Metal Detectors

[egirl]

Does anyone know anything about metal detectors? what brand is best or at least good? what makes one better than the other one? I have no idea about them and my dad wants one for Christmas so trying to learn something about them at least before making a purchase for a beginner metal detector. Thanks. :)

[Ravenseye]

Hi there egirl! I happen to work at a shop that sells detectors! We primarily sell the Whites brand at our store, but do carry a few basic Garrett units to have for people who do not want to spend what the White's cost.

 

The basics: Metal detectors are a type of ground penetrating radar. They shoot frequencies into the ground, when they get return signals from the "stuff" you are looking for, they register a "hit". More basic units just beep at every hit, while the more expensive units tend to differentiate between the stuff that it sees, this is called discrimination. The better detectors do a better job of telling you what you are seeing in the ground than the cheaper ones do. They either have a different audio tone, or show you a number on a screen that tells you what you are looking at. This is designed to have you dig up less junk up and only get the worthwhile stuff. Good metal detectors also have what is called ground balancing. This feature allows a detector to be able to look through more types of soils and materials to find good stuff. Most of the time, you can calibrate the ground balance pretty easily by holding the detector in the air, hold a button for a moment or two, then tap it to the ground and hold the same button for a moment or two again, then you can go hunt. Most people who detect do this about once an hour or so to make sure the detectors can perform at their best!

 

Prices range on detectors at our shop from $149.99, to $1,699.99. Our most sold model, the White's DFX 300, sells for $1,199.99. This particular unit has a ton of pre-set "point and shoot" settings that get you out and poking around pretty quickly even as a fresh newbie! If you want to go hunt coins, find that setting on the menu, and go find 'em. Wanna hunt relics? same thing...it's dead easy to set up the basic settings, and it has a lot of adjustments you can make when you get used to it. There are detectors that are awesome for about half that amount, and even the cheaper ones do well in basic tasks, you just end up digging more junk targets up than good stuff.

 

If you have any questions for me, please do not hesitate to send a message here, or to me at our work e-mail, [email protected]. My name is Mike and I'd gladly assist you with any and all questions you have!

 

-Mike

 

P.S: the Whites company is an awesome company to deal with. We've had nothing but the best of luck when it comes to supporting them as a good company to deal with in terms of either customer support, or just the quality of their products! Every detector by them is built in the states and they have one of the best warrantee's of anything we sell. They have gone out of their way to support units that were sold more than 10 years ago, and at a different store, through us. We love those guys!

 

www.whiteselectronics.com

Edited July 22, 2010 by Ravenseye
forgot something!

[egirl]

Thank you. I guess I need to look and decide something. Thanks for all the info.

[Ravenseye]

absolutely no problem! hope I have helped!