Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Newbie Beach Advice

A

andygeekboy

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2015
Messages
10
So, I live pretty close to the beach here in Miami and was thinking about getting a metal detector and hunting for some treasure!

My question is this, what detector would you guys advise me to start with, I really don'y want to break the bank as I don't know how much use I'll be getting from it but I definitely don't want a piece of junk I'll end up throwing into the bay :)

As I'm new to this I'm pretty sure I'd need something simple to operate.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Andy
 
on the beach

Hi, will you be hunting the sand or the water.That will determine what type of machine you will use.:detector.
 
Call a forum sponsor and you'll get some great advice. In short, hunting the water or wet sand of saltwater beaches requires a competent machine ($800+) and good sand scoop($175+). Otherwise about any detector will work in the dry sand at depths up to 4-6" and you could get away with using a shovel or home made scoop.

It is a fun hobby so long as u don't expect to find treasure. Of course we all want to find the good stuff but many of us spend several hundred hours of hunting to find just "one" good target. ;)
 
Thanks,
If I'm going to stick to the dry stuff any suggestions on a detector around the $200 mark that would serve me well?
Once I get hooked I can look at upgrading.

Thanks


Smoke signal sent using a smoke to digital converter
 
Stick to name brands like Garrett, whites, fisher, minelab... Ground balance is a valuable feature to search for but it may be out of your price range unless u buy a pre-owned machine. Again, forum sponsors are reputable and trusted places you can talk to and may find a great deal. Often times you can get a preowned mid level machine for less than the cost of a new entry level.
 
Awesome thanks, what would be a mid level machine with ground balance?
I may check out craigslisy


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In the dry sand most anything will work in Florida. I used to run an ace 250 and 350. Bigger excellerator coil upgrade worked better than the stock coil later. Dry sand its all about covering ground. You need a good dry sand scoop to avoid wasting time bending down. I'm older and broke down. Was testing myself against a young guy with a hand scoop bending down. I was digging two or three targets to his one with my RTG dry sand scoop. Doesn't work good in wet sand. But where you are hunting you should find some nice jewelry in the dry.
 
So what would be the best for a noob Hunting in sand?

The F2 or the Ace 250?




Smoke signal sent using a smoke to digital converter
 
andygeekboy said:
So what would be the best for a noob Hunting in sand?

The F2 or the Ace 250?




Smoke signal sent using a smoke to digital converter
Click to expand...

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=213973
^^^----here is a link to a forum member selling an ACE350 for $200.

As far as what's better, the F2 or ACE250....its less like rocket science and more like comparing a base model Honda civic to a base model Ford Focus. HP and MPG are about the same so differences are marginal and overall you are getting similar performance. Continuing on the car analogy, upgrading to a ($400-600) Garrett AT-Pro with a faster processor, software, and more options is like buying a Mustang, and buying a ($2-2.5k) Minelab CTX3030 is a Ford GT(40). :cool:

http://metaldetectingforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=45
^^^----here is the link to forum sponsors. People like Phil (Flphil), Bart (Big Boy Hobbies) and many other great guys, have been around this website for years and are trusted like family. You can send them an email or give them a call....they will give you your best price on a new machine, or, may even have a pre-owned model from someone who upgraded. The great thing about buying from a sponsor is the pre-owned stuff is throughly tested so you have the assurance that your used machine is in proper working order. Occasionally, they even have pre-owned packages that are not only cheap, but also include many extra goodies such as a second coil (like what Itsaring! mentioned).

Another option is to physically test the machines before buying. You can do this by looking up a local dealer or searching this forum for a local MD club. Many of the clubs have people that are happy to share their experiences and machines so you can see first hand how the machines perform.
 
Thanks for sharing the links and the great advice!

I'm not sure what my next steps are, gonna trawl craigslist me thinks :)
 
The big differences between the Fisher F2 and the Garrett Ace 250 are the display, and ease of use.

The Ace shows categories of finds but not numbers telling you what the machine thinks the target is. It will, for example, tell you it thinks it's a quarter but it could also be anything else in that range.

The F2 will tell you a number value, for that same quarter it will read around 77-80. It also shows depth and has 4 different tones, one for each type of metals, iron, low and high mid ranges, and silver.

For my money the F2 is an easier to learn and use machine. My husband likes his Ace. The F2 is also about $25-$50 less than the Ace even with the extra coil package.

Hope this helps some, as others have said it wouldn't hurt for you to go take a look at both machines and figure out which one is the best fit for you.
 
One of the sponsors is giving me a deal on an MX5 think this would be a good for a beach newbie?


Smoke signal sent using a smoke to digital converter
 
Whites CoinMaster GT

andygeekboy said:
So, I live pretty close to the beach here in Miami and was thinking about getting a metal detector and hunting for some treasure!

My question is this, what detector would you guys advise me to start with, I really don'y want to break the bank as I don't know how much use I'll be getting from it but I definitely don't want a piece of junk I'll end up throwing into the bay :)

As I'm new to this I'm pretty sure I'd need something simple to operate.

Any advise is greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Andy
Click to expand...

Andy,
The CoinMaster GT is the top of the line for the coin Master series has a beach mode and great for land use. Also has a water Resistance control box, if your looking at a 100% water machine, I recommend the Whites Beach Hunter ID
call me
 
I have been using a BH Platinum for sand, wet and dry, with great results...
Finding stuff deep (8 -10") in both wet and dry sand.

Also works great for dry land.

Oh and the first gold I ever found was in wet sand, using a BH Pro.

These machines are pretty decent...

I will say, I have very little to no experience with other detectors.
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys,

I've already shelled out the $$$ for the MX5, I guess I can trade up, down or laterally when I have a better understanding of the detector.

Thanks again for everyone's input :)
 
Hi :I have been reading the posts in this blog and not once was the coil cover mentioned . Some company only have the epoxy on the bottom of the coil. Most companies if not all offer to sell you a cover that connects to the coil bottom to protect the epoxy. I have the AT Pro and the cover snaps on very tight. ( a little tight , you will spend a few minutes doing this snap thing ) I recommend a cover.
I also recommend dealing with a company in the USA. Not that other companies outside are bad . I repaired equipment for way over 40+ years and dealing with people outside of the USA was hard , frustrating. Not that this cant happen to you here. You are here and the legal system is here if you need support against a company in this country.
I received my Garrett pro pointer ,used it for a few hours and found it had a small crack in the case just below the battery cap. Garrett replaced it NOOOOO questions, return free postage for the broken part. Polite , nice ,experience.
I suggest you go on to youtube and look at the videos in metal detecting area. But ..... just remember I suspect some videos are from the detecting companies going under some one else name. Do your home work first.
 
When you get a scoop, go to Home Depot and get a circular magnet and glue/tie wrap it to the bottom of the scoop. It will grab bottlecaps and most importantly bobby pins for you. Bobby pins will otherwise slip through the holes and it will drive you nuts as you keep "finding" them over and over again.
 
Chipk said:
When you get a scoop, go to Home Depot and get a circular magnet and glue/tie wrap it to the bottom of the scoop. It will grab bottlecaps and most importantly bobby pins for you. Bobby pins will otherwise slip through the holes and it will drive you nuts as you keep "finding" them over and over again.
Click to expand...

Oh how I have hunted over and over again for a bobby pin.

great idea.
 
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