Hello from Cyprus

[Loukas]

Hello everyone,

My name is Loukas, I am from Cyprus, and I am new to your forum. I just recently taken up the hobby of metal detecting and so far I had some good results. I am using an old ACE250 machine my brother gave me, and although its pretty beaten up, especially its coil, its pretty good and easy to use. However, I am looking for an upgrade. I am considering the at pro or the ACE400i. Any advice from older members for this machine, or suggestions for other machines/brands at that price range? Just some info to help you, I will not be using it near water, and where i usually hunt its filled with trash, especially tin cans, iron foil, old iron pieces and shotgun shells.

Many thanks in advance,
Loukas

 

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[vpnavy]

Welcome Aboard Loukas.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Welcome to the forum!

 

[bowwinkles]

Welcome aboard, Given your situation as described the the ace 400 would be one of my last choices. It would also not be much of an upgrade. I would think that the AT pro (if Garrett is your choice) would be more in line or choose from one of the other manufactures like First Texas T series.

 

[Loukas]

Welcome aboard, Given your situation as described the the ace 400 would be one of my last choices. It would also not be much of an upgrade. I would think that the AT pro (if Garrett is your choice) would be more in line or choose from one of the other manufactures like First Texas T series.

Thanks for the reply bowwinkles! What other brands do you recommend? I have heard good things about Fisher metal detectors but on the other hand I am familiar with Garrett. Is it worth it to switch to another manufacturer?

 

[RustyGold]

Welcome to the forum Loukas! Between the two detectors you mentioned, the AT Pro with a 5x8" Coil would be my choice if you wanted to stay with a Garrett.

 

[bowwinkles]

Fisher is one of the products being put out by First Texas, and they have many to choose from with a bit of a learning curve. With the trash content of your soil you need a machine that you can discriminate by single points not by blocks of numbers like the Garrett 400. The First Texas machines do have ground balance if you are needing to work bad soil. The ATP with the 5X8 as suggested by Rusty Gold is also a good choice but it also is a step up in learning. Good luck with your choice.

 

[digging440yrs]

Welcome aboard

 

[Oddjob]

I would say before you purchase anything, wait for the new release from Garrett to come out, you do not need to wait long. This way you will not be one of those people pissed about having just made a new purchase and then suddenly a major upgrade comes out.

Just my thoughts and welcome to Tnet.

 

[against the wind]

RustyGold pretty much nailed it.
Not searching in water is not as important as.having a machine that isn't hurt shouldn't you get caught in serious rain. I had to shelter me E-Trac on more than one occasion when I got caught on downpours.
The AT PRO comes with a stock 8 X 11 stock coil.
It is an excellent coil and give you good depth but when hunting in trashy areas, you use a smaller coil in order to separate the good target from the trash. The 5 X 8 coil will make pinpointing a good target so much easier.
Good luck with the machine of your choice and Welcome to Tnet

 

[Brian C.]

Welcome from Canada.

 

[Relicific]

Welcome to Tnet

 

[Kurios1]

Welcome aboard Loukas. You have some old history where you are from. Must be some old stuff lurking within your trashy sights. I own an AT Pro but, only have been using it for water hunting. Many folks here on T-net use that machine and have done well with it. Having the smaller coil for working trashy sights sure helps. I hope you find a machine that you can learn and recover some way cool old history in your area.

 

[CASPER-2]

 

[Loukas]

Thank you everyone for the warm welcome

 

[Loukas]

Welcome aboard Loukas. You have some old history where you are from. Must be some old stuff lurking within your trashy sights. I own an AT Pro but, only have been using it for water hunting. Many folks here on T-net use that machine and have done well with it. Having the smaller coil for working trashy sights sure helps. I hope you find a machine that you can learn and recover some way cool old history in your area.

I know, Cyprus has a very rich history and its filled with treasures. It has been colonized by many civilazations, from the roman empire to king richard the lioneheart, to guy de lusignan and many more. Just a few meters from where I hunt, they discovered a gold statue a meter high, a pot filled with gold coins from the crusades, and many more. Within two weeks of begining this hobby i located 5 hammered coins, one of which a silver.

 

[Loukas]

After doing some research I noticed that in the ACE400 manuals it states that "the ACE 400i powers on in the last mode used, automatically adjusts for ground minerals and is ready to search.” I emailed Garrett asking them hat does that mean exactly? and they replied

"The Ace 400i is an excellent machine and I know you will like it if you purchase one. However , it is unlike the AT Pro Int . or AT Gold that have the ability to manually ground balance to highly mineralized soils with the push of a button . Where it states that the Ace detectors automatically adjusts for ground minerals is this . When the engineers designed the Ace series detectors , they allowed for a certain amount of tolerance to mineralized soils . This has to be done to allow the detector to operate in a wider range of soil types . If not , the detectors would be like some of the cheaper models and would not be able to function in a majority of the places it does without issues . This is a feature that Garrett adds to our units to stabilize in mineralized soils and another reason Garrett is such a good product compared to some that do not do this with their less expensive models. However , you would still need to go with the AT Pro or AT Gold to get extra ground balancing features. I hope this helps ."

Needless to say that I am now more confused. So the ACE400 is able of some degree of ground balance? Can anyone help clarify this?

 

[PETRASAKIS]

Good to see another cypriot on tnet.Welcome..

 

[Loukas]

Good to see another cypriot on tnet.Welcome..

Geia sou Petrasakis, thank you for the welcome. I am happy as well to see another Cypriot here.

 

[bootybandit]

Welcome to TNET!