Good all round detectors

[Guest]

Your welcome. Look for a Gp 3500. Its a great detector

And has all the tracking options. Make sure you get a

Booster/amp and connect it to a small speaker.

I did an air test with a 1 grammer and was impressed.

Just purchased a 14" Mono for mine hoping it hits a 1 grammer

Deeper.

Good luck with it.

 

[WalnLiz]

Hard question there Josh. Wolf's advice is well founded, and you have to try and convince yourself where and what will you be mainly targeting. Plenty of well priced coin detectors on the market in you're price range. They're all great on coins and treasure, but searching for gold in the "Triangle" or over in WA,.....in a nutshell...no good.

PI's are about your only real chance on getting "consistent" nuggets. A few on the market now, but the Minelabs are still head and shoulders above the competition. As you live in the Triangle and are lucky enough to have plenty of time to swing a machine, I would save a little longer and invest in a 4500.

There's an old saying amongst the detector fraternity, and that is 10% of the detector brigade get 90% of the nuggets. Reality has it that everyone of those guys has a 4500 or better. While the SD series still get good gold, and are great for those on a limited budget and time frame, the amount of time at your disposal in "prime locations" is enviable.

If you buy a "cheap" detector "Now" and head to the locations you have access to, I'll put money on you having it on the market again after 6 months . Lot of people will disagree with me, but someone like yourself working in the WA gold mines and living in the GT won't take too long to find the balance on detector upgrade with the gold you will find. Give yourself the best chance and you "will" get rewarded.

But all things said, I'd get the latest Minelab PI you can stretch the budget to.

Wal.

 

[Redfin]

Bendigo Gold sold a 4500 last week for $3500, so not much more.
Go and have a chat and they can call you when one suitable comes in as a trade in

 

[Guest]

I have used the 4500 and without a doubt its awesome. If i was buying One i would get one of the last ones made.

Why I purchased the 3500 instead of the 4500 was the price really. I took a technicians advice and purchased the 3500

With 3 coils for $1800. If I paid $3300 for the 3500 the technicians advice would be to spend a little more and get a 4500.

Coils that came with it inc 11" dd, 15x12 mono and 18" dd. The 15x12 and 18"dd alone are worth in total about $800.

Mod only cost $275 and inc 3 Mods which is a smooth ground noise switch, extra Sensitivity switch and a shallow or deep

target switch. All mods can be switched off and I can use the 3500 in normal mode.

I did some tests with a 1 gram nugget on Saturday and as i was about to leave I discovered the boost switch the 3500

has and let me say this - I had a smile on my face.

With the the standard features the 3500 has, plus mods and amplified wireless Little ripper battery Kit these make the

3500 come alive and I don't think I will be missing a great deal of Gold. Once I settle on which coils will work for me

I will then clean up the others and sell these.

What I found is you always spend an extra $1000 in setting yourself up with the right kit eg coils, bag etc.

In the end the gold fields are huge and today we are spoilt with a 5000, 4500 and others such as the sd and gp series.

Good luck with what you purchase.

 

[kirkn]

hi. I've been researching a detector that is good on the beach and can also do ok on gold . what one person says is disputed by another. just thought id ask you guys as you have given great info in the past. also a water proof coil. so far the xterra 705. garret infinity sounds ok.

 

[Guest]

The new whites SPP designed for gold water proof coil and will work on the beach research whites TDI beach hunting.

 

[Guest]

You need a Pulse Induction machine and be prepared to dig as some of these machines go deep.

Pulse induction is the technology the detector uses but some pulse induction machines are only suited
for the beach not the Goldfields.

Zuke's suggestion is a good one which looking at the dials look's very easy to use.

At $1100 the SPP seems a good price for a new detector that you can use in salt beaches and the goldfields.

 

[Goldpick]

The 705, whilst a good overall detector, is a compromise when it comes to running on wet sand and in the goldfields. Better off with a PI detector to get noise free and deep penetration. Plenty of clips out there of people using the Whites TDI for both quite successfully, even people using the gpx5000 at the beach. Infinium will also be fine, but as mentioned above, the new whites SPP detector definitely sounds like one of the best value PI detectors currently on the market, and for a brand new detector.

 

[Nugget]

[Moved to Metal Detectors]

 

[kirkn]

when u say whites ssp , do mean the Sierra Pulse Pro (SPP) - New Model, is that it?

 

[Guest]

Yeah mate but it's just a simplified TDI with a real attractive price tag.

 

[Paulmarr]

The CTX3030 is probably the best metal detector for the beach - and I think most would agree. It also does reasonable in the gold fields from what I have read. If you will be at the beach more than the goldfields you should give it some consideration...

