What detector for Gold?For coins,for general use?

[roadrunner]

Hello,this is my first post after joining.I am new to this.I have built a sluice,and have been panning.Just started 2 weeks ago.
I am from Arizona.We have lots of minerals,and copper,ect in our ground.I have read through the MD models forums.
My question,what would be a good or decent MD to start with that would work with my ground,primarily for gold.

Next,is there a big difference between MD for gold,and coins.Say for instance i was searching primarily for gold,but came across an old abandoned farm house.Would the same MD work for coins,and relics.

There is a person who has an older Whits coinmaster 6000 DI series 2,hip mount.The guy says it works,but the needle is not working corectly.I am going to call whites and see if it is fixable first.But could get it for $30.00.

So,any ideas on a basic first time user MD.I have checked amazon,ebay,ect.I also saw someone state to use a VLF in this forum.Amazon has a VLF,Bounty HUnter,but it does not have an headphone jack.

I am also planning on building a drywasher.I have my own construction company,can weld,have a lathe,ect.
I bought the book Finding Gold in the desert by Otto Lynch.
And Gold panning is easy by Roy Lagal.

 

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[SMILEIE]

I have a White's Eagle II that is approaching 30 years old. It has a preset prospecting mode. But if you start it in the coin mode all you have to do is turn off disc and it goes into all metal mode which is the prospecting mode and you can adjust the S.A.T. (autotune) speed and sensitivity and the Visual discriminate to about minus 19 for prospecting. If after prospecting you want to coin hunt just turn the disc on and there you go. The all metal sensitivity is seperate from the Discriminate sensitvity.
I hope this information helps you.
So, any White's model (currently) with this capability would be a combination prospecting and coin hunting detector. The company has preset these hunting modes for ease of use. You can modify any or all of them to your own hunting methods.
If you can get the 6000 for $30.oo I would go for it. I traded my 6000 Di S3 for the Eagle II. I regret it because the S3 found a lot of stuff. I would be happier had I not traded the S3 and just bought the EII outright.

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks for the response.So far i have been thinking about the Whites seriously.
I have read through the forums here and see that there are quite a few mods and people that know there stuff about these.
I will probably buy that white 6000 i was talking about.It is the hip model so i suppose the main unit hangs from your shoulders when i looked at it.Looks like a good unit,and the person selling it actually does MD.And he is using a whites mxt right now.That is why he is selling this one i guess.

Thanks for your help again.Oooops,forgot.
Do all metal MD have this dual function,or a prospecting and coin mode?
Or is it called something else by the nobs.Like material,or discrimination.
I like the whites i was looking at because it seems to have a lot of knobs and choices.

 

[Terry Soloman]

Hello Roadrunner! I suggest you look at three particular machines if you want a VLF metal detector that will find gold nuggets, jewelry and coins.

Tesoro Lobo Super Traq
Fisher Gold Bug II
Whites GMT

I have used the Tesoro Lobo Super Traq the last several years in Arizona with great success http://www.ArizonaGoldAdventures.com You can buy a Arizona made drywasher from Bret Chilcott in Chandler http://www.AZDesertGold.com probably for less than you could spend doing R&D then building one yourself. Have Fun and be sure to check out the Clubs listed on my site!

Thanks for the response.So far i have been thinking about the Whites seriously.
I have read through the forums here and see that there are quite a few mods and people that know there stuff about these.
I will probably buy that white 6000 i was talking about.It is the hip model so i suppose the main unit hangs from your shoulders when i looked at it.Looks like a good unit,and the person selling it actually does MD.And he is using a whites mxt right now.That is why he is selling this one i guess.

Thanks for your help again.Oooops,forgot.
Do all metal MD have this dual function,or a prospecting and coin mode?
Or is it called something else by the nobs.Like material,or discrimination.
I like the whites i was looking at because it seems to have a lot of knobs and choices.

