with a variety of coils will allow you to pull darn near every good target out of the ground.

Bottom line to me is if you really enjoy the hobby your investment in your detector should match the time you invest into this endeavor.

If you only want to detect occasionally to kill time, then get a cheaper one, but if you are as obsessed with this activity as many of us are, you should have a higher end machine.

 

[pepperj]

Does cheap work better or stand up to the big ones on the market? Mood, location, soil conditions, experience, expectations and on & on.

Like many things that one can do in life it all comes with experience, and so does the comfort level as that experience rises. This can be applied to detecting and the equipment and it can be discussed till the cows come home what works better than the other but it comes down to the experience level most times. Newbie goes out and digs a keeper of a lifetime, because their expectations are so much different than one that has been digging for yrs. Digging anything is great and after time passes cherry picking starts to set in.
How many have owned the $150-300 machine and then went out and bought the $750-2000 machine and thought the finds would go up exponentially as well? Only to find that the machine didn't fill their pouch as expected.

Detecting side by side one having a cheaper machine(#1) and one having a high end machine(#2) will be the test. The #1 machine finds an iffy or weak signal-user of #2 machine goes over the target and clarifies what it could be-or it comes in as a strong signal. The same goes the #2 machine gets a soft sounding target, very diggable, so the #1 machine tries to hear the target-nothing or it wouldn't be target that they would of dug.

I have done this numerous times over the years and the outcome is the same the user of the #1 machine has gone out and upgraded their equipment.

Knowing what you're using is one of the key elements in detecting and getting results. I will say that 10-100-250hrs on a machine is not that much time detecting. Sure at the 250hr stage one will think that they know everything about it and are one with the elements/machine. I truly believe that once a person puts an 1 in front of the 3 above mentioned #'s they'll know what's what.

Have seen very frustrated folks digging out a new machine having only a few hrs on it and expecting to find the once in a lifetime keeper.

These views only come from a daft ol' fart that has owned a -dozen machines and 45+ yrs of digging in the dirt.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

I wasn't "being silly", FYI. I think perhaps introducing one's "intelligence" into this discussion may have been "better" referred to as "knowledge" or just as you stated "experience". It almost sounds as if you don't own a high end complicated multi frequency programmable machine with new software updates from the internet ya' might be kinda' "limited" by your "intelligence" or "lack of" as stated in your post. Please forgive me. Been praying for rain for weeks just not on my weekend! Been too caffeinated and bored in front of this damned computer not being able to go out hunting. LOL! I was bound to run into something to "trigger" me. I did get out in the rain and dug a rusty square nail and a gob of flat rusty crap. I feel better now.

I realize it sucks, but a lack of intelligence leads to less finds. So does lack of knowledge. So does lack of experience. I don't care what your benevolent government tells you, individuals do not have equal amounts of these. And sadly, they cant be granted by law either.

But, again, they can be overcome with hard work. Terminal Laziness, however, cannot be overcome.

 

[Xraywolf]

Just to satisfy my own curiosity I think I will break out my old Minelab Explorer II tomorrow and hit some spots in my town I have been hunting with my Racer machines for the last couple years. We finally have saturated soil now so signals should be improved over the dry crumbly scratchy signals of the last 6 weeks. I would love to have access to some of the new top shelf machines but, am not going to buy one just for an "experiment". Back in the day the Explorer II was the "flagship" Minelab I believe. It is still highly respected by those who know it's capabilities and honestly, has the technology really advanced that far in the last decade? Perhaps it has. I don't know for sure but, I'll give my Explorer II a shot to get some deep coins I might have missed with my Racers. I have several top shelf coils and will be prepared to give them all a shot to see what happens. I wish I knew some folks who owned a Deus,3030 Minelab, F75, or any flagship model of the top rated manufacturers out there. I would LOVE to invite them to hit my spots and see what I "missed". Then I might be convinced to spend some $$$ and get with the program on the top end tectors.

Don't see anything considered "cheap" in your collection.
If anything, my Ace 400 would fit the bill more than what you have.
There is room for both [high end and lower end detectors] with most guys. I leave my 400 in my truck all season long, consequently it sees the most action. If I discover a promising site with it, I'll then go and hit it with one of my more deeper seeking detectors. I am usually content to clean up every coin down to 6" or so ,, And lets face it, many places if not most, there wouldn't be anything deeper for a more advanced detector to discover.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Just to satisfy my own curiosity I think I will break out my old Minelab Explorer II tomorrow and hit some spots in my town I have been hunting with my Racer machines for the last couple years. We finally have saturated soil now so signals should be improved over the dry crumbly scratchy signals of the last 6 weeks. I would love to have access to some of the new top shelf machines but, am not going to buy one just for an "experiment". Back in the day the Explorer II was the "flagship" Minelab I believe. It is still highly respected by those who know it's capabilities and honestly, has the technology really advanced that far in the last decade? Perhaps it has. I don't know for sure but, I'll give my Explorer II a shot to get some deep coins I might have missed with my Racers. I have several top shelf coils and will be prepared to give them all a shot to see what happens. I wish I knew some folks who owned a Deus,3030 Minelab, F75, or any flagship model of the top rated manufacturers out there. I would LOVE to invite them to hit my spots and see what I "missed". Then I might be convinced to spend some $$$ and get with the program on the top end tectors.