 

[Guest]

Fair point Paulmarr ' you really need a detector for every different purpose it took me 5 detectors to work out what I really wanted to use them for and I still don't know

That's the conclusion I came to as well after owning a few detectors. One for each specific task, having one detector that supposedly does it all on a reasonable budget is pretty hard to achieve, unless you have a fair bit of cash to invest. You see quite a few GMT's and Sovereigns going for around the $500US mark these days on ebay if you don't care for oz warranties, that would be a pretty good combo. Add an F1A4 to the mix, and you would have a good set of gear to keep you busy (see the recent GG&T magazine article on the modded F1A4). Not worried about detecting parks, then I still see the SPP as being a bargain, also have to factor in a decent sand scoop as well.

I see Liz is having some success with the TDI, so you would expect the SPP to have similar capabilities.

 

[kirkn]

Thanks. The ssp sounds good, just want something that is a good beach detector but is capable of gold if I go detecting with a friend and lend it to them, I also want to get one just for gold.

 

[Guest]

Everyone has an opinion on what's best I guess.

Some other top line detectors are listed below.

For Salt water hunting: The best in my opinion is theCZ21. Its built like a tank and has tone id's with
a great duiscriminator and the whites beach hunter which has the colour target id lights.

Both of these machines are multi frequency.

For Dry Sand and Prospecting

Whites v3i - I may end up buying this one a bit latter this year. Looks the goods with a brilliant LCD
and ID capability of the screw cap which should help distinguish screwcaps and our $1 and $2 coins.
XP Deus - Another awesome detector which is very light in weight and has a wireless coil and controller.
Both units have a prospecting mode.

The SSP though should detect deep in wet sands and should work nicely in the goldfields and a pi I think is the obvious choice
here for a cost of around $1200.

 

[Goldtarget]

Fini on Ebay cpl days ago....cheap. Not very helpful I know but obv demand for second hand is low, was a tasty saving off retail. I should have picked it up....seems you beach Hunters are willing to give a few types a go.

 

[Sa_bogan]

I have only used minelab, and I can't see myself changing from the ctx

 

[Guest]

I was side tracked on one brand when I first started but I quickly learnt my lesson.

I like value for money on machines that work. Have tried a few and sold a few for a few different
reasons. Just need to work out my prospecting gear and its been my focus this year. Once I am happy with
my gear then I can do some more coin shooting.

I have used a Whites Pi 1000 back in the 90's and currently use the Garrett Sea Hunter.
Both are PI machines.

Best value for money for salt beaches I think is a 2nd hand Whites Beach Hunter which can be purchased for around $500
on the US based Auction website. What I like about this machine it has several lights for different tone id's. If you can buy a
cz21 for that price grab it. The cz platform is amazing and is built like a tank.

The best time to hunt the water down the beach is when it hits 30 degrees and its midnight. Absolutely awesome.
Instead of trying to sleep you relax in the water. This only happens maybe 10 times a year if your lucky in Vic.

Pulse induction on wet sand is fun and easy. When machine beeps grab shovel and start digging.
Pulse induction in the water can be a nightmare because its a beep and dig machine.

You could be spending 10 minutes looking for a hair pin at 8" and it has happened.

 

[Sa_bogan]

You have a valid point there and I can't say I have used any other brand other than minelab. I can understand that in the world of detecting there are those who buy value for money detectors (which I did with my 705 and Excalibur) and there's those who can afford "top shelf" detectors with price tags to match.

It has taken me a short while to work my way up from where I started but can honestly say that you need to understand what type of area you are detecting before making a choice and what to buy. I personally like beach detecting over parks as the amount of targets that are there at any one time and also the fact that the ability to find gold an silver 10 minutes from my house works well with my work life as I don't need to drive hours to come home with .01 of a gram of gold.

Don't get me wrong I'm sure the other brands have there pros and cons, however you don't see many people swinging a gpx series detector at the beach as beach hunters know having the ability to discriminate iron save a lot of digging and gives you a better chance to find the good targets while the time is limited at low tide.

The main issue that comes up every time is you get what you pay for. Don't expect one machine to do it all well.

 

[Guest]

Its hard work prospecting. You really need the right gear,
Great navigation skills and a decent 4x4.

Have done about 8 trips now. The last 2 having some idea
How to use the gp3500. Went out twice with a pro. I have
Not seen large gold most of what i have been has been very
Small.

Today i think i found a small musket ball and a bullet that
Was not fired. I live about 95 minutes from The gold fields.

What i love about it is the peace and tranquility and how the
Landscape changes as the sun rises. Simply amazing.