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I've been on a tear with the Manticore lately. 10 silver coins the last three weekends. This afternoon hunting at a school yard I got 6 silvers and a silver ring earlier this year it was tough to say the least. I thought I was going to get skunked. Mild sandy soil with a lot of clad deep enough to be silver. Also a lot of crazy deep Wheat Cents ringing up 76-78. Some times I pass them if I'm tired of digging, but today I was digging anything silver deep. Finally I got a pretty solid very deep beep ringing 88-94 depending on the angle I swung over it. When I removed the plug I my pin-pointer beeped in the bottom of the hole. I dug with my fingers, and I saw the Merc in the bottom of the hole. I thought dang that was ringing high. Stuck the pin-pointer back in and heard another target in the bottom side and flipped out a Walker half. It all made sense then. My second Walker from this school yard.

Well sorry haven’t been on the board for awhile been busy with doctors and just came back from a long detecting trip. Here are some of the picts from lots and lots of digging. The pictures do not do it justice and all the finds are not in there. Several large cents drape busted, coronet’s, and one 1787 Connecticut Copper. As well as rings, jewelry, toys, wheats, silver, colonial buckles, musket balls, lead wax stamp, gold gilt buttons, list goes on. Even threw in a pict of some of the iron. Friend of mine new to detecting got the Connecticut Copper, the engraved Tombac button, and lead wax stamp. This was his first real time diggin so it was great he ended up with some of the best pieces. Large coppers were pretty obliterated not surprising.. Property span was from colonial/revolutionary to civil and modern times. Wife’s Manticore did very well it was very impressive. She scored several large coppers. Her expression on her first large copper was priceless. She was jumping around, excited, and we have it on video but she doesn’t want it posted. 😆 The D2 held its own when I wasn’t helping others lots of gold gilted and silver buttons. Only used my V3i with the 4x6 coil for a short time when I got into a super super trashy area. Come on XP/Deus need a smaller coil hint hint. 😂. All good I was glad to see everyone digging stuff and was happy to help everyone with their machines. Good times with wife and friends. Thanks to Joe D for keeping me posted on conditions back home and doin the favor for me in my absence at the detecting club. Soon for me and him to go out and find some reales or high dollar rings. Plus the funny texts. Thanks to F350 for sending me Reaper program for D2 — don’t fear the Reaper! It performed very well. Tore the wheats up — well when my wife wasn’t trying to snake them from my grid. Plus the funny texts. Still going through picts and do have some close up ones. Too many to post do not want to eat up SteveH drive (so if it is too many Steve just delete what you need to). I did find a treble guilt button that has stars on that I think was cool since the stars still have the gold on it. Wife got a nice button too.

Here's a puzzling find from eastern Massachusetts. I've pulled over 100 spoons so far and know a run-of-the-mill plated spoon when I see it. This is different. Between the fig-shaped bowl, the symbol at the inside top (I don't think it's a hallmark), and the notch where the handle detached, this looks pretty old to me. The surface isn't plated. Much more like a wash, or even like tombac. Underneath the silvery layer (which only has a microscopic thickness) is a thick, crumbly layer of powdery green corrosion. I am cautiously optimistic that this is indeed an ancient spoon, as I have found 18th century artifacts nearby. My city was founded in 1642, so it's not impossible. But I've learned to control my wishful thinking and am seeking an expert opinion. Any ideas? If not, do you know of a spoon expert?

And all I got was this buckle! Okay there's other finds, mostly rim-fires and the usual common relicky finds. Interesting site, unfortunately a couple of our hunts where shorter than anticipated due to equipment issues or other desert challenges haha Hopefully @Tom_in_CA will share his finds too, he made some epic token finds 🐍

Axiom. Runs two days at least on internal battery, no problems getting on plane in carry on. 4.2 lbs, collapses to 25" or breaks down to a bit less if you pull off coil and rods.

Although I have the GPX 6000 and it does great on both relics and gold nuggets for me, I think the Axiom is probably a better choice for most people that want to use it for things other than gold nuggets. Not having iron reject doesn't bother me at all on the 6000, it was only good to about 6" on the GPX 4000-5000 anyway. At this last DIV there were quite a few people using the Axiom. I think I saw about 7 different people using them. Below are some of my finds from DIV in April. I found about 3 times the amount of shells frags shown and another fuse.

