My Finds Since Starting Detecting in November, and a poll question...

[Rebel Man]

Gentleman,
I'm going to be short stop the bit#@%, will ya. I like listening to all of you, from the novice to the experienced. We will never stop learning from each other and that is the upswing. We have opinions, and again that is great, but we have different machines, not everyone has a different machine. Let us learn from this, nothing profound, nothing intelligent but this, I started out with a whites 1975 TR, then I stepped up to the Discriminator in 1979. I now use a Fisher and I have found many many things In one season, the theory of the detector is the same, but the tuning and sensitivity, is controlled by adjustment, this comes with experience.You can buy a Nikon auto but if you don't have the experience learning from the old single lens reflex, your at a loss. Your only as good as the equipment you initially started with, you must have the theory down pat. If and when you buy a "better" machine, I must be careful with this statement,(a loaded gun around these parts.) From a radio shack special, my back up actually or whatever, learn it, know it inside and out and enjoy this fantastic hobby.
Not so short sorry just my Ben Franklins worth!!!
Rebel Man
I started in 1975 and I'm still learning, from all of us. I enjoy this web site and the useless banter no matter what it is, its like the water cooler at work but better. Before computers we had very little camaraderie, now look.

 

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[Green1]

both machines have a long learning curve,, imho it would take 2 years with at least 15 hours a week to say you truly know what either is telling you....

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Cannot believe you did not find any jewelry with the dfx. It took me about 3 weeks to find my first gold ring with it...also it took me about 7-8 months just to get it set up for each area I hunt...now I have 18 gold/silver rings, quite a few pieces of other jewelry and finally I am finding silver coins now...up to 7<nothing great I know...but tweaking and adjusting is the advantage we have with the upper end detectors. My dfx had paid for itself jewelry wise with 6 months.

I think it is which machine you feel more comfortable with that counts! And hopefully your pile continues to grow! Good luck...I feel like they made the dfx for me.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

both machines have a long learning curve,, imho it would take 2 years with at least 15 hours a week to say you truly know what either is telling you....

I would agree with this...a few months with any upper end machine is not enough.... I am just breaking through with mine. After I reach my goal I am going to experiment a lot more. There are so many settings/changes you can make and log for each area. I got a tip from Mirage/Bob here and it has helped me double my silver finds in 3 weeks! I think the brand/model is not the most important thing...it is the user.....

 

[Stormtrooper154]

After reading thru many- many relies, I finally read where you stated your settings on the dfx and your experience with the machine. Stormy, you could have saved yourself a lot of grief if you would have mentioned that in your original post. It just seemed like you were trying to bait the dfx owners? Did some body owning a dfx do you wrong Stormy?

No, No wrong doing. I am not baiting anyone, These are my finds with equal amount of time on both machine. I am just sharing my experience with both machines. The point I am trying to make is that people keep telling me over and over that "This Brand" will do the same job as my Minelab. I am saying no it will not and I am posting my finds to prove that fact. There is no funny business, or planting of finds as others have tried to accuse. Just good old honest comparison.

As soon as they make one that will go deeper then my Minelab in my soil conditions, I will sell my Minelab and I will get the other brand or type machine.

 

[deepskyal]

I agree with you Captn_SE....it's a whole lot to do with territory.

Here in Pa we are blessed, for the most part, with neutral soil. Ground balancing my whites is almost a no brainer where ever I go, with the exception of towns that may have a mill nearby that changed the soil's ph.

And the second thing I think makes the biggest difference, bells and whistles excluded, is the type of coil on the machine. You can put all kinds of fancy buttons and digital read-outs on a machine, but if you got a crap coil.........

Another fellow Pa'er suggested I get a smaller coil for an extremely trashy area.
I just may. Always used the standard 8 and dug darn near everything...but I am getting a little tired of it.

Lately they've been changing them, hopefully for the good.

I read with interest that those 15 inchers dont really pick up so much on the smaller deep objects like dimes.

I dont have any experience to judge the difference, but why would i put the money out for one, then discover it's not doing what I want?

I play it safe with my finances, use what I can afford, and am all around happy with my results as they are.

