Roughwater

Ok, we know there is no perfect detector for all types of detecting (Prospecting, Relic, Beach and Coin). But what is the closest thing to it that is available? The CTX3030, a great machine from most accounts really good at 3 of the 4 types of detecting but many say not as good for Prospecting. Then we have all the BBS, FBS detectors great as well for the same 3 types of detecting. Then the many Other single frequency detectors, many good for Coin and Relic and some span on into gold detecting as well. Of course the PI detectors which have poor if any discrimination value but are really deep seeking but not so good if you are working a trashy areas. So what would be the best detector out there if you want something that spans all 4 of the primary modes of detecting? In my search I can only find one so far that I think fits that requirement pretty well: That would be the Whites Spectra V3i. That's only my amateur opinion as I have a limited knowledge of metal detecting. Are there better Multifrequency detectors out there probably, are there better gold detectors out there - For sure, and are there better coin and relic detectors out there, probably but not that many as this is probably the detectors strongest area. There are several things I like about this detector as it has 3 frequencies and you can run all 3 at the same time or individually. It can use all the MXT coils which are many so no worry about coil selection. It appears to have a better than average discrimination. It allows for an abundance of control of the machine. In multifrequency one can go pretty deep in wet salt sand, or running it at 20 khz one can prospect or hunt for smaller types of relics. Want to go deep for coins or lager targets switch to 2.5 Khz and put on a big coil. It also has preprogrammed modes as well if you want to keep it simple. I just recently became aware of this machine and in many ways it has the properties of what most would want in a all purpose detector. If a new company came to me today and said they would build me the Ideal detector and asked me what characteristics I would like to have built into it, this detector would fill most of my request. Only other thing I would want is one more Frequency (50Khz or so) and be water proof! Ok now this is where I would like you all to chime in because I know there must be weakness to this machine as well or it would be far more popular than it is. I have heard issues with EMI. I don't know what other issues there may be, maybe it don't ground balance well in real mineralized soil? I don't know but I'm sure some of you do. Please give me your thoughts? Thanks in advance, Terry

Don't know if this helps or not but I am pretty sure the Sadie and Joey coils are waterproof and I see them on line off and on for sale used, with prices much less than new. I don't know about their buoyancy but being small they could be weighted easily and they should work fine on your TDI to the best of my knowledge without modification. Just check the forum sites and ebay for used for the size coil that you feel you need. Here is list of GP coiltech coils and indicates which are submersible and other features of the coils: http://www.coiltekmanufacturing.com.au/files/6213/9926/8483/3363-3_Comparison_Chart-web-latest.pdf

Pretty country - thanks for the pics.

Great Job Nokta/Makro! Looks well made too!

Wow, some nice hard earned gold and Crystals. Way to go!!

I suspect they will help you out. This isn't great publicity for Whites or for the Sport. But maybe it will help make them re-look at whatever it is that they are doing wrong.

One thing about the Makro Folks is they seemed to responded to what users wanted. They did it in a nice solid profession package too. My only concern with your purpose for it is that at 56Khz it may want to find a lot of things that are ultra tiny as it's main target is gold nuggets down to grain size or less. But if that's want you want to find it's probably the right tool for the job. I don't know how quick you plan to get a detector but you might consider hanging out here a bit more and check and cross check your options and get what YOU think think best serves you. Don't know if you have Read Steve's Reviews for gold detectors but if you haven't here is the link: http://www.detectorprospector.com/gold-prospecting-guides/steve-guide-gold-nugget-detectors.htm

Chuck, Don't worry whether I like it or not I've not nothing in it. I'm worried about you. You invested a good deal of money in it and you have a right to be a little angry. I sure would be. I didn't want to say anything negative but I talked to a person who tested one in salt water a couple days ago and they said it only got 3 inches depth. He had other comments about it I won't repeat. The person who tested it I totally trust. I'm not trying to bash Whites, on the contrary as I have held back negatives I've heard as I would much like to see this machine be all that we hoped it would be and I wanted to see it get a fair shake. Hopefully they will get you a new one that not as anemic.