June 7 2002 When Vern fired up the pump this morning he had trouble with it holding prime and we ended up messing with it for about an hour. Not the best way to start the day. Jacob was giving us a good going over about getting the day started. He had little patience with equipment it seemed. When we finally got to digging the sun was up over the trees and the heat was coming on strong. We decided to run the trommel for a full day before we pulled the mats. Then Jacob would be doing full time gold cleanups the following day. We have him set up in a nice, shady location near camp for when he starts tomorrow. I will keep an eye on the trommel while I feed it with the steer and when Jim has enough pay dug with the excavator to last the day he will help me with tailings using the blade on the excavator. Vern will be up and down the mountain as pump tender and general mine hand as well as security. We shut down today at dusk after having only a few minor issues with the trommel. We got it overloaded on one occasion due to my overfeeding it. The beast as we call it processed 250 yards of pay gravel. I’ve got some tailings to deal with before we start mining tomorrow morning. I made the mistake of calling our operation work and was instantly corrected by Jacob. He said it’s not work, it’s mining. Point taken. The temperature hit 93 at the digsite. We are all on a learning curve out here and we are loving it. I may never go back to civilized society again. TO BE CONTINUED ..............

I never felt like the ORX and Deus 1 were worth their MSRP due to the way they detected where I detect most often. Deus 2 on the other hand is worth every penny I paid for mine and will only get even better with the next update.

Yes, Rutus seems to make the great detectors but has no worldwide distribution outside of Europe. They need to fix this quick smart. No one wants to buy a detector with effectively no warranty and that's what you basically do when you order from overseas, it ends up costing so much to send it back and such a hassle you just don't want to bother. Hopefully they expand and approach dealers in other countries about taking on their product as they genuinely do seem to make good detectors.

Without dealers in the U.S. they are not competing here. It's nice to say "order from an overseas dealer" but us spoiled Yanks don't do much of that.

It may also have been brought in with top soil. Parks bring in dirt from time to time, to fill areas so that they are level. Looks like a one piece flat button to me. The front is blank, the back of the button is where the double gilt and crown are located. You can even see a small dot in the center where the shank (loop) would have attached.

Rutus produces detectors that have excellent detection properties, and can unmask and detect new targets even in heavily pre-detected areas...-as an Atrex tester, I have experienced this many times.. ...and this detector found me other good targets.. ..This detector can also provide correct VDI targets and a plot of the signal on the hodograph graph, which is very helpful in correctly identifying the target ... and Dual mode/mix mode/ works very well when eminating unsolicited targets such as various large iron or aluminum foil because you have a very good idea of the size of the target and the strength of the signal....and the detector will not be fooled by larger ferous targets...like a detector with only one dynamic channel... The advantage of the Rutus is that the detector screen can provide enough information to detect and identify the target... and not just a simple VDI number of the target as in the case of other detectors... and I use THAT very often in my practical detection... and I often prefer this one detector before others...

Yep. Except for cost (because as a fairly recent release, you will unlikely find many on the used market like with a GPX). But, if a PI is needed, the Axiom would easily be my choice for trips involving air travel over the GPX 5000 or earlier for all the reasons mentioned above. Fantastic for deep relic, treasure, coin, jewelry, wet beach or prospecting in difficult soil or salt. It can be collapsed and disassebled down into it's included soft case/backpack which meets carry-on dimensions, with two coils in the case and can easily accommodate additional personal items you want to carry on board. The internal Li-Ion battery (no clunky cords or 3rd party compact batteries needed) is well below air travel capacity limits, yet will run the machine at 10 to 12 hours a clip and there is a removeable external AA backup battery compartment attachment included. My GPX 4800 has been sold and is now a distant memory after a very successful relic outing with the Axiom in April (see pics). Axiom made quite a splash at the last DIV and won over several ex-ML PI converts. The GPX 6000 would be another consideration, but it lacks iron check, has less manual control and is more expensive than Axiom. @abenson is a resident expert regarding successful relic detecting with the GPX 6000. Remove the coil and you can stow it in the case with room to spare. My Deus 2 (which would also be my vlf air travel detector of choice) lying beside for scale, below). Some of my Axiom finds shown below from the last DIV that was at a site that straddled a small engagement known as the Battle of Freeman's Ford that included many artillery fragments, large lead sabot, a Hotchkiss shell fuze, lead case shot, some miscellaneous brass including a brass thimble, an iron buckle, and a 1923 SLQ that must have been dropped in 1923 (exactly 100 years ago) based on its condition. (Yep, Chuck we're crazy but bet you'll get a kick out of this find). I'll tell the whole story of this hunt in a separate post. It was really fun and with Axiom, felt I was swinging a cordless vlf.

