New vs older detectors for beginner ?

The simple answer is yes. There have been lots of advancements in the ability to handle ground minerals, processor speed and target ID accuracy that has made hunting far more simpler than with the older machines.

A lot depends on what type of hunting you do. For example, if you hunting mainly relics at old fort and camp sites the new advancements are not so much an advantage because you tend to dig all signals so speed and depth are most important. If you hunt mainly coins at parks and schools then a good accurate target ID detector can save you digging mounds of trash.

One great advantage of newer digital machines is lighter weight. Wasn't a big deal twenty years ago, matters to me now.

FWest said:

A couple friends let me borrow a Tesoro Sabre 2 and a Whites Classic SL. I have only had time to "test" each unit for function and make a dozen holes in my yard. I can see how coins sound different than junk and know have a lot to learn.

I am in no hurry to purchase a new detector but was thinking this morning, would a newer model perform better than an older unit ?

Also are these units better than a modern $200 starter unit ?

Thanks for any input.

FWest

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Some very good questions.

Newer doesn't always equate to better.
Why
For some strange reason some times manufacturers stray away on some of their future models with things that made them popular to begin with.
And personal preference here does play into to this too.
An example here,,for deep coins an XS explorer used can be had for $300 usually, put this detector up against the still in production Etrac,,and the latest Minealb fbs release CTX3030. This older detector will hold its own here against these newer detectrors(on solo sitting coins) with the tone of this older detector ranking supreme in my book to the newer release Minelab CTX3030.

There are other older Minelab units like Edplorer SE,,explorer 2, explorer SE pro.
These units can be had reasonable too,,and seem by all accounts to be very dependable.
You see someone with one of these detectors,,and the person knows how to operate well,,,watch out,,they will strike on the deep stuff- copper and silver.

Now there are other models out there that can be had reasonable too.
Fisher F5 is a good one.

Weight seems is coming down a bit on some models vs models made 20 years ago.

On solo sitting coins,,meaning no nails or trash around,,,the difference in performance with older vs newer is more near one another.

Enter some iron and trash,,,this is the area where some improvement has been made.

Some of the bells and whistles on the newer detectors are more helpful than others.
Some bells and whistles are basically window dressing,,,do nothing for a user as far as locating a coin, etc.

All I can say is look around,,read up on different models.
Buy as much as you can price wise at the time.
Why
Cause if you skimp,and start detecting,,get hooked,,you know what usually happens??
You will be wanting to upgrade and fast.
Which means more$$$.
Spend your loot up front and get a worthy unit.

Trading up or selling and buying,in the long run you will spend more loot.

Hope this info helps you.

Thanks for the replies.

Yesterday I spent a bit going around my yard with both machines.

The Tesoro has a feature that discriminates by flipping a small switch. I did dig even when the this "mode" would stop the unit from sounding. From what I can tell it eliminated thin alum- flashing, soda bottle caps ect. I had to dig a decent size hole to locate most things.

The Whites has a little trigger that helps you pinpoint stuff and found items without having to make much of a hole. I found modern coins near my parking area and after a short time could tell what a coin sounded like on both.

I can see myself getting into this hobby and have started looking into a modern detector. Can relate to the idea of buying once but I would not put a new driver in a Hellcat so no XP Deus for me. Like most hobbies you seem to accumulate gear for different applications. I prefer new when I buy for warranty, customer support and knowing it has not been abused or altered.

The areas I will try, now that I have aerated my lawn, include the beach, parks and some old house/farm sites. Coins would be great to find but anything interesting will provide enough satisfaction to keep me hunting.

The Teknetics Minuteman and Delta 4000 seem to have good reviews. Does either one stand out above the other ? They both are light and priced the same.

Thanks again for helping a new guy.

wouldn't it be great to have a comprehensive list of all the detectors made in the last 10 years or so and all their good and weak points .
that would take a boatload of work but would be awesome and probably overwhelming.

