Raining Detectors - How Many is Too Many?

[Rick K - First Member]

ATX - SDC2300 - Fors Gold - revised F-75 - Deus ---- it's raining new detectors in the goldfields and Steve is getting SOAKED! LOL.

Looking forward to your take on the Deus.

[Steve Herschbach]

ATX - SDC2300 - Fors Gold - revised F-75 - Deus ---- it's raining new detectors in the goldfields and Steve is getting SOAKED! LOL.

Looking forward to your take on the Deus.

And now I have to start a serious winnowing process to see what survives. So far the Deus underwhelms me for prospecting.

[fredmason]

I am curious, Steve; how many detectors do you have at this time. What would you say is your average daily possession rate-if there is such a thing for you,

 

I have had as many as five detectors at one time...but, like a harem I just could not keep them happy.

 

BTW have luck and fun, looks like I will be getting there about when you and Chris are leaving

 

fred

[Steve Herschbach]

Getting where?

Funny you should ask Fred I was just compiling a list of what to keep and what may have to go.

Keepers and primary use. In other words the reason I keep it. Though there is overlap in actual use.

Minelab GPX 5000 - big gold PI

Minelab SDC 2300 - small gold PI

Garrett ATX - beach and water detecting

Fisher Gold Bug 2 - micro gold

Minelab CTX 3030 - coins

White's V3i - jewelry

Nokta FORS Gold - nugget detecting trashy areas

Fisher F75 Ltd - nugget detecting trashy areas

The last two detectors are very similar and one or the other may eventually win out, but I like them both so both stay for now. That makes my working core collection seven or eight detectors. But remember I do more than just prospect so have varied needs.

On the probable chopping block:

White's DFX - replaced by V3i

Fisher Gold Bug Pro - replaced by F75

White's Surf PI - replaced by ATX

White's TDI - replaced by ATX

White's GMT - replaced by Gold Bug 2

XP Deus - replaced by F75

I have some older models also that I hate to lose but I am just not using them. These are a White's GM3 and V/SAT, Compass 77B, and some old White's blue box Goldmasters and a Coinmaster. I easily have twice as many detectors as I need right now. The thing is I do not rely on reports from others to decide what works for me. Only I can determine that. So I just get them and use them and eventually something ends up gathering dust, and gets sold.

White's is taking a pretty big hit. They have always been a favorite company of mine but they can only repackage the MXT so many times. Might of got me with the MX5 but instead of adding manual ground balance like I wanted they removed the Locked mode and now the unit only runs in ground tracking, just like a Lobo. There really is nothing else like the V3i though so it is a keeper, and I have to have something to run my Bigfoot coil.

Frankly, I am getting burned out on testing detectors. My goal during the brief Reno winter is to sell half of my stuff, and in 2015 concentrate on pure detecting hours as much as possible.

[fredmason]

thanks Steve...I was trying to be discrete...The Rye Patch area...excuse me if i am mistaken.

 

That is a load of detectors, you sure do get the juice from them!

 

fred

[Steve Herschbach]

I actually have no firm plans yet. You were wanting to know about a month from now, and I do not know what I am doing this weekend!

New rule. I am going to get my detector collection down to eight. Then, if I want to buy a new one, I must get rid of one first. This mess is out of control! I could survive on three or four detectors so eight is luxury.

[Tom Harris]

Steve

Do you think that detectors like the goldbug ll and the whites Gmt are becoming obsolete because of all the new 18 kHz units that seem to have enough sensitivity to detect the very tiny gold but also offer a lot more flexibility. I have the got the Gmt which I love

but if the Xp Gmp was available in North America I would probably get that and not think I was loosing any gold ability.

 

Tom

[Steve Herschbach]

In my opinion the mid-frequency units do not hold a candle to the GMT or Gold Bug 2 for small gold. Mind you, the mid-frequency units may come very close, and offer better overall value. But if you want to hit the tiniest spec of gold or wire or sponge gold high frequency is still the name of the game. I will never get rid of my Gold Bug 2 until somebody makes something better, which right now looks to be never. I actually have two in case they ever stop making them.

The XP Deus is not even in the same ballpark.

But not everybody wants or needs more than one detector. Most people just want one detector that does most of what they need. They fall into two groups.

1. "I want a detector for gold prospecting but also want to use it for other things". These people are best served by mid-frequency do-it-all detectors with a strong prospecting mode. Units like the Garrett AT Gold, Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Minelab X-Terra 705, Tesoro Lobo, or White's MXT. I do not think anything is gained by spending over $1000 for a VLF detector if prospecting is a primary goal but with other uses in mind.

2. "I want a top end detector for coin, relic, and jewelry detecting, and I might use it prospecting now and then". These people usually want a flagship detector, and most any top end detector will work these days. I do not recommend them specifically for prospecting but I certainly can go find gold with the likes of the White's V3i or XP DEUS or even a Minelab CTX 3030. Put the smallest coil on them you can get and they can find gold nuggets. These days now it is easy to spend over $1000 on these flagship VLF detectors, but if anything they are usually weaker and certainly no better at prospecting than the under $1000 crowd.

I need at least two detectors, a PI and a VLF, and I need at least one to be waterproof. Getting down to two would be a real challenge for me. Probably would be a GPX 5000 and CTX 3030.

[Tom Harris]

Thanks Steve. Based on that I'll keep my gmt, Cz5 and maybe down the road get a used Tdi, Which I've always wanted to try.

[Rick K - First Member]

I too suffer from "detectoritis". For somebody who has great difficulty actually getting out in the wild with my machines, I have way too many.

I have an F-75 updated to the newest software arriving early next week and expect that it will become the only "all-purpose" detector I will keep. I believe that it can "do it all" better than any other single machine (time will tell if I am right). Meanwhile I Have a beautiful GB2 with all 3 coils that I found in a Pawn shop for a give-away price which I am still amazed at! That will stay - it is feather light and nothing can touch it for the tinest gold. The Gold Bug Pro will find a new home as will my Deus and an older Whites 6.59 kHz Machine along with its Bigfoot coil.

I have 2 PI detectors and the cherry ML SD-2100 will go and the TDI will stay, mainly because theTDI doesn't require me to wear a harness and is a killer machine for wet salt beaches (just don't drown it!). i had an ATX but it was just TOO heavy and I traded it for the Deus with 2 coils.

I previously had Whites Goldmasters, GM-3, GM 4b and GMT. All good detectors, but I preferred the GB2. I had Tesoro Lobos, both the original and the LST but preferred the Gold Bug Pro and the Whites machines to these. The other gold detector I had was the fabled Tesoro Diablo μMax. I had one and sold it, then last year I found another one and thought I should give it another chance. I sold it a week later. Nice machine, but I think Dave Johnsons GBP and F-75 are better.

Other also-rans for me included the MXT - I liked it a lot, but too heavy, a V3i - too complicated and I could never get confident with it, Compass Gold Scanner Pro and AU-52 - too old and fragile and no good repair possibilities,

General,purpose detectors which have come and gone since I retired 2 years ago include Whites Sierra Madre, IDX Pro, XLPro, Surf DF and Coinmaster GT; Tesoro - Sidewinder, Eldorado μMax, Compadre and Inca.

In case anybody thinks that I'm some kind of trust fund baby, with the exception of the V3i and TDI, every one of these machines was purchased secondhand - or third hand or fourth hand - and in most cases when I sold them on I made a couple of bucks, because I'm very careful about how I buy them.

OK, I feel better now - confession is good for the soul.