Teknetics Minuteman

If you need an easy to operate but very capable inexpensive beginner or loaner metal detector, the Minuteman or the Eurotek Pro with either the 9" concentric or 11"x 9" DD should be on your list of possibilities. I have owned or tried out many FTP detectors with more features than the Minuteman. Those that had preset ground balance struggled to operate in the highly mineralized soil and EMI challenged environment where I live and lost depth and target ID accuracy within 3" depth and were so noisy that detecting was impossible unless the sensitivity was turned way down. Even some very expensive FTP detectors with automatic and manual ground balance struggle here for the same reasons.  The Minuteman's preset ground balance setting and EMI resistance were the best of any FTP I have used except for my F19 which cost over $300 more! It locks on good targets up to 5" here easily and sensitivity can be run at up to 80% without chatter. It has as good a pinpointer and depth readout as detectors costing several hundred dollars more. It has on screen iron and depth indicators and large target ID number display. It has three menu functions: volume, sensitivity, and discrimination. Within the volume control is FTP's FeTone volume control system. Within the discrimination control is a Variable Tone Breakpoint that is somewhat adjustable for one, two or three-tone operation. It is a very well built and sturdy detector and feels even more expensive than most of FTP's other budget line and some of the Greeks too. It is like an Omega without all of the features. I personally like the simplicity of the information from the audio and the display. You listen for the pitch and quality of the tone and you check the stability of the target ID number. That's it!

I have used a Minuteman as a loaner for complete newbies many times. With just 5 minutes of instruction they were all able to be successful with this detector and since it is so light weight and adjustable there was very little fatigue for new users no matter their age, size or stamina.