DetectingWales.com

im looking to buy a second detector to use for river detecting this summer.I live very rural and there are many small old bridges down my way with rivers which are maybe knee deep .
As i use a safari for my day to day detecting i think i will need to get another detector or one slip and it will be very costly.
i would like to have some discrimination so would prefer not a pi machine.
i was looking at the tesoro shark or at pro
i was wondering if anyone has any advice .
cost is a bit of an issue at the moment for ''luxury items'' like a second detector so a minelab 3030 and suchlike are out  :P

I think the Garrett AT-Pro is the one to go for for the price, the Minelab Excalibur is the ultimate underwater VLF machine and they do crop up at reasonable prices but you could be waiting some time for one ;)

the garrett  Sea Hunter Mark II would be one of the best machines to use for rivers and beach, it has some incredible depth 100% waterproof
although i have both etrac and ctx3030 my son has the sea hunter mkII and ive used it a few times, its an incredible machine.

All metal Deepseeking mode
Adjustable Audio Threshold
Full range discrimination
Submersible headphone jack
Hip mountable control box
Salt elimination mode
Sensitivity / depth adjustment
Surface mount PC board technology

But it's a Pi and in a river with the normal amount of habitation wast the lack of disc would drive you mad, I used one for 4 years and while it's a good underwater machine (you don't want good depth when diving)  and will find some tiny items on the beach this would be a minus point in a river as although it say's "full range discrimination" it doesn't as it's a Pi and so only alters it's timings to be less sensitive to sizes of targets.
As you say VLF is the way to go for rivers ;)

head hunter  ;)

Yep nice little machines, no depth to speak of as only running at 2.4 kHz so the same as fisher aquanauts great little diving machine though. ;)

Only one machine in my opinion Geoff had it covered, EXCAIBUR but as Geoff said you got to find one, do not go for pulse machine you will only end up throwing it in the river ::) good luck and look forward to those river finds an area in most cases untapped  ;)

Whites beachmaster ID is basically a dfx in a box that's totally waterproof and has ID as well. If you can get hold of one.... Outherwise I'd go for the Garrett ATpro.

Nothing wrong with the AT Pro , in the water or on land Can be fully submerged no problem,But not the headphones.

thanks for the advice i think ill go for the excalibur, they seem to be around the same price as the at pro on ebay and maybe one will come up for sale on dw .
theres one bridge in particular i really want to go check out its only a mile from me in a tiny village that is  associated with the mabinogion (ancient welsh manuscripts). i think i know the owner of both sides of the land so ill ask him today.I might find something i might not .im not sure of the legalities as i guess the highways own the bridge but the river below it is prob owned by whoever owns the bank (its not national trust or forestry etc

Good choice Chantal and good luck if you get some finds they are usually in immaculate condition, copper and bronze coins for instance are as good as the day they went in and that includes Roman, fords are the best places and though you might have a bridge you may have an older or "summer" ford close by, remember bridges are built at the narrowest part of a river a ford is at the shallowest so study your map and just see if the road leading to the bridge has any little kinks in it to put it on course and if so where would the road go without the kink. also any tracks leading towards the river for no apparent reason.
As Paul says it's an untapped resource for someone ;)

Land owner owns half way across the river bed I think, so walk straight down the centre...  ;)

i asked him and he was fine with it so ill be checking out the river and under the bridge. the ''village '' (4 houses) is mentioned in a series of celtic poems written between 1100 and 1200 .i think the stone hump bridge is very old and before that it would have been a ford it would not be too deep for carts or cattle.the water is only knee deep at most and in the hot weather its prob welly deep.its quite fast flowing though.

chantal if you are still coming on Sunday, hold off buying anything till we meet up, i detect the beach and rivers all the time, and ill show you my setup with the etrac first, as you use a safari, you should manage ok with some setting changes.

You could just buy a gt, or elite and chest mount a waterproof box, not to hard to make.

There are many ways to keep the control boxes out of the water but all it takes is one wrong step or slippery rock and splash your in which could be a laugh at any other time but when you've just ruined £700 of machine a smile might be hard to crack, if your prepared to pay the money then get the right tools for the job ;)

trojan, yes im still coming im really looking forward to a nice local dig  :D
im in no rush to buy it might be a month or two before i can afford to buy anything anyway .
i wish minelab had made the safari waterproof ,!!!

look for an excaliber its a waterproof sovereign.totally waterproof

Florida, well out of my comfort zone in water, not being able to see the target area is totally weird!

Nice photo Doug, it does take some getting use to, reminds when me and keepmeteethinthejar.......use to go to Salou in the 90's great fun and lots of BLING :o :o :o nothing quite like hearing the clatter of a Ring in your scoop and then looking in to see that golden surprise  ;)

Once the 'locals' explained how to P/P the target not being able to see where to dig it made it a bit more easy.

I had a session with a borrowed Xcal from Bill one of the local lads.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Minelab-Excalibur-II-800-underwater-metal-detector-excal-1000-/221422756186?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item338dd3215a (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Minelab-Excalibur-II-800-underwater-metal-detector-excal-1000-/221422756186?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item338dd3215a)
Might be worth a chance?.

personally i would never buy a metal detector from flee bay, i would go to a shop that sells second hand. you just cant trust anything second hand from fleebay

looking forward to trying something new  :) iv been mapping out all the old hump bridges around my area and i also want to walk the river and look for man made changes .
the laws around river walking are not easy to understand as they tend to cover the laws regarding the land you would need to cross to get to the river and the river bank. The guy i asked permission from was suprised i asked because he said he only had ''rights of use'' of the river as his land borders the rivers edge.He said he doesnt legally own the river.

 

The law
Legally the water itself is not owned, but whoever owns the land along the river's edge (the riparian owner) also owns the property rights to the river bed. Under current UK laws, anyone on that water without permission from the riparian owner is trespassing. This is a civil offence, and may incur a fine or possibly a court injunction to prevent further trespassing. This applies to any member of the public, be they canoeists, rowers, swimmers or simply walkers stopping off on the river side to dip their feet.

The only arrestable offence is Aggravated Trespass, under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, where a criminal offence is committed whilst trespassing.

just be sure to ask the land owner where the river is, to go on his land and you are all good.

thanks trojan :)