Whites Coinmaster GT

Received my Coinmaster GT today, I bought this mainly for scouring the dry sections of the beach and some park detecting, also so I don't spend the night picking up excess junk with the Infinium. The plusses for me on this detector are the auto trac ground balancing with trac lock so you don't gb out the target, beach mode, and backlit screen for night detecting (something which I do a lot of). Despite the 8.1khz frequency, still manages to ring out loud on a 2grm nugget at 5-6 inches (comes up as pull tab/bottle cap), and just picks up on a 0.34grm nugget (comes up in the ferrous range), not that I will be using it for prospecting, more for coin/relic stuff. Considering the features, and compared to the Garrett EuroAce, it runs close to same frequency with a lot more features, only minus a DD coil.

Will look at upgrading to a NEL Hunter for greater depth on the beaches, and a NEL Sharp for junk infested ground in the future.

Don't look at the lack of DD coil be a let down if you plan on using it at the beach. Plenty of info out there that Whites machines are happier on the beach with a concentric, just use your centre coil for visual overlap control. Was the gold tested in all metal mode or one of the program modes? This machine will be good on beachside reserves. I always found myself constantly rebalancing as I moved around these areas as you moved around the soil changes from sand to black loam to red clay.

The gold was tested in discrimination mode with iron notched out, not all-metal, so that was good. Quickly tried it out today down the beach and at a beachside reserve, it ran very quietly, so quiet I had to drop a coin on the ground to ensure it was still working! Wasn't much there, 1c coin and a sealed hypodermic needle (thank god). Will give it another run tonight.

A bit of an update on the GT, I am finding the concentric coil a bit of a pain to use, the detection area of the concentric seems to make life hard for the detector when run over areas with multiple targets. The concentric seems to have a quite a large detection area, which is good for coverage, but bad for the detector trying to decipher tone ID's and VDI's for the targets, hence why I think it would be a much improved detector with a smaller DD coil for better target seperation.

I remember changing over to the NEL DD Sharpshooter on the Vaquero made it a much better detector to operate, giving the onboard discrimination half a chance of knocking out rubbish targets. Also had the same issue with the X-terra 305 before moving over to the DD eliptical coil from the stock concentric.

This has been a personal beef of mine in the past using detectors with visual ID's, they work great testing various targets when air testing, but operate it in the real world, and if you get ideal targets cropping up at various depths and at different orientations in the ground, the accuracy of the VDI's can really be questionable, and multiple target tones a real pita to listen to.

One thing for sure is that the GT is pretty sensitive, I thought it ws continually falsing at the end of the swings, only to find that it was picking up my beach scoop, despite the fact that it was a few feet away. I have a feeling that it may be one of those detectors that would really benefit from a drop in sensitivity whilst searching, this should help it ignore some of the weaker junks targets in the ground that it currently seems to pick up, masking some of the better targets.

So my choices are either the small Whites Prizm 6x4" shooter coil, or the NEL Sharp or Sharpshooter for increased detection area, whilst retaining good seperation. Sort of leaning towards NEL coils due to excellent pricing, even with shippjng, plus they also include the skid plate and coil bolt, whereas most detector manufacturers do not include them.

Goldpick' any more updates on the GT ? Does it behave over our soils ok?
How's it fair on the beach ? Depth? Iv been interested in this model as a pick up and go machine
What are your thoughts?

Got rid of it, it just didn't agree with me, not to say it is a bad detector, just not my cup of tea. I used to use it in VCO mode which is pretty much an all metal mode, used to drive me nuts in multi-tone discrimination mode in junky areas, reminded me of my x-terra 305.

The real problem with the GT is lack of coil choices from Whites. I would have much preferred a DD coil over the concentric for better target seperation, but the only other coil choice is a weeny DD elliptical coil, which is hardly good enough for covering a decent amount of ground. If you have several targets under the stock coil at any one time in junk laden areas, it will drive you nuts with a symphony of tones all at once, making target id's quite hard from both the tones, and jumpy VDI's. Hence why I would run in VCO mode to try and help pick out the seperate targets. The beach mode was ok, but it felt like the sensitivity was really dumbed down to make it operate quietly.

I really thought it would impress, and probably should have stuck with it for a while, but its failings pretty much indicate that I should have looked at a multi-frequency VLF, that had a decent range of coils to suit, and more suitable to beach work. It was pretty much an attempt at a jack of all trades detector, whilst not really being at a master at anything specific. I generally find if a detector hasn't gelled with me over a period of a few months, I will start looking at something else. Everyone eventually finds their preferred detector, just takes time to sieve through what the market has to offer.

