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Is a Vanquish 440 really better than an Aldi Adventure Ridge $100 detector?

Hilux

New Member
Joined
May 5, 2022
Messages
27
Location
Australia, west coast
I'm new to detecting. I'm more a urban coin and artifact hunter than a gold prospector.

I bought a $100 starter metal detector from Aldi, its branded Adventure Ridge GC-1032.

It works - I've found bottle caps, ring pulls, iron junk and a few coins. It will find a 3mm x 3mm pop rivet slug under 5" of moist sand.

L60uHb2


After a few outings I'm now wondering if I would be better off with a more expensive name brand detector. One I have been looking at is the Minelab Vanquish 440. Its about $400 Australian.

Apart from the build in pin point function will I really find the Minelab 440 unit much better?

How will it be better?

Thanks for the advice.
 

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That is a fair number of adjustments for a budget machine. My $105 First Texas (Bounty Hunter) Discovery 3300 has similar features and does what is supposed to.

Spending more money will likely get you a detector that offers accessories like wireless headphones, more coil sizes, etc.

If you are at the beach you might want a totally waterproof machine like the Simplex+.

You seem to be finding things without a pinpoint feature so if you want more technology on a strict budget you might consider the Vanquish 340.

It has the multifrequency feature of the 440 minus the pinpoint.

But finding great stuff is only possible if you are in the right location.

Find the right place and your current detector might bring home some "bacon".
 
Hi John, thanks for the reply.

Yeah the Aldi unit does have a few adjustments - they do seem to work, although I'm not sure how well - maybe they work a LOT better on a more expensive machine.

I got around the lack of a pin pointing function by buying a GP Pointer for around $20. It works quite well - very well for the price.

I find the Aldi unit sometimes sounds off when close to water or very wet sand. I've also found myself chasing the edge of a hole if that makes sense - it will give a decent signal at the edge of a hole, as you dig the trigger point will follow the edge of the hole. The GP pin pointer will not find anything which suggests the Aldi unit is false sensing.

Do you know if the more expensive (circa $400) units have issues like this?
 
What kind of coil does it have, round or double d?

you can find youtube videos giving advice on using the coil to pinpoint a target.

i moved up from my $105 detector to a Vanquish 540. Then a Simplex+ and now an Equinox 600. Not a shabby lineup but a lot of the expertise comes with practice rather than what gear you have.

Ironically my budget detector came with an 8" coil. All the others came with bigger coils and i ended up buying smaller coils for the Simplex+ and the Equinox.

since you are in an urban environment rather than fields or beaches you might like a small coil too.

I would wager everybody finds targets to be on the edge of a hole even with the top of the line stuff. Maybe we just need bigger shovels!

I found several youtube videos for this machine, here is perhaps the most succinct:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWDA_sT6Ggw

Air tests show it poops out after 6" or so. A more costly machine will probably go deeper. But he likened it to models in the Bounty Hunter line that cost more.

and i think the finish looks very nice.
 
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If you are finding your target on the edge of the hole then that would seem to be from the lack of a pinpoint function. It will help with that. If you are not finding a target at all then a false signal could be the issue. In fairness you could still have false signals on a more expensive machine if it isn't set up right for your conditions. No doubt that a more expensive machine can get you more depth but the caveat there is a more expensive machine will have more bells and whistles and if those are out of whack you may not find any more then you can with what you have.

My suggestion is learn what you have until you feel like you know it well. At that point if you want more you can always upgrade. The last thing you want is to spend more and not understand the machine and stop detecting after investing in TWO machines. Just my 2 cents. Good luck
 
Coin-Saver's advice is very good. If you have 2 or 3 machines like i do and divide your time between them it will be harder to master one of them.

If you have a detector on your wish list it would be nice to go hunting with someone that has that machine and use yours side by side and see how your machine stacks up with the other over different signals.

The more user friendly a machine is the more you will use it. And yours is very simple.
 
My first detector was a Bounty Hunter Quick Silver, not too much different then what your swinging. Take it out and play with it for a few months, I found my first silver, gold, relics etc with that $100 detector and still have have it. If after a few months you are still interested in the hobby and want to pull the trigger on something with more bells and whistles by all means go for it. On the other hand if June or July rolls around in it's just been sitting in a closet collecting dust it probably doesn't justify the investment.
 
The Vanquish 440 is an excellent detector for the price. It does have a pinpoint feature, it also has an easy way to accept and reject whatever discrimination pattern one is using with a simple button push, it doesn't have US coin bins displayed on the screen, it has an automatic EMI reduction feature that happens on startup, it has nice tones and it has simultaneous multi frequency operation that can handle more ground conditions like many milder saltwater beaches while also having excellent depth and very stable target IDs on deeper targets that are non-ferrous.

