DetectingWales.com

Hi to all members,the oldest/biggest question is 'which metal detector is the best?'

I'm opening this topic as a non-biased one,

Best for price?

Best for depth?

Best for accuracy??

Your answers should take these three questions into account...

Also..

 Weight

sounds I.e if their annoying or not

Reliability

I'm looking forward to hearing your views :D

eh that would be me mate lol :D

Nutter...  :D

Hahahaha I'm meaning metal detector aka machine...
Not metal detectorIST!!!!!!!! Lol

But good answer still

since my mate dawson bought his Deus he cant stop hitting the denari & hammered thought I was doing well with the f75,thats my next detector I think and easy for me to carry  on my motorbike  ;)

All academic if you don't know your machine, know the speed to swing it, have decent land, spend the hours and have a huge bit of luck on your side. That said though, most know my opinion on the Explorer range as a great all round beach, pasture and stubble machine that's reasonably priced second hand. Fresh plough is a whole different issue though!

I'll get comfy and get my pop corn for this one! ;)

Neil

 ;D mine the xs

I think me and colins living the same life :o
I also thought my f75 was the mutts nuts until I checked it against pipsters Deus :-\..... And I ve also just got a bike to go out on  ;D.......just need sunshine!!!

I think fresh ploughed,raked n rolled is the best way to test any machine properly ...as long as it's not too dry lol anybody rate  the tesoro range??

A top three machine table would be ideal :)

Plus it will  help any body looking to upgrade to a elite Machine :)

I've got an idea for the next rally or meet ...

let's put a test bed on ...

We can test everyone's machines and compare good and bad points...

And also learn more and probably surprise the hell out of each other

When Im finding stuff..mine is
when Im not finding stuff...someone elses  ;)

Too many variables and what terrain?
I think most would agree that FBS takes the medal on id'ing targets.
BBS has no VLF competition  on the beach
Deus or GMP will kick arse on ploughed.
Easy tones? Well you have to go some to beat the simple 2 tone all metal of the T2/F75 or the Xterra 705
 ??? ??? ??? ???
But then you have to add in machine/coil combinations.

Tesoro's or better still Lasers have been left behind a little though the Trident II is a great hammy hoover.

Joe the Tesoro Tejon is proven, iv 10 hammies in a month....... and 20 last year, I don't know where I went wrong ??? O yeah my headphones, the CP2'S has for sure made it happen, headphones what people forget, are just as important as the machine. I think for £500 we got a good machine, no thrills, simple, powerful, Fairley deep but sensitivity is what you need for the goodies, and we got plenty of that ;)

PS, just in case you forgot we are neck and neck on our hammie bet now :o im coming :D ;D

Chef Geoff you have cooked up some great answers there :)

so is the Deus the leader in ploughed I take it???

Can anyone contest the Deus As the best ploughed field machine??

That is a great input DALE ....

and has got to be proof tesoro might still be in the runnings!!!!

As I'm writing this I've got ghost chilli juice in my eye....
 long story lol

As for the hammered count you are leaps n bounds ahead of me but you're equal on our outings.... Until next time ;)

on ploughed i would say the Deus & f75 two fast recovery machines,think it was neil who
done a field test some time back on a piece of gold in a packet and the only detectors
that managed a decent signal were the t2 & f75 cant remember where i seen it though
 ;)

Geoff I agree on the T2 it was a toss up between mine and the T2, its looking to be my next machine.

That's awesome :) ill look that post up

Sorry Dale I forgot the "Animal" :-\ Yes T2 would be my choice after the FBS and only second because I know my machine.
The gold test was by Avalon and is more to do with the shape of the gold, I dare say that a 30 year old T/R machine would find it without any problem ;)

As DALE. N me were in it together and researched a machine from feedback or YouTube for around the £600 mark the tejon or badger (or ANIMAL lol ) was the best machine at that range,quite close to a t2 or goldmax we both went for the tejon,I'm happy with it... Dales banged out 10 hammereds in four weeks alone... So it can't be a bad machine,I would like a test bed with all the top ten machines tried n tested for everyone to see how each machine preforms :) obviously different conditions equal different results but in fair weather on a ploughed field would be a good test,I also must mention a change of coil and do lots for a machine also one to take into account

Geoff my land has been hit by laser Tridents for years and years, including my power max, running the tejon next to these machines really is no match, pentechnic told me if my power max is working ok its not worth up grading to the Trident II as the gain is not worth it, he knows his machines, as you know.

