Florida Beach Detector?

[DeepSeaB]

Hello everyone. I'm brand new to detecting(so new I don't even have one) and have a few questions. I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on wich MD to get. I've read tons of product reviews on the MD reviews.com page and as well on here. Anyhow I live in the Jacksonville area and will porb use the MD at the beach the most. I'm confused on if I need a dedicated beach/diving MD or a standard one. I would like to keep it under the $500 range. So far I'm interested in the following:
1. Ace 250
2. Prizm 2 or 3
3. F2

It seems to me that the jump from a regular(land MD) to a beach/diving MD is pretty hefty, are there no mid priced beach MD?
I hate to sound Like a newbie, But I am. I appologize if your tired of constantly answering this type of question.

Thanks

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

I have never owned any of them, but I read a lot about detectors and I read up on both the Ace 250 and F2 before buying some of my detectors.

Ace 250 is not a real good wet sand beach machine, it has a hard time handling the salt mineralization. In dry sand it would be fine. It can be used in wet salt sand, but turn the sense way down to get it stable.

The F2 is not water proof either, should have no problem in the wet salt sand, but you can't take it in the water with out fear of turning it into an expensive paper weight.

Neither the Prizm 2 or 3 are beach detectors, they work fine in lots, parks and playgrounds but avoid wet salt sand and water.

Detectors are like golf clubs, you wouldn't want to putt with a driver, or Tee off with a putter, it is the same with detectors. It depends on how much beach detecting you want to do. If you want to primarily detect the beaches, your going to need to get a good beach detector. For the $500 budget, you could buy a good used detector off of one of the boards here from a trusted member.

Ones I have used and know...................

A good used Whites beach hunter ID is water proof to about 30 feet I believe and works well on land. I owned one, used it in the surf a lot and liked it, but to be honest I traded it after it leaked on me twice. Usually around $350 to $650 used depending on condition and age.

A Minelab Sovereign is a fantastic beach detector, but again it is not water proof, so one slip and you have an expensive paper weight. But it works great in dry and wet salt sand and is a good land detector. Usually around $400 to $650 used depending on condition and age.

Minelab Excal 1000 / 800 or the Excal II are all good water machines, and all are waterproof to 200 feet.
They can be used on land, but they are heavy..... Usually $700 to $950 used depending on condition and age.


Ones I have never used but have heard good reviews on....

Tesoro makes the Sand Shark and Tiger shark, both are waterproof, I have read the Sand Shark is better for slat water, but I have never owned or used them. I do not know the average used price, sorry...

Garrett and Fisher both make beach machines, but I have no experience on them, other members here do and should respond when they find you thread.

If you serious about beach detecting, buy the best you can afford now.....You will be living close to the beaches and there is a lot of beach detecting available to you.........

Sorry I can't help more...............

Good luck and good hunting...................

 

[JackInFlorida]

Hey DeepSeaB,

These questions are one of the top reasons the forums are here.

You will probably find that beach hunting is the easiest and the most fun in the beginning. Hunting in parks and other places can be frustrating and difficult until you get some experience under your belt.

I use the White's Pulse Diver, a Pulse Induction unit at the beach most often. Pulse Induction detectors can detect very deep and ignore the salt in the sand which can make many other detectors useless. Issue with Pulse Induction, is you can't tell it to ignore pop tops etc.

If you are only going to do the soft dry sand, then any of the units you described wil work great. I personally used the ACE 250 to cut my teeth on before getting the two units I have now. The ACE 250 worked OK in the wet sand if the sensitivity was turned down a notch or two.

After looking at the writeups on the Fisher F2, I might actually recommend that to friends that ask just because of the numeric target identificiation. This will help prepare you for upgrading to a higher end detector than the ACE 250 will (IMHO). There is an article about it in this month's Lost Treasure magazine. He claims he had lots of issues using the F2 in the wet sand.

In your budget, keep in mind that the best way to hunt the beach is with a scoop with a long handle. Aluminum or Stainless is not overly important, other than weight. A good one can run you OVER $100, so keep it in mind. Makes the hobby much more enjoyable than trying to scoop out holes with a garden shovel.

Jack

 

[JackInFlorida]

Hey DeepSeaB,

You're in luck!

http://jacksonville.craigslist.org/ele/740405056.html

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

JackInFlorida did you a nice favor, if it was me I would call on that Beach Hunter ID. They are one of the easiest to use on both beaches and land.................

Check it out, fire it up, throw some coins and gold rings on the ground and see how it responds. Raise the coil up above them (air test) and see how high you can go and still get a signal. Air tests are not always the best test, but they will give you an idea how it works.

Be sure to look in the battery compartment for any signs of leakage as well as the electronics compartment for fog or moisture.

Check the coil out for cracks.......

If you buy it get you a coil Loop Support to keep the coil stable in the surf. One of the small drawbacks to the BHID is the coil is buoyant, if it bothers you you can attach a small bean back when hunting in the surf. It never bothered me, but did bother some hunters.....


The nice thing about the BHID is has both tone and LEDS, and it is dual frequency...........

Good luck and good hunting.................

 

[ivan salis]

if working & in good shape thats a good buy for a water machine -- hi I'm ivan -- historian of the local jacksonville,fla metal detectorist group--we meet the second tuesday of each month at the picadilly resturant on mounument rd near the regency mall here in jacksonville --please feel free to drop in and talk to me about detectors and meet the fine folks -- our meetings start at 7 pm but we normally get there about 6 30 and eat before hand ( eating is how we pay our rent so to speak)--we meet in the back room

I am a long time ace 250 user my self. --a lot depends on the type of hunting you plan to do as to which machine is best suited for you as well as your personal tech level -- some folks are high tech freindly / others not so much ---- in the water ---or--- on land (wet sand /dry sand) --or both .also do you have any health issues (wieght of the machine can be vital then) these are all highly important factors to take into account to get the right fit for you machine wize .

rule of thumb --water based machines (pulse induction or PI) CAN be used on land --but they tend to be heavy and bulky (hey their designed for water use) -- and they run in all metal mode --so you WILL find it all (and dig lots of trash as well as treasure) -- you WILL get every bit of junk out there as well as any goodies ---

land machines CANNOT be used in water for diving nor can their housings get wet --(the housings are NOT "waterproof" getting them wet ruins them) LAND based machines have the ability to discrimate --ie tell one metal from another --while not "perfect" --it helps cut down on digging trash items or in junky area many have notch features that allow you to cut out certain types of metals

each type of machine has "pros" and "cons" --there is no "perfect machine" only ones welled suit to you and your needs

often its best to learn a bit about detectors BEFORE you spend your hand earned money --- Ivan

 

[DeepSeaB]

Thank you everyone for the feedback. I really appreciate the effort you have gone to help me out. I think I am going to enjoy this sport/hobby/ life style quite a bit. I Hope my next few posts will be of happy findings. Thanks again everyone.

 

[sherpa t]

One that pops into my head is the new Pirate from headhunter. right price and some water protection. I haven't used one but played around a bit with the one Kellyco had at the Daytona beach shoot out. Seemed ok.

 

[Larsmed]

Hey

I would consider an older model if you can find one with manual ground balancing.. I can tell you most of em now you will pay over 400 bux.

I beachhunt on dry sand with my ace and it does very well...Just not in wet sand...

larry