Suggestions on a detector for a newbie.

[LaenDrawoh]

I have been looking at dabbling in the metal detecting hobby and wanted some advise on a starter detector.

First I thought I should give an idea of what got me thinking about the hobby and what I am looking for at this point. A friend of mine had recently mentioned wanting a metal detector to look for meteorites and I thought that was a neat idea though the research I have done suggests that that is well beyond my price point, it did get me thinking about the hobby. My wife recently finished her teaching degree and I thought that perhaps metal detecting might be a good way to obtain historical items to use as visual aids when teaching history. Not that I would object to finding coins/jewelry etc., but my grandparents have lots of acreage in north eastern Oklahoma that has been in the family for generations and has never been detected on. I believe this would be the area I would most likely be detecting on for the foreseeable future at least.

I would be metal detecting on land mostly I believe at this point, though there is a creek that runs through one of the properties. I am also looking at a roughly $200 price point. I have searched the forums some and see the Fisher F2 has been recommended frequently as well as the Garret Ace 250. Before I found these forums I was leaning towards the Bounty Hunter quick draw 2, that happens to come with a pin pointer on amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Bounty-Hunter-QD2GWP-Detector-Pointer/dp/B000VC1AO2/ref=sr_1_4?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1338479789&sr=1-4 I have seen the Tesoro compadre recommended a lot as well, but I had a radio shack metal detector (more toy then detector) as a child and was not impressed with sound only for feedback on it.

I know there are many fine metal detectors above the $200 price point but I am reluctant to spend more money until I know if this is something I will enjoy doing enough to warrant a further investment. If possible I would also like to know why you recommend one detector over another (IE brand x is prone to breaking down, or whatever). Thanks in advance for all your advice!

 

[JunkInTheTrunk]

check this thread out... it was a poll a few months ago on what forum members started out with and suggested and/or liked... HH \_

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=107109

 

[CDNsilver]

There really is no need to spend a lot of money in this hobby
(as it is more of a location game than an MD gear game).
We all have our favorites on here and they will all find great stuff.

The F2 is the way go, here is why:

1-Very fast response time with no delay (important when working in the trash).

2-Very nice 4 audio tones (pleasant) when listening through headphones.

3-Very well balanced and lite weight (not nose heavy) due to the
lite coil up front, you can swing it all day without getting a sore arm.

4-Great value at $219.

5-Great discrimination (signals don't run into each other)

6-Has VDI readout which is nice to have but the tones are more important.

PS You might want up your budget if you can and get the Lesche digger to
for the dry season as it will run circles around a garden trowel in hard packed
and dried out sod soil. Keep it clean and rust free with a lite oil coating
between hunts and it will last you years. It is the best digger out there !
I have no problems with the ww brand (red handle) ones. There are awesome !

I have got by great with just the MDs pinpointer and the (hand full of dirt method) and don't use
a handheld pinpointer.

Take care,
CDNsilver

 

[JunkInTheTrunk]

There really is no need to spend a lot of money in this hobby. You will find
we all have our favorites on here and they will all find great stuff.

The F2 is the way go, here is why:

1-Very fast response time, (important when working in the trash).

2-Very nice audio tones (pleasant) when listing through headphones.

3-Very well balanced and lite weight (not nose heavy) due to the
lite coil up front, you can swing it all day without getting a sore arm.

4-Great value at $219.

5-Great discrimination (signals don't run into each other)

Take care,
CDNsilver

I myself have an ACE250, but have to agree with CDNsilver about the F2. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my 250, but have read great things time and time again about the F2 being a "fast" detector and it being not so heavy. Anyways, either the F2 or the ACE250 would be the way to go... WELL, wait though the ONE question would be:

Do you want a detector that just beeps or one with a screen?