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks Terry.I am going to look at the GPAA,and a couple other clubs around my area.
I will go check out your links also.

I was also noticing on Craigslist in phoenix,there is a guy selling small drywashers for $50.00.
I forget what he is calling them,but they are back pack models he makes himself.Basically for just testing i believe.
I will no doubt buy one of those,or from the person in your link.

Of course with my own business,all the materials would be basically free.
The sluice box i just built is from a free set of plans.The video that shows it is on youtube,it is called the Progressive Sluice Box.
4 foot by 10.5 inches wide.Cost me $4.99 to make.That includes everything.

I will probably buy that whites i was talking about just for the heck of it for $30.00.
I wil look at your suggestions for sure.

 

[savant365]

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/board,208.0.html

This will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about different detectors.

 

[roadrunner]

Thank you savant365,
going to your link right now.

 

[Cleetus]

My advice: Just get a basic easy to use, entry level beginner's detector and practice on coins for awhile-- before you worry about gold. There's a learning curve and you need some basics first........ Fisher F-2, Ace 250, etc., something in the $200-300 price range. It will be plenty of detector for you for quite a while. You can find gold rings and larger pieces of gold with those, too.

 

[M Scott @ FTP]

Roadrunner

Roadrunner,

While the Gold bug 2 Lobo and GMT are great choices for gold prospecting they are not very good recommendations for multi purpose hunting especially compared to other stuff on the market.
If you want to hunt gold 95% of the time and dabble in the other stuff maybe consider them?.. but there are much better options out there.
The Whites MXT does all reasonably well but the newer technology on the new Fisher Gold Bugs will outperform it for less money.

The new Gold Bugs will perform just as well as the other 3 for gold especially for a beginner. They will also be more current technology (the same guy designed the first 3 almost 10 years ago and the new gold bugs just last year)
The New Gold Bugs have way more usable features and provides way more target and ground information with a big easy to read visual meter that tells you real time ground conditions and target ID along with a meter that measures the Fe304 (black sand) helping you locate the highest concentrated areas perfect for sluicing, dredging or panning. Where the new Bugs really blow these other 3 out of the water is for coin, relic and multi purpose hunting.

It has an awesome disc mode that gives a 1-99 digital target ID, signal strength indicator, multi assignable tones, a non motion VCO pinpoint along with depth in inches. Also cheaper ligheter and better balanced than the others.
Read this free downloadable book for more straight info and knowledge. http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/davejohnson/Dave'sGoldbook-reders.pdf


Hope this helps,

Mike

 

[kevkirki]

I run a whites M6..love it

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks all,.
@ cleetus,your right about that.Just looking for a used easy one to start.Have the field narrowed down to gold bug,whites,or garrett.
@ mscott--been seriously looking at the goldbugs from user here on the forum and am going now to download that ebook.Thanks for that.
@kevkirki---heard some good things about the m6 here in the forum also.
Great help from all who have responded.
Just the answers i needed.

 

[idowa]

I'm also brand new to gold prospecting and am planning on getting a Lobo Super Traq II from my local A&B Prospecting store in Prescott Valley.

I like that Lobo is a Prescott company and has a lifetime warranty. My uncle has the Lobo STII and lives down in Yuma. I'll be borrowing his for a day to see if it works for me before I buy.

My goal is to use the MD to search dry washes and quartz fields to see if there is any gold there, then when I find a good area, fill buckets with material and sluice it back at my house...

I have no illusions of getting rich, or even paying for my time and equipment, but it is really fun...

 

[roadrunner]

I just came back from grabbing 3- 5 gallon buckets of material just to test a spot out.
I hope to buy my first MD here shortly,and then build,or more than likely buy a drywasher to sort before i bring home to run through my sluice i made.
There is a guy here areound phoenix that sells small drywashers made for $50.
I take that back,i was home a little earlier,i just sluiced 1 5gallon bucket after classifying it.
I used 1/4 inch screen,and then a spaghetti,noodle strainer to get it down to 1/8 inch for my sluice.
Nothing found,but about 4-6 ozs of black sand.That is after my sluice,and then panning.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

I have to agree with Terry.
Tesoro Lobo Super Traq
Fisher Gold Bug II
Whites GMT will do what you need.

