Do you really need a display?

[biguglydude]

Hi, I’m new to the MD world. After several months of investigating, I’ve decided not to do the entry model and jump right into the $500 range. Question, what are the pluses and minuses of a display? Do you really need one? Does it help or is it a crutch?

 

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[DKinPA]

That's an interesting question...need? You're gonna hear from the guys that use them say they would never hunt without them and the guys who don't will tell you it's a crutch and you're leaving good stuff in the ground. I have detectors with and without and I greatly prefer the ability to see a "VDI" number when I detect. I don't use it to entirely make my dig or no dig decision but I think it helps you understand the tones a little more and you can also see patterns on a given site.
I don't think it's a matter of need but one of preference, I also don't think you will help or hurt your chances of finding things with either decision. You have to swing over the good stuff to find it.....that's the biggest key!!

Good Luck

Dave

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

I have 10 detectors and only the Whites 6000 XL Pro has a display, the old analog screen..... I prefer to use the tone, and I dig most targets other then iron. I hunt with the Sovereign GT or the Whites 6000 XL Pro on land, and at the beach I use either Excal or Sovereign GT depending on the hunting conditions at that time....

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

For years I hunted with "blind" detectors. My Musketeer is a great detector and has no visual display. I understand it is still a sought out (and now pricy!) detector for relic hunters in areas of little trash.

Then I got a Fisher F75. Crutch? perhaps. A valuable additional tool to help you interpret and understand what the detector is experiencing in the field below the coil? Definately. Until you are familiar with and understand the display dig everything . . . and occasionally thereafter. I know if the number jumps more than four units as I sweep it is not a coin. In fact, most coins don't vary at all or perhaps a single digit. Worst are the zinc cents that are dissolving in the soil. This ability is VERY handy in trashy spots. Turns a frustrating day of digging crap and the occasional coin into a fun day of digging mostly coins with a ring occasionally popping up. I find that worthwhile.

Do I trust it every time? No. But I know I can tell a shiny new steel bottlecap or a horizontal aluminum cap from a coin pretty much every time, and a edge-on or crushed aluminum cap from a coin and definately a rusted bottlecap from a coin every time. Sometime I still dig if in the jewejry ranges - to a pleasant surprise. I could not with the Musketeer They all sounded equally as good as dimes. The Musketeer also was easily fooled by foil and aluminum "can slaw" when that was encountered. Not so the readout on the F75.

Another benefit, and I can't speak for all detectors/models, but the visual circuit is seperate from the audio circuit. Sometimes I hear targets that do not display and sometimes I see targets that I do not hear. Granted, the former more often than the latter.

It is also fun to guess what the targert is before digging based on the display. I keep a scale of objects. Guess it depends on your personality type or something.

 

[vayank54]

I greatly prefer the ability to see a "VDI" number when I detect. I don't use it to entirely make my dig or no dig decision but I think it helps you understand the tones a little more
Good Luck

Dave

I have to agree with THIS as well...

Use BOTH in 'concert' to get the most out of your machine.. But don't TOTALLY depend on any ONE of them...

Note: in the 500.00 range I would recommend a White's MXT for a beginner..

YES
The main thing is learn how your machine responds to different metals and do not completely rely on the display. I do not know of any machine that will not lie to you in really bad ground.

 

[Iron Patch]

Do I need a display? Nope, not a bit. I couldn't even tell you what the numbers or smart finding readings on the screen mean on my explorer. I'd find less if I looked at it.

 

[biguglydude]

Thanks guys, this is good information. I had my eye on the Fisher F5 or maybe jump a little higher and get F70. Then I found a lot of stuff on the Tesoro. The Cibola or Vaquero. These models (and most others from Tesoro) don't have visual displays. It seems Garrett, Whites, Fisher, and others had gone down the road of putting ID displays on almost every model. Yet Tesoro went the other way. I'm an Electrical Engineer by trade and love all the information I can get. But, I'm willing to give up some info for a better machine. The learning curve of course would be longer but that's fine. I also understand that all this display information comes at a cost...battery life! Does Tesoro exchange the display power for a stronger Oscillator? I'm just wandering if after time I'll come to rely more on the sounds. Then the display would just be a battery hog. I know I'm probably over analyzing this but, I like to buy things and keep them for a long time. Tesoro...Fisher...Tesoro...Fisher... That's what I'm weighing now! I've also primmed the wife.....I may have several before I'm done! All my other hobbies have turned out that way...

 

[GibH]

I don't currently have anything with a display. I wouldn't mind trying an Omega or F-75 though.

If you're going to keep it forever, you can't beat a lifetime warranty.

 

[jersey devl]

Get a Tesoro Deleon,lifetime warranty for one and you can choose to look at the display or NOT. I like that fact that my Cortes has a smaller display (some dont like it for that reason) so I learn to go by tone cuz my eyes arent that great anymore (welder) but it helps to decide sometimes. Im impressed with the Tesoros with displays are quite accurate,at least with my particular machine...the D and the Cortes run the same circutry...I cant think of hearing anyone complain about the Deleon!(anyone care to prove me wrong?)
If your wife is going to be liking the hobby too, your next unit you may want to go with the Vaquero (no screen) then you can work in tandem,one with screen and one without...buy the 2,its only money lol!

 

[UncleVinnys]

Hey NICE CHART, Charlie!

That's a great service to the detecting community.



In response to the question:
Technically you don't really NEED a display,
but the trick is, once you have one you learn what the sounds mean and how to interprate them
based on the VDI numbers THEN you can go back to a machine with no display.
If you are just looking for coins, something like the Tesoro Silver Umax would do.
I DO however really rely on the VDI numbers to help determine whether to dig or not.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Hey NICE CHART, Charlie!

That's a great service to the detecting community.

Thanks. Down-side is that it only applies to the F75 and perhaps another brand/model of detector if it uses a 1 to 99 scale (by coincedence). All detectors should have about the same relative responses. The scale is based on conductivity of objects, after all. Note also the overlaps on that scale. Skip the bottlecaps and pull tabs and you'll never see a shield 2¢ or most gold rings. Skip the foil, kiss the really old fractional nickle coins goodby. So it has to be used judiciously. In a cellar hole - dig everything. Coinshooting in a city park - assume most trash signals are trash . . . at your own peril.

I can tell you if you are in a spot that has a thousand plus of a few specific shaped pull tabs or bottlecaps that ignoring that VDI number and digging other hits will reduce the frustration factor immensely. There are many spots I just gave up on with my Muskateer as unhuntable. I like nickels, and I find lots at a couple parks, and I know that is because a couple frequent White's users disc & notch around tabs and either miss the nickels or assume they're tabs. I know a 29, 30 or 31 is a nickel and a 33 to 38 is a pull tab (bending, folding or damaging changes their signals). Don't know from Tesoros. They are uncommon hereabouts to the point that I've never seen one locally though I have read good things about them. We have two semi-local White's dealers and they seem to carry the market (including rentals).

Do you need a display? No. Just like you don't really need a radio or CD player in a car, either. (Or a speedometer or gas gauge, for that matter - I drove a car for years in which neither of those was functional). It just makes for more enjoyment and useful information at certain times.

PS - there are days when it is fun to go out and dig a couple dozen coins and no caps, tabs or trash. Refreshes you somehow. The next time out I may dig every signal. Nice to have options.

 

[DKinPA]

Well said and great info Charlie!!

Thanks for your effort in making and posting the chart!!

Dave

 

[biguglydude]

The f5 is a good machine and will serve you well...

I would recommend you check out the White's MXT as well...

I have both and I prefer the White's, but in the end, only YOU can decide that...

Hey Spooky! I went to the Whites web site and watched the videos on the MXT. Very Cool machine. Do you know what they are selling for? I looked real quick and didn't see anything other than "Call for Price"...

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Do I need a display? Nope, not a bit. I couldn't even tell you what the numbers or smart finding readings on the screen mean on my explorer. I'd find less if I looked at it.

Ditto.

Besides, I can't even see my screen any more if I wanted to. Coutesy of the NC saw grass and other abrasive plants in the bush.

I like to search places where the average guy dosen't .....Right Diggin buddy's?

Dig it all!

 

[treasurehound]

Do I need a display? Nope, not a bit. I couldn't even tell you what the numbers or smart finding readings on the screen mean on my explorer. I'd find less if I looked at it.

Ditto.

Besides, I can't even see my screen any more if I wanted to. Coutesy of the NC saw grass and other abrasive plants in the bush.

I like to search places where the average guy dosen't .....Right Diggin buddy's?

Dig it all!

Oh yes. Remember what we found in the briar patches Mike? Most people would have avoided that area and you got a nice eagle button in there. I hunted years ago when you had to learn the tones. There were no displays on the machines back then. Some had meters but everybody hunted by tones. I have the DFX and I am still having better luck listening to the tones than watching the display. If you concentrate solely on the display and dig just the good targets you will pass over many targets that read trash. Example would be a ring target. It shows as foil or pop top on most displays. Dig it all and you will be more successful.

 

[Silver Searcher]

Naa.. no display needed, use the force Luke and good quality head phones

 

[Digger]

Do french fries need salt? Does cereal need milk? Of course you don't "need" a display, but I do think they are a valuable tool when used correctly and understood.

A crutch? Sounds like the term people used years ago for people who chose to use Windows. The old DOS users said Windows was a crutch. What most of those people fail to see is that becoming a crutch is up to the user. A detector with a display can still work just as well as a beep-n-dig if thats what you choose to do, but it can also do the cherry picking when you choose.

 

[terryinr.i.]

you all beat me to this one. i was just thinking the same thing today. no i dont need the display i usually us the F75 but i hardly ever look at the vdi. seems sometimes its just a reason not to dig. if the signal is a strong 360 im digging it. i used the Ace250 today and only dug strong tones the only junk was that high grade aluminum. the other signals where brass buckles and a copper rosette. no coins but if thay where there i would have found them. once you get a ear for good tones thats all you need. i have a Tesoro Vaquaro on it's way and looking forward to finding lots of goodie with it.

 

[jopher]

Im a Whites guy. Started out with an IDX Pro...then the MXT...XLT....DFX.
Now I have settled back to two IDX Pros. Single tone ...8 bar graph....simple machines , but all the information that I need....nothing more. Combining the bar graph with the audio strength , I have a pretty good idea of target depth and composition....Love that deep silver dime response.
I use my graph on all sites ......to weed out some targets in trashy areas...and in non trashy, dig it all areas...Ill use it just to play the guess it before you dig it game.
Love my IDXs....closest thing available now is the Classic V, I think. Similar, without the Black Sand boost and manual frequency adjust.

 

[liftloop]

All i can say is this after two years of detecting and buy ing diffrent detector tree with screan two with out.take my mxt thats one is a smooth running detector. but when I wave it over a big piece off copper as soon as the detector start to read it or pick it up the vid will tell it's aluminum or it gives low munbers but move it closer and then it will give you the rite number.so the fisrt 4 inches are falce untill it gets cloose enought. now my 5900 at a distance it will beep a nice smooth beep but the neetle will not move untill I bring it closer to it, then it will peg the needle. At one time with mxt it hit hard and smooth, nothen showed on the srcean it pinpointed a real low tone so I dug it it was a 21pound peace of copper. I all most walked right over that one. If i would of listen to the screan.