• Forum server maintanace Friday night.(around 7PM Centeral time)
    Website will be off line for a short while.

    You may need to log out, log back in after we're back online.

Question on detectors

John 71

Junior Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
72
I don't unstand why people buy these detectors and only keep them a few weeks. That's not long enough I don't think to learn it? What do you think.
 
Duh....it's the mark of an expert ;)

:lol: Yes,yes it is...:lol:

Your observation is correct John,each detector is it’s own animal(even very similar models from the same manufacturer) and it takes YEARS to realize every nuance that it might have. The more complex the machine is,the more variables there are to adjust,play with,etc. to see how those adjustments effect performance. Guys who have used their machines for THOUSANDS of hours very well may STILL be able to learn something about it,and how to turn that knowledge into an advantage in the field.
But...to know everything there is to know about a machine in a few WEEKS? It doesn’t make any sense that it could be that way,and it’s not,no matter how much someone professes that this is the case.
 
I don't unstand why people buy these detectors and only keep them a few weeks. That's not long enough I don't think to learn it? What do you think.
Your observation is correct John,each detector is it’s own animal(even very similar models from the same manufacturer) and it takes YEARS to realize every nuance that it might have.
We are looking for the best detector and what we will understand best, some may be easier to use than others.

All of you presented great viewpoints. I think the DP-UW is a perfect example of why someone might buy and sell a detector in a week.

The add infers it is a capable machine to use in salt water. However, since it is a single-frequency machine, the operator has a big learning curve to operate it in salt water. He has to learn to accept the machine will chatter. He has to discern the erroneous signals. He has to learn how to turn down the sensitivity. And then all of that work to realize the machine is probably going to only ping on targets less than 4" deep. In 5-minutes he can figure out the machine doesn't work in salt water.

like many folks that bought the wrong machine for salt, the guy will do more research and end up buying a competent machine like a Minelab Excallibur. When the Excal arrives, he will turn the machine to auto, start swinging, and about the only time he hears a ping is when there is a real target. Targets are deep, and yep, it works like the advertisement. In 5-minutes he knows it works and then will take time to explore tweaking the machine for optimal results.

^^^ These scenarios (at a salt water beach) can sum up a detectors performance in about 5-minutes of use.

Now go inland to a park where there are stable soils and ideal conditions for ANY machine and you'll probably need more than 5-minutes. You'll test the reaction speeds, the ability to accurately discern targets; the ability to discriminate unwanted targets; check target masking; target depth; and then get into custom settings, ergonomics, battery life, etc, etc. But again, all of those things are irrelevant to the salt water guy because in the first five minutes he learned his machine is not capable of operating smoothly in his hunting environment.

Oh, and the reason its listed for sale is because some vendors will not accept returns on opened/used equipment.
 

Attachments

  • dpuw.jpg
    dpuw.jpg
    40.9 KB · Views: 465
Many people in any hobby, choose continue "to try to buy skill" instead of "learning." They run short on patience and blame the equipment. It's their money, and many of them are skilled sellers so they don't lose a lot.

I've heard comments from folks, saying "This is the best detector, an old friend I've missed", after going back to a past model. It's less that two weeks that they sell and buy something different, and dump that "old friend" again.

You can't really figure people out.
 
Many people in any hobby, choose continue "to try to buy skill" instead of "learning." They run short on patience and blame the equipment. It's their money, and many of them are skilled sellers so they don't lose a lot.

I've heard comments from folks, saying "This is the best detector, an old friend I've missed", after going back to a past model. It's less that two weeks that they sell and buy something different, and dump that "old friend" again.

You can't really figure people out.


“Try to buy skill”....I like that description! Like David said,in certain situations a decision can be made quickly. But for turf hunters especially,nuances take time to master,that’s why they’re called “nuances”.
It is all over the board as to what people want and why...
 
I buy and try a lot,but always keep a fbs machine handy,I’m a coin hunter in general.The way I look at it,if I can buy,use and resell and only loose a little shipping money,,I couldn’t rent that machine for $30 for 3 weeks..To each they’re own,my personal preference is fbs technology,and of course the almighty AT pro.lol
 
Guilty as charged! Not on all detectors I buy, but I do feel, after so long, a person can see if a detector has what they're looking for with just a few good hunts.
 
The ad said it would find treasure, after two weeks and they still have a day job with nothing to show but a bag of trash and two rotted zincolns they realize it was false advertising.
 
I don't unstand why people buy these detectors and only keep them a few weeks. That's not long enough I don't think to learn it? What do you think.


Curiosity makes them want to try most of them, as someone almost always says something good about most of them. Then they find no special magic or an annoyance, so they sell to finance the next detector investigation.
 
Many people in any hobby, choose continue "to try to buy skill" instead of "learning." They run short on patience and blame the equipment. It's their money, and many of them are skilled sellers so they don't lose a lot.

I've heard comments from folks, saying "This is the best detector, an old friend I've missed", after going back to a past model. It's less that two weeks that they sell and buy something different, and dump that "old friend" again.

You can't really figure people out.

Although I can't really comment too much since I am relatively new to metal detecting in general there are plenty of other hobbies/past times where people spend more time, money and energy trying "to buy skill" as opposed to practicing to be more skillful. Golf is the perfect example of this. I see the same people year after year with new clubs and the same dreadful swing.

Since I was new to detecting, wasn't sure I would really enjoy the hobby as well as having limited time to go with other things such as work, family, kids, golf and other hobbies I decided to buy a very basic detector (BH Tracker 4) just to see if I would like it before I invested too much money. It was one of the best decisions ever. I really learned the detector well by really listening and experimenting. I was learning the skills I needed to be successful.

That to me was a really valuable experience. I know in the future I definitely want to upgrade to a better and more powerful detector. Really spending the time to learn some important skills with the basic one will pay off even bigger when I do invest in a more powerful one. I really don't think I would have learned so much in as short of a time if I started with a more advanced detector.

I can't figure people out either.......but I guess it is their money to do with as they please.
 
Back
Top Bottom