My hammered count for the year with the laser was 3 its a big difference ;)

  

  

I would like to have a go on a FBS machine just to see what it is like for id'ing targets, because usually I id my hammies when I wipe the mud off ??? just a little banter :o lol ;D 

You have always got to factor in the land of course in 2011 I had 18 hammies in a month and 35 for the year and I have a headphone customer in Essex with a Cscope cs3mx who's found 56 so far this year :-[
One other factor is the amount of man hours spent using machines, a few years ago everyone was using minelabs and therefore the majority of finds came from using that machine, now Deus is the flavour of the month and so it's finds are in vogue. If we looked at finds from machines alone to decide, then most of us would be using a Garrett Ace 250 purely because there are more people using it and therefore more finds ???

I reckon the "Tandy Micronta 4001" turbo, it can pick up silver foil and nails that other machines leave behind , it runs on 6x AA batteries which is ironic as they cost more than the detector ;D ;D hard to find a good one thou ??? ??? ???

Dale the FBS can id pretty precisely because it's the only machine that id's two dimensionally...Conductive and ferrous

True

Im sure it is pretty precise... to be honest Geoff I do not really under stand the differences between FBS, VLF to comment.

No easy answer to this one; depends what you know and like.  For me, the Minelab Explorer SE fitted with a WOT coil really takes some beating.  Crank it right open on the pasture / clean land.  Add a bit more discrim and turn the sensitivity down on the beach.  Great set up.

For the dry stuff / ploughed and rolled I use an X-terra 705.  Its not as deep as the FBS machines but it really beats the multi frequency machines hands down on the light and airy soil.  The single frequency seems to punch through the fluffy soil a lot better and pinpoint.

Still miss the old faithful Minelab Sovereign Elite as well.  Hip mount the control box in a bag and put the search head on a straight shaft and you can go all day at the beach.  Great set up.

What about the C-Scopes? Many on Detecting Wales use them?

WelshJohn

Gosh, so many variables!

Probably the best jack of all trades is the BBS like E Trac/ Explorers etc. best for beach.

The nicest/ easiest to use/ versatile is the Deus.

The deepest, on land, if used/ set up properly is The BLISS V3.

Having said that, it's how the user uses his machine a lot of the time. Knowing your machine can push up your finds.

The Deeptech...stable of machines plus the...Sorex..Nokta...Rutus. ;)....are all excellant machines,,,with reviews to match,,,,cmon guys open yr minds alittle,,,,,,its not allways just the usual bunch........................ ???

Aw, you should have said - I recently got rid of one :) (I really did)

best for what ? you need a few for differing jobs, and a PI as well

my etrac and sov will be hard to beat on beaches ;)

As I said on fresh ploughed fields in fair conditions :)

I wouldn't base a machines credentials on fresh ploughed as generally you only have a month or so in a year that it's available?
Many of the higher frequency (14kHz or above) would be the machines to use on fresh plough, definitely not FBS or BBS though.

Yes you are right Geoff :) pasture or ploughed I should say lol quite different in that sense but still the mostly used places with a machine

Mine LOL

why not have 3? didn't post then all three came up together typical

for me to give an honest opinion , i would have to have owned ,or at least used a vast spectrum of machines.on the same land at the same time over the same targets.....its all a matter of opinion ,and saying well i found 35 hammies this month with my Deus, so its the best right ? wrong...would not another make/model of machine not found those 35 hammies  in the same conditions treading the same footsteps.......you might as well get every machine there is ,every ground condition there is ,lie coins or artefact on different angles in the ground and..............................make a massive game of top trumps out of the whole chabang ...........actually might be a good charity/money spinner for xmas .DW..metal detector toptrumps  ;D.......

Hi Geoff, why not FBS machines on fresh plough? the loose soil? are they more of a pasture machine?
If so I have a pasture field for you if you ever get board, in a old village,100m from a Norman church, but modernised over the 100's of years, the field is 140m by 120m full of modern coinage, pennys, sixpence, but nothing old? except a 1662 Bristol token and a lead spindle whorl from a few mounds in the field...... but hammereds/romans the other side of the hedge, on the ploughed fields spreading 1000m from the village church...... is it the job for a T2 or any other machine out there????
 

