Cherry Picker
Forum Supporter
With talk about the new White's Vision and the E-Trac already on the shelf, I thought it could be fun to talk about detector upgrades.
How many of us have thought about upgrading our detector only to be disappointed in the results? Yup, been there done that! In fact I sometimes feel I'm a gluten for punishment for continuing to look for the holy grail of metal detectors. We are enticed by a few extra features and fancy stickers into believing this could be the one.
After years of detecting and many many detectors I've noticed a pattern in detector technology. There generally is not much depth difference between the lower end and higher end range of detectors when in the hands of a competent user. The vast majority of todays lower end detectors are capable of probably 7-8" in the hands of an experienced user, and the higher end detectors can squeeze out a few more inches down to the 9-10" depth or perhaps a tab deeper. It was the same years ago, only less depth.
Back a few years I could squeeze roughly 4 maybe 5", on a good day, out of my Tesoro Mayan. I bought a Garrett American TR with roughly the same results. Later I upgraded to the Freedom which with time I was able to get a inch or two more in depth, but nothing really life altering which is what we all hope for when we choose to upgrade. I continued to chase that holy grail with the ADS III, then the ADS VII and the grand Master Hunter. Through it all I was a bit disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a holy grail to be found. Often I felt as though I had actually downgraded from a previous detector, but after time I found for the most part I was slow improving on my capabilities.
In 1991 I once again was fighting off that urge to find my holy grail, thinking back to all my past disappointments, but the pursuit of perfection has no conscious, nor memory so it seems. White's had introduced their new Eagle Spectrum and I was again seeing coins popping out of those old worked out sites. I just happened to get back taxes that year, man those were the days, and just had to have that detector. My hunting buddies thought I was nuts. But then they had both just bought new "cream of the crop" detectors themselves, I was just trying to keep up. Up until now I had been relying on my much longer experience to make my old detector perform along side the shiny new detectors my buddies were using.
As normal with a new detector, off we all went to the city park to test my new detector. We always tested new detectors in this park, and even though we knew it was over 100 years old, we never found more than a few wheats around the 5-6" depth. We figured the park was cleaned out by our local Garrett dealer. I remember reading posts by other people claiming to have found coins at 8" deep and I'd laugh to myself thinking these people just aren't very good at pinpointing. I really didn't believe a coin could be that deep.
So we step up to the parks band shell area and tune'm up. Remember, this is the very first time I had ever used this detector. Two steps later and I get a solid signal that my VDI says 79/dime at 6.5". My buddies checked my signal and get nothing. I check again and it's as solid as a rock. Out of this signal I recovered 3 silver dimes, 3 wheats and a silver war nickle. Two steps more and the same thing. I couldn't walk more than 2 steps without getting a solid signal that turned out to be old coins. In fact almost 50% of the recoveries had more than 1 coin. It was virgin territory in a 100 year old park below 6". I had found my holy grail.
For the next 12 years I worked that park and pulled coins as deep as 10" on a daily basis. Some 2000 old coins later it seemed the well was drying up. Once again I was haunted by that little voice that had been gone for so long. That voice telling me it's time for an upgrade. But could I ever expect the upgrade I experienced with my Eagle? I know the coins are there, if I can only get a few more inches haunted me at night.
Search for the holy grail part 2
I researched and researched, pestered people over the Internet looking for that sign. It just wasn't there. I bought a XLT thinking in 12 years there has got to have been some advancement in technology. The XLT was a great detector but other than being lighter I didn't see much difference between it and my Eagle. In fact since I had 12 years experience with my Eagle. I felt the Eagle was a little better. I now realize had I put in 12 years with the XLT, I'm sure it was every bit as good as my Eagle and probably better. Oh well, what ya gonna do?
I put in 2 hard years with the XLT and gave it every opportunity to prove itself the holy grail, but it was not to be. Not for me anyway. After 2 years I really put my nose to the grindstone and began to narrow down my search. Reading every post and asking lots of questions I started to see that while everyone tends to endorse the detector they use, there was a hidden source I had not seen before. Look at what people are finding, and look for the weak spots that are seldom talked about. I was looking closely at the DFX and the Minelab Explorer II. These people seemed to have a few commons in their posts. Depth and pulling targets from worked out sites. The weaknesses seemed to be this thing called a "learning curve" Heck, 20+ years of detecting I felt I could handle any detector made.
