|
||||||
 |
Recent Posts | Search by username | |
Contact Us | |
Login | |
Register |
 |
 |
|||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > Lord Marcovan's Treasure Territory > FAQ: What kind of detector should I buy? |
| Moderated by: Lord Marcovan |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Author | Post | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Lord Marcovan Original500© Member  Robertson Shinnick
|
  |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
WHAT KIND OF DETECTOR SHOULD I BUY? This is probably the number one question I’m asked, which is not surprising, since unfamiliar devices can be intimidating, at least if you’re like me and not particularly knowledgeable about electronic technology. I could recommend certain brands or models but there isn’t much point in that, since that information might be out of date by the time this is posted and read, and really, detectors from most of the big name brand makers will perform similarly to their counterparts within the same pricerange. There are just a few things to know before buying your first detector. First, if you are a newcomer to the hobby, you should ask yourself realistically how much time and effort you are going to be able to devote to it. You really shouldn’t spend too much money on an expensive, top of the line model if you’re only going to use it a week or two out of the year on your summer vacation. By the same token, if you should decide the hobby is not to your liking, you wouldn’t want to waste that investment. Far too many people who purchase detectors (if I were to guess, I’d say more than half, perhaps as many as three quarters of them) buy a machine, go out with it, dig nothing but a few pieces of trash, then give up in disgust. I almost did the same thing myself. When the finds were disappointing and my initial interest in the machine waned, I tossed it in the closet and there it sat for a year, until I finally dusted it off and went out to score my first good find. Had I not made that one good find the afternoon I took the machine out of the closet, I probably would have set it aside again and you wouldn’t be reading this. All too many detectors become closet clutter, unfortunately. And they haven’t yet invented one that’ll find treasure while it’s turned off and collecting cobwebs in there. You have to get out and use the thing, again and again, and take it to the places where the kind of treasure you want might be hiding. Yes, that’s right- a little thinking is necessary there. As in any endeavor, Lady Luck favors the persistent and the prepared, and detecting is a blend of luck and skill. You’ll need both for longterm success. But give your luck time to kick in. Lady Luck is fickle, and you’ll never know what sort of mood she’s in or when she’ll decide to pay you a pleasant surprise visit. Second, you should ask yourself what sort of hunting you’ll be doing. This will help you figure out what sort of features you want and will of course affect the price you’ll pay. Most detectors are general-purpose models, meaning they’ll perform most treasure hunting tasks reasonably well in a normal environment. If you plan to hunt in unusual conditions or environments (underwater, for example), then you’ll need a machine that has features to cope with those conditions. If you have a particular specialty, you might value certain features more than others. For example, if you’re a coinshooter, you’ll want discrimination and perhaps a target ID meter. A depth meter might be nice so you can determine which signals might be those older, deeper coins (though you can often judge that by ear). If you’re a relic hunter, you might not care about target ID or discriminating out trash targets, since you hunt in more remote areas with less modern trash and you dig most signals, anyway. For you, depth is the primary consideration, so your detector needs might be fairly simple but you’ll want something with a nice-sized coil that goes deep. If you’re a beach hunter, you might want a detector with a salt elimination feature to help prevent erratic signals. If you plan to leave the beach in favor of the shallow water, or even go underwater, then obviously you’ll need a submersible detector made for underwater use. Specialties aside, however, a good general purpose detector should perform most of these tasks well enough. I like to use an automotive analogy. It doesn’t matter if you drive a cheap compact car, a sleek sportscar, a giant SUV, or a tiny roadster, or a pickup truck- they’ll all get you to your destination. Each is a bit more suited to certain uses or preferences, though. And just as you might not want to take your stretch limo offroad or your monster truck down Park Avenue, you’ll want to choose what’s appropriate for your journey. Aside from a few basic features like the ones I’ve brought up, it’s mostly a matter of how many bells and whistles you want on your new toy. Many features fall into the “nice but not necessary” category. If properly used, a cheap base model detector can produce results as good as the state of the art, top of the line model. The equipment is only one part of the equation. The user’s skill, patience, and determination is a far bigger part. As of this writing, a decent entry level, general purpose detector will cost you just a little over two hundred dollars new, and two hundred bucks gets you a lot more features than it did ten and twenty years ago. If it’s a new machine and priced for significantly less than two hundred, then chances are it’s more toy than tool. My first detector, which I got around 1978, was a $20 plastic toy that didn’t even beep- it just had a red light that flashed when you were an inch or so over something- anything- metal. Basically it was a nail-finder. I still managed to find a thing or two with it, though. In 1981, I paid $228 for my first “real” detector. It had discrimination (a trash elimination setting). That was the dividing line between what was a good coinshooting machine and what wasn’t, in those days. In 1992 I got my first modern, computerized detector with a digital target ID meter. Solidly in the middle of the line, it cost me about $480. Some of today’s “starter” machines , at around $200-225, cost less than my old 1981 machine did, but do everything my $480 digital 1992 detector did. The technology’s come a long way and generally speaking, detectors pack a lot more bang for the buck than they used to. Today’s middle of the line model will go for around five hundred, and it’s around this pricerange that some of the specialized detectors like gold prospecting machines and underwater machines start coming into reach. There is really no need to spring for a thousand-dollar-plus, top of the line monstrosity. Not only is that costly, it could also end up being a more complicated machine than you’re comfortable with. If you want to leave yourself a little growing room, fine, but don’t buy more machine than you need. If you find a passion for the hobby and know you’re in it for life, you can always upgrade later. I used that middle of the line $480 detector for over twelve years, bought an updated version of the same thing (for much less money) when it finally died, and used that one for another three years before graduating to my first top tier detector, nearly thirty years after I entered the hobby. As yet, I haven’t used my top level machine long enough to judge how much of a difference the extra features are going to make- the impression I get is that the fancy features I have now are nice to have, but not vital- so far everything I’ve found could’ve probably been found just as well with my previous detectors. Last edited on 07:38 am by Lord Marcovan |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
sirlamre Pioneer100© Member Official Forum Troublemaker
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Bounty Hunter makes the best low end machines that I know of - Radio Shack sells them (as of 2007) so that makes getting one easier. Full listing: http://www.radioshack.com/sm-very-low-frequency--fi-2032397_cp-2032062.html I have a BH QuickDraw that I purchased directly from the company back before Radio Shack started selling them. It's reasonably similar to this model, or perhaps the $199 one This one's $159, about what I paid for mine: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2543519&cp=2032062.2032397&parentPage=family
 Turn thou unto God and say: O my Sovereign Lord! I am but a vassal of Thine, and Thou art, in truth, the King of kings. I have lifted my suppliant hands unto the heaven of Thy grace and Thy bounties. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
JaxNut Original500© Member  Relic Portal
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
I also use Bounty Hunters and find them to be easy to use, light weight and clean on discrim. Bounty Hunter Bud 220 Select and Bounty Hunter True Track. The Bud 220 Select is a relic hunter for sure. Sharp and clean sounds, especially on dimes. Love that thing!! Hope dad will let me keep using it. JaxNut Attachment: (Downloaded times)
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24HourForums.com > Supported Forums > Lord Marcovan's Treasure Territory > FAQ: What kind of detector should I buy? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Site Supporters | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Posts Of The Day | Mock Forums | WowClassic | |
Themes and most mods done in collaboration with: WowClassic - powerful forum software with the best support service.
We are partners with Forum Owner Services
Powered by - Copyright © 2003-2006 Aycan Gulez
We are partners with Forum Owner Services
Powered by - Copyright © 2003-2006 Aycan Gulez