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cheap starter detector

EvilVOG

EvilVOG

Full Member
Joined
Nov 3, 2012
Messages
169
Location
Brownstown, Mi.
Hi all, new here. I had a cheapo radio shack metal detector as a kid that i had fun with, and was thinking about getting back into the hobby a little bit. I've been looking around alot mostly looking at reviews that i could find (at least a couple times landing on this board). Anyway here's the important stuff:

I live in Michigan, but also a big thing behind why i want one is my yearly trip to Florida, which includes a trip to the beach when it's too cold to swim. But in general this means i need something that is functional in moist & saltwater enviroments.

What i want to search for: Coins, gold, and silver. None of my hunting environments are likely to have cannonballs or other relics worth digging.

Also i'm cheap, and looking to not spend more than, say $150. So i'm mostly looking in the used market, or hoping to trade for one on Craig's list or something.

Now alot of the reviews i've been reading have been pointing me toward the Bounty hunter products, like the tracker IV or land star, maybe some of their other models but they have so many it's hard to tell what's what (they all have the same controls). I'm open to hearing about other brands just alot of the reviews i read indicated problems with one or more of the things i need this to be resistant to, or capable of finding.

What would be most helpful is to hear from someone who's owned both a bounty hunter and a white's or Garret, or any combination of the brands/models i'm likely to find in my price range, as I have been unable to find any good side by side comparison of the actual use of the products.

Thanks in advance
 
In that price range I think the Tesoro Compadre would be a great buy. They sell new for $180 so its close to your price range. Tesoro offers a lifetime warranty on their machines so that should give a little peace of mind.

Tesoro does not come with a screen, its a simple swing and beep, but you pick up the language of it pretty quickly. Doesnt take long to get used to not having any visual information to depend on. Lots of people on here swear by them and have some nice finds to back it up.


I could be wrong but I dont think the Compadre is great in wet salt water sand but I dont think any metal detector is particularly good in those conditions at your price range. Dry sand and any other land searching you do the Compadre should treat you well.

*I have not used a Compadre personally, just passing information on that I gathered while looking for my own detector. I did go from a MD with a screen to a screenless Tesoro and the learning curve was nothing to be worried about.
 
That's a much better comparison than what i was finding, but mostly what i want to hear is a side by side test of the actual use of them, not just what the manufacturer writes about it. This one has a couple things like that (smart rating, intended use) but no explanation of what those numbers mean, or if it means it's incapable of finding "X"

Thanks for the help
 
I have a compadre, and Tracker IV. For an absolute starter machine I would say Tracker because of the tones. Not taking anything away from the compadre, since they both have a permanent place in my inventory. They both will find the small stuff at tot lots. That is with the sniper coil on the tracker btw :)
 
Where in Michigan are you? There may be a local detectorist that will let you try their machines and or they may have one for sale. I have tried a friends bounty hunter and a compadre side by side and the compadre had alot less false signals. I bought the compadre and I am enjoying it alot. Alot of people like the Fisher F2 for a bargin machine, but I have never tried one.
 
GrandRiverRat said:
Where in Michigan are you? There may be a local detectorist that will let you try their machines and or they may have one for sale. I have tried a friends bounty hunter and a compadre side by side and the compadre had alot less false signals. I bought the compadre and I am enjoying it alot. Alot of people like the Fisher F2 for a bargin machine, but I have never tried one.
Click to expand...

I second the F2. Many on here have called it the best entry level machine, but its a little above what you said you wanted to spend. You can get a F2 combo with a couple extra coils for around 275, might be able to find one used for 200ish.
 
The Fisher F2 is a great beginner detector. There is an option to buy the F2 with the 8" coil, 4" coil, and the fisher f-pointer. It's well worth the extra $15 for the package... costs slightly more than you want to spend, but you will end up spending more money to get a pinpointer anyway.
 
The F2 with the 2 coil package at about $200 is your best bet.
You would have to get into the Discovery series to come close.
This is the best all around setup at the lowest price on the market when you consider the tones, VDI numbers on the screen, the extra sniper coil and the cheap but usable free pinpointer.
Also the fact that it finds most things like coins, silver and gold like the big boy units...or at least for me it does.
It will not be great in saltwater, but not much of anything will at economy prices, and it will still work ok and find shallow targets if you learn it.
It will work great in the dry sand and at any land site.

Do yourself a favor and save up another $50 over that $150 price-point, get the F2 and you won't be sorry.
 
I'm in SE michigan, Detroit area. Been hunting my local Craig's list and ebay just don't see alot of used gear other than Bounty hunter products.

I'll start looking harder for the F2's, but this is mainly going to be a toy for me, i don't want to spend too much.

I'm seeing some other BH models in my price range and it's hard to tell what's a step up or step down, and i'm starting to think about 5 models are the exact same detector... anyway just including these names: pioneer 101/202 Sharpshooter 2, quick draw 2... anything else i should look at or eliminate from the list?
 
EvilVOG said:
I'm in SE michigan, Detroit area. Been hunting my local Craig's list and ebay just don't see alot of used gear other than Bounty hunter products.

