Which detector for a novice?

[rolaball74]

Hi just joined your great site today, been reading about detectors and would love to start having a go myself. I live in Newport and was wondering if I should get a secondhand detector maybe a garret 250 as they seem the most popular and reasonable, not sure about buying one off ebay though? Also I was wondering if I do start where are some good sites around here apart from the obvious Caerleon?

[shunggav]

Hi welcome to dw yeah ace 250 good tector or a minelab x terra 30 or 305 good luck with ur hunt gav

[nomad]

ebay is good for secondhand machines ..i got my last one from there as well as my probe...both were fine..

[rolaball74]

Cheers for the advice maybe I will keep my eye out on ebay then

[nomad]

my machine...minelab..i got from cork....and was a lot cheaper...as there was no reserve......welcome to the site by the way....hope you have sucess...cheers paul

[rjm]

Hi

welcome to the site.

The Garrett Ace 250 is a good machine which you can pick up second hand
for about £150 or less.

Easy to part exchange if you want to upgrade.

Good Luck


PS. Caerleon is good but hard to get detecting permission....unless you know a farmer!

[Jassy]

I can highly recommend the garrett,have found absolutely loads with it...and it loves finding coins!!its easy to use and have found rings at the beach with it too!!

[rolaball74]

Dont know any farmers, but once her indoors has allowed me to buy a detector im going to some land Ive been looking at on google earth and im already reading up on  historical sites further away I cant wait! But the misses thinks im mad!

[nomad]

ahhh you are hooked....once you have your machine you will be the same as the rest of us anoraks,.....lol

[TheLoveDoc]

hi rolaball....i use the 250 and had it off ebay with no trouble so far, just remember to always check the feedback from buyers before you bid or buy    found loads of stuff with it mate 

[rolaball74]

Theres one on ebay right now in cardiff im trying to persuade her how much i need it and that im definetly going to find a saxon hoard on my very first outing but I dont think shes falling for it! I cant wait to buy my first anorak!

[handyman [Alan}]

to help you along, consider the matter of insurance

http://www.detectingwales.com/index.php?topic=8767.0

also, find out who your local FLO is, to whom you should be recording any finds over 300 years old.

cheers

[nfl]

just get outside and enjoy tectin with whatever machine you choose,dont get mixed up in ncmd/fid,flo,treasure laws just yet ,get your feet  wet first and see how you get on, also it does pay to research sites after the land has been obtained{some willl disagree} but there is a lot of competition out there and almost every site looks good on paper  also saves a lot of wasted time.......good luck,let us know how you get on.

[rolaball74]

Thanks for the pointers! Ive been watching vids on youtube as a bit of research it might be a few weeks yet before I can actually get a detector as anyone with kids will know! But the advice and encouragement on here is much appreciated and I will definetly keep you updated when im actually able to crack on, thanks everyone.

[Meatslicer]

If you are going to detect on beaches, remember to download a free crown license and keep a copy with you when out in the sand. It allows you to detect between low and high water marks. All beaches are crown property so the license stops you having grief from passers by.

There is a link for it on another thread on here.

Once you have a detector, I suggest a probe to help pinpoint finds too. It will help your enthusiasm not having to search for hours in piles of soil or sand for the thing that set off your detector in the first place.

Enjoy

Eric