Which detector was the hardest to learn for you?

[Detectorguy]

I had a Whites xlt metal detector ad had a Love/Hate relationship with it. I would try ad adjust this ad the adjust that. One day my hunting buddy goes to the store and I am to watch his machine while he is gone.
I made several adjustments while he was gone and when he got back my machine was picking up coins REALLY far from the coil ! I had no idea of what I had done but it was really hot. My buddy waves a coin over the coil, says wow that's crazy deep. Picks up the machine and hits the power button.
I push the power button and it come's on, but not like before
Great machine, but I had No idea how to make it hot again.

 

[davemill]

The "FIRST" one was the hardest to learn...I used those lessons to learn the others quicker!

I was just about to say the same thing. Once you figure out what a point target sounds like and how to pinpoint it, you can transfer those skills.

 

[oldkoot]

Been using a White's PI forever. But when the 800 came out I got 1 right away. Had 10 days to try and keep it , or return it and pay a 15% penalty. Unfortunately for me when I got it we were smack dab in the middle of a beach gold storm. I thought I knew enough to go right to the advanced settings and scoop up gold. Not even close. It was a nightmare for me as I only made 2 attempts on the beach because lack of time on losing out on a gold rush. Returned it and took my beating. But also made up for it with my PI. When things calmed down here , I bought another and paid my dues. About 4 months in I felt I had it mastered making some incredible finds with my new Nox. Around this time I discovered that some deep negative targets were actually gold rings and did quite well going behind others who thought those signals weren't worth digging up. Many , including some on this forum , thought I was full of it. Now you see all these Youtubers digging negative signals. I am now very reluctant to divulge any machine tips. Though I no longer have a Nox , it has turned out to be a great machine but not the best....

Thats the biggest confusion for most just starting out with a new detector is they do not realize Gold and especially gold nuggets can fall any where on the TID (target ID) Range including Negative TId's, they want to notch this and that out without realizing they could be notching out gold jewelry and gold nuggets, then will come on and say how their detector is not finding the good and sometimes great targets, I was extremely lucky when i got into detecting the dealer i purchased both of my first two detectors took me under his wings and showed me not only how to use my detectors but one of the first things he told me is dig every good tone no matter what those target IDs are telling you dig every good tone, he beat that into my head, so from then on I dig by tones, yes I occasionally look at those stupid TIDs jumping all over the place, but I never dig anything based on those TIDs if the tone sounds good and clean I dig and yes I occasionally dig some that do not sound quite good just to be sure

That dealer helped me a lot but even with his teachings it still took me a year and a half with the Xterra 705 to fully understand what the dang thing was telling me, first mistake was setting it to 99 tones
(talk about information overload) LOL it sounded like a symphony going off in my ears, there was times I wanted to wrap that 705 around a tree but being the mild mannered person I am (Snickering under my Breath) LOL i stuck with the 705 and learned it

 

[choppadude]

The AKA Sorex was/is a real challenge but even with limited knowledge of the unit I found it to be the deepest machine I have ever used. The learning curve on this machine was unlike anything else I have ever used and I have used almost all of the current models out there

 

[Mr. Digger]

It was really hard to learn all those years ago after I transitioned from a Whites Classic SL but I miss my Minelab SE Pro. Used it for years and made my greatest finds with it. Eventually it gave up the ghost but instead of the Etrac I opted for the Nox 800. I find it so much more confusing and like you maxxkatt I would guess I'm only using about 1% of the technology and definitely missing stuff. I basically just toggle back and forth between Field 1 or 2 in less trashy areas and Park 1 or 2 when for trashy or cellar holes. Somehow I'm digging significantly fewer mid tone targets like buttons and nickels than I used to get with the SE Pro. Of course I'm sure part of it is no new permissions and I'm just hitting the spots I cleaned out with the SE Pro!

 

[maxxkatt]

I have and use a Nox600 ,Nox900 , and a Legend.They were all fairly easy to learn(I'm still learning the Legend) but the 3 different VDI scales can really be confusing when trying to ID stuff before digging. The Legend was probably the hardest for me but still not too hard.

I had that problem when I was owning both the Vanquish 540 and the Simplex. My brain just could not retain two different sets of VDI scales. That is one reason I will not own two different brands of detectors, plus the added investment required.

 

[maxxkatt]

For me personally it was the Xterra 705, when I first started detecting my wife and I purchased two detectors the AT Pro had just come out so we purchased a brand new ATP and the dealer we purchased the ATP from also had a nice used Xterra 705 so we also purchased the 705, it took me about a year and a half for the Light bulb to turn on and once the light did finally turn on the 705 quickly became my favorite detector of all I have used, the 705 for me made the Legend seem like a cake walk to learn

for me personally there is something to be said about simpler detectors, i have started using some beep and dig detectors the past few months and honestly I am having more fun detecting than I have in several years, turn them on ground balance and start swinging, no worrying about a screen or jumpy target IDs, or whether I have it set up correctly or not for the ground I am on, there is just something about the simplicity of a good Beep and dig that just makes the detecting game fun again for me personally, also what I am finding is in a lot of cases the beep and digs are just as deep and in a lot of cases deeper than these new digital detectors, i can discriminate nails and other ferrous targets that fool some of these higher tech detectors or most of these higher tech detectors, they see coins and jewelry amongst heavy nails and screws with the nails and screws piled on top of those non ferrous targets, when the beep and digs are screaming non ferrous target it has been 100% a non ferrous target yes some bottle caps give a non ferrous tone but with the beep and digs I am swinging you can tell its a bottle cap very easily, pull tabs no you cannot but I am a tone hunter and always have been so the beep and digs suit my detecting more so than these high tech digital detectors

