whites gmt, tesoro lst, or minelab eureka? please help

[fsa6049]

after reading and researching I have narrowed it down to three detectors, whites gmt, tesoro lst, or minelab eureka.? I live in Reno and go, every weekend, to the Yuba river area in search for gold with a hand sluice box.? I am now very interested in MD and will use a MD for nugget shooting. So what detector should I go for. I also plan on detecting around rye patch area and other desert places. I have $700-$900 to spend. All oppinions will help.

 

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[Nitro 54]

Of the 3 you have listed the GMT will detect the smallest gold, down to 1/10 of a grain which is like a grain of sand. The GMT has auto ground trac as the other 2. IMO the easiest to operate. The Lobo has discrimination so can be used for other types of detecting. The Eureka has 3 freq. which I'm told the Hz. does the best on gold. The Lobo sells for around $640. The GMT for $680. And the Eureka goes for $845. Foe the best prices on minelab and Whites check with Mark at Belda's detectors [email protected] If you want a detector for all around use I would suggest the Whites MXT for the same $680. and until the 1-31-06 you will also get $205. Worth of extras. Heavy carry bag,140mm pin pointer and a set of Royal head phones. Have fun making up your mind. I,m looking to get a Whites M6 in the next couple of days to compliment my GMT.
Glen

 

[bakergeol]

Well i guess I will complicate things a bit. If you asked what detector is best for Rye Patch on an AZ nugget forum the answer would be a Minelab PI. Perhaps a used SD2200D for $1500. These PIs are not effected by mineralization as the above VLFs are and handle "hot rocks" much better . Besides the fact that they have superior depth. Good luck on your decision on the above 3 VLFs. I am just saying that if you do become a regular nugget shooter in the desert you WILL buy a Minelab PI.- So be prepared to buy another detector a short period down the road if you become serious about this hobby.


George

 

[fsa6049]

Thanks for the replies, after more research on the web and with the local shop in town I am going with the... Minelab. It comes with some freebies like a digging belt and pouch, a carry case and a 2 year extended warranty (4 years total) for $849. More importantly I like the idea of 3 frequencies instead of one it has 6.5 for large deep nuggets, 20 for medium nuggets medium depth and 60 for small shallow pickers. Like having three detectors in one. I dare say that i won't need another detector for a long time, but I get the feeling that will not be the case. Oh well it's all in fun when you have the FEVER!!!

 

[jackaldridge]

You might wanna lift that Minelab for a while...they are pretty heavy. I just gave away an Explorer...never used it much. Be careful of the 'freebie' come on....some of the things they want to give away are pretty cheapo...
I have them all...White, Fisher, Minelab (no more)....they are all good, but my money is on the DFX and DX1 pinpointer...also a multi freq machine with a lot more control than the others...
Good luck and Happy Detecting...

 

[warsawdaddy]

That Minelab for that price,is a VLF also,is it not? (Eureaka Gold?)

 

[neilo]

There is no competition the Eureka wins easily you have the options of a coin, gold and relic machine in one.You said about sluicing for gold, running this machine on the 60 klhz will find gold down to almost pin head size.I have found them that size myself using that setting. I also recommend using smaller coil, I used a 6inch coil and this was deadly on those tiny pieces. What ever machine you choose good luck seeya Neilo

 

[TXKajun]

fsa, I just went through the same decision making that you did and ended up with the Minelab Eureka Gold, also. I've had it out several times so far. A couple of times in the back yard with some gold nugget samples and coins and once in the mountains, trying to find a nugget.

It's almost a "turn on and go" machine, but it'll take a bit of playing with in order for it to see small gold. I've gotten down to a .15 gram nugget at about 4" in the 60 KHz mode in tests using the stock coil. Did you get a good set of headphones That seems to make quite a bit of difference when trying to pick up small gold signals.

Nice to see someone else arrived at the same conclusion as I did! LOL

HH, ya'll!

 

[Monty]

I just finished a book by Charles Garrett. He recommended a detector with an auto or fast trac and a manual ground balance as well. Don't know if any of those machines have both features. His reasoning is that because of black sand and mineralization your detector's auto trac ground balance may not be able to find the exact balance you might need. I'm not a nugget hunter so I can't recommend which to buy, just a thought I wanted to pass along. Monty

 

[neilo]

Get youself some decent headphones for sure and if you find any tiny nuggets scrape about an inch of soil off of the surrounding couple of square yards chances are there will be some more close at hand. Dont justwalk away if you find more keep scraping down in that area.I remember I did this on 1 tiny nugget, and finished up with 24 of them.This is using the 60klh setting picking up nuggets missed by other machines. Good hunting seeya Neilo

 

[fsa6049]

Well I thought I had my mind made up with the Eureka gold but, I ended up getting a GMT. I thought I wanted the minelab but since I have never even held a metal detector before, I was intimidated by all the options and controls with it. there is a bigger learning curve with it. Plus you can't summerse the coil of the eureka gold (unless you void the warranty and silicone around the crease) with the GMT you can put the coil under the water. I had my wife bury some small pickers in the garden (sorry i don't know what weight but they are about the size of a grain of rice) I found them after about 15 minutes 2" deep. This GMT is very easy to use plus i got it for $699 and received a carry bag, a bullseye 140mm (which seem like the probe has to touch the gold to set it off) and a pair of whites headphones (they aren't that good cause I can still hear background noise like birds and stuff) and a great training video to teach me all the controls. The owner of the local prospecting store will teach me hands on if I want it (priceless). with the money I saved it sounds like I need to get a good pair of headphones.
I think everyone has their own preference on detectors, but for my first, I think I have an easy to use and lite detector that will serve me right, until I get enough gold to buy the Minelab gp3000 ($3500 I think). Anyway I can't wait to get out to the Yuba or Downeville river area and find some GOLD!!! Just as I wrote that my wife said it is suppose to rain this weekend DOH... is there a rainjacket option for this thing?

 

[neilo]

Eureka small gold 60klz good luck Seeya Neilo

 

[Monty]

To totally block out all outside noise you are going to have go to something like a Boze headphone which is very expensive! I think if you just turn the volume up a tad it will be ok for what you want. Monty

 

[frank]

black widows are the answer

 

[slow sweeper]

My Killer B Wasp's cut out almost all noise. Ruggedly built and very comfortable. But any of the higher impedance, 100 ohm range, phones made by numerous manufacturers will do the job. Black Widow, Grey Ghost, Sun Ray, Killer B's etc. etc. Shop around for the best price. But remember if you're hunting in rattlesnake country you may not want your hearing blocked out completely.
You made a good choice going with the GMT. Don't let anybody tell you different. Some people are just biased toward the type of detector THEY own. The truth is that metal detectors in the same price range will be pretty similar in performance.
Have you adjusted the sensitivity knob on the Bullseye? I think they're more of an aid to coin hunters than nugget shooters though. I just don't know for sure.
Although this is a great metal detecting forum there are plenty more out there. I'd suggest you try the Whites forum and as many gold hunting forums you can find. Scan the old posts and ask questions. I'm assuming you are already checking out the gold hunting threads in this forum.
It takes some time to get to know any metal detector. It's no magic wand. It's up to you to learn how to use it to it's fullest potential.
Have fun and happy hunting.