Metal Detector Benchmark Test

Good idea but ; there are so many variables to detecting in the real world that an air test is too subjective. With any detector you can get better depth etc. on an air test vs. in ground testing. So much so that even lesser performing detectors will seem to be very good in an air test. The old Compass Coin Hustler was a 59.95 detector when top of the line detectors were around 400.00. In an air test you could get as much depth as the 400.00 one out of the little Coin Hustler. The real emphasis should be on in ground tests. Even then different parts of the counrty / world will yield different results.
Also , if you were to test say TR detectors against each other the test would be closer to a real idea of what they can do vs. a TR against a VLF. The VLF would have the advantage most of the time.
Many times it is stated in forums that X detector gets XX depth. What isn't told many times is the mode of operation etc. A VLF in all metal will yield better results vs. discrimination and so forth.
I guess all in all it comes down to many things with the abilities of the detector , the knowledge of the operator and whether said operator has set up their detector correctly for the environment they are searching being primary to success.
I just don't see a "standardized" test as being accurate or useful in most cases.

on my minelab I can detect a dime better in the ground than using the air test. so I don't see using a air test at all

This would be helpful to those purchasing new MD's or upgrading.

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No, this wouldn't be helpful at all. Air tests tell you nothing.

Even planting a test garden wouldn't work.

We all live in different parts of the world, and we all have different soil types. A detector that works well in Connecticut, may not work so well in Georgia.

So I can't say, "Hey! buy this detector it works great! Because it may not work so great where you live.

You are better off contacting a metal detecting club in your area, and finding out what they are using.

All good points Carol
This is why the more versatile a detector is the more chance you have to "tune" it in to your particular situation. 8)

Well we could all fill 2 ft long pieces of PVC pipe with fish tank gravel or sand and set the targets at scheduled depths then bury the PVC pipes with targets, and let them age.

a little off topic maybe but...

I've read alot of metal detector reviews and to be quite honest reading one is like reading them all in alot of cases, about all I get out of them is that every metal detector tested is wonderful and they're all better and outperform higher priced machines...

I always thought it would be kind of cool if someone(knowledgible and bias enough to do it) did a comparison test of all the different detectors, broke their abilities down into catagories(depth, pinpoint, weight, readout, all the major things people look at when looking for a metal detector) and rated the different catagories on a numeral system(1-10) as far as what the strength and weakness are of each model had in that particular catagory
I think it would make it alot easier for those just staring out or those not so technically minded to compare and see what strength and weaknesses each detector had and where, and how/where it was best suited to work without having to deciper a bunch of technical info and still not get a complete answer

I know what you are saying, and this has been brought up many times before.

The problem is, what you are asking would take alot of "time" and nobody is going to spend the time to do this. Even if a large corporation took the time to do this, then it would be considered biased and would not benefit their company.

So it would have to be an individual, that has the time, and the detectors availble, to perform such tests.

Nobody is going to do this without getting paid to do it, especially in the USA.

Now I have seen some foreign detecting websites that has such information, and I will try to find them for you. Someone overseas did take the time to do this, but they use different detectors over there.

This is great input on why the example method is not a sound test. So I guess the question now is. Is there a way to do a fair comparison of the ability of a metal detector. The soil does vary from place to place. The experience of the user also varies.  I just think it could be a great tool for novice and experienced MD'er as we upgrade our way up to our dream machine. Thanks again for the knowledge and experience in the replies.

BEEP... BEEP...   ,   BEEP... BEEP...

I love that sound!

Jack

Try this site first, it's the results of a club that took the time to do some testing.

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/clubtest.html


Also read Wayne's advice on Metal Detector Purchase

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/metaldetecting.html#experiences


Here's some more comparison testing done by a company in Florida

http://jimyce.home.netcom.com/test.html

Carol K said:

I know what you are saying, and this has been brought up many times before.

The problem is, what you are asking would take alot of "time" and nobody is going to spend the time to do this. Even if a large corporation took the time to do this, then it would be considered biased and would not benefit their company.

So it would have to be an individual, that has the time, and the detectors availble, to perform such tests.

Nobody is going to do this without getting paid to do it, especially in the USA....

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I agree. Until the time comes where unbiased evaluations happen the only test that will be comparable across the board is the air test. There are way too many variables involved in someone testing thier machine in Virginia and using those comparisons in Arizona.

We know the air test is not accurate, but air is the only common ground.

Tony, What detectors would you say are versatile enough to be used in most parts of the country? Thanks, Gramps

Carol K said:

This would be helpful to those purchasing new MD's or upgrading.

Click to expand...

No, this wouldn't be helpful at all. Air tests tell you nothing.

Even planting a test garden wouldn't work.

We all live in different parts of the world, and we all have different soil types. A detector that works well in Connecticut, may not work so well in Georgia.

So I can't say, "Hey! buy this detector it works great! Because it may not work so great where you live.

You are better off contacting a metal detecting club in your area, and finding out what they are using.

Click to expand...

