Around the $1,000 mark to find gold?

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If you had about $1,000 what detector would you buy to find gold?

The ATO are being very nice to me this year, so I'm looking to do my bit for a stimulus package, and spend some money on a detector, I'll have around $1,000 spare for a detector, what would you buy?
 
Sd series Minelab. Best model you can get I.e. for $1000 you would get a SD2100 with change or possibly SD2200 without many extras.
In my opinion these are a much better choice as they will handle mineralization a lot better than the VLFs. While the SD series are better known for larger gold they are capable of pinging smaller bits too. My smallest was 0.26 gram SD2200, although once out on the surface used a mates 5000 to pinpoint it. For some reason the SD2200 lost the signal once out of the ground but it still located it!
If you must get something newer I would go with a Whites GMT for gold. There is an article in this months GGT magazine about the ATX which when read is actually a huge wrap for the GMT. The speccis they used to "test" the ATX where all found in situ by the GMT.
I found small gold with the GMT when I had it. They are a great machine & deadly on small gold in the right area's. There are also plenty of users on the forum for advice & plenty of tips.
 
I have a Garrett AT Gold,it's lite,waterproof,easy on batteries,has visual as well as audio,came with a good set of headphones and has all the settings you could want for a detector in that $1000.00 price range. I like my AT Gold.

Cheers,
weeg.
 
Whites new super pulse the tdi pro's baby!
I'm not sure if there in stock yet but ment to be the cheepest
PI gold detector available around $1000
 
Had a word with goldsearch Australia and they are doing soil tests with them, and they should have been released by now, but no word from them and nothing on their website as yet, I'm ready and waiting when they are available ;) and they will be around the $1,300 mark and very close to it too according to them.

Thanks for your input guys!

Paul
 
Just putting other options out there I got a price on a new infinium a while ago from Aussie detectors bendigo and I'm sure he said $1300 we all know the infinium holds it's own in most locations I think I could learn to use an infinium well for that price waterproof, treasure hunting, beach detecting and don't forget the gold fields.
With the 8" mono it will find gold small! have alook at chimpys trip to tibooburra.
 
Thanks for that, I've seen the infinium on fleabay for around that price, think it's from the USA tho. Would be interesting to see one in action

Cheers
Paul
 
The 3x7" DD infinium coil is as mentioned great for pinpointing and navigating through junk targets, very lightweight and more stable than the monos, but I find the 8" mono is definitely more sensitive and will punch deeper than the small DD coils. If using the large DD or mono, better off with a sling or something, as they can get very heavy after extended periods of detecting.

I really need to take my finny into the goldfields for some more detecting, hardly done any yet. On one short trip I did here in Adelaide goldfields, it ran very quiet and was easily picking up lead buckshot down several inches, likewise did the gpx5000 that was with me. Sure it doesn't hit on sub gram stuff as the 5000 does, but considering the price, and the fact that it is a more dated machine, I wouldn't expect it to. :) The new offering from Whites sounds interesting, even better that it can use other coils, will just have to wait and see how it fares after some testing.

You can see why the GMT like Tibbooburra, small shallow gold.

Choices, choices! ;)
 
I know, decisions to be made.............I'll wait and see what the results are from whites before making my mind up.

Paul
 
I've seen on Gumtree whites tdi pro oz for sale . 1200 bucks . This was a few weeks back .. but a worthy machine .
 
Don't think you'll find an SD 2200 for $1000... You could swing an F1A4 which with a few tiny mods will do the same job a 2100 or 2200..
 
A few tiny mods? $1,500 worth? Its not really something the average handy man can modify.
 
The main two basic mods I believe for the F1A4 were the headphones socket and coil cable connector for running accessory coils, pretty cheap to do. Everything after that was more expensive, regarding the different timings etc.

Here's thread with some interesting reading from Kimbucktwo on the F1A4, sounds quite promising if you can pick one up for the stated price, and seems to perform good even in unmodified state. The mods done were completed by the owner.

http://forum.kimbucktwo.com/index.php?topic=21637.0
 
Even a sd2100 with everything needed will still be hard to find for $1000 you will get a basic roughy for that but there's always something needed like a battery harness instead of the the sweaty back pack, another coil and so on but I personally wouldn't want anything older than a gp4000' after buying a TDI pro that can be used as a multi purpose unit and I'm really enjoying it. I would love a gpx5000 but' can't simply afford one without going without something else maybe next year.

I think this topic is great to go over what's out there and what ppl are using at a $1000 price range tho most of us have got rid of our minelab sd or whites GMT to upgrade to something that's more dedicated to what we prefer detecting for, which I think is the toughest choice when buying any detector.

Paul_mac1 have you got a detector at the moment?
 
Hi Zuke, I only have a fisher F4 and an Ace 350, I'm looking for something dedicated for gold.
Cheers,
Paul
 
There's quite a few VLF's in the $1000 price range' AT gold, GMT. There is also a few basic ones too like whites SGT. A lot do quite well with the cheeper alternative like me with the GMT but you will pull your hair out in different fields, unfortunately we both need to travel to get to those fields that might shed gold so a PI detector is a must, or it might mean a waisted trip.

Can you hire a few different detectors to see what you like?

Also I remember Paul at goldsearch saying that he thought that the super pulse would come with 2 search coils & they generally do a package with a carry bag so it still might be worth the $1300' don't forget full warranty and they will trade it back in if they come out with a different model later on.
 

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