That is something that is quite overlooked when the questions are being asked. Some people simply do NOT care for VDI screens and just want "tones". I personally would rather have "other" data/telemetry of the object in question that is underneath my feet BUT, that is just me personally. Tesoro's are well sought after MD'rs as well and roughly $160 (i.e. Tesoro Compadre) and apparently a lifetime warranty. I'll let the Tesoro buffs give you more info with that... BUT, again, NO VDI for these machines (i.e. the Tesoro's). That is... except for one of them that I know of (i.e. Tesoro DeLeon has kindof a VDI screen). ANYWAYS, to each his own. HH \_ with whatever you decide to get.

 

[evan9r]

I would go for the Tesoro Compadre. Sure it doesnt have a fancy screen like the Ace but it will find just as much if not more at a better price. I had a radio shack special first and it wouldnt find a car underground. Later upgraded to an Ace and although it did find a good bit of stuff, it was mainly in clear areas with not much trash. The noise it made drove me crazy and I ended up getting a Compadre and never looked back. I found more stuff and had more fun with the Compadre than the Ace. Either one is better than the Bounty Hunter though so you are on the right track. Good Luck!

 

[LaenDrawoh]

Tanks to everyone who has responded so far.

Thanks for the link to the poll, there was some good information in that thread!

I think I would prefer having a screen as I tend to be a visual person (I have always let my best friend set the equalizer in my cars because I can't tell the nuances in the sound as well as he can). Though while digging through my grandparents places I do intend to dig up every "hit" just to get the trash cleaned up if nothing else (the one property has a history of flooding).

Looking at the Kellyco site it looks like I could get an F2 with both the 8" and the 4" coil in my price range with a pinpointer as well. The ACE 250 however looks like it has one of the more elliptical coils which from my understanding creates a wider search path per swing than the conical one produced by the round coils. I'm not sure if that is a big deal really or not at my experience level (none).

 

[JunkInTheTrunk]

one last note, which I have somewhat already brought up... think about this as well... IF you decide NOT to get a "screen"... say a Tesoro Compadre... later on you MIGHT say something like, "man... I wish I had a VDI screen so I can get a 'better picture' of what this signal is..."

I know that you said, "I think I would prefer having a screen as I tend to be a visual person..." I'm just MAINLY responding to the people that do NOT like/want a VDI screen. I don't know... it REALLY is ultimately upto you anyways, regardless of what people say to get or just because it has a better warranty. The main thing, do some research (apparenlty you are), take the advice from the forum members/sponsors, weigh the pros and cons, then "pull the trigger", and just be happy with the hobby and your new "toy". I know I'm stating the obvious here... just say'n... HH \_ to you

 

[Diggin Funatic]

You may want to look for a deal on the F2 with the DD coil. You may be able to get a pinpointer as well. I bought the F2 with 2 coil package including freebies from Kellyco. I like the 4 and 8 inch coils and am looking into purchasing the DD coil in the future. However, the freebies were mostly items I don't use. I use the pinpointer (you need one), the apron-though it is coming apart and the backpack. The plastic trowel broke the second day so I had to buy another one anyway. The rest of the freebies were unneeded. So call around. There are several dealers on this site who have given people great deals. Just search the forum for their comments. You could find a detector in your price range and make a deal for the pp, digger, apron, etc...or just purchase them seperately.

 

[RyanChappell]

Looking at the Kellyco site it looks like I could get an F2 with both the 8" and the 4" coil in my price range with a pinpointer as well. The ACE 250 however looks like it has one of the more elliptical coils which from my understanding creates a wider search path per swing than the conical one produced by the round coils. I'm not sure if that is a big deal really or not at my experience level (none).

Don't buy from Kellyco. They never come down in price unless you PM one of their reps that frequent this site, and negotiate with them.

The pinpointer that Kellyco includes for free makes a great doorstop, it is huge and useless as a pinpointer. I got a BH pinpointer for $30 on amazon, but I would recommend just getting the Harbor freight one until you decide that MDing is your thing.