The Rutus VERSA .....looks really good in terms of technical parameters... ,,I'd say excellent.....So we'll see what this detector can do in Terrain...on Monday I'll have the opportunity to test this detector..and compare it...for example with my really good..detectors that I have...👍 But now I think it's the detector... that many detectorists have been waiting for... - waterproof multi-frequency detector with static and pseudo-static mode / All metal / with tone identification + possibility of Mix mode... which predicts excellent depth parameters... even in really difficult terrains... with fast separation in iron, and in addition to VDI, the graphic display of the target signal/hodograph/ gives an idea of the great potential of this detector in practical detection... The low weight and compact dimensions of the detector also meet the standards... Upgrading the software of the detector with the help of Wifi gives the possibility to upgrade the software of the Rutus VERSA detector directly in the field and with the help of a mobile phone or laptop... As a tester of its predecessor /Rutus Atrex/ and testing of various software.. I know something about it .. and it is an outstanding feature.. which can keep and keep the detector current even in the future....!!! ....Furthermore, I think that Rutus VERSA is a detector that will really compete for a place in popularity on the worldwide detector market.....

I'll be at Alaska Mining & Diving Supply all day next Wednesday thru Friday as part of the Grand Opening of the new Mining Superstore. I'll also be doing some free seminars with question and answer session each afternoon (details below). I'll probably step out one day for lunch with my sister so if you want to catch me morning or afternoon are best. If you know anyone in Alaska who might be interested, please let them know. I hope I might see a few of you there Here are a bunch of photos of the new store location on a previous thread The AMDS Story Grand Opening Celebration! May 17-19th 10am - 7pm daily FREE Seminars and daily prizes! Prizes May 17th - Garrett Ace Metal Detector May 18th - Garrett Apex Metal Detector May 19th - Garrett AT Max Metal Detector (No purchase necessary, winners will be selected and notified the next business day, limit one entry per person per day) Steve Herschbach, AMDS Co-Founder and World-Renowned Metal Detector Expert will be on hand daily sharing his expertise and wisdom with FREE seminars. May 17th @530pm Metal Detecting for Gold Nuggets May 18th @530pm The New Garrett Axiom May 19th @530pm Gold Dredging Basics Special Guest Kayla Johanson from "Gold Rush: White Water" on Discovery Channel Friday May 19th 11am-3pm

I’ve been watching Paystreak’s videos lately and he’s been hitting the totlots. I’ll say this right off the bat, I’m not a big fan of hunting totlots, but I decided I would get up early this morning and hit the one at the local park. This park had an old house on it at one time and I’ve dug some nice relics here along with two standing liberty quarters. All I got from the totlot was a zincoln and a stainless watch band clasp. Since I was there early and there wasn’t many people there, I decided to hit an area near the office building where I had found other relics in past hunts. This time I slowed down and concentrated on a small area right next to the deck of the office building. I was using my D2 in sensitive full tones with reactivity at 2.5, silencer at 1 and sensitivity at 95. Wasn’t long before I got deep signal ringing up in the low 80s. About 7” down was the military button. Not long after that I got another deep signal ringing up in the 90s. I thought for sure it was going to be a silver dime, but it turned out to be an old wide band tiny ring…about the size of a dime. A little later I got the buckle which was the deepest find of the morning at around 8” or so.

Just got back into detecting after a 30 year break (Bought a new Legend but my old Compass Judge 1 still works!) and found your site. I also have interest in prospecting and dredging. Ran a Keene 6" in the early 80's for a few years. Great fun! Brad.

Nothing all that spectacular here just some more of the stuff that often turns up at these early western sites that unlike the gold camps were inhabited by folks that did not have a whole lot of money. Mostly I just wanted to show another piece of millitaria that was found that I am not completely sure about.I'm thinking that it was either a very large two piece general service type coat button missing its back portion or perhaps part of a stamped two piece buckle although there is no signs of it being attached to a frame. I have had to resort to using primairily the deus 1 with the elliptical coil due to the unbelievable density of the weeds and native grasses which are the direct result of the very wet winter.Relic site detecting in my area is going to be real tough until the fall die off. A few eyeballed items Some of the more interesting trash.

