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Hello To All, And A Question About Which Detector To Choose


Leighton

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Hi, 

I'm new here and starting to get addicted to the hobby. Just to introduce myself a little, I’m from El Paso, Tx. So I can literally see the First Texas products factory from my back yard. With that being said my first real metal detector I am very strongly leaning towards buying a Teknetics. Mainly due to good reviews and such a low price. But I am stuck in which to choose. The two options I’m looking at is the T2+ or the G2+. I do plan on mostly be in the hunt for nuggets and I’ve heard that the G2+ is the go to for gold but that the T2+ is also a prospecting machine and has twice the depth but has more chatter. Any opinions as to which would be better? And has anyone any experience chasing nuggets with either of these machines?

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Welcome, Leighton!

Have you read Steve's reviews of these two detectors?  That's the place to start.  (For G2+, read Fisher Gold Bug Pro review; it's basically that with a few coin hunting bells and whistles, which you'll find described there -- same detector as the Fisher F19 with exception of the shaft.)  One of the differences between sister models is the search coil each comes with.  For example, the Gold Bug and Gold Bug Pro come with the 5 inch closed round.  The F19 comes with the 5x10 in^2 closed ellipse.  The G2+, Gold Bug DP, T2 come standard with the open 7x11 in^2 eliptical.  Closed coils are usually better for ground where native gold is found.  Also smaller coils do better with tiny gold, which is the most common size.  You can buy coils separately so it's not like you're making a permanent commitment to the coil that comes with the detector, though.

 

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On 8/3/2018 at 7:58 AM, Leighton said:

Hi, 

I'm new here and starting to get addicted to the hobby. Just to introduce myself a little, I’m from El Paso, Tx. So I can literally see the First Texas products factory from my back yard. With that being said my first real metal detector I am very strongly leaning towards buying a Teknetics. Mainly due to good reviews and such a low price. But I am stuck in which to choose. The two options I’m looking at is the T2+ or the G2+. I do plan on mostly be in the hunt for nuggets and I’ve heard that the G2+ is the go to for gold but that the T2+ is also a prospecting machine and has twice the depth but has more chatter. Any opinions as to which would be better? And has anyone any experience chasing nuggets with either of these machines?

Welcome to the forum Leighton. I have used the T2/F75 and G2/Gold Bug Pro in their various flavors (First Texas owns Bounty Hunter, Fisher, and Teknetics and many models overlap). There is no way the T2 has twice the depth of the G2. The two machines are extremely close, with the T2 leaning to a slight edge over the G2 on silver coins due to the lower 13 khz frequency. Conversely, the G2 has an edge on low conductors like gold due to the higher 19 kHz frequency.

There is lots more info on these machines on the First Texas Forum and some comparison articles on the Metal Detector Advice & Comparisons Forum

The differences in performance between various single frequency detectors operating in the "teens" frequency range of 13 to 19 khz is minimal and I recommend looking more at the feature list to decide what will work best for you.

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Thanks for the feedback, I understand where you’re coming from by saying I should look further than my back yard for a machine. And I do appreciate the consideration but right now at my newbie level I don’t want to go over a $500 commitment and for that price Teknetics is the only mid/high performance machines I can find. With the T2+ with intro bundle at $549 - 15% this weekend. I think that would be my best option. To be honest I don’t know what gold sizes are found locally. And I saw a video of some guys I think in the U.K. testing on a 24k gold and it seemed the T2 out did just about all other machines. I want the G2+ but the value with the T2 just seems to make better financial sense. But if you have any recommendations I will gladly listen to them.

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Thank you Phrunt, So of the two machines I was looking at the G2+ seems to be a better gold finder. But on the bad side now you planted a seed of curiosity in my mind.  How does the nox measure up on those little nugs? Also I’ve read that the nox works off of a internal recharging battery. Is that so and if it is how long does that battery run the machine?

So is the nox really that awesome? I mean is it easy to learn, and in your opinion worth the extra money? It basically sells for twice the price.

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Well at the end of the day there are many good choices in detectors and from my perspective dozens of VLF detectors will do the trick for me. I personally find gold myself by putting myself on good locations through research and putting in long hours of work. The detector is merely a tool, and the main requirement for me is to have a detector applicable to the task and to know it well enough to get good performance from it. This basically means knowing what the controls actually do and how they interact as opposed to using canned settings provided by others. I do not consider any one particular VLF metal detector to be what makes me a successful prospector. They come and go - the only constant is me and my prospecting skills.

Sticking with the original post I prefer the 19 kHz First Texas models for gold prospecting over their 13 kHz models. Once you widen the debate to all available detectors it's down the rabbit hole, with much of the response devolving into a popularity contest. This is a meet and greet forum and these type questions are better explored in depth on the various other forums.

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Hello Leighton,

I'm a new member too.

The latest of my metal detectors happens to be a Tek G2+. 

I have a Whites GMT that I bought for a trip out west detecting nuggets, along with several other general purpose detectors.  Since Michigan isn't a state for nugget shooting,  my GMT pretty much goes unused, but I still hope for another trip or two out west to give nugget hunting another go.

That's why I got my G2+.  I figured since the GMT as great a nugget hunting detector as it, doesn't do me much good in Michigan, I'd probably sell it, and get a duel purpose detector that's useful in Michigan and for nugget hunting out west.  That's when the G2+ came into my posession.

It's a great multi-use machine, with definite gold capabilities, as has been said by many others.

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  • The title was changed to Hello To All, And A Question About Which Detector To Choose

I meant to link the following post/thread from Gerry (experienced metal detectorist, prospector, and multi-line dealer) which shows some of the capabilities of the Fisher Gold Bug, Gold Bug Pro, F19 and Teknetics G2 and G2+ family.   Of course Gerry has some good hunting spots salted away, but no one is going to find gold where it isn't.

 

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Thanks for the welcome phrunt!

I get a kick out of your and kiwijw's stories and adventures.

The G2 is definately a decent nugget and all around machine.

There's so many good nugget machines available right now.  If someone is looking for a detector with gold nugget ability, they should surley put some serious thought into just what they want.

My GMT found incredibly tiny pieces when I went nugget hunting.  Not living near gold hunting areas it just sits, because it's high 48KHz frequency, and only very basic iron ID capability just isn't of any use for general detecting.  The G2+ is great for all around detecting.

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