Both those two older detectors are pretty decent starter models , Ive had both of them. Short term , as a new detectorist learns the hobby and learns to understand the machine , there would be very little difference between them and a newer detector. Longer term though , once you got proficient at it and gained experience , the gap between what those machines are capable of and what a new starter unit is capable of gets wider. In other words while those older detectors are still good models to learn on today , you might find yourself growing out of them before too long and it would become more and more apparent that the newer technology probably has more to offer , even if just better discrimination. There will always be a soft place in my heart for the Tesoro sabres and Whites classics though , simple and effective.

The Silver sabre II is a machine that I will never get rid of. It doesn't do anything really spectacular but it has decent depth and does everything well. My sabre 2 machine is sparky, chatters a lot while running, low disc settings gives you a good feel of what's in the ground while you are hunting, thumbing the knob tells you what type of target it is before you dig it. One thing it does extremely well , it pinpoints flawlessly in non motion. You can actually resize your pinpoint to get exact center location without using a pro pointer and extract coins with a probe rather than cutting a plug. If you resize the pin point, one thing you have to do is hold the coil in the air away from power lines and retune the coil before you restart your next hunt with it or else your time will be less desirable until you retune it or turn it off and restart the coil calibration. It will automatically disc out targets from the previous ratcheting pinpoint if you do not retune it. I hope this helps. There are so many good machines out there available but comparing machines is quite counterproductive.....

Semtav said:

wouldn't it be great to have a comprehensive list of all the detectors made in the last 10 years or so and all their good and weak points .
that would take a boatload of work but would be awesome and probably overwhelming.

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It would be a lot of work, but I have seen info like this for headphones such as on this site: http://theheadphonelist.com/headphone-review-list/

For detectors it could have columns for salt water performance, target ID, recovery, depth, ground balance, etc. I know it would over simplify things, but it would probably be a huge help for newbies who are trying to get the best detector for their purposes on their specific budget.
When I looked for headphones I sorted by average rating, then started at the top and went down till I saw one in my price range, then looked at the specific ratings that I knew were important to me.

It would be a cool project to work on, but unfortunately I don't have the knowledge and experience yet to populate a list like this. Although if it is easily updatable we could take input from forum veterans about changes that should be made.

I have ordered a Fisher F22.

Thanks for all the help.

FWest said:

A couple friends let me borrow a Tesoro Sabre 2 and a Whites Classic SL. I have only had time to "test" each unit for function and make a dozen holes in my yard. I can see how coins sound different than junk and know have a lot to learn.

I am in no hurry to purchase a new detector but was thinking this morning, would a newer model perform better than an older unit ?

Also are these units better than a modern $200 starter unit ?

Thanks for any input.

FWest

Click to expand...

Back in the 70's I dreamed of a TR detector that would maintain the threshold and give some kind of target info. When I got my MX5, it far surpassed my imagination. That being said, it STILL is only a machine with the best of all our PRESENT technology.

There is no way to pick deep stuff without computerized metal detector

SuchMuch said:

There is no way to pick deep stuff without computerized metal detector

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Nexus MP?

ghound said:

Nexus MP?

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Any "digital" metal detector

SuchMuch said:

There is no way to pick deep stuff without computerized metal detector

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Whites Pro XL 6000 - goes deep, analog only, aftermarket add-on for tone ID

CC_IN_CA said:

Whites Pro XL 6000 - goes deep, analog only, aftermarket add-on for tone ID

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All deep signals are shifted very close to ground zone. It's not possible for analog machine to separate these signals from ground signal and provide right ID without handling them with algorithms.

Analog machine are deep on light grounds only

I disagree with that..

SuchMuch said:

There is no way to pick deep stuff without computerized metal detector

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An "analog" Tesoro Vaquero or Tejon can go pretty deep too, and they're not considered to be "computerized".

pinenut said:

An "analog" Tesoro Vaquero or Tejon can go pretty deep too, and they're not considered to be "computerized".

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The Vaquero is deep in my soil which is not that mineralized. Power tuned it is very deep.