DetectingWales.com

hello all
i use a minelab explorer xs, its good on depth but very slow recovery and heavy.
was thinking of a goldbug are they any good on pasture and  beach.
al

As a replacement then it's not in the same league as it's a high single frequency machine so is no good on wet sand and lacks overall depth but as an addition then a good choice as it's fast around iron, good on plough and sensitive to smaller targets that the XS may miss ;)

what would you say would make a half decent replacement for around £350 £400 price range.
al

Minelab are the sole makers of FBS machines so unfortunately you can only replace an Explorer with an Explorer for it's all around capabilities, the Minelab Sovereign is slightly better on beaches and possibly deeper on pasture but is just as slow but without the id of the XS.
For that money then the only other machine that would fit would be a second hand Whites DFX :-\

i know my minelab is good but its just so slow and heavy and now old, what it pay to have 2 affordable detectors one for pasture and one for beach rather than spend a fortune on one that does both.
al

I have an XS and I'll put it up against an Etrac or CTX any day so don't worry about the age but yes it is better to have machines for certain environments.
A Sovereign for the beach and some pasture (you can waist mount it) and something like the goldbug for your ploughed land, first site visits and rallies ;)

i cannot decide if i should keep the xs and buy another detector like a fisher or teknitics .
the one thing that really puts me off keeping the explorer xs is its age, a mate of mine has the explorer 2 and it suddenly stopped working he has been told its not cheap to fix if it can be fixed.
al

I've got an old Minelab xs as well, If the only reason that you're thinking of changing it  is because
of it's age , then I'd keep it. As Geoff said it's a good dual purpose machine , that will still give the others a run for it's money,and is better than most. I've been toying  with possibly buying a T2 in the future, but I don't think I'll part with  my XS ,

The age has no bearing on the cost of repair, unless you have a guarantee then the same is true for a newer machine and yes the newer machines go wrong just as frequently.

So you wouldn't recommend (if you had the cash) owning a minelab and a fairy stick for instance?

I've currently got an ETRAC and a T2 - I'm going to get my T2 back I think so I can use it on freshly ploughed ground, but I might push the boat out....

Why do you say I wouldn't? No on the contrary that would be a great set up as you have two completely different systems and one compliments the other very well, both have weaknesses that the other makes up for. ;)

Like i said before my goldbug is brilliant on plough field not good on wet sand , its a good detector , went to one of my farm with Badgers and both minelab had nothing (FRESHLY PLOUGHED)went back 3 days later same small field and 3 hammered so it does the job and I find loads od Romans coinsand 2 brooches .Cheers . NAP

That's good to hear as I've just bought one :)