Good all round detectors

[user 4485]

Theres a 305 for sale in Gulgong:
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=201322895597&alt=web
Would be a start for coins?

 

[bhogg]

Hi Everyone

Looking at buying an all round metal detector, Must be able to detect both small gold and park coins and around $1500 tops. Have been looking at these, Whites MXT All Pro, Fisher F19 and the Teknetics G2+LTD. Something pretty simple to use!! any thoughts and ideas from people that use know and use a detector only comment please as i'm wanting first hand info.

Thanks Everyone

 

[Nuggetbuster]

I haven't used the Fisher nor the Teknetics, but I highly recommend the MXT Peo / All Pro!

 

[nesral]

I'm looking at the Makro Racer Pro Pack . 8)

 

[Ridge Runner]

Hi Everyone

Looking at buying an all round metal detector, Must be able to detect both small gold and park coins and around $1500 tops. Have been looking at these, Whites MXT All Pro, Fisher F19 and the Teknetics G2+LTD. Something pretty simple to use!! any thoughts and ideas from people that use know and use a detector only comment please as i'm wanting first hand info.

Thanks Everyone

You Would be Better off with The MXT All Pro, ONE it has the Best Tracking System in the Business and TWO there are Over 15 Coils made for it, It has A Hot Relic and Prospecting Mode.
It also has a Discriminating All Metal Mode, Along with A 3rd Tone which Adds up to 45% more Depth, The third tone system is a whole new topic in its self.

The T2 is very limited regarding Coils Because it Can Not use Concentric Coils, The Racer is Very Good but because it is very New and because of that it is unproven, Along with there is only A few coils on the market for it, The F19 Lacks the Horse Power.

Hope this Helps,, John.

 

[bhogg]

Thanks Ridge Runner & NB

Thanks for your help and info it is greatly appreciated looks like it might be the detector for my needs then hopefully. Just after a good quality and reliable detector.

Thanks again guys

 

[Narrawa]

Heres what im using ATM...RACER Pro...Nokta FG Pro..Whites MXT..GMT and the Whites V3I along with the Fisher F19.

You said you wanted something simple....none of these beet the RACER for simplicity....and it aint no toy.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=12063

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11285

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=11147

The RACER Pro comes with 2 coils...11x7 general purpose best all rounder coil. These coils are now sold on many makes and models for park/beach/relic/prospecting...top performers. It also comes with a 5x4.5"sniper coil for the unmasker/gold sniper. The STD version just comes with the 11x7 coil. The 15x13"and 10x5"are optional coils.

The Fors models in the Pro version come with all three coils....and its possible a 10x5"coil is in the making as we speak.

Check out the links above.....no probs on our gold fields grounds, and from the many youtubes...no probs on the beach either.

And yes, i do use them on a regular basis which is most weekends up at Hill End NSW and a few other places.

 

[grubstake]

Just after a good quality and reliable detector.

You can count on that with a Whites, plus their Aussie agent (Goldsearch in Dunolly), has the best spares and accessories stock backup that I've found in Australia.

I love my Fisher detectors, but we've got two "sole Australian authorised distributors" arguing the toss at the moment and between the both of them they haven't got a fraction of the range of the manufacturer's gear that Goldsearch keep on their shelves for Whites. And don't get me started on the price-gouging Garrett agent... !

 

[Guest]

GET THE F19 MAN! Not excellent depth "with the stock 5x10 coil" but it's got some tricks!

 

[dirtdiggin]

Thanks guys I'll check them out and see what might suit me best.
Cheers

 

[Ridge Runner]

The Reason I surggest The MXT's Is Because they have over 12 Years Of Proven History and Have found Many Thousands of Ounces of Gold, And they Out Sell Any Other Machine on The Market, You Need A Machinne that Can Grow with you, Not One that holds you back and Have to sell at a loss when you when you need to Progress,

I have owned 3 of them, The MXT 300 and The Pro and Now The All Pro, In the past 5 or 6 years and the only reason I have changed them is to make sure my machines are under factory warrenty,, If I could not Own One Then I would Give Up Detecting Period, My Finds Vari from Gold In OZ to Artifacts in the EU some Over 2500 years Old,

There are 3 Top Machines on the Market at the moment which are not VLFs but apart from the Cost The Biggest Problem with them is There are No Coils Made for them and The Lack of coils is what holds any machine back, In the Detecing world the Atitude of SHE'LL BE RIGHT carries no weight Coils are Everything, Whites make 8 coils for the MXT plus a new 13 inch coil made else where, In Total there are some 25 Plus Coils made for the MXT's, with the other Machine mentioned there are 2 or 3 coil choices at the most, If Coils are Not an Important Issue then Why do the Guys with the SD/GP/GPX Machines Own so Many Coils,

with the F19 it is A stripped down version of the Gold Bug Pro, which has a Bad Rep because it Lacks Power/Depth, The T2 Can Only Use DD coils and although it is the sister Machine of the Fisher F75 it can not share the full Range of Coils due to how the T2 is Tuned.