The kicker for me was I noticed a lack of gold posts by the Explorer users. That and complaints about the weight. I bought a new DFX and of course took it to the city park to see if lightning would strike twice. Right of the bat, which has a big influence on first impressions, the DFX hit a buffalo nickle at 8" solid as a rock. I was impressed. I continued to find sporadic coins that seemed to be beyond the abilities of my former detectors, but the holy grail it was not. I then looked again at my second choice and saw the new Explorer SE had advanced over the Explorer II and claims of "deep silver" drove me over the edge. I bought one.
Again the SE was an excellent detector, and like my DFX could consistently pull those deep coins, but it was no holy grail, and that sucker was heavy. I found myself facing the same situation I had faced many times before. Different bells & whistles, but the depth ability wasn't much better than the last detector. Since I already had 5 years on the DFX and really didn't see any advantage, I sold the SE and went back to the old faithful DFX.
This brings us up to date. My DFX continues to produce even in that city park, but I find myself, darn that little voice, hoping for another storm. That holy grail if you will. I've been eyeballing the E-Trac and really contemplating the MXT as I plan to upgrade? once again this spring. Now the new White's Vision has tossed it's name into the ring. What to do, what to do.
That my friends is why I look to upgrade. I understand all too well that knowing how to use your detector is the most important factor, but because of the lesson I learned in 1991, I also realize having the best detector can also make a big difference.
Moral to the story?
Year after year we see changes that amount to little more than cosmetic differences, but every so often detector technology takes a giant leap forward. Would you be able to spot it if it did?
How many of us have thought about upgrading our detector only to be disappointed in the results? Yup, been there done that! In fact I sometimes feel I'm a gluten for punishment for continuing to look for the holy grail of metal detectors. We are enticed by a few extra features and fancy stickers into believing this could be the one.
After years of detecting and many many detectors I've noticed a pattern in detector technology. There generally is not much depth difference between the lower end and higher end range of detectors when in the hands of a competent user. The vast majority of todays lower end detectors are capable of probably 7-8" in the hands of an experienced user, and the higher end detectors can squeeze out a few more inches down to the 9-10" depth or perhaps a tab deeper. It was the same years ago, only less depth.
Back a few years I could squeeze roughly 4 maybe 5", on a good day, out of my Tesoro Mayan. I bought a Garrett American TR with roughly the same results. Later I upgraded to the Freedom which with time I was able to get a inch or two more in depth, but nothing really life altering which is what we all hope for when we choose to upgrade. I continued to chase that holy grail with the ADS III, then the ADS VII and the grand Master Hunter. Through it all I was a bit disappointed that there doesn't seem to be a holy grail to be found. Often I felt as though I had actually downgraded from a previous detector, but after time I found for the most part I was slow improving on my capabilities.
In 1991 I once again was fighting off that urge to find my holy grail, thinking back to all my past disappointments, but the pursuit of perfection has no conscious, nor memory so it seems. White's had introduced their new Eagle Spectrum and I was again seeing coins popping out of those old worked out sites. I just happened to get back taxes that year, man those were the days, and just had to have that detector. My hunting buddies thought I was nuts. But then they had both just bought new "cream of the crop" detectors themselves, I was just trying to keep up. Up until now I had been relying on my much longer experience to make my old detector perform along side the shiny new detectors my buddies were using.
As normal with a new detector, off we all went to the city park to test my new detector. We always tested new detectors in this park, and even though we knew it was over 100 years old, we never found more than a few wheats around the 5-6" depth. We figured the park was cleaned out by our local Garrett dealer. I remember reading posts by other people claiming to have found coins at 8" deep and I'd laugh to myself thinking these people just aren't very good at pinpointing. I really didn't believe a coin could be that deep.