There’s no one set of settings appropriate for every beach. The settings I use on east coast Florida beaches may not work as well on Virginia Beaches. Given that reality, I suggest you start off with the factory beach sensitive program, do a noise cancel and adjust the salt sensitivity and reactivity enough to quiet/stabilize the detector. Those two settings are key to stabilizing the Deus 2 on a salt water beach. If you experience a lot of interference , then adjust overall sensitivity but adjust the salt sensitivity first. On my beach, I normally use a salt sensitivity setting of 7 and a reactivity of 0. Why 0? It maximizes depth and you generally don’t need a lot of separation on our beaches that the higher reactivity settings provide. As I always say, predetermined settings only serve to get you in the ball park. It’s up to you then to pick the best seat! Good hunting….

The Deus, ORX and Deus 2 armrest originally was on the XP Advantage (I think). Why XP hasn’t simply changed that 18 year old mold is a mystery. The XP Deus, ORX and Deus 2 coils are coil and detector all in one package. There is a lot of stuff in those coils that is not in “normal” coils.

I’m of a slightly different mindset. I love this hobby and spend waaay too much of my free time detecting (according to my wife), so if a new detector comes out that possibly offers some features I want, or even a very slight edge in performance, I’ll buy it and at least give it a try. If I end up not liking it as much as I’d hoped, I just sell it and cut my loses. I don’t mind paying the higher price as long as it’s within my budget. You only live once. IMHO, it’s not much different than getting a new phone, computer or car. The ones we already have likely work just fine, but these are things we use all the time, so if you really want a new one and you can afford it, why not? As for the Deus 2, that was a no-brainer for me. The Deus was already the lightest, most ergonomic (IMHO) detector on the market. Make it SMF with a good ID? Yep, I’m in!

Here is the tongue

My only experience with E-bikes is borrowing JW's wife's E-Bike which she has very kindly lent me on a few occasions as JW has his own, I think he has a couple of them now and I must say they're amazing, I want one. I made the mistake of using the throttle too much though and drained down the battery but it still held on the entire day, they just fly uphill with peddle assist and the throttle for that extra punch.

The Rad bikes use Cadence sensing also- I don’t mind it at all but one does have to be careful when moving the pedals with the power turned up. I’m in the habit of holding a brake lever while getting mounted to avoid that issue…

My 2-cents worth. For the amount of detecting I have time to do, and for the ground conditions I experience, my Whites Goldmaster 24K and also my TDI SL will be more than adequate. I hunt mostly for gold and occasionally for coins and relics. For me they are great. In addition, I have always been a fan of Whites, so I will never give them up. I have found that for the mild soils where I detect, they both serve their intended purposes very well and I am very satisfied with them.

Hey Chuck, just my opinion as usual, I've had both, granted the e-bike was an early model 10years ago, but the battery died and I never did like it much. It had a twist throttle and plenty of power but I just didn't like the high riding position, too far to fall at my age. I now have a chinese 'pit' bike 12" rear and 14" front wheels, 125cc Lifan motor, cheaper to replace than a battery. It's electric/kick start, I've taken all the 'kids' stickers off it and added lights. It's 75 kilo's wet and I carry it on a tow hitch mounted rack, goes forever on a tank of fuel, and goes like stink if I want it to, my feet can easily reach the ground on rough terrain. Cost me $950 au brand new, I like it.

If I make another DIY ebike I’ll probably go for a CYC motor rather than a Bafang. The Bafang model I’ve got uses only cadence sensing and it’s a pretty raw riding experience. CYC use torque sensing to deliver a smoother ride.

People were simply answering the question posed. But I agree. I had to put a note up on the Garrett Forum to stop people trolling the models there, and I think I’ll do the same here. If people want to move on, fine, but let the people who want to use and enjoy White’s detectors do so here in peace. Thanks.

Like Steve said in a post above yours: "I am just into reality, things as they are." For me, the reality is that I owned a DFX, V3i, MXT, MX5, MX7 (with stock 950, 12", Shooter and Detech 7" and Ultimate coils) and tried to use them all effectively in the moderate to high mineralization in my area. These hunting conditions are the reality here in parts of Colorado. Those detectors could barely detect a US clad quarter at 6" here. US dimes and nickel and any other low to mid conductor coin sized targets had solid IDs if they were within 3" of the surface. That's about it. Did I like those detectors for their build quality, being made in the USA and at the time good features? Absolutely. Were they really appropriate for deeper target hunting out here? Absolutely not. I still own a Garrett Whites 24K. Great detector. I also own the other detectors in my profile signature. All of those VLFs are recently released simultaneous multi frequency detectors. All will easily hit and ID a US quarter, US dime, US nickel, three ringer, etc at 10" in the bad dirt here and will hit and ID the same targets at 12 to 14" in milder dirt on the Colorado Eastern Plains and at fresh and saltwater beaches that I have been to. I have yet to find the bell or whistle features that have been repeatedly mentioned by people that don't own these detectors. That is reality for me. It is also why I have had to move on from most White's detectors.