Machines Like the MXT and The F75 the Nokta fors Core and the Racer all Run At The Limit that Physics Allow there is not Much between them, And the Fact is the MXT has the Most Accessory Coils
I would not bother with the F75 Because they are now on their 6th or 7th Circuit Board Due to Design Faults. Fisher seem hell bent on Getting products out the Door without fully testing all componants, and why would Any One want the F19 Knowing it Lacks the Depth and Power is Crazy.

The Machine you Choose Must suit you and your Goals, AND Everything I have pointed out Only Applies to how I use My Machines.and the Demands that I make of Them.

Hope this helps,RR

 

[Narrawa]

While i own and use both Whites and Fisher detectors, it seems they still haven't learn't "how to implement a simple volume control on some of their more popular machines. Combo pots are so 1970s, Fisher attempted to fit a separate volume control to the refreshed Gold bug series/F19...yet failed when combining it with Iron audio. Along with the overly tight audio response from that machine and a marketed relic machine using 19khz....its simply not happening in OZ soils. Better suited as a jewelry hunter in parks where the turf in nurtured.

Both the MXT and GMT have the same combo pots for gain and volume...up the gain and you up the volume....how many times has the MXT been revisited by Whites, and still this problem is overlooked. No manual GB, yet its fitted to the GMT which shares much similarities to the MXT.

With Nokta/Makro, it only took just a few folks to drop the hint they wanted various things changed with the end product...whala!!

VLF detectors dont do mineralization like PI detectors do, hence the reason so many different coils for the PI models. Very evident by those who use PI detectors the importance of having a healthy coil selection.

Perhaps the way Nokta/Makro are working with the end user, other manufactures may start to pay attention. Many makes and models share hair splitting performance characteristics to the point it makes it hard for the end user to pick one from the other, and thats where the simple things like an independent volume control may be all it takes to sway the newbie, or he/she looking to update.? Garret AT Gold/Pro...another make model suffering the basic volume control from memory.?

It certainly pays to do your research on the various makes and models....nothing worse than outlaying $$ to find out through an internet forum that your talked up choice lacks some basic controls. I know this from not taking the time to fully research the Fisher F19. Knowing full well how good the Gold Bug Pro was on our soil, and hear/reading the F19 now boasted a few updates was all i needed to lash out and buy it. Still, its not a bad little detector, perhaps when Fisher get around to giving it another makeover, some of the annoyances will be rectified.

 

[Guest]

That's a shame' about the F19's audio as I thought it was rather smart being able to drop the volume of ferris targets and maintain crisp non ferris signals, I guess I don't like hearing all the other racket VLF's make (hot rocks' ion etc).

you cant exactly use the volume as a volume control more like a bunch of pre programmed settings and you really need to go back to the users manual to get to know what the settings do' (there is a setting for most moods/occasions).

I find everything about the machine exciting and pick up a different trick or notice new things each time I'm out, shame about the small loss of depth tho a larger coil would cover that, a little depth loss is made up with the extream target separation speed with the STD coil.
A lot of poor results and complaints on the F19 when users could only speak highly about the GBPro?

The F19 is a GBPro with a few added features it is an upgrade if you want those features, otherwise it's no upgrade at all.

 

[Ridge Runner]

While i own and use both Whites and Fisher detectors, it seems they still haven't learn't "how to implement a simple volume control on some of their more popular machines. Combo pots are so 1970s, Fisher attempted to fit a separate volume control to the refreshed Gold bug series/F19...yet failed when combining it with Iron audio. Along with the overly tight audio response from that machine and a marketed relic machine using 19khz....its simply not happening in OZ soils. Better suited as a jewelry hunter in parks where the turf in nurtured.

Both the MXT and GMT have the same combo pots for gain and volume...up the gain and you up the volume....how many times has the MXT been revisited by Whites, and still this problem is overlooked. No manual GB, yet its fitted to the GMT which shares much similarities to the MXT.

With Nokta/Makro, it only took just a few folks to drop the hint they wanted various things changed with the end product...whala!!

VLF detectors dont do mineralization like PI detectors do, hence the reason so many different coils for the PI models. Very evident by those who use PI detectors the importance of having a healthy coil selection.

Perhaps the way Nokta/Makro are working with the end user, other manufactures may start to pay attention. Many makes and models share hair splitting performance characteristics to the point it makes it hard for the end user to pick one from the other, and thats where the simple things like an independent volume control may be all it takes to sway the newbie, or he/she looking to update.? Garret AT Gold/Pro...another make model suffering the basic volume control from memory.?

