Goldpick
Chris Johnson
For the beach and salt water, I'd scour ebay.us for a dedicated PI beach machine like Tesoro Sand Sharks and Whites Surfmasters, you can regularly pick up a used unit in great condition for $4-500 plus shipping. All depends on whether you want to buy new or second hand, and worry about having an Australian warranty, personally I believe detectors are way overpriced here, just my opinion though.
That leaves something like the x-terra 705 more dedicated and suitable to land coin/relic/gold hunting. There are plenty of other coils available for the 705 for various applications, including Coiltek and NEL units, so you are not just limited to Minelab ones.
There are so many new and second hand detectors on the market that cater for all types of detecting, so confusion is warranted. Some units are specific gold detectors running high frequencies for small gold/lower mineralisation, and with basic iron discrimination like the Whites GMT, Fisher Goldbug2 and Minelab Eureka, whilst others like the Minelab X-Terra 705, Whites MXT E series or MXT Pro, Fisher Goldbug Pro, Tesoro Lobo Supertrac and Garrett AT Gold serve more as all rounder gold detectors running lower to mid frequencies. They also have more dedicated discrimination for coins/relics. (Note: the Eureka also runs lower frequencies at 6.4khz and 20khz, but still with basic iron discrimination). The lower frequencies are also supposedly operate more effectively in highly mineralised areas than the higher ones.
Also consider whether you want to have things like auto ground tracking (GMT, 705, Eureka, Tesoro Lobo Supertrac, MXT, AT Gold), or manual ground balancing (Goldbug2 - GMT, AT Gold, Goldbug Pro and 705 can also be manually balanced, the Lobo Supertrac cannot be balanced at all in discrimination mode, it has a fixed setting).
Every detector mentioned here is quite capable of finding gold, just depends on where you intend to use it (ground conditions), whether you want dual usage for gold/coins & relics, what extra features tickle your fancy, ease of operation, accsss to spares/extra coils, warranty and budget. Lots to take into account, just need to do plenty of research before making a final purchase.
At face value, the GMT and GB2 are probably two of the more popular gold only VLF detectors used across the various detecting forums, with the 705, MXT, AT Gold & GBPro, popular as more dual purpose, lower frequency machines. That's just from my observations, not actual experience on these detectors.
The forums are definitely the best location to do research, dealers selling a single brands are obviously more likely to tell you what you want to hear.
That leaves something like the x-terra 705 more dedicated and suitable to land coin/relic/gold hunting. There are plenty of other coils available for the 705 for various applications, including Coiltek and NEL units, so you are not just limited to Minelab ones.
There are so many new and second hand detectors on the market that cater for all types of detecting, so confusion is warranted. Some units are specific gold detectors running high frequencies for small gold/lower mineralisation, and with basic iron discrimination like the Whites GMT, Fisher Goldbug2 and Minelab Eureka, whilst others like the Minelab X-Terra 705, Whites MXT E series or MXT Pro, Fisher Goldbug Pro, Tesoro Lobo Supertrac and Garrett AT Gold serve more as all rounder gold detectors running lower to mid frequencies. They also have more dedicated discrimination for coins/relics. (Note: the Eureka also runs lower frequencies at 6.4khz and 20khz, but still with basic iron discrimination). The lower frequencies are also supposedly operate more effectively in highly mineralised areas than the higher ones.
Also consider whether you want to have things like auto ground tracking (GMT, 705, Eureka, Tesoro Lobo Supertrac, MXT, AT Gold), or manual ground balancing (Goldbug2 - GMT, AT Gold, Goldbug Pro and 705 can also be manually balanced, the Lobo Supertrac cannot be balanced at all in discrimination mode, it has a fixed setting).
Every detector mentioned here is quite capable of finding gold, just depends on where you intend to use it (ground conditions), whether you want dual usage for gold/coins & relics, what extra features tickle your fancy, ease of operation, accsss to spares/extra coils, warranty and budget. Lots to take into account, just need to do plenty of research before making a final purchase.
At face value, the GMT and GB2 are probably two of the more popular gold only VLF detectors used across the various detecting forums, with the 705, MXT, AT Gold & GBPro, popular as more dual purpose, lower frequency machines. That's just from my observations, not actual experience on these detectors.
The forums are definitely the best location to do research, dealers selling a single brands are obviously more likely to tell you what you want to hear.
