Jump to content

Ghost Towns And Stage Stops


Recommended Posts

Hi all. This is my first post. This is a wonderful site with a wealth of knowledge! I have a newbie question so I apologize to those irritated by the stereotypical newbie questions. 

I live in the Great Basin (Northern Nevada) and am interested in ghost towns and stage stops, which I am pretty close to. I have a Teknetics Omega 8000. I’ve had it about 6ish years, and it hasn’t been used much. I will be retiring in two months and will have then have time to hit these places. Obviously my targets will be coins and relics. I have very mineralized soil and there will be lots of iron trash. The Teknetics will certainly get me started, but technology has marched forward since I bought it. What are your thoughts on a new machine? My budget is up to a Deus 2, but that doesn’t mean I am itching for one. I’m okay with a single frequency machine if there are some that work great for my purposes.

Thanks in advance!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Welcome to the forum. 🙂 In Virginia the Deus 2 is pretty much the king of detectors, and I guess it's partially due to the fact that it's hard to get ones' hands on a Manticore. 😀 The Equinox seems pretty prevalent on the beaches but that may change.

But seriously, if you're retiring and going to be able to get out a lot, getting the lightest detector there is will certainly aid in your ability to stay out there longer. I'm pretty sure the D2 has the widest range of options for detecting as well. It was designed from the get-go to be extremely versatile.

I'm probably not your best authority but I have had great success with both the Deus 2 and the Equinox 600, I find I prefer the D2 because it is more likely to clearly identify targets where I am. My environment is non-mineralized and kind of like shooting fish in a barrel, if something is under the coil it's pretty much a done deal in most of my permissions.

I've seen posts of ghost town and desert hunting from other members, and certainly they will be along with their equally valuable viewpoints but should you need the machine to be very waterproof for any reason you can be confident with the Deus 2 as well.

On the downside it is quite an investment and does have, like any other similar machine, a pretty steep learning curve.

I wish you the best of luck with any choice you make. 🙂

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Id also say to get the d2 because it is superior for separation. If you're at ghost towns and stage stops you'll need something superior as those sites have likely been hot hundreds and hundreds of times.

Theyre selling for about 1000 on ebay right now...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What ever future detector you decide on, I would recommend going with Simultaneous Multi Frequency. That technology handles mineralized ground much better than single frequency.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Plus one on the Deus 2 for relic hunting in iron and mineralized ground. I upgraded from the Equinox 800, which I still enjoy, but it cannot match the Deus 2's ability to pick good targets out of iron infested ground, specially with the 9" coil. And a Deus 2 Master setup can be had for $799.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Welcome, Wilderland!

The Northern Nevada ghost towns I've hunted (four that I can think of) are *loaded* with iron trash.  Small coils have proven to be almost a must.  (Not sure about the 9 in. diameter XP Deus 2 -- smallest they make for it so far -- but for the Minelab Equinoxes and Nokta Legend, the 6" round DD has been preferred by others who get out there more than I do.)  Minelab has promised a 5"x8" DD for the Manticore but so far they haven't released any....  People have had success with single frequency detectors such as some of the Tesoros and a couple Noktas (e.g. CoRe and Relic) so your Teknetics Omega with small coil (e.g. its 5" round DD) can't be eliminated without more specific info.  Maybe someone else with experience in those conditions can comment.  I wasn't able to have much success with the Fisher F75 and 4"x6" concentric because of too much falsing from small pieces of sheet metal, but I'm not the sharpest performer with that detector....

Low amplitude (i.e. left-right) swings and slow coil movement when searching is what I've been taught for those sites.  They really are tough but that means even if searched many times there are still goodies.  I've proved that myself with the Eqx 800 and 6" coil.  I won't say it's the best choice as I haven't tried the other multifreqers in those conditions, but it's probably in the running.  Likely at least a few detectors will do the job almost equally well, in the right hands.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I sure appreciate everyone’s input. It seems the Deus II is the way to go. As GB says, the iron is almost unimaginable. Some 10 years ago I hit one small town site with an MXT and a 5” coil, and every single swing had several iron hits. After about a half hour I gave up. It is discouraging.

I know the sites out here have certainly been detected a lot, but I imagine not nearly as much as some places back East simply because they are rather remote. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So, Gerry from Gerry’s Detectors talked me into an Equinox 900. With the Minelab veterans discount it was $515 less expensive than the Deus II, and comes with two coils. 1/3 less is significant. Ordered on Wednesday and it arrived today.

It was intuitive to assemble. It is light and of high quality. I can literally just turn it on and go detecting. My only two complaints are there were no Minelab stickers, 😐, and my a Killer B headphones seem to be the wrong impedance to work with the Equinox. The volume is very low even with the volume knob on the headphones turned all the way up. That is rather disappointing. 

I will take it out tomorrow to begin learning the machine. I have a spot on Gerry’s Rye Patch trip in June I am really looking forward to attending.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Did you play around with the Limiter & Mode switches on your Killer B's?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JCR, yes I did. There is only one switch, a yellow toggle. One way and the audio comes out of the detector speaker, the other way and the audio is VERY attenuated. I tried a pair of Sony studio headphones, and they worked perfectly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...