Call a few of the sponsors on this site and be patient with them, Minelab just released a new $2000 detector, and they are busy making the big ticket sales, but it would be worth calling them instead of Kellyco. Call New England, Big Boys, Hollands Brook, and another dealer or two that sponsors this site look here http://metaldetectingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=45

Talk on the phone and negotiate because they are not allow to advertise prices below a certain list price. Ask to have a Leshe, not a Gator, thrown it.

The Garrett Propointer is by far the best pinpointer and worth the money, but if you quit detecting next week because you are too impatient and would rather play golf because you don't find a ring every hunt, it is useless, so get the HF, Fisher, or BH pinpointer.

 

[LaenDrawoh]

So... I just stumbled across the Advice on Detector Purchase forum. :P Not sure how I missed that before when I came here. If one of the moderators would like to move this post there that would probably be the right place for this post. I apologize for that.

As for the accessories from the Kellyco site, to be honest the only one I was interested in was the Pinpointer. I looked at the lesche digger mentioned earlier in this thread and I think I might look at getting one of those eventually, but as I also garden I planned on using a trowel for now. I have some old backpacks around I could use for metal detecting and I think a repurpoused nail apron would work just fine for metal detecting as well since they are normally made from a decent canvas.

Thanks for the tip about contacting the dealers, maybe I could negotiate one of the F2's with the DD coil down to a price I could afford in my current budget. From what I read those are more desirable because of the search field being longer and deeper instead of conical, correct?

 

[DIGGER27]

So... I just stumbled across the Advice on Detector Purchase forum. :P Not sure how I missed that before when I came here. If one of the moderators would like to move this post there that would probably be the right place for this post. I apologize for that.

As for the accessories from the Kellyco site, to be honest the only one I was interested in was the Pinpointer. I looked at the lesche digger mentioned earlier in this thread and I think I might look at getting one of those eventually, but as I also garden I planned on using a trowel for now. I have some old backpacks around I could use for metal detecting and I think a repurpoused nail apron would work just fine for metal detecting as well since they are normally made from a decent canvas.

Thanks for the tip about contacting the dealers, maybe I could negotiate one of the F2's with the DD coil down to a price I could afford in my current budget. From what I read those are more desirable because of the search field being longer and deeper instead of conical, correct?

The scanning field is longer than a concentric, it runs down the center of the coil.
I mineralized ground it might be a little deeper, in mild soil concentrics go a little further.

If you are at the $200 price point and want a screen the 2 most popular are the F2 and the Ace 250.

I you are not sure about this hobby don't worry about DD coils unless you want to spend about $100 more than what you stated.

I recommend the f2 because of the fast recovery time and great target separation.
The 2 coil deal with a 4" and an 8" coil is in your price range, you get a very crummy handheld pinpointer in the package too, but you can also get a pretty good one for the money from Harbor Freight that I think works better for about $15 if you get frustrated using the Fisher handheld.

For about $50 more you can get an F2 package with 3 coils, a 10" coil is included.
This should get you a little deeper than the 8".

The 2 or 3 coil package is your best bet to try out the hobby and can be kept as a great backup if you stay in the hobby and want to upgrade, or if you don't and want to stay and sell it, resale prices on this unit are good if you keep it clean because these are very popular.

 

[BrownBeer]

Hi Howard,
VDI, tones and seperation. You just can't beat the F2 for the price.

 

[GetDiggin]

Well I have two opinions here. 1) If you want a screen and a kick ass detector then I would say go with F2. You can get a great package deal for about 215 that comes with everything you will need to get started, yes some of the things may not be top of the line (accessories wise that is) but at least you will have something to start off with, like a finds pouch, composite digger, most package come with the F-Series pin pointer too which is not a great pin pointer but its better then nothing at all sometimes. and in that price point package you usually get the sniper coil too (the smaller coil for trashy areas) and you get a 5 year warranty. BUT the other opinion 2) you mentioned you will be digging every target anyways, if that is the case I STRONGLY suggest just going with the Tesoro Compadre, they will get you the best performance and lifetime warranty then any other detector in that price point, and then if you end up loving the hobby you can always get a different detector and the Compadre can still stay in your arsenal cause they still make great dig all detectors.