Let us know if we can help you further. Call us Toll Free at 855-966-3563

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks Woodland.I will probably give you a call.
I have it narrowed down to a least just a few,instead of a 100.
GbII
Gb
Whites goldmaster II
whites mxt
whites m6
whites gmt

I will go look at the Tesoros now.
Now,also as a last resort to get going,would be a BH tracker IV,or a BH quickdraw.I can buy different coils from different manufacturers to fit.

 

[minerjoe]

I would suggest one more detector, teknetics T2, or G2. The G2 is a fisher gold bug pro with teknetics stickers, but a better coil. You are new and i hear you on the cheap, but you really get what you pay for with these. If you decide gold nuggets are too hard to find, they are great coin shooting machines. they both have lcd screens and different processors to SHOW you whats under the coil, and you can really pick up this hobby much faster, spending less time out there wondering what the thing is doing! If you buy any other detector, the GB Pro is just fine! They are all made by first texas products. If i had started out with a G2 or T2, i never would have bought a GPX! Not because they outperform it, but just because they were so quick to pick up. Good luck.

 

[Smudge]

I'm a gold jewlery and coin hunter. After weeks of research, I finally landed on the Gold Bug Pro, the small coil twin of the G2/Gold Bug DP.

I have very little time on this unit so I won't give an opinion yet, but I will say it is worth investigating, based on your criteria.

 

[roadrunner]

@ Minerjoe, I will go check out the models you suggested.Thanks.
@ Smudge, Had a nice GB-II for sale on Craigslist,with an extra coil,but it was snatched up before i had the money.It was a sweet deal too.
$325.00.

 

[leatherneck]

Be careful starting out. Some of the machines you are considering are very good, but manual ground balanced. Large learning curve.... I would suggest an automatic ground balance machine to start out with so you can spend more time learning how to properly detect and to learn what the detector is telling you. You need to learn how to swing the detector properly so the coil stays the same distance from the ground thru the whole swing. There is alot to learn and in my opinion you don't need to deal with checking the ground balance every few swings of the coil. I have owned the MXT, and it is a great all around machine. It usually won't find small gold but it will find gold. Great for all around hunting. (heavy) The Tesoro machines are great also. But, some are manual ground balance, so make sure you try to get a auto-ground balance. Don't get a model of any manufacture that is out of date. Old technolgy and maybe no parts make for no fun. After many hours of learning and digging nails and other trash, you will learn that a manual ground balance machine does allow you to have more flexablity in ground balance and sometimes will go deeper. But if not adjusted right all the time, you might as well go home. Hope this helps.

 

[goldseeker4000]

Roadrunner, The best detector for general use, gold nuggets, coins, treasure, etc.. is the Minelab X-terra 705. you can buy one for around $600 and some thing. If you get the gold pro pack it comes with two coils and a bag. It is very easy to use and you will not out grow the capabilities that will provide you. I own one and it is the most fun detector I have ever used. Go to minelab website and go to detectors, then to X-terra 705 and read about it. By the way the images for the 705 page, of the dime with tiny gold nuggets around it and the 1758 Isle Of Man penny on a watch fob chain are my finds. They have been using my testimony and pics for some time now. I trust this detector completely and it is by far the best detector for the needs that you stated. Whites are too un-user friendly. They require a learning curve. The minelabs do not. You can be up and running in 5-10 min. just read the back of the manual- quick start guide turn the detector on put it to the settings it says and away you go. You will be very happy with this detetor and you will have a detector that you will never want to sell, because it meets all your needs. You get what you pay for with detectors. If you want good results, get the best detector you absolutely can afford. Gold seeker4000