Neither your detector or the Vanquish detectors have manual ground balancing. That makes it harder for them to deal with more difficult ground conditions and beaches with lots of black sand. The Vanquish coils are waterproof. Don't know about the GC-1032 which is based on a mixture of Fisher (First Texas Products) and Garrett metal detector tech and design.

If you are looking for more depth and saltwater beach detecting where the ground/beach are fairly mild, the Vanquish offers a lot of features and advanced technology for an entry level detector.

Like some here, I personally might try to find enough coins to pay for a Vanquish or even something more intermediate level using your GC-1032 first and see if you really like metal detecting enough to starting spending some hard earned money on detectors.
 
The vanquish is a real detector.
Those unknown Chinese brands....well you get what you pay for. To put it nicely.
 
Remember this, location trumps the amount you spent on a detector.

The most expensive detector can't find what isn't there.

If you're simply wanting a new detector, that's one thing. If you think it will improve your finds, maybe it will, maybe it won't. If you do, just buy the best you can afford without putting yourself in a financial bind thinking it will increase your finds many times over.

Other than the brief mention of sand, you didn't give much of an ide what type(s) of sites you hunt?
 
What kind of coil does it have, round or double d?

you can find youtube videos giving advice on using the coil to pinpoint a target.

i moved up from my $105 detector to a Vanquish 540. Then a Simplex+ and now an Equinox 600. Not a shabby lineup but a lot of the expertise comes with practice rather than what gear you have.

Ironically my budget detector came with an 8" coil. All the others came with bigger coils and i ended up buying smaller coils for the Simplex+ and the Equinox.

since you are in an urban environment rather than fields or beaches you might like a small coil too.

I would wager everybody finds targets to be on the edge of a hole even with the top of the line stuff. Maybe we just need bigger shovels!

I found several youtube videos for this machine, here is perhaps the most succinct:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWDA_sT6Ggw

Air tests show it poops out after 6" or so. A more costly machine will probably go deeper. But he likened it to models in the Bounty Hunter line that cost more.

and i think the finish looks very nice.

What are you saying? A lot of round coils are double DD coils.
 
Thanks for all the responses and considered advice guys.

It's taken me a while but I'm coming around to understanding the limitations of the detectors and the types of detecting we can do - different targets for different locations etc.


From the advice here I went and watched a few videos and took the detector out to a nearby park with a 100 year or so history. I thought I might find some coins either decimal or pre-decimal.

I turned off all the lower end sensing. In an hour or so I turned up 3 coins and 3 bits of aluminium trash (2 ring pulls plus a cap).


One of the coins is Asian the other a 1974 USA quarter.
I've no idea where the Asian coin is from.

Both are a bit out of place in Western Australia.


I'll persevere for a while longer with this detector - it works with some limitations.

I think I'll go for a Vanquish 440 in a month or so for two reasons - 1) It does seem to offer more than my cheap unit, pin pointing, discrimination and I suspect stability. 2) Because I want one.

Thanks again for the advice.
 

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I tried one like the one you're using before giving it as a gift to my grandson. It worked, but it was pretty poor. I do have a 440, it is a very good detector. You'll immediately notice how much better it is than your current one. It will make your hunts more pleasurable and I have no doubt that your good finds will increase. Congrats
 
I tried one like the one you're using before giving it as a gift to my grandson. It worked, but it was pretty poor. I do have a 440, it is a very good detector. You'll immediately notice how much better it is than your current one. It will make your hunts more pleasurable and I have no doubt that your good finds will increase. Congrats

Thanks Muddy - I think I'm about to follow your path..... although this evening I'm now thinking a 540 over the 440..... :)
 
If you want a big coil get the 540. I think it is 12".

If you want a smaller coil the 440 comes with a 10".

If you get the 540 propack you get an 8" coil along with the 12". And wireless headphones.
 
While I use the AT Pro, I bought my wife a Vanquish 440 to use as it is a good machine, and lighter in weight which was a consideration for her. Both of us have used it, and other than the cheap Minelab headphones, it is quality made and has performed well. Have found a couple of silvers, wheat cents, and modern clad with it no problem. Basically a turn on, select hunting mode, and go. A lot of machine for the money.
 
If you want a big coil get the 540. I think it is 12".

If you want a smaller coil the 440 comes with a 10".

If you get the 540 propack you get an 8" coil along with the 12". And wireless headphones.

I'm a total novice - I think the smaller coil 10" would be easier for me to manoeuvrer. The spots I've been going to near to home have a lot of scrub.
 
While I use the AT Pro, I bought my wife a Vanquish 440 to use as it is a good machine, and lighter in weight which was a consideration for her. Both of us have used it, and other than the cheap Minelab headphones, it is quality made and has performed well. Have found a couple of silvers, wheat cents, and modern clad with it no problem. Basically a turn on, select hunting mode, and go. A lot of machine for the money.



I was kind of set on the 440 but then I watched a video on the 540. The low/high iron bias function looked useful - well to a novice like me it did.
Good to hear that the 440 is a decent machine though.
 
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