Maybe my Whites WOULD be crap out west...I probably will never know.
If some day I can afford a minelab, and I've read enough posts to be pretty certain its a very good machine all around, then maybe I'll buy one as a new tool for my hobby.

But....I'm an easy guy to be happy digging up my oddities in Western Pa, even Central Pa where I'll be heading tomorrow to scout out some possible locations.

White's does everything I need.....for now.
Al

 

[Stormtrooper154]

Why bother having a poll when it is so obvious your finds with the SE are so much better? My question is, did you search the exact same spots with the SE and came up with all that silver the DFX left behind? Apples to apples? Personally I do not believe five months is long enough to become proficient with either of those machines. I would be more inclined to believe the SE suits you better which is great. I do not believe for a second though that the DFX would not have found that silver. Sorry, I just get a little tired of the SE/DFX debates when they are actually both great detectors. Lost a little respect for you with that sarcastic little poll of yours. Anyway, keep at it those are some real nice finds.

Then how do you explain this fact....

My Equipment = DFX, DD1400 10x14, Custom Program taken from Jeff Foster in his book. (Preamp gain cranked to 4 and Sens in the 80's)

Hunting Buddy = Explorer SE, Stock, All Metal Mode (No Discrimination).

I was hunting with my Hunting Partner at a Private property site that has produced a lot of deep silver coins. He calls me over after he finds a deep target and wants me to give it a try. So I head over there, swing my coil over the target and I don't even get a blip. He runs his machine, locates the target and marks it on the ground just to make sure that I was going over the right area. I run it over again and nothing. He digs up a deep silver dime.

I am sorry that you feel that this is a sarcastic poll. I am sorry if sharing my results for detecting with 2 different machines is sarcastic.

 

[Stormtrooper154]

Cannot believe you did not find any jewelry with the dfx. It took me about 3 weeks to find my first gold ring with it...also it took me about 7-8 months just to get it set up for each area I hunt...now I have 18 gold/silver rings, quite a few pieces of other jewelry and finally I am finding silver coins now...up to 7<nothing great I know...but tweaking and adjusting is the advantage we have with the upper end detectors. My dfx had paid for itself jewelry wise with 6 months.

I think it is which machine you feel more comfortable with that counts! And hopefully your pile continues to grow! Good luck...I feel like they made the dfx for me.

I did find one small ring and that silver Pin. Like I have continued to state, as well as others, throughout this entire post...It has to do with your area and ground conditions. I am just showing the results of 2 high end detectors and the difference the ground conditions can play on them. I never once said the Whites machine Can Not get deep! I said that for this area, it wasn't getting the depth that was needed to locate the deep finds I was looking for.

 

[Stormtrooper154]

both machines have a long learning curve,, imho it would take 2 years with at least 15 hours a week to say you truly know what either is telling you....

I disagree!  It doesnt take 2 years to learn either machine.  Maybe for some of you it may, but I understand my machines pretty well. In no way did I "Master" either of them, but I did know them well enough to learn what they can do!

 

[relikhunter]

I've been watching this thread since the start and haven't said anything yet.But i had a minelab quattro for awhile,it would go deep but alway's and i mean always nulled out on anything in the ground dug some deep ih's with but the null drove me crazy.Never owned a ex II or Se.But i'm sure there all pretty much the same,since the only way you can run without it constantly nulling is all-metal.So i traded the quattro in for a dfx,and you know what.Got the same depth with it as i did with the quattro and not all the BS.I honestly think whites has a better disc.circuit and better info on the screen.Would not trade all of the minelabs in the world for my dfx.But to each his own,maybe in your ground the minelab works better.We have alot of iron in our ground here,and the dfx does just fine.So you use what you like and get along with and so will we.But don't think for one minute that minelab's are better than white's because they aren't.......rh

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

both machines have a long learning curve,, imho it would take 2 years with at least 15 hours a week to say you truly know what either is telling you....

I disagree! It doesnt take 2 years to learn either machine. Maybe for some of you it may, but I understand my machines pretty well. In no way did I "Master" either of them, but I did know them well enough to learn what they can do!