Yes I still have my high tech digital detectors but rite now they are sitting collecting dust and I do not feel I am missing any good targets at all by swinging a beep and dig detector

When hunting with the AT Pro and my son using an Ace 250 we just went out to some Civil War relic areas and ground balanced and had fun hunting. When using the 800 and to a lesser extent the XP Deus 2, I was always wondering if I was missing some good targets because of not having the settings properly set. But also on the flip side, I do like trying to adjust my XP Deus 2 for the best settings to match the nature of the site I am hunting. I am getting a little more comfortable with adjusting the XP Deus 2 properly for my different types of sites that I hunt. I do find the menu system easier for me to understand than I did the 800.

 

[John Madill]

When hunting with the AT Pro and my son using an Ace 250 we just went out to some Civil War relic areas and ground balanced and had fun hunting. When using the 800 and to a lesser extent the XP Deus 2, I was always wondering if I was missing some good targets because of not having the settings properly set. But also on the flip side, I do like trying to adjust my XP Deus 2 for the best settings to match the nature of the site I am hunting. I am getting a little more comfortable with adjusting the XP Deus 2 properly for my different types of sites that I hunt. I do find the menu system easier for me to understand than I did the 800.

Yes, I had a Legend and then got a Deus. With the Legend I could never remember what all those icons stood for.
With the Deus you just scroll through a simple list: sensitivity, discrimination, reactivity, etc.

No puzzling icons.

 

[60streeter]

I started with At Gold.. simple machine, but very effective . Went to Deus and learned about recovery speed. and filters. Those two things are basis for every machine. They all throw in their filters...... which is a bit tricky to figure out.. I try not to use silencer or filter on th D2

 

[vmc1161]

I had that problem when I was owning both the Vanquish 540 and the Simplex. My brain just could not retain two different sets of VDI scales. That is one reason I will not own two different brands of detectors, plus the added investment required.

I went from whites to equalnuts 900 and the numbers were almost identical but not. I am getting better at it now. I have not found any silver or gold in the ground yet. Will definitely remember those numbers for sure.

 

[graybeard]

I had a Whites xlt metal detector ad had a Love/Hate relationship with it. I would try ad adjust this ad the adjust that. One day my hunting buddy goes to the store and I am to watch his machine while he is gone.
I made several adjustments while he was gone and when he got back my machine was picking up coins REALLY far from the coil ! I had no idea of what I had done but it was really hot. My buddy waves a coin over the coil, says wow that's crazy deep. Picks up the machine and hits the power button.
I push the power button and it come's on, but not like before
Great machine, but I had No idea how to make it hot again.

With the XLT after turning it back on don't do anything but pull the trigger. Your settings are still there, if you go to programs you lost the settings.

 

[graybeard]

V3 and the Explorer II were the worst detectors that I had.
The DFX was one of the best detectors that I have used, still have the DFX.

 

[Detectorguy]

All I know is when my buddy handed the machine back to me it was in a stock program.

 

[TexHunter]

The first one, in 1972...

 

[Beachhunt1]

Good Question. I do not think I need to go back to Garret Master hunter years. In more modern times......I could never learn the Fisher CZ-21, and sold it.
With the current machines, the D2 would be the at the top. One has to be really aware of their conditions and match the settings correctly.

 

[maxxkatt]

All I know is when my buddy handed the machine back to me it was in a stock program.

So funny! I wished someone had done that to me with the 800. I kept blaming the detector when it was 100% me messing around with advanced settings and not understanding what I was doing.

 

[james45]

I agree. The menu systems on some of the old White’s detectors were something else! It was the V3i for me. If you can run that thing, everything else will be a piece of cake.

Hmmmm ,all you need is a good fisher 1266 X .I know of a fellow from Arizona that for 20 years made a living with a 1266X .It was all gold jewelry from all the state parks.He was selling the gold items to a certain company that melted gold items .The last time I heard from him He got a $800 in a years time.Who needs expensive detectors with long curves.

 

[robby4570]

This thread is a good example of "The Peter Principle" at work...

 

[maxxkatt]

This thread is a good example of "The Peter Principle" at work...

Boy that is the truth. I hit it with the 800.

 

[robby4570]

Boy that is the truth. I hit it with the 800.

Yeah, for me the 800 was "too simple" of a machine, not simple to operate but in what info it gives you. I've swung an E-Trac since early 2014 and going from that to an 800 was too large of a backward step for me so I use my 'Nox 800 on the beach with the 15 inch coil 98% of the time I use it. Maybe 2% of the time I use it with the 6 inch in the dirt but my Primary machine is the CTX 3030 with any of my 3 coils (6,11,17 inch) and my back up to that is my E-Trac with the 9x5 NEL Sharpshooter exclusively. When I just want a challenge, I'll take the MX Sport with the 6 inch coil out to play. I'm mostly a dirt hunter now that I live in the NOLA area, but we get to Florida about 4 or 5 times a year...