It certainly pays to do your research on the various makes and models....nothing worse than outlaying $$ to find out through an internet forum that your talked up choice lacks some basic controls. I know this from not taking the time to fully research the Fisher F19. Knowing full well how good the Gold Bug Pro was on our soil, and hear/reading the F19 now boasted a few updates was all i needed to lash out and buy it. Still, its not a bad little detector, perhaps when Fisher get around to giving it another makeover, some of the annoyances will be rectified.

With The MXT and the GMT they are VCO based so they do Not Need A Volume Control because the stronger the signal the Louder the it responds,
With the MXT as you Turn up The Gain you can hear it Changing Gears so to speak and each time it does so the signal gets Louder and Louder, At zero and above it is 1x the Gain and at 3.5 it is 2X the Gain, At 5 it is 4X the Gain, At 8.5 it is 8X the Gain and At 10+ it is 16 X the Gain and at every setting it is multiplying the Return Signal (Volume), As for the GMT it does the Same But it also has a Boost Setting which Multiplies That 16X Gain By FOUR TIMES which give you a signal that is A Total Of 64 X Louder Than the Original Signal, So how many Volume Knobs Does a Machine Need.

The Gain on An MXT and the GMT is Not at the out Put Stage it is On the Return Signal Stage, Which is in fact A Volume Knob.
As For the Ground Balance on Both Machines they are set up to Ground Balance more Positively, The Reason people like Manual GB's is so they can set the Machine up more Positive so as to hear fainter signals But the More positive setting is already there for you with in the software and if you want to set it up even more positive, then it is just a matter of when you Ground Balance the Machine just don't lower it completely to the Ground,

These are A Couple of Issues that Many people seem to miss with the MXT's and the GMT's, If the Idea of manual GB is so you can run it Hotter and the fact that these Two machines are already set up that way for you what are you missing out on, The GMT does have A Manual GB and Auto and Grab, The MXT has Auto GB and Grab But in Hot Ground it Handles the Mineralisation Better than the GMT because of the Lower frequency, which Proves that Manual GB is of no real Benefit, and such things are more of a Matter of WANT than NEED, A GP/GPX does not need it and they are the Best Gold prospecting Machines ever Produced and the GP/GPX have a Grab Type Button Called (Quick Track). The MXT has had this feature ever since 1998 when it was first put on the Drawing Board, And If it is acceptable for the GP/GPX then why is'nt it acceptable for the MXT when you Consider that Whites Invented it,

 

[nesral]

I'm still looking at the Racer-Pro pack as it have everything I need and as RR point out, best to choose one that most suit the users requirement.

Lots of accessory coils is of little interest to me Racer Pro-Pack have 2 coils included that will do 90% of what I require in the areas I search which includes Prospecting, Coin hunting and Beach hunting, but should the need be, there are 2 more genuine OM coils available.

Price is a consideration and since the Pro-Pack have everything I need, why pay more.
Weight is another factor worth looking at if one is to use the detector for extended periods.

Amount of batteries required to run the unit is important at least to me, if the Racer have the same power and duration as the FORS Gold on 4 AA that's another positive; 4 Rechargeable AAs and charger is included in the price of a Pro-Pack.

Another positive feature is that the full menu is visible on the screen when searching, definitely more convenient than the FORS Gold/Core.
Once had a Whites Eagle Spectrum, very nice machine to use but all the hidden menu pages was a pain.

 

[Ridge Runner]

I'm still looking at the Racer-Pro pack as it have everything I need and as RR point out, best to choose one that most suit the users requirement.

Lots of accessory coils is of little interest to me Racer Pro-Pack have 2 coils included that will do 90% of what I require in the areas I search which includes Prospecting, Coin hunting and Beach hunting, but should the need be, there are 2 more genuine OM coils available.

Price is a consideration and since the Pro-Pack have everything I need, why pay more.
Weight is another factor worth looking at if one is to use the detector for extended periods.

Amount of batteries required to run the unit is important at least to me, if the Racer have the same power and duration as the FORS Gold on 4 AA that's another positive; 4 Rechargeable AAs and charger is included in the price of a Pro-Pack.

Another positive feature is that the full menu is visible on the screen when searching, definitely more convenient than the FORS Gold/Core.
Once had a Whites Eagle Spectrum, very nice machine to use but all the hidden menu pages was a pain.

Like I Said that machine it right up there with the Others and they are as good as they Come, I would Like the Fors Core because it has the beach mode where the Fors Gold Does not, But at present I think the Racer has the Edge out of the 3, I'm still not convinced about the F75 although it is A good machine, I will stick with the All Pro until they release some more coils for the Racer and the Core, But having seen how willing they are as a company to help out and take it on Board what user's ask for, I don't think the wait will be very long before we see even more good things come from Racer and Nokta.