That is true. Also true you don't need a detector with the word gold in it. However higher frequency machines 18 Khz and up tend to be more sensitive to gold but 15Khz machines can also be fairly sensitive with a small coil, especially with a concentric coil. I think someone mentioned the 19 Khz Gold bug and I think that would be a very good choice especially if you could get a good used one. The original MXT at 14.7 Khz I believe with a small coil would do you well also and they can be found pretty reasonable. They are pretty powerful too for when you need depth.

I thought that odd too but then thought maybe with all the EMI close at hand maybe a small coil would deal with the EMI better? But I don't really know. I do know that he mentioned he took Gerry's class very recently so maybe new at this? I also wondered if the Etrack with a larger coil might work better too?

I was searching today for something online and came across this Utube video and thought this was a pretty smart way to put your Deep seeking PI detector to good use. In the video they use it to locate deep targets, mark them and go back over with an etrac to determine whether to dig or not.

As Strick suggested, the AT gold might not be a bad choice especially if you plan to be in the water at all as it's waterproof I believe like the AT Pro. You know Murphy's law, one accidental dip in the water could ruin your day.

Thanks Strict, I was hoping the specs might be meteorite's but wasn't sure. The bigger lump kinda looked like one of my toenails but since I never been to Arizona most likely not.

Fred, One of the few States I have never been to is Arizona. What is the larger brownish lump that's with your keepers? Also what is the 2 black specs with your keepers. I would say since you got some gold you were pretty successful and by the looks of the trash you dug you earned it!

You may be just splitting hairs but I totally understand as I have probably been doing the same thing in my search for a good all around VLF detector. There are so many things to consider, I think my brain was going into contortions. One that impressed me earlier at least in features was the Racer 2. If you haven't seen this post check it out.

There are many at this site that you can trust to guide you. There are many here much more experienced that me, but I just looked up the specs for the G2 plus and it sounds like a great machine running at 19Kz, a favorite freq for those who hunt relics and at 400 dollars it sounds like a real bargain, not to mention they have a 5 year warrenty. The Garrett pro seems like a solid detector as well and it being waterproof would come in handy off and on for sure. Lots of folks here like the Nokta/Makro products like the Racer 2 and there are some here that are die hard MXT fans. Check with others here before buying as many have much more experience with various machines than I do.

It does help for sure. Thanks. What about the 15" max coil? Think it's worth getting too? I am singing off for now but will check you replay in the morning. Take care and best Regards. Terry

I'm still amazed at the sensitivity you quote coming from a 14Khz machine. I could see it with a 50 Khz but I didn't think a detector at 14 Khz could see anything that small. I don't think I ever used a DD could on my 3500 when I had it. But then again I may not have used it in any real bad ground either. I did check on line already for the MXT and I see there are several models. There is the Tracker E series, The MXT Pro MXT All pro and the MXT. Which do your recommend most? I'm not saying I'm going to run out and by one but I definitely want to check it out. Terry

John, If I hear you correctly, (Ok, actually I don't hear you) if I read you correctly, you use the MXT on the beach with a large (12" concentric) coil? Do you get decent depth with it in the wet salt sand? Most tell me we can't get any depth with the single Freq machines in the wet salt sand? I don't think the Carolina beaches are real mineralized like some are so was wondering if it might not hold as true on our beaches but I don't know. I did however write down the phone number of a detector company at a Carolina beach and I plan to give them a call tomorrow for their opinion. You also say the 15" MAX concentric coil is super sensesitive on tiny gold (.02-.02)? that sounds amazing. I never thought that large of a coil could be that sensitive. Terry

Nice Buttons. Do you know what caliber the bullets cases were? Just curious.

