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WHICH DETECTOR SHOULD I BUY?
There are a multitude of detectors to choose from. Much of your
choice is down to personal preference - does it feel comfortable
to hold? Can you see any screen clearly? What is the weight and
balance like?
Detectors run at various frequencies - typically from 3 to 20
kHz - with the generally agreed principal that lower frequencies
penetrate deeper into the ground, but are less sensitive to small
objects; and that higher frequencies penetrate less deeply but
are more sensitive to small objects, particularly gold and silver.
Some machines, notably the Minelab BBS and FBS machines use pulsed,
multiple- frequencies.
Coils tend to be either concentric type (typically polo or spider
shaped) or widescan (2D type). Debate rages over which are best.
Generally, concentric coils are slightly deeper than widescan,
but give a conical shape, so the deepest signal may only be
2 or 3 cm across, so it is recommended to overlap your sweeps by at
least 50%. They are easier to pinpoint with, due to their conical
signal shape. Widescan tend to go down to the same depth across
the whole coil, they are less affected by ground mineralisation, do
not require the 50% overlap, but are harder to pinpoint
with.
Don't jump in blindly and buy some of the cheap rubbish seen on
internet auction sites. Ebay can be a good source of well priced
second-hand detectors. Do some research and stick to the better known manufacturers.
BEGINNER'S DETECTORS:
Simple to learn and use, yet offering very
good performance, with some rivalling more expensive machines.
The best choices: FISHER F4 (6.8kHz, typically
£280 in UK); GARRETT ACE 250 (6.7kHz, £179); MINELAB XTERRA 30
(7.5kHz, £320);TESORO SILVER uMAX (10.6kHz, £339); TESORO COMPADRE (10kHz, £180); XP ADX100 (4.6kHz,
£290).
DETECTORS FOR THE MORE EXPERIENCED USER:
These basically break down into several
sub-groups, depending on the areas that you most frequently detect
on. If you detect on more than one of these types of land, it is
possible to get a pretty decent "all-rounder" - noted below. Bear in
mind though, that if you can afford it, you are better with a
different machine for each type of land that you detect on.
1. The most common scenario in the UK -
cropped arable land - ploughed, harrowed and rolled, stubble.
Varying degrees of mineralisation and iron contamination - although
most of the best areas for past habitation will be infested with
iron. For these areas, look at the following machines:
If mainly stubble and not too much iron -
MINELAB EXPLORER II/SE (multi-frequency FBS, £899 UK price) - gives
excellent depth to counteract the loss from the stubble, but suffers from
target masking in iron rich areas. Also good for handling bad
mineralisation.
- All other arable areas, particularly with
moderate to heavy iron infestation:
FISHER F75 (13kHz, £599) - ultra-fast response
and reasonable depth; LASER TRIDENT I/TESORO CIBOLA (14.3kHz, £399);
LASER TRIDENT II/TESORO VACQUERO (14.3kHz, £439) - both very fast
response and decent depth; TEKNETICS T2 (13kHz, £499) - ultra-fast
response and reasonable depth; TESORO TEJON PRO (17.5kHz, £499) -
very fast response and decent depth; WHITE'S MXT (13.8kHz, £495) -
very fast response and reasonable depth; XP GOLDMAXX POWER (18kHz,
£520) - ultra-fast response and decent depth.
All of the above machines will aid in
unmasking good targets in iron. Personal preference then comes into
play somewhat, with the most popular machines being the XP Goldmaxx;
Tesoro Tejon and the Laser Trident I/Tesoro Cibola.
2. Pasture land and other grassed areas -
generally not ploughed, or ploughed very infrequently.
For these areas, you are looking for depth and
stability more than anything else. Good choices are:
MINELAB EXPLORER II/SE (multi-FBS, £899);
MINELAB MUSKETEER ADVANTAGE (5kHz, £359); XP ADX250 (4.6kHz, £330);
XP ADVENTIS 2 (4.6kHz, £390); XP GMAXX 2 (4.6kHz, £500).
3. Beaches - dry and wet sand. Generally
speaking, the multi-frequency machines excel in such areas. Good
choices are:
MINELAB EXPLORER II/SE (multi-FBS, £899);
MINELAB QUATTRO (multi-FBS, £625); MINELAB SOVEREIGN GT (multi-BBS,
£550).
There are specialist pulse induction (PI)
machines available for beach use; also, in the dry sand, gold
prospecting machines like the FISHER GOLDBUG 2 and the WHITE'S GMT
GoldMaster can be very effective for finding gold jewellery.
4. General use "jack of all trade" machines.
Useful if you can only afford one detector. They don't excel in any
one situation, but offer a reasonable performance over most areas of
use. Good choices are:
LASER HAWKEYE (10kHz, £430); MINELAB XTERRA 50
(7.5 & 18kHz, £449); MINELAB XTERRA 70 (3, 7.5 & 18kHz, £530);
WHITE'S DFX (3 & 15kHz, £620); WHITE'S M6 (13.8kHz, £430); WHITE'S
XLT (6.5kHz, £530).
Always use your detector with good headphones - don't use the
inbuilt speaker, it will flatten batteries quicker and you will
miss faint targets. Don't use standard hi-fi headphones, they are
not built for it. Good detector headphones can be found from: DetectorPro,
Koss, Maz, SunRay and Troy.
HOW DO I FIND LAND TO DETECT ON?
Beaches, above high water mark, generally, can be freely detected.
Crown beaches - between high and low water mark - now require you
to have a licence - currently £20 per year. Be careful with parks
and other local authority land - there can often
be
byelaws
about
detecting.
For farmland, you have got three choices. The easiest is to go
to rallies, where land will be available for a day or a weekend.
The downside is cost - typically £15-£20 per day.
Second up, we have - join a club. Clubs often have land available
exclusively to members. This can be a good option, although it
depends on the club, some may well have been detecting the same
land for years, making finds few and far between.
And third option - get your own permission on local farms. This
can be the hardest option. It entails knocking on doors and asking
politely
- be prepared
for a lot of "no's", but stick with it and you will be
successful. Always try to go in person, phone calls can work, letters
are generally not very successful. Try to pick times of the year
when farmers are less busy, ie: not during ploughing, drilling
and harvesting.
On a final note, always make sure you are adequately covered for
public liability. Joining a club will usually get you this insurance,
as will joining the
FID or the NCMD as an
individual member.
HOW DO I FIND A CLUB?
This one is fairly easy. If you are in the UK, start at the NCMD website
and check through the clubs list for your area.
Forward looking clubs will have an email address, and possibly
a website, although you might only find a phone number or a 'snail-mail'
address.
Then it is simply a case of contacting the club secretary to see
if any vacancies exist for new members - a lot of clubs have waiting
lists though. Membership fees can range from very little to £25 or
so per year.
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