Yeah. Even though it was not a CW period find, it was definitely the find that made my hunt. I could not believe the shape it was in when I flipped the plug. Best condition of any pre-1950 silver I've ever dug, much less an SLQ. You rarely find coins at these DIV sites, but this was a new site, so quite a few coins were dug. I have a backlog of 2023 finds and adventures to write about, including that DIV. Have had some other things going on in life lately. It was the sweetest, smoothest sounding low tone on the Axiom and I honestly thought I was digging a CW lead minie ball or round ball. It was down almost a foot in fairly wet lowland soil a few hundred feet from the Rappahannock River that was the strategic natural barrier that separated the North and South army units engaged in the battle. Best coin I've ever found with a PI. Anyway, Axiom covered all the bases and many of those artillery frags (which ring up counterintuitively with a high tone) were very deep but very audible. Axiom (and more importantly my arm and shoulder) kept on chugging all day long. Long after I would have normally put down the GPX and shifted over to my Deus 2 or Equinox.

People think I'm harsh on White's. I find that funny. I'm just into reality, things as they are. White's was a company and some detectors, not my dog or my best friend. Still, I have had a long history and a lot of great memories myself that revolve around White's, and owned and sold a lot more of their detectors than most anyone here. Here are a few memories:

Google is your friend. As are more refined questions (please avoid all caps "yelling"). What kind of gold. Gold nuggets? Gold coins? Gold jewelry? Gold can be as near as the nearest beach. Is it even legal to detect there? If not, the question might better be "where can you legally detect for gold in Italy? I don't know, having never been there.

Beach hunt # 33 & 34 was my return to the beaches. Days are busier now that the weather is nicer, so I was glad to find some time to get back to the beaches. These are 2 different days hunting 2 different beaches. The first one was a small beach and I used both the Manticore and the GPX. The other beach hunt was with just the GPX. Not a lot on the first beach, but I did manage 2 silvers. The second hunt was an all-day affair and netted me more silver than I thought I would get. The beaches are starting to get more and more people on them. I only have a hunt or two left before the season opener. Always nice to get out detecting.🙂

The GPX series batteries are 18650's inside an alloy housing and marked 7.4v 9.2AH and can be taken on planes. Not sure about the older GP's but they will be gel cells or something being that age, not sure how planes go with batteries like that? Buying one of those older SD series you can bet the battery won't be much good unless someones replaced it fairly recently. I'm sure you'd want good battery life. I'd personally go a GPX with an aftermarket lightweight battery system. The GPX 5000 even has a super deep coin and relic timing for milder soils that is far deeper than any other timing on a coin size target, the 5000 also handles EMI reasonably well, put on a DD coil and it's pretty damn good, an AI coil and it works in heavy EMI.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/may/14/meet-the-real-life-detectorists-of-the-english-countryside

The OP's question was titled "What are you willing to pay for a D2". Does it not logically follow that the replies to such would include not just the reasoning behind what one would pay for a D2, but preferably give examples of that reasoning? As such, if those reasons include what they don't like about the D2, that's not bashing. With that said, I think it's completely accurate for me to label the price of the D2's coils as "ludicrous", and for Phrunt to call the D2's stand a "screw up". If I was being even more blunt, I would label both as a "WTF??" 😁

Thought you might like to know that this item, outlined in red is a belt adjuster slide to an 1850s tongue and wreath buckle. I'm also certain that your eagle "button" is actually the center disk from a tongue and wreath buckle. That particular style is a 100% match for a fairly common 1850s stamped brass buckle.

I have found a few new ground patches, but in most of them only one or two nuggets would of been found with a drag coil and even less with the size that you desire, the rest you need to grid by hand. How ever you can cover a lot of ground with a machine dragged coil in shorter time in poor ground. I'm sure other will give you their opinions of what is worthwhile, best of luck.