Either way hope you enjoy your new hobby, and welcome to the forums

HH,
DetectThis

 

[LaenDrawoh]

I think I would enjoy having the screen, but in large part that's probably mostly due to bad experiences with that metal detector toy when I was a kid. I guess I need to seriously try and decide how important that is to me. I have some old computer headphones and adapters around so I wouldn't be relying on the on board speakers.

I am currently living in North Eastern Oklahoma so I don't imagine I have to worry about mineral rich ground throwing a detector off (unless limestone and sandstone are more prone to this than I think they are). I dug an approximately one foot by one foot by one foot hole in the yard today and didn't find any metal trash so the ground may not be as bad as I was afraid of (I did find a random piece of a thick ceramic type substance, I would imagine probably from a toilet or the like). Later this month I will be going down to possum kingdom lake and if I have received a detector by then (I plan on placing some calls and ordering one on Monday, giving me the weekend to consider my options and keep up on the forums here) I will probably take it down with me. I imagine there is quite a bit of lost change around the boating areas and if the lake is as low as it was last year there will be a lot of ground exposed that is normally fairly deep underwater.

I am not too worried about reselling any unit I buy as I will probably keep it as a tool even if I decide not to stick with the hobby. I can see one being very handy any time I am doing work around outside for finding dropped nails and the like before the lawn mower does. I think one would also be handy for figuring out exactly where the 4" cast iron sewage pipe runs so I can dig it out and fix whatever is allowing those pesky tree roots to get in it.

I just found out my nephew had expressed an interest in a metal detector last year and is apparently still interested, so this could be a good excuse to get him outside and doing something with me instead of just playing on the Wii.

I have been definitely leaning towards the fisher F2 with the 4" and 8" coils, but there have been some good arguments for the Tesoro Compadre as well.

Thanks again to those that have offered their advice and expertise so far!

 

[Martin_V3i]

Why not just give Brad a call at Indian Nations Detectors. You and he are both in Oklahoma so delivery would be next day. Great guy to deal with. One problem may be sales tax and that would send me off to another dealer too. I used Brad on my last purchase and it was a pleasant experience, from the phone call to the delivery being so fast.

Kellyco charged a friend of mine sales tax here in Texas, and his item took a week to get here. Their free pinpointer is useless. Kellyco would be my last choice. martin

 

[LaenDrawoh]

I will add Indian Nation Detectors to my list to call on Monday. I don't mind paying the sales tax. The one thing about the dealer that does concern me some is he doesn't seem to have the fisher F2 with both the 8" and 4" search coils listed on his site. Hopefully he has some and they just aren't listed. I think I would be foolish to buy just an F2 without the 4" coil when I could get one with it for $15 more. I wouldn't have to use it a whole lot to get 15 bucks worth of good from it.

That being said I am hitting some garage sales tomorrow morning with my wife. Maybe I will get lucky and find a metal detector from one of the brands you guys have been recommending at one of them. Not very likely I know, but hey it gives me something to look for at them anyway right?

 

[JunkInTheTrunk]

I will add Indian Nation Detectors to my list to call on Monday. I don't mind paying the sales tax. The one thing about the dealer that does concern me some is he doesn't seem to have the fisher F2 with both the 8" and 4" search coils listed on his site. Hopefully he has some and they just aren't listed. I think I would be foolish to buy just an F2 without the 4" coil when I could get one with it for $15 more. I wouldn't have to use it a whole lot to get 15 bucks worth of good from it.

That being said I am hitting some garage sales tomorrow morning with my wife. Maybe I will get lucky and find a metal detector from one of the brands you guys have been recommending at one of them. Not very likely I know, but hey it gives me something to look for at them anyway right?

