Big Boys Hobbies

best fresh water dry and wet sand detector (non PI)

GetDiggin

GetDiggin

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Joined
Apr 27, 2012
Messages
804
Location
Michigan
Hello everyone,
Well as the title says.

My Dad and I went to the beach for the first time ever with our detectors which is surprising as were 25 minutes from Lake Huron hehe, but yes we're usually dirt diggers. As soon as we got there I knew it was a whole other beast lol, my F75 went nuts. I finally ended up hunting with sensitivity at 40 to 45 and it was still a little more vocal then usual but manageable, but definitely not ideal, I would actually say my Dad's Ace 250 was a bit more manageable there. So I have been wanting to switch to a different detector anyways just because I am the kind of person that needs to keep changing stuff, not sure why...I bore easy. So I want to know what detector is best for a mainly dirt, but sometimes fresh water beach detector, I can only afford one nice detector so it needs to be dual purpose. The 3 detectors I was leaning towards for my next detector is the XP Deus, the Minelab Explorer SE Pro (possibly ETrac) or the Whites V3/V3i. I am not set in stone on those 3, but they are the 3 I've been thinking of. The XP IS MUCH preferred tho due to the weight.

Thanks,
Rich
 
Did you try the F75 in all metal and keep your coil off the sand, don't let it hit the sand? F75 can balance to a lot of soils, its a great detector.

I agree with the other poster, an AT pro is really a great versatile detector you can get wet. If your gonna wade, stay away from an Explorer, water can shoot up the shaft once you get near knee deep.

I use an Etrac/Sov/AT pro/At gold and would recommend either of the AT machines.
 
nse1956 said:
Did you try the F75 in all metal and keep your coil off the sand, don't let it hit the sand? F75 can balance to a lot of soils, its a great detector.

I agree with the other poster, an AT pro is really a great versatile detector you can get wet. If your gonna wade, stay away from an Explorer, water can shoot up the shaft once you get near knee deep.

I use an Etrac/Sov/AT pro/At gold and would recommend either of the AT machines.
Click to expand...

Hi there,
I will be completely honest with you, my biggest down fall is I always need to change detectors. I am not sure why I feel the urge to do so, probably a lot to do with my ADHD but doesn't matter, what matters is with me having that urge means I really never get to know the detector as well as it should be. That being said, I have always tended to stay away from all metal mode, I've never "got it" I guess you could say. I am more of a VDI kind of hunter, my ears aren't great so I have a hard time with different tones. It doesn't mean I am against trying it, but it did not come across my mind to try all metal mode. When I got there I did Ground balance but I used the trigger, I did not do it manually because I was wanting to ground balance every few feet do the trigger was obviously the fastest choice. Would manually balancing it make a difference? Also when going into all metal mode what should I dig?

One more thing, I actually really liked my AT Pro, but was never to the beach with it, that being said I have heard a lot of people say at pro is a BAD choice for beach hunting in wet sand, are those people talking about salt beaches?

Thanks,
Rich
 
Oh yeah I forgot something, I have a brand new Tesoro in the box. I bought it for a second detector, but I've never had a problem with my f75 to have to open it do its just sitting there. Would that be a good beach detector? Like I mentioned above, I am not a great tone hunter because of my hearing, but it wouldn't be impossible or anything, I have thought about cracking it open to try it out but because it's a Tesoro as soon as I open it I lose $50 lol, so I basically just keep it for emergencies.

Thanks,
Rich
 
I had an At pro sold it for my GT...If i was gonna hunt only fresh water and dry sand i would still have it.I live on LI its all salt water and i like water hunting i relized this after i bought the At pro.The At pro is an awsome machine just not so much in saltwater or wet sand.Some guys use it in the wet salt and say they like it.For what your looking for the Atpro is perfect.And i cant say eough about Garretts customer service.I like the velcro arm strap that came with my At.The arm strap that came with my Anderson Cf straight shaft i didnt care for.So i took the arm strap off my At and have used it on my straight shaft for a yr now.Well just last week it started to fall apart.I search online tryin to find 1 to buy.Then i e-mailed Garrett i said do you sell the velcr arm strap for the Atpro cuz mine is falling appart.30 sec later i got..."Sorry to hear that send me your mailing info and we will send one out at no charge".Today i got it in the mail with a few patches and decals.Long story short if you want an awsome machine for fresh water and dry sand my vote is for,Garrett and their Atpro....
 
L.I.Digga said:
I had an At pro sold it for my GT...If i was gonna hunt only fresh water and dry sand i would still have it.I live on LI its all salt water and i like water hunting i relized this after i bought the At pro.The At pro is an awsome machine just not so much in saltwater or wet sand.Some guys use it in the wet salt and say they like it.For what your looking for the Atpro is perfect.And i cant say eough about Garretts customer service.I like the velcro arm strap that came with my At.The arm strap that came with my Anderson Cf straight shaft i didnt care for.So i took the arm strap off my At and have used it on my straight shaft for a yr now.Well just last week it started to fall apart.I search online tryin to find 1 to buy.Then i e-mailed Garrett i said do you sell the velcr arm strap for the Atpro cuz mine is falling appart.30 sec later i got..."Sorry to hear that send me your mailing info and we will send one out at no charge".Today i got it in the mail with a few patches and decals.Long story short if you want an awsome machine for fresh water and dry sand my vote is for,Garrett and their Atpro....
Click to expand...

I had a AT Pro for about a month as my second detector and loved it, I got it for a steal ($300) so when I was short on cash it made sense to sell, as at the time my Dads detector was a AT Pro as well so I could still use his, but he too sold his and I did like the machine. One thing though, you keep saying the at pro for dry sand, its not good in the wet sand and shallow water?

