What's a good Gold Detector to start out with?

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With a $1000 budget in mind, I'd be looking at the Garrett AT Gold, Whites GMT Goldmaster or the Fisher Gold Bug range of detectors. Most of these can be purchased for under $1000 new, so you shouldn't have too much trouble picking one up second hand for somewhere between $300-$800. If you find that you have a little extra to spare, also take a look at the Garrett Infinium LS.

See this post for my quick review on the AT Gold https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=13862#p13862

Nugget.
 
Now to find a AT for under $600 as my tax was not what I was expecting :(
Not much atm on gumtree/fleabay.

Where else is a good spot to keep an eye out of 2nd hand detector sales?
As I still need to buy a pan and build my sluice so need to keep a little aside for those.

Otherwise I can order a GMT genuine copy from 1 of my suppliers in China for $300 shipped :eek:
 
Genuine copy, from China? :lol:
I wouldn't hold my breathe banking on a Goldsnoop or the likes turning up the goods these days, or much of it, seriously mate, hold out for something better and don't go under a GMT or AT.
 
Does anyone have any experience with the minelab CTX 3030
It looks interesting for some of the sand/rock bars on my river

regards
xobazzip
 
What would be the pick of these 2:White's GMT or Soverign XS Pro?

For gold the Whites GMT. The sovereign's were coin & relic detectors. Minelab XT18000 was a gold detector from about the same time as the sovereign.

Gold VLF's will have a higher frequency for greater sensitivity to small gold I.e. the GMT 48khz, Goldbug II 71khz & the abovementioned XT18000 has 60khz as one of three selectable frequencies.
 
GMT, it'll get gold the Sov wont even register on. The Sov is great amongst the junk. I knew a couple of blokes who found some great gold searching for nuggets in bad junk areas. Best was 40 oz. Another got a 17 oz. But they were the only places they used them for. Not really a gold detector as such. Gold bug 2 is hot in quiet ground but when I used one, a mates, on hot ground it was noisy as and had to be wound right back on the sens till it was no better than the original Bug in comparison. The 18000 is/was good with the three freq's as you could change to a lower one when the ground got too noisy, was good with the Mlab 11' coil. Still would choose the GMT over it though as it's got better control with the Vsat. Bloke I know in Bendigo used one and did ok.
 
I know, I know...

must be pretty annoying when the same question is asked over and over again...but hey, I did a search on the forum with the result that I am still confused or rather not convinced.

I have zero experience but would like to go gold hunting in the golden triangle area, so not really beaches and that kind of stuff.

I would love to buy the GPX 5000 but first I would have no clue how to use it and I think as a starter I would like to spend a bit less.

The detectors which come to my mind are the Eureka, AT Gold and the GTI 2500. Which one do you reckon is the best choice for a beginner and is there any additional equipment which should be purchased with the detectors like bigger coils and so on?!

Thank you for any kind of input/help.
Cheers
 
Hard question to answer guys.
How long is a piece of string?
:)
I personally went with an AT PRO.
My reasons... I'm not doing any gold hunting any time soon but it will soothe the lust for treasure in local parks, beaches etc.
I believe it's a good machine for the $$
When I do go gold hunting I'll want a more gold specific, and more expensive detector.
It really is a personal choice.
You need to consider many things, budget, uses etc etc.
No one can tell you the best machine for you.
My thoughts are research research research.
Read as much as possible. Everyone has a different opinion.
It seems obvious the 5000 is the ducks nuts as a gold machine.
Do you want to spend that much?
I can't justify it when it may be many months before I get near a gold field.

Hope this is some help. :)

Rod
 
I've only used the AT Gold out of the three detectors mentioned so I can't personally recommend one over the other, but all three are said to be relatively easy to learn, beginner / intermediate gold prospecting machines.

I personally use the AT Gold and can't fault it for the price. As per the manual, approximately 100 hours of operation is required to fully learn the detector inside and out, and I do believe this to be the case with most machines. I've written many posts on the forum about the AT Gold which might assist in your final decision.

If you have any questions directly relating to the AT Gold, please feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer them. And hopefully some Eureka and GTI users will be along soon enough to shed some light on their respective machines.

Nugget.
 
Hi all,

Salla, I.ve used a Eureka Gold in the goldfields, they are pretty easy to use as long as you dont go into highly mineralised ground (where the gold is) where they struggle, as long as you stay in mild ground you will be right.

PS. I never found any gold with mine but did find my share of coins, mate if your serious about finding gold you really need at a minimum a Minelab SD2200. Master using it (it wont take you a 100 hours) and you will find gold :)

Jim & Kerrie
 
Jack Lange reckons the Fisher F75 is a great machine for gold , for the price about $1500
 
Thx for all the input much appreciated!
Damn I hate making decisions. Wait for the new Garret and then see what will happen or go for the AT Gold (I think I would choose the AT Gold over Eureka).
To be honest, it will be a hobby but of course I do want to find gold, so yeah I will be serious about it. I just don't know how "bad" the 1000Dollar detectors really are.
 
Hi mate. After a great deal of research as a newbie I went with the infinium.Its in transit from usa via a bendigo store with the sub phones and an extra 8" mono. my goal is for gold in the upstream areas(both alluvial and reef). from the historical Gympie finds which is my home base around Keniworth.. plus I plan a few weeks at a time trips to a very soon to be opened new 500 H fossicking area in the Warwick area in forestry.The new Qld government is remaining true to its world and a detector shop owner told me he personally witnessed rangers errecting signs a week ago and he and a few mates did ok.Its very close to an existing fossicking tourist park called Glendon. I've also bought the infinium headphone adapter lead that can allow your standard earphones or a clip on external speaker They reckon its good for social detecting or solo detecting but youu can still here a snake..Just a bit concerned the 2 watt speaker wont drain the infinium runtime to much. watch a guy on youtube compare a 5000 with an infinium on some 8 inch deep nuggets. We always need to be skeptical but I for one was pretty impressed.Like this Arizonian said, "sure the 5000s better ,but 5000 bucks better?" So its established you can get good finding potential on land.A Western Aus detector shop owner said Infins are great on land,great inn the sea but lousy in running creeks,due to mineral accumulation due to water erosion and settlement,mettalic sands and stuff I guess.. The bendigo shop guy Im buying mine off says they work great in creeks,so who knows until you give it a go That Bendigo guy is prtty resonable to deal with to.He wont move on Garrettts prices cause theyre sticklers for RRP but he cut me good deals on pics beachscoops and Gps. I bought a personal beacon half price on ebay. Im within a half hours drive of awesome tourist beaches and love the water so my detector orders got $210 worth of scoop for low tide chest height detecting,which from everything i've read and seen the infinium excels at. To date I have found a 12V 10m hose hookah setup with reg for around $470 imported from ebay.Id like to be able to construct a small watertight self righting towable miniboatlike structure that could house both the 12v pump and a 12v deep cycle battery that I assume would allow hours of constant diving on these hugely popular beaches with relatively small permanent populations,at a depth I doubt almost anyones ever detected at.It can also run with a car charger and small gen ,allowing you hours of underwater crevicesing in promising creek holes. I have fished commercially for the adventure in my younger years,and while Ive never sailed the idea of diving over one of WA s 8000 known lost wrecks with a machine that could find you a fortune. good luck with your search
 

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