Budget detectors

[MeatyJoe]

Hey everyone,
I've been doing a fair bit of research.. And it's super confusing stuff with all the acronyms..

Anyway, I'm wondering what kind of money you need to blow to get an entry level gold detector that isn't completely awful.

I wouldn't even bother with the 50 dollar eBay jobbies, but what's the best option for starting off?

I'm in Melton, Vic but go up north and spend a lot of time around seymour/Broadford areas if that helps.

Thanks,
Joe.

 

[7.62marksman]

Exterra 705 duel pack for under $1000
Gold monster 1000 for just over $1000
Then work your way up from there

 

[7.62marksman]

Of cause you will have to research the ground you intend to use it on there are posts on here about all the different ones
Top row on this forum there is a magnifying glass use that type in what you want it will bring up the relevent posts and follow the bouncing ball so to speak

 

[RM Outback]

G'day MJ welcome to the forum if your wanting to detect for gold in your mentioned locations your best bet is a SDC2300. So I suppose the question is how much do you have to spend and above that what is your upper limit. You can pick up a second hand 2300 for under 3k. The 2300 is brilliant on small gold (will find big gold if it's there I haven't found any yet) and is the benchmark machine for ease of use and consistency.

When you get sorted give me a shout and we can check out a few spots.

 

[Potbelly11]

Is sdc now considered entry level?

 

[RM Outback]

Is sdc now considered entry level?

My opinion is yes due to ease of use and consistency it's hard to beat. Given it's consistency for money spent if you research and find good ground your on a winner.

 

[Potbelly11]

I guess my idea of budget is a bit different to others! Lol.

 

[Guest]

neddys post "sdc and gb2 in tibooburra" in this forum says it all. The GB2 picked up the stuff the SDC missed. The Fisher Goldbug (GB)2, Whites Goldmaster (GM I II III IV, GMT), and the Makro racer can be got for around $1000 new, and will all sniff up the smalls the PI's (pulse induction) miss. The GMT has a probability of iron scale and a black sand meter, allowing you to narrow your search area quickly. Apparently the Racer has a similar function.
The $48.99 detectors currently on fleabay, with an "s" handle and reset button are 20khz, concentric coiled, and may be worth the $50 outlay to try around the heaps.
Minelab XT 17/18000/Eureka would be Ok too.
As would any VLF 15+ kHz detector with a manual ground balance or reset button, with the appropriate sized coil.
PI's go deeper, ML GPs and SDCs the deepest-probably best for open ground with a larger coil though.

 

[MeatyJoe]

Wow. Thanks for the quick replys

I really don't wanna blow more than 1000 for my (second but really first) detector but at the same time I might be temped to if it means more bang for my buck.

Exterra 705 duel pack for under $1000
Gold monster 1000 for just over $1000
Then work your way up from there

That sounds good to me for an entry level price. What sort of depth do they get up to, and do they discriminate well (does anything at that price?)?

G'day MJ welcome to the forum if your wanting to detect for gold in your mentioned locations your best bet is a SDC2300. So I suppose the question is how much do you have to spend and above that what is your upper limit. You can pick up a second hand 2300 for under 3k. The 2300 is brilliant on small gold (will find big gold if it's there I haven't found any yet) and is the benchmark machine for ease of use and consistency.

When you get sorted give me a shout and we can check out a few spots.

3 k is out of my price range for beginning I think, unless I can get something like that second hand, though it looks like it all holds its value pretty well so I'd have to get lucky or fix something thats broken.

neddys post "sdc and gb2 in tibooburra" in this forum says it all. The GB2 picked up the stuff the SDC missed. The Fisher Goldbug (GB)2, Whites Goldmaster (GM I II III IV, GMT), and the Makro racer can be got for around $1000 new, and will all sniff up the smalls the PI's (pulse induction) miss. The GMT has a probability of iron scale and a black sand meter, allowing you to narrow your search area quicklytf. Apparently the Racer has a similar function.
The $48.99 detectors currently on fleabay, with an "s" handle and reset button are 20khz, concentric coiled, and may be worth the $50 outlay to try around the heaps.
Minelab XT 17/18000/Eureka would be Ok too.
As would any VLF 15+ kHz detector with a manual ground balance or reset button, with the appropriate sized coil.
PI's go deeper, ML GPs and SDCs the deepest-probably best for open ground with a larger coil though.

How do you work out coil size? Is a big coil a bad thing? I've noticed a lot of people have multiple coils for different things. Does that aid with discrimination in high junk vs being able to reach deeper in low junk areas?

 

[fish4gold3]

im in the same boat MeatyJoe... could only find the monster 1000 and looks ok. but they don't provide much info so have the same questions as you.

 

[MeatyJoe]

im in the same boat MeatyJoe... could only find the monster 1000 and looks ok. but they don't provide much info so have the same questions as you.

Yep. Everything is a sales pitch when you look up the different detectors available, but if the eBay ones for 50 bucks were able to discriminate btwn gold and iron, surely there'd be no market for the 5 grand minelab machines.

Tim's post has given me a good direction to go, research wise, I think. I just wanna find myself a nug!

 

[Occasional_panner]

VLF like fisher gold bug 2 is apparently a great machine, it's VLF opposed to PI so a lot cheaper.
It can't handle very mineralised ground like a PI can, but it's probably a good entry level machine for small gold closer to the surface.
Second hand they go for 600-800.

 

[7.62marksman]

meatyjoe have a look at this thread mate
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=20924

 

[7.62marksman]

or this one
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=20588

 

[HarryHoudini]

Place a wanted to buy in the Wanted to buy section and see what you can get.
Lots of choice. Maybe join a club and rent one of theirs to see if detecting is for you.
There will be a steep learning curve and many weeks of practice until you find the yellow.

 

[MeatyJoe]

Thanks again marksman. That goldmonster1000 looks awesome.

Good thinking HoudiniHarry, I might fo that when I've got a better idea of what I want to do. I never even thought of the local clubs.

 

[HarryHoudini]

Sunbury has a metal detecting club as well as Bendigo.
Bendigo hires detectors on club outing for $10 a day with loads of support.
Then you can make your mind up which detector

 

[fish4gold3]

so what is the general depth a detector reaches? i have worked out that smaller head goes deeper and finds smaller but how long is a piece of string?

 

[Magilla]

so what is the general depth a detector reaches? i have worked out that smaller head goes deeper and finds smaller but how long is a piece of string?

Generally a larger coil will go deeper but not see the very small pieces, a small detector won't go as deep but will see smaller pieces.

 

[Ridge Runner]

Modern larger coils on a VLF can normally see bits down to 0.02grams and when fitted with smaller concentric coils they can see bits down to 0.006 down to 0.003grams on the surface, Anything smaller would need to be panned, LF can go a bit smaller than a VLF but that is about the limits for VLF's and LF machines.

John.