Hey Kurious1 I have gone back to sites I've gridded in a couple directions and have pulled a few more keepers. I mean just the angle your detecting in could possible allow a target to be heard better since it may have been being masked by trash in other directions. A sniper coil might get a few hits due to it's small size and better target separation. I believe a better test would be to run all those flagship detectors through a test bed like scannerguy1968 uses in his Youtube videos. This will allow for each machine to be used to detect the same targets at multiple depths.

 

[GA_Boy]

My opinion is that knowledge is the word that should be used rather than intelligence. The brightest person with a detector is at the mercy of learning his/her machine.
My preference is not cheap or expensive. Most detectors in the 4-5 hundred dollar range will add pleasure to the user if user is knowledgeable of said machine. As in real-estate, location, location, location are the three most important things to successful detecting.
Marvin

 

[Xraywolf]

Best and only way to find deeper targets with any detector is:

* Different angles
* Slower sweeps
* Dig iffy, breaking signals [especially ones with small, faint pinpoint]

 

[treasuresalvor]

The guy with the most expensive equipment rarely finds the best or most stuff, he might dig less holes and will certainly waste plenty of time trying to figure out what his machine is trying to tell him(I'v been guilty of that myself with the Sovereigns). I don't buy into the hype at all. Price does not equate to performance in the metal detecting industry anymore and unfortunately in many cases has nothing to do with quality either. I guess I'm a cheapo myself, I don't want a machine with an lcd screen to go bad, I don't need a screen at all, I don't need multiple hunt modes or programs because I know how to set knobs, I don't care that my headphones have a cord on them, I don't need my detector to show me a picture of what it thinks I found or a conductivity number, I can tell all that by the tones with my older and much cheaper Minelabs, I don't want gps on it and am not hooking it to my computer, i got something else for that, and I actually don't need to know how deep something is because I'm going to dig the hole anyway. Quality equipment is what matters regardless of price, features are meaningless if you don't need them and can in many cases hinder performance. My best performing detector doesn't do anything...except find everything, and it was about $500 or so. I don't hunt manicured lawns and parks but for those that do I can see why some of those features are useful so I'm not bashing on them, I just don't need it.

 

[Peter67]

Don't see anything considered "cheap" in your collection.
If anything, my Ace 400 would fit the bill more than what you have.
There is room for both [high end and lower end detectors] with most guys. I leave my 400 in my truck all season long, consequently it sees the most action. If I discover a promising site with it, I'll then go and hit it with one of my more deeper seeking detectors. I am usually content to clean up every coin down to 6" or so ,, And lets face it, many places if not most, there wouldn't be anything deeper for a more advanced detector to discover.

For me the same story. I have an old Tesoro Bandido II in my car the whole year for new opportunities that come along by acccident. If the placce is good i return later with my other high end detectors.

 

[luvsdux]

There are times and conditions where the more expensive detector may do noticably better. That said, I've often found targets that any basic beginner's detector would have found easily as well. I'd say that for a majority of average targets, not too deep, nor too small, in reasonable ground a great many targets are as likely to be found with basic detectors compared to more advanced models. The main thing is use what you have and keep the coil moving.
luvsdux

 

[against the wind]

There are so many arguments about cheap vs expensive. I have often answered honestly about purchasing a machine when it comes to a person about to enter the hobby. There is always the risk that you get bored and decide that this hobby is not for you. If you invest small, you dont get hurt big,, financially. You can always upgrade later. In the beginning, the beginner just wants to find STUFF.
Target I.D. , separation, depth, GPS, program capabilities,
ability to unmask, weight, salt water use, etc. That comes later.

 

[sprailroad]

Well, you fella's have pretty much covered it all. Always good to see. Can not add much, I agree with "Your comfort level of detectors", what you may be happy with in your type of detecting. The only real advice I give to anyone wanting to learn metal detecting, is "Not" to buy any top-of-the-line detector, only because of the learning curve, even if they have the money to do so. Because I could see a serious frustration level coming their way. I think any "Mid" level detector would be the ticket, it would give you a lot of enjoyment for some time to come, of which they would learn more, read more and if they find this hobby is for them, there will always be a lot of brands and models to upgrade to. All you guys have given some really great advice, heartfelt and based on experience. Good group of fella's on this thread, there ya go bloovey.

 

[TerryC]

I haven't read all the replies so this may already be covered. Someone that knows his cheap machine WELL will find more than someone that does not know the expensive machine. But.... the reverse is also true.... those that know the expensive machine well will outperform the cheap machine. Conclusion, it is the operator that will make the difference. The extra bells and whistles of an expensive machine instil more confidence which means more looking which means more and better finds. That is to say, put in the time required to be "expert" on that machine and it works best, no matter the cost. ╦╦Ç

 

[TwistedT]

whatever detector you get "cheap or expensive", it wont be worth a darn unless you learn how to use it properly.
i think a person who owns a "cheap" detector but KNOWS how to use it will be a better detectorist than someone who has an "expensive" detector but has no idea how to use it.

buy what you like - LEARN how to use it and you will be happy.

another thing - it doesnt matter if you have a "cheap or expensive" detector if you dont hunt an area that has targets in the ground

 

[RustyGold]

My first acoustic guitar was a Martin and I never regretted buying what I feel was the best.

 

[Escape]

The best machine is the one that suits you. The ctx3030 is considered one of the best but I wouldn't want it. To heavy. The deus, is light but can be complicated. Sometimes the best detector is that inexpensive one you keep in your trunk. The one you don’t worry about scratching or scuffing and you always seem to be having fun swinging it in unexpected places.