Excellent point Carol. A good example that comes to mind is the White's Beach Hunter ID. It seems to work very well in the East Coast beaches, but it just isn't a very good detector for the beaches in the California Bay area, or even the beaches in Lake Tahoe. It just doesn't do well in our black sand ladden, highly mineralized beaches.

http://www.polbox.com/d/dark/testy.htm#mineter
has plenty of airtest figures but is a little out of date for new models.
I'm in whats called the ring. We buy most equipment on the market, test it, swap it between members and whoever likes it gets to buy at a discount. If no one likes a product then it goes on E-Bay. Costs a little money over a year but you don't end up with an expensive lemon.
My test site (when I posted as 'Blackhat') covered about two hundred machines with air, mild ground and hot ground depths. It became almost impossible to keep the information up for hacking and some forums did not like comparison reports full stop.
Air test details are essential (Whites/Fisher always provided this info.) otherwise you could spend/waste a year detecting without realising a machine had not been set up correctly at the factory or had a duff coil.

This is mainly directed to the newcomers but will work for anyone learning a detector.

The best way that I know of to do a test is to find a small place whether it be a small park or small homestead. Then you detect it. make sure the place is small enough that you can cover it in one trip. If you don't have a place that small then pick out a section in a place that you can easily mark.

The reason i say make it small enough that you can do in one trip is so that everytime you go there you can start fresh with different settings. keep track of what the performance was with each setting.

If you do this then obviously you will find less coins as you go. they will be fewer and further in between which is OK. The goal with this is to learn your machine.

Now the hard part. If you can do this over and over again without getting frustrated, by the time you have hit that piece of ground 30 times or more using the different settings and coils you have, it will start to come into focus as to what the more experienced detectorist have been telling us about faint signals. You will learn that digging every signal is the only sure way to not pass anything up. If you are picky about what you want to dig then it will help you increase your odds of good finds.

If you hit a spot a few times and think you have covered it, believe me you haven't. You haven't covered it until you have searched it in every way possible. This means Via the settings on your machine and then many different directions you can cover the ground.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that no one wants to do this at every spot they hunt and I will not either but if you find one spot to do this you will find all the information you need as to what your detector will do in your given area.

I've got a small park I have been doing this with the last 6 months.The spot is about 200'X150'. The first 4 or 5 times I hunted it was where it got 80% of the coins I have found there.....All clad. What I have found since has been . 1 buffalo nickel......1- 1944 Mercury dime and 7 wheat pennies with one being a 1913. I have learned that I went over that Merc 20 times but it wasn't until I quit walking passed all of the chunks of melted aluminum on that property and vowed to dig them all up was the Merc possible. They read the same in my conditions in that place and I got frustrated and walked right over it.

The advice given here is great for anyone but only when you have mixed that with your own experiences will you have learned much about what your detector will really do.

After the frustration period of this learning curve was over and I had actually found some things that were worthy of talking about, the most important thing I learned is......... The fun is just beginning and it doesn't matter if i find a Merc or Jefferson nickel. All that matters is I am having a blast. Hope this helps.

Carol brought up some good points. Also regional soils conditions can vary from yard to yard. And it depends on how long the object has been in the ground and how the soil created a "halo" as it reacted to the object.

Hi Yardbird
What happens if you start off with a machine and take out all the coins in the area ? You try another machine but it finds nothing new. Which is the better detector ?

Is that like a trick question? or 2? It kinda reminded of which came first the chicken or the egg.

Seems as though there are way too many variables to say without a doubt which detector is better than another.

The better question. Which detector is better for you for your situation? only you can make that decision. Do your research and talk to people.

Not a trick question. Its just you say the best way to do a test but you don't know whats in the ground with your method so if there were only a few near surface coins that you detect and remove with a $50 Chinese special then you return with a DFx/Explorer etc and find no more you would say that a machine costing twenty times more was incapable of finding any more targets.

You really can't beat either creating an in-ground test bed and accepting its going to need a few years to settle or if you want to test out in the field at different sites make a set of test rods (based on the Mewnorton design) where you tap a rod in at a 45 degree angle, remove it and slide in the test rod that has a tip that gives the same target response as say a cent. Test rod should be marked in inches and allowing for the angle needs to be pushed in about 8 inches to get the tip to a 6 inch depth(17" to provide 12 inches depth). As the ground above remains undisturbed its a fairly good method unless you are a believer in halo effect.

I suppose that kind of test would work well for me if i were hunting a rod that had a tip that resembled a cent. We can debate this until the end of time as to what test is better or what machine is better without much success as to proving anything. You are still trying to compare two machines when I was just giving a tip for a person to learn the one machine they have.

If you like the $50 Chinese special at least attempt $50 dollars worth of learning towards it. you may find it works ok for what your purpose is.

On the other hand if you have a $600 detector and have had it a few weeks and are disappointed that you haven't found that silver and you trade it in for a $1000 detector thinking it will produce more you would probably be mistaken unless you were willing to spend the time with it to learn it.

A high dollar machine in the hands of someone that doesn't try to learn it is a lot of money wasted. That can be done with a much less expensive machine to get the same result.