metal detector questions

[chilingoober]

hello, newbie here, actually writing for my husband and myself. we have been watching the prospecting shows for a few months, and are very interested in that and metal detecting.

we'd like advice on how to pick a metal detector. we don't want a cheapie that will have to be replaced anytime soon. but can't afford the $1000 ones yet. maybe something around $600? we would like to hunt gold with it, eventually. that would entail trips to the mountains, no gold here. around here, the history is ranching and oil boom towns 1920's and 30's on up. we live near where an old boom town was (no structures, but we know where the site is), and an old school foundation. (1920's-40 or 50's).

can you tell us what we could expect to find, and what would be the best detector for this and a future trip for gold? we don't know what to look for in a detector. and i don't know what questions to even ask. if someone could just point us in the right direction, we would appreciate it. want the best we can afford, that does the most.
thank you
shanna

 

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[Yaquina]

It is hard to find a "do everything" detector. In my opinion, a good choice for what you describe would be White's MXT, a good detector that operates on a slightly higher frequency (14khz I think) that also makes nugget shooting possible with the proper coil. Everything is a compromise...Detectors made specifically made for nugget shooting will always be better on gold than the best all-around machine. I am sure you will get many good opinions on this forum, let us know what you decide on.

Best of luck, Mike

 

[Southcacalaky]

Welcome to the forum. So many detectors out there and there are many good ones for that price range. Coke or Pepsi? Call kellyco metal detectors. fair sales people. You can do a google search. I think it's kellycodetectors.com Good Luck Art...

 

[Sandman]

Welcome to the forum and hobby. There is no one detector that does it all well and most are a compromise. The Whites MXT is a good machine with three modes, coins, beach and prospecting. It is fair at finding nuggets but nowwhere in the ballpark like the Minelabs. I suggest you visit the manufactures web sites, Tesoro, Fisher, Garrett, Minelab and Whites. These are the major brands and I wouldn't waste your money on anything else where you'd end up disappointed. You will no doubt get a lot of brand suggestions or places to buy from. kellycodetectors.com is one place to order from and there are others too. Don't order from ebay or you could get stung. Western & Eastern Treasures magazine lists many mail order places too.

For the nugget hunting, I would choose a dedicated gold hunting machine like the Fisher Gold bug, Tesoro's Supper Lobo is a fine machine. If you win the lottery, you can get a Minelab GP3500 which many of us old timers think is the hottest detector going for the tiniest nuggets.

Sandman

 

[Monty]

Whatever you find in your price range just be sure it has a method of managing your ground balance. From what I know about nugget hunting, ground balance is possibly the greatest need because of the overly mineralization of the soil and rocks in areas where you are apt to find gold. That being guessed....er, uh....said, look for something with a manual ground balance or GB auto-track feature. If I am way off, someone jump in and correct me. Monty

 

[Willy]

I'd go for: MXT, LST, or XTerra 70. I've used the MXT with great success nuggethunting and now have an X70 with HF DD coil. From what I've seen, the X70 is a bit more sensitive to smaller low conductors than the MXT, given that they both use the 5x10" DD coils. The X70 would have a definite edge when coin/ring hunting. The prospecting modes of both detectors offer different advantages insofar as the MXT has VSAT and TID whereas the X70 has a (surprisingly) effective iron mask mode and can be manually GB'd. I'll be taking the X70 up to my claims in July but, so far, I'm impressed with the results seen with my test nugget (3 grain). It seems to have better depth than the MXT on that small nugget. Both will see it in the air, with a good signal, but the X70 showed less of a reduction in signal strength when it was buried a couple of inches. It will also sound off nicely in disc. mode, which the MXT didn't. ...Willy.

 

[chilingoober]

thanks to everyone that responded. we are looking at the brands suggested, and comparing them. i think we will have to come down to around $200 - 300 for one, so we are looking at the ace 250.



is it necessary to have headphones? and the extra coils, are they worth getting? we live in rattlesnake territory, and leery of the headphones, can you still hear your surroundings well? i have never been around a metal detector (as you can probably tell).



if you recommended only 1 or 2 books which are the best ones? i would like to have something with the most info to have on hand, since i can't always get on here to look stuff up when i need to.



there is still a lot of terminology we don't know, so as it comes up, i'd like to ask. so far, my husband has been reading about coins on here. what does "clad" mean? we also found an 1890 indian head penny a while back (just in with some change) that has a nick on it. what would it be worth?



does anyone make a living doing the prospecting or metal detecting? we will be looking at doing this during retirement, and would like to know how to make an extra income if possible. i'm a weaver and am making shawls and such to sell, i can also make woven straps. would anyone in this hobby have a need for some type of woven items? (bags, hats, scarves, straps, sashes.....) just looking for another angle for my weaving business.



thanks for taking the time to answer my questions.....

s

 

[bakergeol]

Well if $200 is your budget perhaps the Ace 250 is the machine to see if you will survive this hobby. If you don't have the patience or the "right stuff" little is lost. If you become addicted well move on up to a X-70, MXT. X-5 or a LST(the only detectors that can do prospecting as well as coin/relic).
Everyone uses headphones- better to block out outside noise and hear tiny whispers of signals. You can buy a one cup headphone to hear out of your other ear.

Don't plan on making money detecting- if you find something of value consider it a bonus. There are some professional gold prospectors in Australia swinging $3500 minelabs but for the US gold detecting for a living is just not going to happen for you. A lot of serious US detectorists may pay off their $3500 minelabs with gold but it is not easy. If one could make a living gold detecting I would have quit my job long ago

George.

 

[wingman]

the 250 is a great detector for coin hunting,i use one myself.
but as far as nugget shooting its going to fall short.
i had the same price range,but had interest in both as well.so what i did was i got my 250 from kelly co
and then got a membership to the GPAA.

i think most of use will say the same.we spend more on this hobby than we'll probably ever recoup!
but its more the excitement of what will i dig up next.

wing

 

[Monty]

I have an ACE 250 and it is a tremendous detector for the $$$, but I would not recommend it for gold prospecting. Remember what I said about ground balance in an earlier post. The ACE has no means to ground balance either by tracking or manual. Monty

 

[chilingoober]

wingman and monty, thanks for your encouragement. we are going to focus on the coin aspect right now, and get another metal detector later for gold nuggets. this will allow us to have fun now and learn as we go. we have also ordered the gpaa membership. waiting for it to come in the mail...... was supposed to be here for father's day, but didn't make it. maybe this week.

where can i go on the internet to learn more about oil boom towns? there was also a railroad track that came through. there is nothing left of either the rr or town, but we do find spikes when we are hiking. anyway of finding what they are worth? or how to use them creatively? i saw a coat rack made from one that looked really nice.
s