John

 

[Guest]

Iv owned a GMT and did very well with it over a few years, actually did better after learning how to use it over all the other machines iv had' price wise there not worth it new anymore but I'd grab another at a hot second hand price no worries.
I can't say that about the MXT' it just didn't cut it in my eyes but I'm far from a coin/relic hunter so I guess it just didn't appeal much to me on the gold, the GMT just worked and felt better.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Iv owned a GMT and did very well with it over a few years, actually did better after learning how to use it over all the other machines iv had' price wise there not worth it new anymore but I'd grab another at a hot second hand price no worries.
I can't say that about the MXT' it just didn't cut it in my eyes but I'm far from a coin/relic hunter so I guess it just didn't appeal much to me on the gold, the GMT just worked and felt better.

I totally Agree, yet Me I love the Smoothness of the MXT and the fact I have made some serious finds with it, Although the GMT is A Very Hot Machine it always shocks me every time I take it Out, And Since I changed my Coils on My GMT it has become A Wild Beast, But That's Another Story.

John

 

[Narrawa]

With The MXT and the GMT they are VCO based so they do Not Need A Volume Control because the stronger the signal the Louder the it responds,

Just as an example.......
Im not in the habit of over-gaining the detector in order to here targets on ground that calls for low gain employment. And with VLFs, this is easily done in OZ.

There are many makes and models using VCO audio...and many of these other makes and models...including other Whites machines have basic volume controls..... my V3I has three separate gain controls allowing me iron audio + volume and various other audio functions. Other Whites machines have separate gain controls and volume controls allowing the operator to adjust both gain and volume separately.
Whits has had many attempts at bettering the MXT model which is a brilliant machine....sadly they have not implemented this basic functionality in one of their most popular models.

Other makes and models also use the same gain regime as that which is found on the MXT/GMT...yet they saw the need to not combo the pots and gave the end user some basic volume adjustment.? So how many volume controls does a machine need you ask.?...Just one thats independent would have been a nice feature to a very popular make/model.....the All pro is what?.....Whites 3rd attempt to better this model.?
My partner uses her MXT round me a lot, and the noise from it is mind blowing to the point i tell her she is better off using one of the other detectors, just so i dont have to listen to it.

Whilst there are fors and against positive GBing, the primary function is to zero the ground in order to make targets stand out above that of the ground signal. Lifting the coil above the ground is no different to turning down the gain. Your better off GBing to zero and keeping the gain as high as the ground will allow...each to there own on that one. However, having the ability to override the electronics on units that dont always get it right is a plus.

.....which Proves that Manual GB is of no real Benefit, and such things are more of a Matter of WANT than NEED, A GP/GPX does not need it and they are the Best Gold prospecting Machines ever Produced and the GP/GPX have a Grab Type Button Called (Quick Track).

As for the GPX series having a grab button...no such thing...it does not grab the ground like that of the VLFs that employ it....as the user of a 4500 since it came out, perhaps you should do a little reading on how the Quick Track actually works...both in Fixed and Tracking.
Pge 22-24 of the PDF formate...not the actual page in the owners manual...which is 38-42.

https://www.minelab.com/__files/f/3965/4901-0063-1.1 Instruction Manual GPX-4500_screen.pdf

 

[bhogg]

Thanks John

Can i ask what MXT your using is it the MXT All Pro? and if so do you know how heavy it is? and are there any things eg a harness or anything to help take some of the weight as it looks like a solid machine made from metal unlike most these days. And is their plenty of info on best settings and also ID numbers for coins here in OZ.

Cheers Thanks so much for your help

Hi Everyone

Looking at buying an all round metal detector, Must be able to detect both small gold and park coins and around $1500 tops. Have been looking at these, Whites MXT All Pro, Fisher F19 and the Teknetics G2+LTD. Something pretty simple to use!! any thoughts and ideas from people that use know and use a detector only comment please as i'm wanting first hand info.

Thanks Everyone

You Would be Better off with The MXT All Pro, ONE it has the Best Tracking System in the Business and TWO there are Over 15 Coils made for it, It has A Hot Relic and Prospecting Mode.
It also has a Discriminating All Metal Mode, Along with A 3rd Tone which Adds up to 45% more Depth, The third tone system is a whole new topic in its self.

The T2 is very limited regarding Coils Because it Can Not use Concentric Coils, The Racer is Very Good but because it is very New and because of that it is unproven, Along with there is only A few coils on the market for it, The F19 Lacks the Horse Power.

Hope this Helps,, John.