upgrade?

[archie]

okay, heres a 'how long is a piece of string' question - I use an Ace 250 at the moment, and am seriously thinking of upgrading. thing is that I wont be sure on the amount of money I will have to play with (prob about £300) until after january. I may trade in the ace, but difficult as it was a gift in the first place.
I look at the pics in the mags, but the choice just becomes blurred.  I only detect on farmland, as have had no luck with the ace on beaches.
I know from being a member of detecting wales that there is a lot of experience of numerous machines amongst the members, I just need a bit of guidance on the best value for money machines.
I am afraid I cant really handle a MD that is too heavy as only the use of one arm.
I know its a question with a million answers but any help would be appreciated

[handyman [Alan}]

i'd take a look at the good secondhand minelab xterra range.

easy to use, light and very effective

[Neil]

If you don't mind an older machine with incredible pasture depth - I bought my Minelab Explorer II for £300.

It takes a while to get used to, but was around £1000 new and moves you straight into a serious detecting machine.

Stick a post up on here asking for one. In the days before DW I did the same on another forum and had 3 offers for sale all around the £300 mark.

Hope that helps

Neil

[shunggav]

hi i have  a white mxt for sale its a very good detector a quite light has a beach mode and but   as neil said the exp 11 is good but u need arms like rambo to use it all day

[Chef Geoff]

I agree with Gav the EX II is ane of the heaviest machines out there so is not even worth considering. The Whites MXT that he has for sale is a very sensitive machine and great on hammered coins and has the beauty of working of the beach should you venture there. At that price it is a true bargain and if Christmas wasn't fast approaching then I would of snatched it off him straight away.
Google it and read the write ups.

[Napoleon]

Explorer xs on ebay for £ 280.00 . good luck with the upgrade.Nap

[ysbytymike]

Re. the difficulty because the Garrett was a pressi..
Tell whoever bought it for you that by selling it, you'll be to get a machine with more functions. All bases covered.. 

[JRD]

I would look at a second hand Fisher F75 or a Teknetics T2 both very good machines, and very light. I got a T2 myself traded in the ETrac because of the weight issue and have never looked back.

No good really on the beach but as you said you are looking for inland detecting.

[archie]

cheers all, thanks for the info so far, looks like I am going to do a lot of read-ups

[romano-brit]

defo go for an explr11 youd be mad not to, as for the weight it only takes a few trips out to get used to it, i can go 8 - 9 hours with mine

[ysbytymike]

Everybody complains about the weight of the etrac.. I picked it up for the first time and thought 'what on earth are they talking about' - its not that heavy. As Romano-brit has said,
you'll soon get used to it even if it is heavier than your current machine.

[bymatt666 (byron)]

ever since i got my explorer i have used a bungee harness....now some are restrictive but, the one i use all the time now is superb...plenty of freedom and swing and maximum support......it looks like a dogs lead, but with a bigger loop that one arm slips through and the rest goes behind your neck and hangs down on the side you wish to attach to the tector (right hand or left ).....i can swing for hour after hour and feel no effects at all......they are on ebay for £14.49p....thouroughly recommended........ ........byron

[rjm]

Have a look at Teknetics Omega 8000. It operates on 8 kHz which is a good general search frequency, is light, simple to use, nice screen and will work on the beach.

A friend uses it and has cut hammered's, and various other sized shapes/sizes finds.

An excellent alternative to the Minelab stable and one I'd use if I wasn't happy with my fairy stick!

[dances with badgers]

how long is a piece of string question = twice the length from the middle to the ends.
 shimples

[welshdigger]

im in the same boat as you archie.
i got an ace250 and £300-£400 to spend on a new detector but not sure what to go for?
looking towards saving abit more and getting a minelab safari or e-trac but reading about them they seem a little tricky to use for a newbie?
so have you decided on what your going for next?
fisher f5? teknetics omega 8000? minelab x-terra 705?