I think what is being said here is....that over a course of 2 years...with patience.....you may have seen the same or similar results....while in the mean time learning more and more about your machine....(also your comment it may take some of you)<2 years to learn detector is offensive...< does sound like you are trying to bait white and other brand users in general! My finds with the dfx conitinue upward....also I know I have talked to others using the mxt, xl pro, xlt and even the m6 that are getting some great finds and nice depth...Your wording seems to be what is drawing the negative reaction..

 

[VERMONTPACKRAT]

While everyone here is comparing MDs and this is better and that is better, post this, reply to that,BLAH,BLAH,BLAH. I have been out using my ACE 250 finding interesting stuff. So I guess that for the last day or so my GARRETT has beaten both the Whites and Minelab.
Happy hunting guys and gals......VPR

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

While everyone here is comparing MDs and this is better and that is better, post this, reply to that,BLAH,BLAH,BLAH. I have been out using my ACE 250 finding interesting stuff. So I guess that for the last day or so my GARRETT has beaten both the Whites and Minelab.
Happy hunting guys and gals......VPR

That is the point...a couple minelab users have started to state negative things about other brands instead of just posting their finds! That is what is causing the negative reactions. Not sure I see to many whites users posting wow I find this or that and the minelab sure could not find it!

 

[borninok]

I've had my DFX for a year now, and I just got my Minelab Excalibur only 2 weeks ago....so, my answer is slanted. W/o prejudice, I have to say that I love both of them. I haven't had my Excal long enough to find the extent of finds that I have found with my DFX. However, I was totally shocked last week when I was just goofing around in my backyard, experimenting with the discrimination factor. The Excal locked in on two old iron bolts that my DFX had missed. Sep 1st through Sep 8, I will be in Rehoboth Beach, DE and plan to give both detectors a run for the money. This has been a learning curve for me because I'm going from my DFX which I totally depended on the icons and depth finder....and now with the Minelab Excal I have to learn the different sounds. I wish now that I had started out with a detector w/o the icons. I know, I know...I should have turned the icon feature off on the DFX...but, hey, I was new at this and didn't know better. Kind of like when you first started dating........LOL.......and then when you get married, you wish you would have turned off the complaint feature on the bride....LOL Oh Lordy!

For me....and this is just me....whether my Excal or DFX is better than each other....I don't know. And it's because I'm learning not only each of the machines, but I'm also learning metal detecting. I've only been at it for a little over a year. But, I have learned a tremendous amount of information just from reading postings from you all. Maybe in time I will be 1/10th as good as you all....hopefully. I never expected to turn on my detector and go out and find a lot of finds. That takes skill and learning...and many years of practice. I read postings from Storm, Sandman, DFX-Gregg........and hope that some day I will get to their level of expertise. In the meantime............I'm learning. Whether it be with my DFX or my Excal...I'm learning.
--Mel

borninok

--Mel

borninok

 

[Green1]

both machines have a long learning curve,, imho it would take 2 years with at least 15 hours a week to say you truly know what either is telling you....

I disagree! It doesnt take 2 years to learn either machine. Maybe for some of you it may, but I understand my machines pretty well. In no way did I "Master" either of them, but I did know them well enough to learn what they can do!

if you don't know the machines it's ok.... as long as you can admit that fact...
next try the others top of the line machines, and keep going,,, you'll never get a handle on any of them.....

 

[jeff of pa]

Nice Finds ST

 

[coinman66]

Everybody just shut your damn piehole!!! Lets go fishin
Coinman66

 

[Nickel_Buff1935]

Everybody just shut your damn piehole!!! Lets go fishin
Coinman66

Sounds like a plan...

This find wasn't recovered with a White's or MineLab

Although it was small and deep...

Nickel_B

 

[kindafoundabuckle]

Hey dudes I dug up a wigger..........I mean wilver

 

[titan]

after reading all that i'm tired, but the jist is different strokes (swings) for different folk's and soil is different everywhere you go and that does effect the detectors, but if you know your detector and can adjust the settings to get what you are huntin' for be it clad, colonials or silver, isn't that what really matter's?? storm i do agree that location, location location has alooottt to do with it also. i am interested in seeing the results of ya'lls friendly feud. happy huntin' no matter what you swing!! titan
p.s. i'm new to the hobby and i bought a whites prizm 4 and so far i'm pleased but i have no comparison