Starting the hobbie

[Andre]

Hi there.after many years of thinking about it I've decided to start detecting.I like history and the outdoors.not sure about the hobby I didn't no which machine to buy.soon realised that the good ones are dear.hope my missus gives me a minelab or something like that for xmas..anyway,after watching a guy called GED Dodd on YouTube with a viking5,I bought one like that on eBay for £40.a mate of mine has a big farm never detected near roman roads and all.will I detect anything with this machine?viking 7,thanks

[dingdong]

Hi Andre,firstly I wish you a very warm welcome to the Detecting Wales forum,you will find it a very friendly group of like minded folk who genuinely enjoy metal detecting.
There are plenty of the members who have a wealth of knowledge and are only to willing to answer your questions no matter how trivial or complex they are.
After all,we all started out as beginners.
With regard to your choice of detector,personally I've not used  one of these,however,sayingbthat I'm sure someone on here will have done.
Anyway,good hunting,and I look forward to seeing your future posts and interesting finds.
Good hunting...👍

[Chainsaw Bampy]

hi andre i had a viking machine a few a while ago and its not the best machine [you get what you pay for i suppose] saying that i found quite a few things with it, a lot of people said they were rubbish,but it did work and if you find that detecing is not for you then you havent wasted money however if you find you like detecting then you can always upgrade to a better machine later,when i had my viking i met an elderly man on barry beach with a viking which he has had for many years and he said he would never change i suppose its what you get used to,anyway welcome to detecting and hope you have many good finds.

[Chainsaw Bampy]

andre what area are you from?   theres
 people on here that are from many areas and maybe they can give you a few  detecting pointers on where to go near where you live etc etc good luck m8

[celticspikey]

First welcome to the forum and hobby. The one thing that new comers to the hobby can suffer with especially when purchasing a basic detecting model as you have done ( I respect you had a budget) is that they just dig Rubbish, nails and the like. Although if you can get on your mates land with possible Roman activity you can indeed find the odd bit of Roman.....many people have found wonderfull desirable objects with budget machines. I guess I'm saying don't give up and to increase your odds of finds, as soon as you can invest in a more capable machine say the entry level Garetts, these are inexpensive as machines go and will undoubtedly increase you chances of sticking to our great hobby....Best of luck...

[Val Beechey]

Welcome to the Forum Andre. I started with a Viking 4 and found........lots of nothing. BUT don't do what I did and throw it up the back of a cupboard for the next five years.
I didn't have any experience or anyone to ask for help. At least here there is a wealth of knowledge to draw on.
I would agree with Paul (celticspikey) they're not great machines but will find larger stuff near to the surface and some of it may be good stuff, pennies, Roman bronze etc.
At least you can get a taste for detecting while you start saving for the (first) up-grade  

[Andre]

Cheers for all the replies guys😀.appreciated.i am going for a hunt next week,a farm never detected.the machine is old but ill give it a good go👍.i've been looking at machines and prices and I would like to know why some are so expensive.what kind of detector can I buy with £250-300?Any half decent?new ones,not second hand.thanks. Ps: I live in sunny wrexham

[Andre]

I'm really overwhelmed by the friendliness of the guys here,thanks for the replies

[Val Beechey]

A really good starter machine is the Garrett 250 many have started out with it and have found some fantastic finds. One of the Scottish members found a hoard of Iron Age gold Torcs.
Do a google search for gold torcs found in Scotland and dream.

You can see all the models on the Regtons site.

[dingdong]

Hi again Andre,i would also go along with what Val says about the very capable Garrett Ace 250.
It was indeed my first serious commitment of spending big  money on a detector.
I had previously owned a very basic Bounty hunter,it spent more time in the loft than anywhere else !!..lol.
The Garrett ACE 250 is a very capable machine,and in my experience a very underestimated metal detector,and I found some good bits and pieces including my first ever hammered coin.
And the name I call myself on the forum is "dingdong"...this is the sound of signals given off by the ACE 250,....but a word of caution,its NOT a good detector for detecting on the black wet sands of the beach,but having said that it can still detect coins etc on the upper dry sandy parts of the beach.
It's an easy to set up machine,and the basic pre-set programme's are good.
Probably one of my regrets is that I sold it,i should have kept it as a reliable back up machine.
I did upgrade to the so called EURO ACE...and I considered it a waste of money,very disappointing.
If you consider buying an ACE 250,and you want to save your self a few Bob,have a look at the website of a company called www.staffsmetaldetectors .co.uk...I've had a few of my second hand detectors off this company and always found KEVIN.to be a good guy to deal with.it might be worth giving the site a once-over...or you can drop him an email and tell him what you are looking for.
Anyway,good hunting on what ever you decide ....👍

[celticspikey]

Hi Andre, excellent advice from Val and Chris both having experience of the Garetts, whilst I have not had one, what I hear from them is the word on the street.
Best of luck, you will need a bit as do we all, look forward to future finds.....Spikey.

[Andre]

Thanks dingdong for the support mate,the garret 250 is definitely on the books plus probably a pointer because I was told that they can save you time.ill have a look on that site you mentioned.I bought some bits and pieces the other day and one of them was a micro shovel from spears and Jackson at screwfix for£7.99 it's quite light and sturdy.my plan for now it's to do this farm thoroughly and by a new machine next year.i will keep the viking for when on holidays take it to the beach.how deep on farm land will any machine go and does it really needs to go deep?cheers😀

[Napoleon]

Hi Andre ,
Bienvenue l ami , i think i will get a minelab explorer xs  for around £300.00  its a brilliant detector good for land and beach so will save you money in a long run , garrett ace 250 is ok but you will find out in a year from now or less you want a deeper machine and good for beach detecting and so on . Its my personnal opinion i did start with a Garrett and few month later i upgraded to a minelab . Good luck and Hh.

Nap.

[Andre]

Mercy napoleon

[Val Beechey]

There's a lot of sense in what Napoleon says. You can't beat a Minelab of any sort. They are a go anywhere, find all machine,
The unfortunate part of the design is the weight. They're all heavy and not so easy to learn. Goes with the territory I'm afraid. The more sofisticated the machine the more to learn. If you do go for an Explorer or ETrac you'll be set up for a long time so would be worth your patience during the learning curve.
My last detector was a Minelab Safari, took me best part of a year to get used to it, but great when I did. Wouldn't recommend it for a beginner though.
Happy hunting in the meantime.