Rich
 
The Compadre is hard-wired I believe but any Tesoro with one of these is the best dry sand machine out there in my opinion because of it's 3.5 X 18" coverage. I have one on my Deleon and I wouldn't trade that set up for anything.
 

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FelixtheCat said:
The Compadre is hard-wired I believe but any Tesoro with one of these is the best dry sand machine out there in my opinion because of it's 3.5 X 18" coverage. I have one on my Deleon and I wouldn't trade that set up for anything.
Click to expand...

I never seen one, what is the name, and price?
 
GetDiggin said:
I had a AT Pro for about a month as my second detector and loved it, I got it for a steal ($300) so when I was short on cash it made sense to sell, as at the time my Dads detector was a AT Pro as well so I could still use his, but he too sold his and I did like the machine. One thing though, you keep saying the at pro for dry sand, its not good in the wet sand and shallow water?

Rich
Click to expand...

Here on LI once i hit the wet sand and shallow salt water it would false and chatter so much that i had no choice but to turn the sensitivity down.Once you gotta turn down the power to get the detector to run stable...Its game over as far as im concerned. I did use it in 1 of the few fresh water lakes we have here and the Atpro worked perfectly. I hunt the salt only so it had to go,But if Garrett had their version of the Xcall or the GT thats what i would have purchased.
 
You didnt say you were in the water.... so you need to look for a detector which is most sensitive to what you are looking for. If its really small gold you need a bit higher freq. Coils also can make the difference since conditions can change. Thou multi freq machines handle the black sand and soil conditions a little better, unless you can use a single freq like the V3 they loose a little sensitivity to low conductors. Since you like a TDI screen... the Deus, MXT, AT pro, or a T2. Depth is more about sensitivity to a given target if thats where you are going.

Dew
 
For the price the At Pro is the best freshwater detector out there. If you can find a deal like I did on a Excal those are great too. LOL
 
GetDiggin said:
Hi there,
I will be completely honest with you, my biggest down fall is I always need to change detectors. I am not sure why I feel the urge to do so, probably a lot to do with my ADHD but doesn't matter, what matters is with me having that urge means I really never get to know the detector as well as it should be. That being said, I have always tended to stay away from all metal mode, I've never "got it" I guess you could say. I am more of a VDI kind of hunter, my ears aren't great so I have a hard time with different tones. It doesn't mean I am against trying it, but it did not come across my mind to try all metal mode. When I got there I did Ground balance but I used the trigger, I did not do it manually because I was wanting to ground balance every few feet do the trigger was obviously the fastest choice. Would manually balancing it make a difference? Also when going into all metal mode what should I dig?

One more thing, I actually really liked my AT Pro, but was never to the beach with it, that being said I have heard a lot of people say at pro is a BAD choice for beach hunting in wet sand, are those people talking about salt beaches?

Thanks,
Rich
Click to expand...

The all metal mode on the F75 will still give you a numerical readout and it will give you a "feel" better than the disc mode will. I used one here in NJ, it will GB to salt but is a bit chattery, which can be reduced by keeping the coil from touching the ground.
I have used the AT Pro at the ocean and bay beaches and it works fine there. It doesn't get the depth my Etrac or Sov get there, but its lighter/easier to swing and gets plenty of depth for fresh drop hunting.
There are always trade offs. Keeping a machine for awhile and trying every mode on it, making adjustments and generally playing around with it is really a good idea as you get to know the machine.
Ive tried a lot of machines also and enjoy doing it, but try to learn them first.
HH
Neil
 
Ok so another question. Now I know out of all the detectors I mentioned the best for me as far as weight goes is hands down the XP Deus. But does anyone know the differences between these swing weight wise, doesn't necessarily mean dry weight, I am talking swing weight, so which is easiest to swing. Put them in a order of easiest to swing to hardest.

V3i
Etrac
Explorer
And I assume if I say to add AT Pro to the list it would be at the top as its lighter as my f75 and as well balanced, so if at pro is anywhere other than at the top then add thats in. Basically I assume the list will be as followed

XP Deus
AT Pro
ETrac
V3i
Explorer SE Pro

Is that correct? Also please place the Tesoro DeLeon in the list for me, is it lighter than the AT Pro?

Thanks,
Rich
 
Buy a Pro-swing harness and weight will not be an issue!

Of the detectors that you listed, the AT-P is the only one that is waterproof. So no biggie if you get hit by a wave or get caught in the rain. For fresh water, it should work fine unless you get a really mineralized area like some of the mines in the U.P.
 
Rich that coil is called the Clean Sweep Coil aka "Bigfoot" as some people call it. All Tesoros are light machines. The coil does add some weight but the new ones are 1/2 pound lighter I believe. I have an older heavier one. Depending on the detector they are either 4 or 5 pin connections so you gotta make sure which one you need when you order. I bought mine used that was in great shape from a dealer a few years back for about $120 I believe. And since it's considered a "double d" coil it does well with some mineralization as opposed to a concentric.
 
GetDiggin said:
One thing though, you keep saying the at pro for dry sand, its not good in the wet sand and shallow water?
Click to expand...

Those comments are strictly salt water related...

If you are in MI. and intend to get in the water in MI, and are far away from me, I highly recommend the AT Pro.... If you live close by, you should get a CTX or Excal....:lol:

There are at least a couple of us that do ok with ours...

A few from last season..

IMG_4812_zps8ddbce79.jpg


untitled_zps27ae86d4.png


<*)))>{
 
Ice Scratcher said:
Those comments are strictly salt water related...

If you are in MI. and intend to get in the water in MI, and are far away from me, I highly recommend the AT Pro.... If you live close by, you should get a CTX or Excal....:lol:

There are at least a couple of us that do ok with ours...

<*)))>{
Click to expand...

Agree. I don't want anybody else with an AT Pro in my area please. :no:
 
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