Come on then Joe what machine are you thinking of getting? all these questions are not for nothing  ;D ;D

The best maching in the world would be the one that finds gold coins silver coins the best Artifacts  ;D and all the buried hoards  ;)

Love the DFX , good weight, 2 frequencies, programmable options, 5 set programmes and a good allrounder on both beach and pasture..
But I also like the CTX, borrowed my mates for a week and got converted, but the price hurts.
Like others have stated if you cover it you will probably find it, but it the person working the thing that decides to dig. (was going to say swinging, but that would be wrong)  :o

THE BIG TEST!!!!! Is a great money spinner for DW and a worthy way of testing out different machines :-)

DALE I'm just seeing which machine is the best on the market to maybe upgrade in the future and to settle the BIG QUESTION

Everyone seems to say Deus or T2 but what about my TEJON??

As someone just posted,it's not fair to say ' my machine is better,because I've just found 1000 hammereds this week' as a lot of machines would find them if they searched that spot and had the same conditions,this does not prove much,just that they are lucky lol

I do think a test bed for scientific reasons,for multiple machines all in view of other users would benefit the DW members and any detectorist

Joe have a read up on BBS, FBS, machines I now see the advantages over the VLF machines, its interesting ;)

Well said legio11augustus.....Some sence ;)

I have dale it's worth doing research hench this topic lol

Diggerdave ''sense"
Jo Ross "hence"
LOL :D

ive got to be straight with you its not mine..lol...not lately !!

Well if the vid is anything to go by, you can cross the Deus and CTX off the list ;D ;D ;D
Undisturbed Dirt - Depth Test- Deus, F75 LTD, DeepTech, CTX3030, Blisstool (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01ud8czeJpw#ws)

Sorry nobby lol HENCE :P

Without Patient,research and good understanding of your machine it doesnt matter what detector you have ..But the day that Whites and Minelab shared technogicals break throughs that brought the Minelab Explorer range on the market....Was the day that probably produced the best detector of all time...(The Minelab Explorer )and people are still using them and getting great results..I think they have stopped making them :(

The Etrac and CTX are only Explorers by a different name.

Tell that to the people who have tried all three and they will tell you different...I have mate who still swears by the Explorer 11 and he is not impressed by E.Trac after giving mine a thrashing..Says it is inferior and looking at the stuff he has found with explorer 11...I HAVE TO AGREE ;D ;D

I personally think either the XS or the SE were the best, they tamed the II and the Etrac too much.

There was some deep targets, but the Bliss kicked a#s, the signals also sounded nice and pinpointing didn't seem to be a problem, as with the other machines, im sure the Deus with a larger coil would of done a little better? but the CTX seemed everywhere, that's when it picked it up, I would not know where to start digging listening to that.  

Defo not the Deus!!,,,,,,

Nothing wrong with the Deus its probably the number 1 detector in the Uk now

Minelab have had there day, people do not want heavy machines like that anymore  ::)

I can not think of one machine that come close to Deus for overall performance

The best machine out there is the one who's owner know how to use it.  :)

This is a very good article to read and goes some way to explaining why one persons opinion is as about as useful as a chocolate teapot. ;)
http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/head-to-head.htm (http://www.dankowskidetectors.com/head-to-head.htm)

I don't think anyone can say which machine is best,ive seen people use top price machines and run round fields with them with there arm going like mad then deciding to get another detecter because they aint fnding much,i agree with the comment that if you know your machine that's half the battle won include a good productive site {sorry guys sometimes in places there is nothing to be found}and get in as many hours as you can.

In other words (the words of a wise old sage)   I'ts only a bad workman that complains about his tools.

Val

None because all detector do 1 job is finding metals you can have a 5k machine and a land full of merde and nothing , or you can get a £250 00 machine and une land tres bueno  and you going  home with the best detector in the world ;D

Surely some detectors go deeper and are more accurate??? Different MHz,different discriminations ....

So I must disagree with the statement 'all detectors are the same!!!!!!'

 :-) 

I would like to suggest that my wifes nose is the best Metal Detector in the World.
She can smell out a jeweller shop at 100 Yards.  ::)

kHz not mHz
Depth is more dependant on size of target in relation to mineralisation. On a heavy mineralised site all detectors are basically the same if looking for a cut half, in normal mineralised soil then the higher frequency is (on paper) better but large objects at depth then lower frequency machines are going to be the tool to use.
No one machine does it all not even the Deus or the Etrac, if you learn the technology and more importantly it's limitations you'll soon find that all the statements of "Deus is the best" or "Minelab is tops" just insults your intelligence. ;)

kHz sorry bloody iPhones lol yes that is true every detector has different uses good and bad points but....... Which is number one???? hahahaha

There's no answer it seems

Very good post. :).will stick with my Laser Hawkeye for now.