I would try to get it with the "sniper coil" for $15 more if you can... I say this because that is roughly $20-25 more that you are saving that can go towards something else like a pair of gloves AND a fanny pack/finds pouch OR even a digger as well. THUS, think about it, you just pretty much rounded out your "gear" from that $20-25 savings AND you have a sniper coil to boot YES, you do have some thinking to do as well when it comes to either having a screen or not? Again, me personally, it's a screen MD'r for ME. BUT that's just me!!! They say, "hunt by the different sounds that your MD'r makes..." which is what I do anyways. The MAIN sound/bell tone I listen for is the quarters/coin... that is when I have $$$ in my mind. When I get the low sound (i.e. iron)... yes, I still look at the screen EVENTUALLY... but ONLY to see what the machine is "calculating" a little more of what the type of metal that it is. All I'm doing is using the "more current technology"... in that sense. I don't know, to each his own. With WHATEVER you decide to get just be happy and have fun with it, but make a decision now BEFORE you buy because then you obviously won't be paying more if you decided, after the fact, that you wanted the other type of MD'r (i.e. say you bought a VDI and you decided after the fact that you wished you bought a tone only machine or vice versa). Anyways, just my 2cents and HH \_

 

[Wormkiller]

There are a lot of great detectors out there. Check out videos on Youtube, dig into this site there is a ton of information to look at. I've just returned to the hobby. I detected in the late 70's with a Bounty Hunter and did very well with it, most importantly I had fun. I picked up a Bounty hunter Pioneer 202 at Wally World a few years back, used it a few hours found a few pennies and put it up. I got it out a week ago and read the instructions...a few times and have been having fun with it again. I don't believe it matters what brand you buy as long as you read the instructions and get to know your detector, listen to it or look at the screen. I'll probably upgrade in a few months, do I need to..probably not, the 202 will find coins and other items. But I'm curious as we all are, I'm looking at a AT PRO or a F4 and I'm now looking into the Tesoro offerings. IMHO I don't think I would be to concerned about numerous coils, I do believe that the double D coils are the ones getting the results...
Whatever you buy...take the time to learn it and above all have fun.
Give a look at the fiskars digger at Wal-Mart..$8 pretty stout little piece.
Something new for me was the Pin Pointers being used. I just received mine, went with the Garrett. Haven't even got it dirty and can see how handy it will be as the 202 isn't the best pin pointer...
I did a bunch of searching for good prices for my Pin pointer...Bart at Big Boys Hobbies had the best price...fast service...e-mail him for a quote...

HH,
Dan

 

[Daysailer]

+1 for the F2 recommendtions.

I have been MD'n for only 7 weeks or so. $23.92 in clad, two silver rings, some other silver pendants and a few foriegn coins, to go with a growing fleet of matchbox cars, ..... and.... two buckets full of trash and items you dont want your kids to find when playing in a park or school yard.

The two coil, 8 & 4" deal is a good one. Took me a couple of days to get the hang of the 4", but now it gets at least 1/3 of my detecting time.

I am like 'junkinthetrunk'... hunt mostly with the tones, (but dont have those Navy Sonarman listening talents) and then look at the VID as a last bit of info to aid in decision to dig. I dig most stuff anyway, but it's nice to get a mental data base for those times I get tired, 4-5 hrs hunt'n, and my trash pouch is get'n heavy.

Using the Harbor Freight Cen-Tec pinpointer, $15, with the supertune technique, really helps make finding the target in the hole much easier.
Someday a Garrett Pro-pointer, will take its place.

Look up Digger27's "F2.... impressions" and "Chruch of the Compadre" threads.
Lots and lots of info in them that will help you make the best decision ..for you.
Lots there that will also make your first hunts more productive, and shorten your rookie learning curve....
They sure helped me get a great start in this hobby. (Tks D-27)

Even the hunt for a new toy is fun, so enjoy the hunt for you 1st Detector.

HH

 

[Deezil]

F2


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