That does help, That's one huge vote for the MXT. Sounds like it's a Rock solid machine and for sure and not the most expensive VlF machine out there. As to the 3030 I wasn't planning on using it for Gold prospecting if I were to get one. A big negative feature of the 3030 is cost, so if I got one to satisfy beach and coin use I still have to fork out some more money for a VlF gold machine If I want to do it right. I talked to Gerry McMullen last night on the phone and he's been finding a lot of gold rings on the beach with the 3030 and feels like it's the best beach machine there is at present and agrees also that it is not a great prospecting tool. He regards the Racer highly but says he hasn't checked out the Racer 2 yet as it's so new. As to beach machines he rates the 3030 tops, with the Excal 2nd and the CZ21 third. For non wading machines he likes the Safari and the Etrack and feels it best to consider one of those over the older slow response of the Quattro. He says the Quattro was only sold for a short period of time for a reason. I think I will check out the MXT further since it's been given so many rave reviews. Hope my old pics aren't adding too many Mbits to the website. Just trying to add a bit of scenery to the black and white. Oh yea, I made it to the North Pole in O6. I didn't get to meet Santa though, Guess he was still in bed as it was 3:30 in the morning! I stopped at the mailbox in the pic and mailed a letter to my wife so she would have a letter from the north pole.

It definitely helps to know and remember such things. It's things like that I'm sure that can make the difference with being successful or not with any detector. I will surely be going over tailing piles others have gone over before so one needs any little edge to find that elusive nugget others missed. One thing John that I see in your thread above about all the detectors you owned other than the most useless ones is that you didn't fret so much over their weak areas but found their strengths and put that to good use. I know I want what we all want, which is that magic detector that can do it all, but as you long time detectorist know, it don't exist yet. If not for limited finances I would just go out and buy the 7000, the 3030, the MXT, the gold Racer, and a couple other of the latest greatest. But to keep myself in a limited budget and to deal with my spouse I have to limit my choices so I am not wanting to jump at the first detector that seems to shine. I don't look at the pressures to not buy everything real negatively as I can see that many folks who can are often not all that happy in the long run. But I don't want to go out and try to do a job with the wrong tool either. There is much to be said for the confidence one has when they feel they have the right tool in their hand. I am willing to stretch my budget if I know a product would serve the place of 2 or more detectors. A detector like the 3030 could serve well my Beach and for the most part my coin detector and I could actually go in the water without worry of destroying it. And god knows if I get near the water and think it will give an edge to get in it, I will. Or the Racer 2 appears to be able to serve as as a great coin, good Relic and good back up gold detector and there are other VLF detectors out there that would maybe serve better as a single purpose detector. In trying to be realistic I also see that I am very far from any gold nugget fields and not that far from the beaches so I can't get out but so often to gold prospect but can get to several beaches in 3- 5 hours including all the North Carolina Beaches, the Va beaches and the huge Myrtle beach area in South Carolina. Also, all kinds of relic hunting to do here in NC and VA not to mention coin hunting locally so that's to consider as well. But still I don't want to drive 3 to 10,000 miles to the goldfields and feel unarmed detector wise. Also, after pulling up a few nuggets, detecting gold nuggets makes other detecting feel a little more bland to me. Kinda like being a deer hunter and then taking that first Elk hunt. You don't want to give up deer hunting but Elk hunting is a bump up in the excitement level and that's what Nugget hunting feels like to me anyway so even though I can't get out to do it as much makes the tools I use no less important to me. So that's some of the things tugging on my mind in making my decisions as what to buy. I want to say also that this website and the folks I meet here have all been so hugely helpful in my pursuit of detecting. In the short couple months I have been mentally hanging out here, though I have met none of you in person, you all feel like friends and I'm grateful to all. As a side note - Another of the great things about detecting aside from finding things is that it takes me outside and often to such wild places. There is a lot of value to that. To be sitting in that spot where the surrounding scenery just makes you wonder now on earth anything could be more beautiful.

Thanks Goldbrick and Argyle, Appreciate you all bringing this post back to top of the heap. I reread the info you all left and I think it sank in a bit better with the second read and the additional info. Much appreciated. Terry

Great info. Thanks.

Where can I get some of those seeds?