There is another model released from Whites in the US which is not sold here, called the MX5, looks like the GT, but is actually based off the MXT platform, and will take any coil from the MXT, DFX range. Pity it is not available here.

Considering what is available here, I'd be tempted to save my money, and I think you will be happier with a multi-frequency VLF detector like a Sovereign/Excalubur, Fisher cz3d, E-Trac, or explorer. Much more accomplished detectors, with a good array of coils available, and more suited to beach work.

Sounds like the reason I ditched the MXT' so I wouldn't like the Mx5.
I really just need something cheep with a full adjustable disc don't need tones or a display, I've read your other posts goldpick, do you mainly use the ace 250?

Yes, I mainly use the Ace at the moment for dry sand and parks, and the Infinium at the beach on occasions. Maybe also have a look at a Tesoro Silver Umax or Compadre, single tone machines with excellent discrimination and lifetime warranty. Despite only being single tones, they carry a lot of target info from the type of response you get.

The Ace is great, but just wish it had a true all-metal mode.

Thanks goldpick the tesoro silver umax would do what we need with the right $, but how different would it be from the base model coinmaster?

A far as I'm concerned, if you like turn on and go detectors, the tesoro would be the better of the two, the tesoros also have excellent recovery times over multiple targets vs the coinmaster. The Coinmaster is noted for its slow recovery times, which is not what you want in trashy areas, the only real advantage the coinmaster has is its weatherproof control box, 3 tone id and digital screen, but that wouldn't be a final selling point for me. Try and find a bad review for the Silver, very few, but plenty of satisfied owners that love to let you know how good they are. The Tesoro also has more options for coil upgrades as well, and only requires one 9 volt battery for operation vs coinmaster requiring two (9v batteries can become expensive)

Don't rule out the Compadre either as a first detector, they also rate well amongst users, the only downside is a fixed coil, small coil (great for target separation, but not for covering ground), and lack of sensitivity control. You get a choice of a 5.75" fixed coil, or a larger 8" fixed coil for the Compadre, the smaller coil being better for getting close to metal objects in tot lots and better seperation of targets in trashy areas. The 8" coil would be the better choice of the two for me, a bit better coverage in park or beach areas, whilst still small enough for good target seperation. The Compadre is nice and cheap at around $200. The Ace and Silver Umax are similarly priced at around the $350 mark.

The Ace 250 has great features for its price point, including selectable notching (not on coinmaster), light weight, very economic on 4AA batteries, and an excellent range of coils from both garrett and aftermarket suppliers. As mentioned, downside is lack of true all-metal mode, and not really the best recovery time. Some people don't like the bell tones it gives off over $1 & $2 coins, but I personally like that feature.

No bottom line VLF detector will work perfectly on the beach in wet sand, usually requiring a drop in sensitivity for quiet operation, but they do well in dry sand.

Google Tesoro Silve Umax and Compadre, and you will quickly find all the good feedback, get feedback on the Coinmaster, and you'l find some people like it, whilst others would prefer to wrap it around the closest tree.

Good report there Goldpick. I had an ace 350 but couldn't get on with it.the m/l 305 really opened up things for me.
only had the Compadre for two days. need to get used to single tone. I think I need to check where coins and rings hit on the descrim.
control as I can then thumb the knob up to check target,ie. eliminate. goes deep,sensitive on tiny eyelet,rivet heads.pin pointing is an art,at this stage.

Whilst I don't mind the Ace, and it has done pretty well for me, it is really just a cheap stop gap measure until I get more financial and upgrade to something better. Very tempted to go back to a Tesoro again! It's really the only brand of detector that I have gelled with, lcd screens, vdi's etc are wasted on me.

You can also wind back, or increase the sensitivity via a pot behind the faceplate, should you find it gets too chattery. After reading glowing review after review on this detector, makes it hard not to want to own a Compadre, especially for the price.

I've been doin a little reading even tho it voids your warranty you can easy replace those pots with 50k turn pot on the face plate for ground balance on the tesoro silver umax or add a sensitivity on the compadre have a look at tesoro mods. I'm going to get both the silver & compadre' which will be for the nephew later in the year.
Aussie detectors in bendigo have most detector brands listed on there site with prices.