DetectingWales.com

what do you think is the best detector on the market or you have used

What have you done Robson? ??????????????

This post will cause some serious arguements! Buts its fun to watch! ;D

My personal opinion is the Minelab Explorer range. I have only used the Explorer II from that range but they all seem capable of significant depths and great discrimination.

Now Duck and Take Cover!

Cheers
Neil

E-trac   ;D ;D

The best detector is the one that you know and understand.
The worst detector is the one on the shelf.

This is the exact question that was posted on the Finds form in the last year.

I said they were all rubbish. One other person agreed. I later had an e-mail asking me to justify my statement which I did and I ended up as a consultant to one of the bigger U.S. detector manufacturers + a nice free trip to the States.

The simple answer is there's no answer.
 
On the beach I would say a Deepstar for coin/ring sized items. Underwater a J.W.Fisher X8 with its higher uS abilities.  A Lorenz for hoards. Heavy iron, well most Explorer users have a Goldmaxx/T2/F75 etc tucked away for a busy site.
For iron "see through" non motion machines fare better than motion.
For natural gold you need a high frequency machine say 60 kHz or higher for the small stuff though in many areas of Australia the mineralisation is such that only pulse will do.
Relics and coins the Nautilus is hard to beat.

To get exceptional performance on a particular item or on a certain type of site it always seems to mean that some other aspect has to suffer so there will never be a "best" machine just the one that best serves your needs for a particular purpose.

i have no idea if this was asked last year as i have only been a member for a month or so ;D

It's just this sort of question that the nuclear deterrent was put in place to avoid, and what happens???? a bloody squirrel with a machine gun comes along and asks it.
I'm heading for the bunker :o :o :o

Chef

I agree with Brian :) different machines for different conditions. ;D

OH OH !! :-\

pmsl  ::)

bit of a daft question LoL just have to looka t any dig, and see wots around ever the etrac SE or the explr 2

From what I have heard on the grapevine (re: RARE 20th celebrations) the best detector without doubt is the Fisher 1236x2 owned by Des (Kane) it apparently beat the rest hands down on a test bed!

your gonna have to make your own mind up on that one everyone on here don t use the same machine i have used 14 different detectors in my time and it s still hard to comment which one is the best dont go by the more you spend the  more you will find  :o

Yeah, I always thought that the best detector was the one that found the most at the time. :o

Me  ;) :D :D :D :D :D :D ::)

Please pray that Borderfox , Coleggwent and Altinkum do not read this post.

to late...  i'll let the 2 old fool's answer first then i'll tell you all what's the best detector on the planet

BORDERFOX would say XS and COLLEGGWENT would say the EX11.................. ;D

I THINK ITS LIKE SAYING  HOW  LONG IS A OIECE OF STRING  ??? ??? ???   DIFFERENT PEOPLE  HAVE THEIR OWN IDEAS  ON WHOTS THE BEST ,,,  I   SUPPOSE ITS  JUST  GETTING TO KNOW  THE MACHINE YOU USE   AND  THE DIFFERET SOILS  AND CONDITIONS REALLY ,,,  SOME MACHINES  ARE BETTER  ON  CERTAIN CONDITIONS    ;) ;)

joking aside i spoke to a lad on last weeks dig who's just bought a golden mask 3+ and he's very impressed with it i held it but found it a bit heavy but heard there's a hip mount coming out soon. so 1 to keep a eye on

 ;D

HARD LUCK ROB I SPOTTED THIS THREAD, WELL ITS NOT THE FFFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIISSSSS CAN T BEAR TO SAY THAT WORD ,  CAN T WAIT FOR PHILS REPLY, CANT WAIT FOR DECT WALES RALLY, MIKE  YOU WILL BE DIZZY WATCHING THE MINLABS GETTING TARGETS OUT, ONE OLD FOOL JOHN ::) ::) ;D ;D

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ  sorry john did you say something

What we'll do ladies and gents is at the two day rally rather than me just photographing the finds and remembering the finders names, I'll also take a note of the machines they were found with. Full report will follow and at the end of it as we all have had equal opportunity to find the same stuff we'll see which machines come in with the results. I know luck plays a part but it will give us an idea. Anyone else like to add any other bits they want me to record?

The site looks very promising so I think I'll have a busy two days. Oh and by the way its my birthday on the Tuesday, so you can expect me to be hammered on the Saturday night. The Absinthe's are on me!

Cheers
Neil

why dont you set up a test bed not as a comp but just for people to see how their's and other members machines compare

Thats a good idea Mike - might be one for early evening around the campfire shenanigans! Its always a tad hectic for Geoff, Rob and I in the morning, but I like the idea. I can video it as well for this site.

Cheers
Neil

Personally I think the Minelab multi-frequency machines, in the hands of a competent user, are the best 'all round' machines currently available.

That's not to say they are the best...!!

I prefer single frequency machines for ease of use with a fast recovery speed. Again, these have draw backs.

Depth isn't everything which a lot of detectorists seem to think is. It's no good detecting deep if the machine won't pick up near or on iron.

As already said, it's all down to personal preference and knowing your machine.

I've used a lot of machines over the years and there's things I liked and didn't in all of them. The one I had the longest was the Whites XLT (about 7 years) but even that had it's faults.

That's the thing that makes the hobby what it is: Unpredictable, challenging, exciting, and frustrating. If a machine was that good we'd all buy it (even with a mortgage!) and there would be no finds left. :(

Guys as with the blackwood rally , It would be great if a load of us could bring digi cameras save Neil running around like a maniac.

At the end of the day the "THE BEST DETECTOR" is the one your happiest using ;) ;D

good to see ww3 havent broke out over this post lol ;D

Yes, this is a very friendly debate for this website. We're all getting too friendly by agreeing to disagree. Whatsamata wif us?  ???

Asking "what is the best detector" is like asking "what is the best car", nobody will agree, however what you have to consider is that not everyone has deep pockets, so the answer is "the best you can afford"

Sometimes talk of £800 plus machines can make others think their machines are cheap rubbish, that is not so, you don't need expensive machines to make good finds , the Ace 250 is a good example, and sometimes the cheaper "turn on and go machines" are better, they don't need to be balanced for different conditions like some of the top models , remember soil conditions can chance in the matter of feet.

Nice one Rob - it would cut  down on my photographing time and increase my detecting time. If members could email me the photos and who they are linked to it would be appreciated.

cheers
Neil

Good post crazyfach :)

Everyone should just put a basic test bed in their back garden, say ship halfpennies at depths of 5, 6, 7, 8 up to a maximum of 12".

Then see at what point the targets swap from reading good to reading iron. People really feel sick when they realise what they have been missing.

good idea, but i get distracted and go hunting everywhere as well