So we step up to the parks band shell area and tune'm up. Remember, this is the very first time I had ever used this detector. Two steps later and I get a solid signal that my VDI says 79/dime at 6.5". My buddies checked my signal and get nothing. I check again and it's as solid as a rock. Out of this signal I recovered 3 silver dimes, 3 wheats and a silver war nickle. Two steps more and the same thing. I couldn't walk more than 2 steps without getting a solid signal that turned out to be old coins. In fact almost 50% of the recoveries had more than 1 coin. It was virgin territory in a 100 year old park below 6". I had found my holy grail.
For the next 12 years I worked that park and pulled coins as deep as 10" on a daily basis. Some 2000 old coins later it seemed the well was drying up. Once again I was haunted by that little voice that had been gone for so long. That voice telling me it's time for an upgrade. But could I ever expect the upgrade I experienced with my Eagle? I know the coins are there, if I can only get a few more inches haunted me at night.
Search for the holy grail part 2
I researched and researched, pestered people over the Internet looking for that sign. It just wasn't there. I bought a XLT thinking in 12 years there has got to have been some advancement in technology. The XLT was a great detector but other than being lighter I didn't see much difference between it and my Eagle. In fact since I had 12 years experience with my Eagle. I felt the Eagle was a little better. I now realize had I put in 12 years with the XLT, I'm sure it was every bit as good as my Eagle and probably better. Oh well, what ya gonna do?
I put in 2 hard years with the XLT and gave it every opportunity to prove itself the holy grail, but it was not to be. Not for me anyway. After 2 years I really put my nose to the grindstone and began to narrow down my search. Reading every post and asking lots of questions I started to see that while everyone tends to endorse the detector they use, there was a hidden source I had not seen before. Look at what people are finding, and look for the weak spots that are seldom talked about. I was looking closely at the DFX and the Minelab Explorer II. These people seemed to have a few commons in their posts. Depth and pulling targets from worked out sites. The weaknesses seemed to be this thing called a "learning curve" Heck, 20+ years of detecting I felt I could handle any detector made.
The kicker for me was I noticed a lack of gold posts by the Explorer users. That and complaints about the weight. I bought a new DFX and of course took it to the city park to see if lightning would strike twice. Right of the bat, which has a big influence on first impressions, the DFX hit a buffalo nickle at 8" solid as a rock. I was impressed. I continued to find sporadic coins that seemed to be beyond the abilities of my former detectors, but the holy grail it was not. I then looked again at my second choice and saw the new Explorer SE had advanced over the Explorer II and claims of "deep silver" drove me over the edge. I bought one.
Again the SE was an excellent detector, and like my DFX could consistently pull those deep coins, but it was no holy grail, and that sucker was heavy. I found myself facing the same situation I had faced many times before. Different bells & whistles, but the depth ability wasn't much better than the last detector. Since I already had 5 years on the DFX and really didn't see any advantage, I sold the SE and went back to the old faithful DFX.
This brings us up to date. My DFX continues to produce even in that city park, but I find myself, darn that little voice, hoping for another storm. That holy grail if you will. I've been eyeballing the E-Trac and really contemplating the MXT as I plan to upgrade? once again this spring. Now the new White's Vision has tossed it's name into the ring. What to do, what to do.
That my friends is why I look to upgrade. I understand all too well that knowing how to use your detector is the most important factor, but because of the lesson I learned in 1991, I also realize having the best detector can also make a big difference.
Moral to the story?
Year after year we see changes that amount to little more than cosmetic differences, but every so often detector technology takes a giant leap forward. Would you be able to spot it if it did?
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the only time I have ever bought a new machine and had that "oh wow slap in the face this is something different" experience is when I bought my Troy shadow X5..in my opinion there is not a better machine on the market than the X5 for my style of hunting..yet I have bought 2 more machines since the X5..the most recent being the MXT which I really like but I can do just as much with my X5 as I can the MXT if not a little more. and now theres that new whites vision..Ill probably break down and buy one of them but itll turn out the way it always does Im sure..Ill use it for awhile and find out its no better than my troy and either sell it or stick it in the holding cell with the others...or it could be the other way around..who knows? thats the thing..there is always that "hmm what if its better" voice in the back of my head and Ill convince myself I have to try it.
Which is that after awhile, I would be able to do well with the MXT. I've heard nothing but good things about it.
i find as many,or more coins with my f2 as i do with my exterra 70.
