Detector Market

[Steve Herschbach]

If nothing else there are some great deals to be had in used detectors now - for whatever reason. 

[Nuke em]

Here in the UK an Explorer XS in very good condition could fetch £300 or more, the E 11 maybe near £400 and the SE around £500 for a very good machine .

I am glad my E 11 has paid for itself a few times over in case i sell it , the XS has only just started , The ET has covered most of its original value . 

[Pops]

Been wanting a new machine to be submersible and was looking at the CTX until the Equinox came onto the scene. I haven't pre ordered at all, going to be patient and wait for for some hands on reviews and postings, and then weigh out the options. I did sell my HHPI I bought years ago, it was a fun machine but they stopped making it and I constantly saw people saying how they wish they could find an 8' coil model and so I put it up for sale and got a few bucks more than I paid for it new and used it for 6 years! Good start towards the ne one.  Looking forward to the Nox release......

Ken

[Cabo Chris]

Pops... If you want to hunt saltwater a used Excalibur would be a great option.  Black sand?  Then find a used Infinium.  I've dug gold rings some 20 inches is shallow water sand using the 8 inch mono and listening for ghost whispers of signals.  Both these machines like gold range targets and are built for water hunting!  You can also try a more expensive ATX, but it's heavy and you'll constantly be fighting sand sticking the shaft.  The CTX 3030 is good to some 10'.  As a water detector it was an afterthought.  The older units leak in the battery compartment.  If saltwater gets in, your machine is ruined!  I know what that feels like trice!  ML finally told me it was because sand gets on the seal because of extraction/contraction caused by temperature change of entering water, eventually causing a leak!  Their first fix was to tell me one had to clean the gasket every single time one came out of the water and before going back in-  even if you were in the water for only 5 minutes.  Now the newer model 3030s have the new sand seal battery compartment design.  So far mine has not leaked, even after hours of being in the water.  But still I worry as this is not the best design for a waterproof detector.  Heck, I know guys who actually silicone seal the CTX battery the night before!  Just something to think about.  If you're careful and clean diligently, you should be OK.  Now is a great time to buy a used 3030 on the Bay....  I think many are selling for an Equinox.

One other CTX observation... one really needs to tune the CTX for every beach.  That's if you want max sensitivity on gold range targets in the sea.  Higher the sensitivity the more gold I find with my 3030!  Sometimes one can get lazy and just use the last settings, not realizing one can crank up the sensitivity at the new spot.  I figured that out eventually as I would find gold ring after gold ring at one beach, then suddenly nothing at the next.  Started tuning, started finding more consistently.  If you learn a 3030 for general treasure hunting/Shallow water, you'll be happy.  The 3030 can hit gold chains- if everything is right!

The NOX is obviously a new animal.  If you intend only to hunt freshwater, then I would get on the list for a NOX.  Saltwater... well we all have to wait and see.  As a Multi-Frequency machine it should do well.  But ML said the NOX does not handle salt as well as FBS=CTX.  Plus it's not as sensitive to silver range either.  Their words.  I often skip silver in the sea in search of gold/platinum.  My concern in saltwater is how much one has to lower sensitivity for stability?  I suspect the NOX will work very good in salt... but when the AT Pro first came out, the factory told me it worked great in saltwater and it doesn't.  As a shallow water hunter my machine expectations might differ from you?  For me to keep the NOX it will have to be at least as good as BBS/FBS in the salt, or Bye, bye! 