I personally believe its the person not the machine, I have an etrac and my bro has an ace 250 and he's found better coins than me. I do find more but it sometimes comes down to 'right place,right time!'

RelicRead I know what you mean about the Ace 250 its a great coin shooting machine I must say, with the ultimate coil..... Stever always surprises me when we go out coin shooting he hits coin after coin, from all around me, but taking my machine the tejon to a ploughed site is awesome, if I ever up graded to anther machine for my sites I don't think it would make any difference in finds, its more to do with the reason we get board and want change.
Anyway I just bought a Xp 4khz machine for pasture, last weekend for a little fun just to compare the differences between my 17khz machine, now I got one at each end of the scale ;) to see the benefits myself ::)   

so what was the outcome dale, if you have had the chance. ::) to use them. ;)

I ran the 4khz Advantis 2 over my test bed, If I remember right it only found 2-3 targets out of 6 targets, plus a very quick field test in ploughed soil, using a little button at two inches, the machine did not even flick, the Tejon was hitting it a couple of inches above the ground.......so to be honest it got sold and never used, for my type of hunting, I would miss to many finds using the 4khz :)

I agree - having both machines now. In this weather, I've been using the Deus (partly because I am trying to learn it) because I can hide the earphones under my hood and keep dry - however I find that I am digging much more rubbish (maybe because I am learning it) than I would the E-TRAC. Personally I'd still favour the E-TRAC in a park because I've got a much better idea of what I'm digging / looking for. I also probably favour the Deus on freshly ploughed land, but haven't had the opportunity to really see if it is 'better' yet

Of course the land makes a big difference. I don't tend to find much because the land is mostly pasture and it's been detected for 20 years - one of these days I'll pluck up courage to ask for some new land from someone - hopefully with lots of hammies on it :)

Been using a E Trac of a mate of mine for a while to see how it works on pasture compared to my DFX as I am looking to get a back up soon. I have to admit that the E Trac impressed me on a wide range of conditions but it's the swings and round about situation, both units are killers in the right hands. But I prefer the Whites with DD1400 mainly because I am use to setting her up and nothing more. Like ppl said it's what your use to but technology is opening up our hobby and wallets  :-\

Spot on Alun as they say "a good detectorist with a bad machine will always do better than a bad detectorist with a good machine" and while I don't believe in "good" detectorists only normal and bad, in this case good is someone who knows their machine ;)

The best machine is probably the one your using right now, problem is most people look over the fence and think they are missing out, grass greener and all that  ::) music to the manufacturers !

In reality just learn the machine you have  ;D

as i have said before its mine lol cos im stuck on the end of it lol  :D :D :D :D :D

Why do I still see detectorists holding the coil a foot off the ground, even the best detector would'nt find much in those condistions
but I still see them at rallies.They must be changing their detectors all the time thinking that it's the detector thats no good. ???

lol your right john

Hmm. I've got both of those, and have an ETRAC (had an SE Pro before that). All have been over the same field (although the Deus has only been over it after it's been hammered to be fair and I'm still learning that one).

Results? I didn't find anything with the SE Pro for a few years, then I switched to the T2 and found a lot of roman plus one hammered. Switched back to SE Pro - found 20 hammered that I had missed (ignored?) on the T2 plus more roman and a partial bronze age axe. Recently I got the E-TRAC (after the field went quiet) - a couple of buttons - with the Deus - one non-ferrous item (a couple of links from something).

Impression? The detectorist made a difference (the T2 was easy to learn, so that's why I started to find stuff) - changing the coil on the SE (I think) made a big difference (although the first hammered was found without the Ultimate coil) - the ETRAC and Deus - a bit harsh on them as the field is now very quiet, though I did manage to find a roman with the ETRAC.

ETRAC / Deus comparison (on mainly pasture so far) - like the fact with the Deus that I can go out in pretty much all weathers and still hear what I am detecting (as the headphones are nicely tucked away), but much prefer the target id on the ETRAC (indeed prefer the target id on this over the SE Pro and earlier ones). On the Deus I also like the folding away mechanism, and it currently seems more robust than the T2 (although I'm not selling my T2 at anytime soon - it's currently helping me get land in Yorkshire :) - if I was doing a 'Park' rally and coin shooting I'd currently want to use my E-TRAC.

Of course this is only my opinion - and I've yet to have a chance to compare them on ploughed (to be honest one of the reasons I got a Deus).