Newbie Question

S

steveryder

Newbie
Feb 22, 2005
4
0
Hello,

I am interested in getting into metal detecting. I am involved in a program in which I earn points, which I can then use to "purchase" merchandise. The only metal detector that they have for puchase is the Bounty Hunter Tracker IV. Can anyone tell me anything about this detector? Since I am new to metal detecting, is this a good starter detector, or would I be better off spending some money and getting a different detector? Thank you in advance for any advice that you have...

Thanks!
 

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I have a friend that has a Tracker iv and he doesn't like it .
mainly after using my old Garrett GTAx 500 it blew his BH away.
I tell everyone to spend around $400 on a good detector and you will relay enjoy hunting if you get a cheap one that doesn't work all that great and has so so depth then you might get burned out on THing. If you get one with ID readout you will have better luck in trash areas.
While thinking what to do look at the detectors in treasure hunting mags and check out what Kellyco has to offer .
stay with a high end brand like Garrett, Whites, Fisher, or Tesoro and You'll be happy.

Red
 

Hello steveryder.You asked a question that has been debated many times.I have a BH and like it but does me no good by the wet sand on the beach.IF you want to see what you might find with it check out onionhead,s posts.He seems to find many rings and ?coins with his at local parks and fields.It all depends on what you are looking for and WERE you are looking that determines what you might find.IF the targets are deep you want a better machine.Since you are getting this kind of "free" I would say get it.If you do get hooked you'll earn enough points buying batteries to "purchase" something else and trade up to a better machine to re-hunt all those sites that you cleaned with your BH.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Good Luck,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Doug

? ? ? ? ? PS:This site has a wealth of knowledge on it so read the old posts.I've learned allot in less than a year.
 

Hello,

Look at it this way, you are earning points towards getting somethiing so you have no cash outlay initally. Get the trackerIV and learn it practice with it and you will make finds withit. It should serve you well if you are looking in parks and schoolyards. As you gain more experiance and decide you want to persue other avenues of detecting. Then a different detector may be in order. We all love making good finds but it is the folks that know their machines the best that make good finds consisitantly.
As others have said this is a friendly group here and all will be will to offer advice
hh
 

steveryder, I'm kind of an old timer just getting back into serious metal detecting. I've been doing it right along but only on occasions. I started detecting in the late 60's and cut back about the mid 80's. Now I'm back full force.

You're new to detecting so let me share a few thoughts with you. If you're going to do a job, you want to use the best tools you can get, right? If you can afford the best, you'll buy it. The reason being, quality usually produces a better end product.

You'll read a lot of comments posted here about good or bad detectors. Read all you can and take notes (sorry, I'm a lecturer). After you've put all this data together see if there's a pattern. You will gradually see that one detector receives mostly praise and another is not so well liked.

After you accumulate all this data you can start working to eliminate some models in favor of others. Then it's just a matter of what you can afford. Then would be the time to ask advice about the best place to purchase that machine.

We all have our opinions here. I had a lot of bad experiences with certain brands back in the "old days" so I tend to avoid those brands today. One brand that has always been consistant is Fisher. Fisher's top models are supreme detectors. In fact, some say the CZ-20 is the finest detector made today. I plan to order one just to find out for myself (I buy a lot of detectors).? :)

As a general rule, the greater the price, the greater the depth. Depth is VERY important. More depth means more area coverage while swinging that search coil.

Good luck,

Copper
 

i would take a look at the garrett ace 250, lots of good thing are beeing said on the forums, $200, i just recived my whites qxt but am buying a 250 for my son, then i can see if all the hupla is true, seems to do it all.
 

Copper said:
steveryder, I'm kind of an old timer just getting back into serious metal detecting. I've been doing it right along but only on occasions. I started detecting in the late 60's and cut back about the mid 80's. Now I'm back full force.

You're new to detecting so let me share a few thoughts with you. If you're going to do a job, you want to use the best tools you can get, right? If you can afford the best, you'll buy it. The reason being, quality usually produces a better end product.

You'll read a lot of comments posted here about good or bad detectors. Read all you can and take notes (sorry, I'm a lecturer). After you've put all this data together see if there's a pattern. You will gradually see that one detector receives mostly praise and another is not so well liked.

After you accumulate all this data you can start working to eliminate some models in favor of others. Then it's just a matter of what you can afford. Then would be the time to ask advice about the best place to purchase that machine.

We all have our opinions here. I had a lot of bad experiences with certain brands back in the "old days" so I tend to avoid those brands today. One brand that has always been consistant is Fisher. Fisher's top models are supreme detectors. In fact, some say the CZ-20 is the finest detector made today. I plan to order one just to find out for myself (I buy a lot of detectors).? :)

As a general rule, the greater the price, the greater the depth. Depth is VERY important. More depth means more area coverage while swinging that search coil.

Good luck,

Copper
Click to expand...

I agree with Copper,

he's an "old timer" (to the hobby anyway!) and I couldn't say it any better than he did here. I'm a 20+ yr construction worker/carpenter and when he states that "quality tools produce quality jobs" - he's 100% accurate (well- it depends on who's behind the tool/s too!). I don't go to the dollar store or k-mart to buy my tools to do construction work. We build multi-million dollar projects. When I want a quality tool for the job that will operate smoothly, handle all that I put it thru and give performance unsurpassed that will last for yrs to come, I go to a quality retailer and buy the best.

