Garrett At Gold or Minelab Explorer II

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also throwing in whites gmt.
So which will detect deeper on say a three pence, garrett at gold, whites gmt, or minelab explorer II?
 
Two specialist gold detectors versus a general purpose coin/relic machine, with coil sizes/types not specified, location not specified (park, highly mineralised goldfield, dry/wet beach sand, etc, etc), and even the threepence might be silver or cupro-nickel. :rolleyes: It's pretty much a 'How long is a piece of string?' question!

I'd say the Minelab wins, based on its multi-frequency FBS system and that it's the only one of the three that's specifically designed for coin shooting.
 
To be fair as grubsteak has pointed out it will be a remiss not to include the parameters. There are deeper machines than stated, to get a balanced answer you'll need to provide the conditions and what you would like to achieve overall.
 
In a park or beach situation, you would have to say the Explorer, based on the fact that the the ATGold and GMT fun high frequencies more suitable for low conductors, and generally do not give as good ground penetration, especially the GMT. The Explorer series have always been known for both their depth and ability on high conductor targets like silver coins. As per usual, the best advice would be to go with a dedicated coin detector vs a gold detector if mainly targetting coins.

The other advantage of the Explorer is the two sets of target ID numbers, one for ferrous content, the other for conductivity. The GMT has neither, just an iron probability display, and the ATGold only has one set of ID numbers based on target conductivity. This is a very useful feature, as it provides much more target info than a single set of numbers. It can help discriminate between a good target or junk target, as two targets can have the same level of conductivity (say a silver shilling and a piece of steel), but have different ferrous levels, hence be able to distinguish between the two.

Other detectors like the X-Terra 705, you have the choice of using different frequency coils more suited to coin hunting and to achieve improved depth. :)
 
lucky streak said:
Get an sd 2100 best machine for a good price you will find big nuggets.
Click to expand...

Treasureman asked about a detector for pre-decimals, not nuggets. Please have a read first before making random comments that have no relevance to the topic.
 
Thank you for pointing out a few of these things guys. Unfortunately the Explorer II i had my i on sold this morning, darn! And i agree i am looking for a dedicated coin detector, not a gold one. And the Whites GMT is for gold i now realise, same with the AT GOLD. Probably both very similar in performance in thar regard.

The areas i am searching are coastal sandy areas, some with black sand in the mix. I find the AT GOLD very noisy when going near wet sand, scratchy sounding all the time especially after the rain, is a bit annoying.
 
i still use an early exsplorer xs for coins as it has really good discrimination and punches really deep on pre decimals, the reason I bought it originaly was for its ability to find coins at a reasonable depth in mineralised gold field soil and its full band spectrum does this well. The only downside I found with it is lack of sensitivity to tiny targets (eg tiny nuggets) and a big learning curve.

Regards Daryl
 
heygrubstake. that was the explorer i had my eye on, but after enquiring found out it was sold.
Thanks for pointing that out dazwhen you say punches really deep on pre decimals, that gives me some hope for a better detector
thanks
 
i swapped the AT PRO late last year for a AT GOLD. My friend and i compared the depths and the GOLD was slightly deeper. But that was only just. The GOLD had the smaller coil too which ive found to be much more handy.
 
Old thread I know but I have an explorer II, my second. I'll never sell it. I dont use it as often as I did in Europe. Only because I use the 4500 in the goldfields when I get the chance to have a swing. I've no doubt that it will hoover up every coin in parks/beaches etc when/if I decide to do that. It's not so good on small gold chains, in fact its terrible on that type of target. All I know is that it absolutely amazed me with its depth, it is not a point and go machine...STEEP learning curve so be warned!

Ask anyone who has ever sold an Explorer II if they regret selling it. 90% will tell you that they absolutely do. That should tell you all that you need to know.
 
I regret selling mine for the electronics, not so much for the ergonomics & weight. Imagine a faster Explorer encased in an Equinox control box (and with Fe:Co numbers).
 
diggit said:
Old thread I know but I have an explorer II, my second. I'll never sell it. I dont use it as often as I did in Europe. Only because I use the 4500 in the goldfields when I get the chance to have a swing. I've no doubt that it will hoover up every coin in parks/beaches etc when/if I decide to do that. It's not so good on small gold chains, in fact its terrible on that type of target. All I know is that it absolutely amazed me with its depth, it is not a point and go machine...STEEP learning curve so be warned!

Ask anyone who has ever sold an Explorer II if they regret selling it. 90% will tell you that they absolutely do. That should tell you all that you need to know.
Click to expand...

Agree, will never sell mine, but have to admit I havent picked it up once since getting the Equinox :eek: .
 
I was very surprised when the nox800 came out and it didn't have the full spectrum of frequencies that the old explorerii
had. I assumed the nox was an updated version of the FBS machines but with a lighter chassis and faster processor so I was surprised the full spectrum wasnt in there!
I'm sure minelab had their reasons for doing what they did with the nox but a faster processor on the old fbs explorerii is a very appealing prospect!
 
So would I be correct in thinking that the CTX3030 is a modern Explorer? Or are they totally different. The CTX has the full spectrum of frequencies.
What annoys me with the equinox is that it has a lot of junk in the same range as 1 and 2 dollar coins where the Explorer is better at discriminating this area.
 

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