Total Noob

G'day all.

I bought myself a cheapo detector from Aldi about 20yrs back and had a play, and while it briefly stirred my interest, it was never more than a toy.

Having gone as far as I can with my main hobby without spending huge amounts to take it further, and having a seriously constrained budget, has me looking for another that might actually pay for itself. So I have recently decided to get serious about being a detecting/prospecting bower bird and see where it takes me.

After much reading and ewe-toobing I have decided that the Minelab Equinox 800 is what I need, but I would also like some advice/opinions from people who don't have a pecuniary interest in one brand or another.

I have many, many other questions, but have not yet done a comprehensive read of this forum yet so I'll do that before getting specific.

ANMouse

Yes Read as much as you can on this forum
Click the Mag glass at top of screen to search.
You will get all the answers you need to decide on a detector.

Welcome Anonymouse. For your info ,making 10 posts let's you access PM's (private messages) to contact any member directly.

Welcome Aboard the Goodship PA Anonnymouse.

We're a crazy bunch, all looking for a reef to crash into ( I mean Cash in to). Some of us like myself only find Nuggets at Macca's, but it's all fun. Enjoy your search for the yellow stuff :goldnugget:

Welcome Nonny Mouse. I wish you all the success to get rich, but be careful not to have too high an expectation depending on any machine to "pay for itself". Prospecting is a whimsical past time, and whilst it does favour the person who puts in the hours both in research and on the ground, it is in no way guaranteed that you will find gold, let alone lots of it. I would like to think of this hobby as a great opportunity to enjoy the serenity that comes from being out in the bush, meet like-minded people and occasionally picking up a nugget or three as a bonus. It's more of a lifestyle than a means of getting rich.

G'day ANM welcome to PA, bought a detector from Aldi 20 :8 years ago didn't even know Aldi existed then, where were you living then. This isn't a get rich quick interest unless you make the gear everyone wants. Can't help you with the equinox but there's plenty who can, all the best with your purchase. I'm sure you will be struck with the fever before you know it.

Thanks guys.

I'm old enough that virtually all my illusions have been dashed, I know my chances of finding "the big one" are slim to none, but if I can dig up something to pay my fuel bill for the trip when I go looking I'll be pretty happy.
Even some interesting old crap, worth nothing but interesting just the same, would keep me occupied.

I haven't been able to work for quite a while and live on my own, miles from anyone, so boredom is my main enemy.

I'll be looking for other " detectorists" in the Southern Tablelands for advice on where to start looking close to home.

I would also be interested in hunting meteorites if any members get into this area of detection.

I dug out the old Aldi 15khz detector today to see if, after all the reading I've been doing, I could put any of my new-found knowledge to work and perhaps get into the "swing" of it.

This was both to see if I could iron out the problems that saw it thrown into the nether regions of my spare room years ago, and if I really need to spend the money that could also get me the 26" 6.5 Creedmoor my inner 7yo has been running in circles nagging me to get.
The 6.5 would also mean a new safe and new dies, brass, projectiles etc, so would actually be about twice the cost of a new detector.

I think I actually went backwards in my limited understanding of this voodoo.
I took a selection of coins, $2, 50, 20, 10 and 5c, a nail and some thick aluminium foil out to the yard, did all the setting up according to the instruction booklet, swept the ground to make sure there were no existing signals, set out my targets and the confusion began.
The foil and the coins all responded exactly the same, with the needle maxed on the non-ferrous side of the scale. The nail maxed on the ferrous side. With sensitivity reduced to zero I started sweeping them all again increasing it as I went.

Perhaps if I knew more, the results would be more meaningful. With sensitivity set low enough to get a slightly different result from one coin to another, it would no longer detect the $2, with it set so as to pick it up I was back to all reading the same.

I then decided to test it on a 2" gal water pipe I know is in the yard, about 100mm down.
Couldn't find the pipe, but got a big non-ferrous hit on something isolated, so definitely not the pipe. Dug for a while and found an aluminium bottle cap at 125mm.

I went to a spot where the pipe was exposed and got the expected big response that faded out as I moved to the covered part again.

Unfortunately, before I could investigate this strangeness further, one of the drawbacks of buying cheap raised it's head when the handle broke off.
I did learn one thing about digging out finds, the big gouge in the top of the cap would have ruined a rare coin.

I think I need to find someone with experience that I can meet up with and have them play around with it and perhaps give me some valuable pointers.

I am out near Gunning, with that in mind, if any of the members around Goulburn are willing to let me pick their brain, I would be happy to meet them at their convenience..





The Aldi


The treasure


The end for today

Hi NM
Yes I like the look of the Equinox 800 myself and have got that one on my shortlist.
I'm still researching detectors and utubing everything I can find.
The guys on here are very helpful, and there is loads of info.
Let me know how you go.
Cheers D erfect: erfect:

The aldi detector has advanced nowadays too Nonny.
[video=480,360]https://youtu.be/dJX8ricN9nc[/video]
you can look through my old thread if you like.... I learnt on an old proximity detector with a needle before moving on to an Ace250, which is a very simple machine with no numbers (and cheap second hand now)(but a new detector like the 800 with numbers is a great advantage)
It's a long read... but there's finds thete to see.
link to thread
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=62116#p62116

Welcome, I have had a Ft-16000, Aldi, Xterra 705 and Equinox 800 and they have all recovered their weight back in bank deposits.

The NoX is an excellent choice as it gives a waterproofed solution and works well on the beach. The discrimination ability enables it to cherry pick and I do love wireless headphones. I have upgraded to a pair of sports earbuds that have next to no weight and they are great.

It is on the more expensive side of some of the other relic/beach detectors, but that can be equalised by stalking gumtree or eBay for a barely used second hand one.

Good luck out there.

G'day Dodgee, Silver and Wally.

Thanks for the encouragement guys(, I have been number crunching as well as lots of reading and it looks like I will have to stick with my old Aldi for a while.
I had a high speed argument with a semi in the mid 90s and haven't been able to work since so pennies need stretching as far as possible.

My main hobby has been shooting and I blew my budget for the next few years right out of the water building my current favourite rifle.

It's a full on balltearer that produces a 10mm one hole group at 250m, so it's worth the financial pain, but it also put a major crimp in plans of new toys.

I just wish the coast was closer after seeing what people are picking from beaches

I'll keep reading, toobing and waving the Aldi around in the limited areas around me and see what turns up.
:Y: