gjdevlin
New Member
Hi everyone - I used to metal detect when I was a kid and had a radio shack metal detector. Then high school, college, marriage, and kids pretty much took over. I'm deaf and I'm also legally blind. I see the world through pinholes but I can't complain too much. I just moved to the Space Coast area in Florida after moving from Maryland. I lugged a Bounty Hunter Pro with me from Maryland. It was about $99.00 when I bought it. I know it's basic but I do enjoy metal detecting along the beach, I think the machine has some shortcomings. I did find a 1976 quarter which was neat.
I enjoy metal detecting and just love being out there on the beach - taking in the waves and stumbling around the sand in the empty places (my balance is horrible - a byproduct of my deteriorating eyesight - I just hope that I don't get arrested for public intoxication.) I just love the sense of discovery and history and writing about it by blending science fiction and history.
Anyhoo on to metal detectors - The Bounty Hunter's shortcomings are that it doesn't do well in the wet sand areas and often touching the sand results in false positives. I played with the discrimination settings in my backyard and omitted iron and aluminum and kept zinc and up in the notches yet it still pulls up some junk which I dug and discarded from my back yard.
For my next purchase - I think the Minelab Vanquish 540 is a reasonable purchase cost-wise. It has a larger display with a backlight and a large numerical font which indicates what the material is - ie 28 is a quarter and based on my research, I liked how I could see that without having to pull the detector too close to my face to ensure what I'm reading. Another is that it has Bluetooth which I can connect to my Cochlear Implants and I'll be able to hear the tones/chatter without having to get Headphones. The bonus is that it seems to do quite well at discriminating and eliminating false positives in the wet sand areas.
The Minelab Equinox 600 or 800 and higher may be too much for my bank account so I'm looking at the Vanquish 540 as a reasonable cost machine to enjoy my outings to the beach. Diving or plunging my MD into deep waters and are out of the question for me.
I enjoy metal detecting and just love being out there on the beach - taking in the waves and stumbling around the sand in the empty places (my balance is horrible - a byproduct of my deteriorating eyesight - I just hope that I don't get arrested for public intoxication.) I just love the sense of discovery and history and writing about it by blending science fiction and history.
Anyhoo on to metal detectors - The Bounty Hunter's shortcomings are that it doesn't do well in the wet sand areas and often touching the sand results in false positives. I played with the discrimination settings in my backyard and omitted iron and aluminum and kept zinc and up in the notches yet it still pulls up some junk which I dug and discarded from my back yard.
For my next purchase - I think the Minelab Vanquish 540 is a reasonable purchase cost-wise. It has a larger display with a backlight and a large numerical font which indicates what the material is - ie 28 is a quarter and based on my research, I liked how I could see that without having to pull the detector too close to my face to ensure what I'm reading. Another is that it has Bluetooth which I can connect to my Cochlear Implants and I'll be able to hear the tones/chatter without having to get Headphones. The bonus is that it seems to do quite well at discriminating and eliminating false positives in the wet sand areas.
The Minelab Equinox 600 or 800 and higher may be too much for my bank account so I'm looking at the Vanquish 540 as a reasonable cost machine to enjoy my outings to the beach. Diving or plunging my MD into deep waters and are out of the question for me.