The CTX really is not that difficult to learn, but I suspect the Equinox will be easier.  Also lighter and easier to handle underwater.  If you're a general treasure hunter, I suspect you would like the Equinox better than the CTX.  Plus the NOX costs less!  For a Simpleton detectorist, which sometimes is me... the Detector Pro Underwater 8 inch is a fun waterproof machine.  It likes small gold- which is surprising for the frequency it runs on- but it does!  It like most VLFs flounder in black sand- but if I could only have an Underwater- I'd have fun and find treasure on land and sea!  I have to tell you... the newer Underwater is built so much better than the early Headhunters!  Works better too, with a 50hour rechargeable battery inside!  It's a fast machine and one hunts with some disc, but mostly by ear with an UW.  One could go on a week long vacation with an UW and not have to charge the battery!  I choose Excaliburs and hope the Equinox becomes my new choice.  I view PIs as more of a specialty machine in bad ground.  I once had a customized for max gold sensitivity PI built.  It hit gold the HH PI dreamed of!  One it's maiden voyage the first target I hit was an 18K gold chain in ankle deep water!  Visions of gold danced in my head as I proceeded to dig every target.  After several hours and my pouch filled with junk, I swapped out for my Excal and proceeded to find gold as usual!  For me the PI was just too much fun!  Funny, on one black sand beach that gives our Excaliburs fits, I still find more gold there with Excal than with my Infinium!  Hope this helps.         

 

[Nuke em]

6 hours ago, Cabo Chris said:

Pops... If you want to hunt saltwater a used Excalibur would be a great option.  Black sand?  Then find a used Infinium.  I've dug gold rings some 20 inches is shallow water sand using the 8 inch mono and listening for ghost whispers of signals.  Both these machines like gold range targets and are built for water hunting!  You can also try a more expensive ATX, but it's heavy and you'll constantly be fighting sand sticking the shaft.  The CTX 3030 is good to some 10'.  As a water detector it was an afterthought.  The older units leak in the battery compartment.  If saltwater gets in, your machine is ruined!  I know what that feels like trice!  ML finally told me it was because sand gets on the seal because of extraction/contraction caused by temperature change of entering water, eventually causing a leak!  Their first fix was to tell me one had to clean the gasket every single time one came out of the water and before going back in-  even if you were in the water for only 5 minutes.  Now the newer model 3030s have the new sand seal battery compartment design.  So far mine has not leaked, even after hours of being in the water.  But still I worry as this is not the best design for a waterproof detector.  Heck, I know guys who actually silicone seal the CTX battery the night before!  Just something to think about.  If you're careful and clean diligently, you should be OK.  Now is a great time to buy a used 3030 on the Bay....  I think many are selling for an Equinox.

One other CTX observation... one really needs to tune the CTX for every beach.  That's if you want max sensitivity on gold range targets in the sea.  Higher the sensitivity the more gold I find with my 3030!  Sometimes one can get lazy and just use the last settings, not realizing one can crank up the sensitivity at the new spot.  I figured that out eventually as I would find gold ring after gold ring at one beach, then suddenly nothing at the next.  Started tuning, started finding more consistently.  If you learn a 3030 for general treasure hunting/Shallow water, you'll be happy.  The 3030 can hit gold chains- if everything is right!

The NOX is obviously a new animal.  If you intend only to hunt freshwater, then I would get on the list for a NOX.  Saltwater... well we all have to wait and see.  As a Multi-Frequency machine it should do well.  But ML said the NOX does not handle salt as well as FBS=CTX.  Plus it's not as sensitive to silver range either.  Their words.  I often skip silver in the sea in search of gold/platinum.  My concern in saltwater is how much one has to lower sensitivity for stability?  I suspect the NOX will work very good in salt... but when the AT Pro first came out, the factory told me it worked great in saltwater and it doesn't.  As a shallow water hunter my machine expectations might differ from you?  For me to keep the NOX it will have to be at least as good as BBS/FBS in the salt, or Bye, bye! 