All, As the temp was hovering around 4 degrees and since I had some down time, I decided to conduct an air test on all my coins with the Legend, D2 and Manticore. This was for informational purposes only and to get a base line for the different detectors. I realize air tests aren't for everyone and that they have their limitations but I know some folks are interested in this type of data and I wanted to share the Legend results. The Legend was in the stock Park program, and the coins were moved across the coil at a distance of about 3 inches. Some of these coins were dug but most were not, and they vary in condition from Fine to Mint State. Thanks. Jerry Legend VDI.pdf

I was hoping "The forums" Would still have a section for those who enjoy White's. Without having to defend the brand. If I had a friend I'd like to teach metal detecting to, I'd think an IDX Pro would be a good choice. NOPE I'm not in Colorado nor prospect or even do beaches. I expect a PI detector would put my VLF single frequency to shame. The hobby has moved on to? Well it seems it's moved on without me. Maybe I stopped with forums years ago for that reason. Ya know it seems now to be about My detector is better than yours. I'll still learn what I can learn here.

I seem to remember that bracelet being a two part find!!! 😎 I have found two real Love rings and 4 fakes. Those SS fakes sure sound good don't they! All four fakes have the same serial number too.

Not this time, trying to figure out the Manticore 🤔

That sure looks like a two piece button back to me. Nice find regardless.

You will need a heavy duty bike rack for your e-bike. I use a modified Harbor Freight motorcycle rack. And one other suggestion- consider a step through frame. Especially if you have a short inseam. If you are carrying a detector on your side you will have to step over both to get on or off. But I ended up with a high step and like it a lot- I have 1700 miles on it commuting to work every day since September and for occasional weekend fun rides.

Well, two of my claim partners and I headed up to obe if our claims to see how close we could get to it with the UTV's. We made it all the way in to it. We had to hike about a quarter mile of the last stretch as we always have to but we made it. Still a lot of snow in our dig area but the four of us made it work. I picked up in the spot I stopped last fall and since I could start at the face of the bank, I decided to move rocks on the surface and cut and dig straight down through the grass. I worked my way towards the bedrock and my hard work was rewarded with five nuggets. My hole was about four feet by three feet and right around three feet deep. It is very hard to see the accurate depth in the pictures. It was very muddy at first but then I broke through the wet layer and it became a little dryer. Three pieces of iron and five nuggets. Not bad. The first nugget weighed 1.39 g and all total 2.35 g. Not a bad day as this gold is selling for $100 a gram. Video will be coming very soon.

Tom, I have a modified IDX Pro and the correct Bigfoot. I plan to sell it, are you interested?

Some of this might be helpful: http://www.metaldetectings.com/news.php?item.22.2 https://md-hunter.com/going-on-hunt-in-a-limo-the-history-of-whites/

I have been on the forum for a year now more or less and thought that I would share a few finds from a couple of sites.One is a recently discovery where I dug the little bank and toy pistol and the other earlier items came from a site that I have been poking around for awhile now. The Bank Will Hold Five Dollars Of Dimes And Unfortunately It Was Empty. The Pistol Has Patent Date But I Cannot Quite Make It Out? Site Two Eagle I With A Push. # 28 Phoenix Never Get Tired Of Those! Roseette And What Maybe Is Tack Related Item? Wreath. Cryer Mission Era? The Experts Out There Will Know. I Call These Perforators. A Fairly Common Trade Item Are The Iron Bits For The So Called Spanish Pump Drill Used By The Native Peoples For Drilling Shell Beads Etcetera. The Pocket Watch Or Compact Lid Was Pounded Flat A Then Perforated To Be Worn As A Gorget IMO. And A Couple Of Iron Relics And Some Of The Usual Stuff That Always Turns UP.

That’s just a personal call. If you’ve been detecting since the 70s then like me you are near the end of your journey, and the detectors you have may be all you ever need. There is no genuine reason to ditch them, as they are unlikely to fail. My DFX is not going anywhere. Or maybe like me you just want to try something new. But it does mean going from being expert with a detector to learning a new tool, and your knowledge and expertise with the old tools does actually matter. I’d not get a new model and expect the finds you are making to change a lot. You’ll just be making them with a different detector. So what is it? Stay with the tried and true, the one you are comfortable with? Or try a new toy? Your call, there is no right or wrong answer. Best of luck to you either way, and welcome to the forum!

Excellent info and very comprehensive -- thanks!