It's the same with detectors. If you spend 300.00 or 400.00 on a certain makers "top model" (yet) 80 or 90% of all the other makers top models sell for 3 to 4xs that much (there's a reason for it)..

I wouldn't buy any machine you can buy at wal-mart, sams club, radio shack or the like. Come on, wal-mart? sams club? what the xxll do they know about quality anything!? And as for radio shack- buying a detector that they sell is like trying to buy an IBM computer from them! Fact is, 99.9% of all items they sell are made in china and are complete junk.

I own:

Garrett

Whites

Fisher

Mine-lab

and I wouldn't use/buy anything BUT these (and always buy their best!)..

p.s.

I once made the mistake of buying a cheap brand for my son for his B/day one time, and I kid you not, it couldn't find a coin/etc. deeper than 3 or 4 inches, and the cheap plastic handle broke within 2 months time of using it. I won't list the maker but,

I was extremely disappointeded and mad after paying 200.00+ when I could have
bought a good lower end detector from Garrett or the like for the same $$ that would've
lasted for yrs and found coins/etc. at 7 and 8 inches deep (I know because I've owned them before)
but- thought I'd try something new just because it looked like it was comparable.
Lesson = not even close and NEVER again..

I might just as well have dug a hole, threw my $$ in and let someone with a good brand
name machine come along and find it!
 

Here's my thought.
It depends on where and where you are going to hunt. The BH will efficiently pull the coins and jewelry out of parks, no problem. If you get it, ask onionhead what his settings are.
I have a BH. I just bought a Whites MXT. The MXT will pick up anything within 50 feet of it. It is going to be very frustrating to start out with a higher end detector if there is very much trash in the area you are going to hunt.
Not to inflame, but I got the White's based on a lot of people's advice. In my humble opinion, it is far from an engineering marvel.
I say try the BH. Great way to see if you like MDing.
 

STEVERYDER,
Go ahead and get the Bounty Hunter, I would and wouldn't think twice about it. I have a Whites Prizm ll and like it very much but I can tell you that your detector will probably perform just as well for coins and jewelry as mine does. I been out about 5 times and found only clad and today I found a gold necklace, and the Bounty Hunter would do the same thing as my detector.
I am just learning how to use it well and maybe I would up grade later but maybe not. Because finding what I am finding is fun enough and will probably find better things as I get better with the machine. Now if you have nothing but money to spend then you can at anytime find one in the higher price range.
GOOD LUCK GETTING YOUR DETECTOR...........WODD....
 

Steveryder, I'll say this much, since your program only allows you the choice of the BH Tracker IV, then I'd earn the points-get out and enjoy this new hobby for you. You'll find that the stress level goes down and as you get more experience, you'll be showing us all the great finds that you pull out of the ground. Even the lowly memorial cent will look different as you think to yourself "Oh Wow, my first coin" and you'll be grinning from ear to ear. Good Luck and welcome to the forum!
 

Amen to that Stone. I had the roughest years of my life preceding my new MD hobby (divorce). I must have aged 5 years in 12 months. MD'ing got my heart rythm back to normal, put the smile back on my face, and provides a complete stress release at my fingertips....Literally. I couldn't have said it better myself. If anyone would have told me that I would get so excited over a perfectly worthless coin, (I dig plenty of memorials that are too corroded to even go through the coinstar machine), I would have thought they were crazy. But it's true. I can't wait to get back to the desk and say "hey look everyone, I just spent 4 hours getting 28 pennies"! God I love this hobby.....It truley was a God-send for me! Enjoy yourself Steve and get out there any way you can! ;D~CO2
 

If you are getting the BH practically free, why not get it, learn it , use it and save all the money you find with it to upgrade to something else later. Good luck and HH.

Oh, and by the way, don't forget to post all your goodies here for the rest of us to drool over. :)
 

steveryder said:
Hello,

I am interested in getting into metal detecting.? I am involved in a program in which I earn points, which I can then use to "purchase" merchandise.? The only metal detector that they have for puchase is the Bounty Hunter Tracker IV.? Can anyone tell me anything about this detector?? Since I am new to metal detecting, is this a good starter detector, or would I be better off spending some money and getting a different detector?? Thank you in advance for any advice that you have...

Thanks!
Click to expand...
? ? As others have said "FREE is FREE" go for it. If you like the Hobby & later decide to Upgrade, you'll be more Educated on the Whole, and be abel to decide, what that detector is Lacking & what to look for in your next. & if you later decide Metal Detecting isn't for you (Not very Likely tho) What did you loose ? a few points ?? GOOD LUCK ; jeff
 

Thank you so much to everyone who has been writing! Everyone has been very helpful... I think that this is one of the friendliest groups on the internet. Still haven't decided yet on the Bounty Hunter... big decision. However, I can't wait to get a detector so that I can post my first find here. Thanks again!
 

Definately Stick around. Alot of Valuable Info on here. and Good Luck on your Decision, as in the end it SHOULD be your decision. WELCOME to the TreasureNet ; jeff
 

Ok after reading all the post I can say I was wrong.
The BH will do a good job to learn the ropes of MD. you will dig some trash from bad signals but we all do that even with the best detectors.
But don't get burned out with the trash. It takes a lot of practice getting use to a MD.
And free for earning points ....Man you are going to have a blast with it.
READ READ READ the owners manual it will be your best teacher.
Start by hunting old yards. they have lots less trash than your park and always give up some change.

Happy hunting and post some pics of your first signs.. no matter how small I know you will get a pat on the back from the TN group here.

Red
 

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