The CTX really is not that difficult to learn, but I suspect the Equinox will be easier.  Also lighter and easier to handle underwater.  If you're a general treasure hunter, I suspect you would like the Equinox better than the CTX.  Plus the NOX costs less!  For a Simpleton detectorist, which sometimes is me... the Detector Pro Underwater 8 inch is a fun waterproof machine.  It likes small gold- which is surprising for the frequency it runs on- but it does!  It like most VLFs flounder in black sand- but if I could only have an Underwater- I'd have fun and find treasure on land and sea!  I have to tell you... the newer Underwater is built so much better than the early Headhunters!  Works better too, with a 50hour rechargeable battery inside!  It's a fast machine and one hunts with some disc, but mostly by ear with an UW.  One could go on a week long vacation with an UW and not have to charge the battery!  I choose Excaliburs and hope the Equinox becomes my new choice.  I view PIs as more of a specialty machine in bad ground.  I once had a customized for max gold sensitivity PI built.  It hit gold the HH PI dreamed of!  One it's maiden voyage the first target I hit was an 18K gold chain in ankle deep water!  Visions of gold danced in my head as I proceeded to dig every target.  After several hours and my pouch filled with junk, I swapped out for my Excal and proceeded to find gold as usual!  For me the PI was just too much fun!  Funny, on one black sand beach that gives our Excaliburs fits, I still find more gold there with Excal than with my Infinium!  Hope this helps.    

 

 

6 hours ago, Cabo Chris said:

I have been told by a person that i cannot mention yet that the machine will be just fine in beach 1 and that at 22 sens will be stable , it uses the lower freqs and the beach 2 uses the higher freqs . Thats less stable but then it depends where you are detecting .

As for Silver it will be better than the Terra and i had plenty of Silver with the 705 .

Stop comparing the Equinox with the ET or CTX . They are not in the same group of machines . But i bet on many sites the Equinox will leave the CTX way behind.  

I cant wait.  

 

 

[Pops]

Thanks Chris.

I have a Whites MXT that has been my overall machine but as is well known once it gets near black sand it starts to become very static but still works fine in the dry sand. I would tend to be more salt water than fresh water and a shallow water hunter vs deep. The one thing I didn't like about my HHPI was the short battery life and the battery storage. The snap in cup of the headset never felt secure and it is quite tight changing the batteries out, always afraid of yanking the small wires out of place, happened early on when I first bought them and with the frequency of battery changes I thought it was just a matter of time before I did it again so sold it while it was still in good shape. I do like the newer one with the rechargeable battery, seems to eliminate that issue but really haven't looked at them concerned some on support since Gary sold the business.

I have always like the Excalibur but would constantly see pictures of broken knobs, rusted out battery areas and hear complaints of not being able to change coils or headsets without rewiring thus voiding warranties, etc, I guess some is how someone takes care of things but the more options to just replace things with new parts vs a detector that has to be sent in for these changes must for me be considered. I agree prices for a lot of used machines seem appealing and I think they could be more plentiful as the Nox finally comes out but we'll see though really I will wait to see the results some are having, maybe the answer is in 2 machines instead of 1, hmmmmm

[Mark Gillespie]

On ‎12‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 10:36 AM, Steve Herschbach said:

This is a traditional time for used stuff to hit the market. There is no doubt we just saw a market reset to lower prices for new detectors however and not everyone has adjusted yet. 2018 will be good for detector buyers. Sellers of used gear - not so much.

Just spotted a used X-Terra 705 with high frequency coil for $350, very interesting, always wanted to try one.

[Redneck]

a brand new 705 with HF coil just went for 285 on the choo choo forum.  350 is way too  high !  

and a used one went for 250.

[Nuke em]

How cheap !

[GB_Amateur]

11 hours ago, Redneck said:

a brand new 705 with HF coil just went for 285 on the choo choo forum.  350 is way too  high !  

and a used one went for 250.

$499 is the MAP price -- lots on Ebay.  I'd be suspicious of $285 for a new one.  Pretty sure these detectors were being copied/pirated in China -- the Gold Pack specifically.  I count four used ones on Ebay that have sold for ~$275 (including shipping cost).  Three of those were with 5"x10" DD 18.75 kHz coil, the other with the 7.5 kHz stock (coin) 9" concentric but the seller warns the coil is defective on this one.