I'll start looking harder for the F2's, but this is mainly going to be a toy for me, i don't want to spend too much.

I'm seeing some other BH models in my price range and it's hard to tell what's a step up or step down, and i'm starting to think about 5 models are the exact same detector... anyway just including these names: pioneer 101/202 Sharpshooter 2, quick draw 2... anything else i should look at or eliminate from the list?
Click to expand...

I've never seen Fishers on Craigslist. Most people that sell on CL have Bounty Hunters for a reason because they rushed out and bought something without researching it first, then they don't find anything and give up on the hobby.
 
EvilVOG said:
I'm in SE michigan, Detroit area. Been hunting my local Craig's list and ebay just don't see alot of used gear other than Bounty hunter products.

I'll start looking harder for the F2's, but this is mainly going to be a toy for me, i don't want to spend too much.

I'm seeing some other BH models in my price range and it's hard to tell what's a step up or step down, and i'm starting to think about 5 models are the exact same detector... anyway just including these names: pioneer 101/202 Sharpshooter 2, quick draw 2... anything else i should look at or eliminate from the list?
Click to expand...

Frustration...Look that word up.
Also, you get what you pay for is a saying that is usually true.
Toys are supposed to be fun, if they aren't, plenty have been frustrated right out of this hobby or were forced to spend more to get a better unit pretty quickly if they decide to stay in.
That being said, most metal detectors will find metal, the more you spend the more features and abilities they have to make it easier to find quality targets and avoid some trash, and maybe a little more depth to do all that.
I hunted in the metro Detroit area and the soil is pretty good there so good depth is a feature that would be to your advantage.
I had a low end BH to start with, (Pioneer EX/ Quicksilver), and it was a horrible experience...but that was me.
Can't say much about the other units from BH because I have never used them, but most of theirs are good on coins at the very least, and if you run over some jewelry they might be able to find it if it is not too deep.

I still say an extra $50 for the F2 will get you a detector that is light years ahead of anything you have listed and a real shot at a quality experience in this hobby, (and maybe some better finds), but you gotta do what you gotta do.


Good luck with whatever you pick.
 
The F2 is a very good machine but i'm more partial to the Tesoro Compadre and though it lacks in all the fancy features it is one great little machine.
 
So what are your complaints on the Bounty hunters? I notice the starter models (EX, quick draw, ect.) seem to be bad, but the only complaints i've seen on their mid range stuff (like the tracker iv), is that you end up digging up junk along with the stuff you're actually after.

When i had that radio shack MD, supposedly the worst one you can possibly buy, i was still able to find all kinds of good stuff. Jewlery (granted it wasn't buried and i knew it was somewhere in that lawn), coins, horseshoes... How bad can any of them be?
 
When the tracker is set up correctly it works great. The tone mode helps dig less junk.
I own two of these simple effective machines for a reason, they work.
 
EvilVOG said:
So what are your complaints on the Bounty hunters? I notice the starter models (EX, quick draw, ect.) seem to be bad, but the only complaints i've seen on their mid range stuff (like the tracker iv), is that you end up digging up junk along with the stuff you're actually after.

When i had that radio shack MD, supposedly the worst one you can possibly buy, i was still able to find all kinds of good stuff. Jewlery (granted it wasn't buried and i knew it was somewhere in that lawn), coins, horseshoes... How bad can any of them be?
Click to expand...

They can be real bad !!! Save yourself some frustration and get a decent detector. Never used the F2 but have heard lots of good stuff about them and the price is right. With that being said, you said this was just a toy for you so if you don't care about performance then any of them will do.
 
At that price range you will have fixed ground balance. I know that mineralization is a very mixed bag in your state. You won't get into ground balance machines for less than $400.

That said, White's Coinmaster ($180) is an excellent starter detector an very often overlooked. It is very sensitive, it lacks notching but I have not needed it. White's took painstaking care to make sure that when you are over a coin, it gives you a solid report, and they did a good job. Now that I know what the machine is telling me I can actually tell when I'm over a nickel most of the time, instead of bypassing them as pulltabs.

After hours of brutally combing through ground with my Etrac I pull out the Coinmaster and it is a delight. It finds coins because that is what it was designed to do exceptionally well. I have tested it against small gold earrings and it picks them up reliably.

The popular go-to is F2, but if you have a store nearby that lets you demo I recommend doing that.
 
thanks for the reply. unless the guys on Craig's list come down on their BH's i'm probably going to go for the F2 at this point. Local shop has a slightly used one for 165 i think.

Wasn't worried too much about digging junk, i'm probably going to be digging everything anyway. One week on this board i've already seen quite a few "well it sounded/looked like (insert junk signal here) and it turned out to be a gold ring" posts.

Working on the money now. I originally put that 150 price point up as thinking trying to find one that originally sold for that used for like 50-80.

Have an offer to try out an F2 form another board member here, waiting to hear back from him (p.s. i got my truck now so i'm good to go whenever)
 
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