Choosing first metal detector

[WalnLiz]

Great attitude mate and hope to be able to join you in a fishing or prospecting session one day. Getting into the fresh air and having fun should always be paramount. Best of luck out there in that paddock.

Cheers Wal.

 

[ProspectorPete]

After a bit of researching I like the Whites MXT Pro best of the above mentioned but now I have another dilemma, I went panning for the first time on the weekend and found my first yellow spec's, I also did a fair bit of looking around the area and want to explore in more detail with a detector, I've been bitten by gold fever so now my needs in a detector would be primarily for gold in the locations I've listed in my original post.
The budget would be the same, $1500 to set up a detector with a couple of different coil options for different situations.
The Whites SPP is grabbing my attention at the moment so which would be the better detector for the area I'd be searching and finding gold, the SPP or MXT?
I'm aiming to purchase in the next month.
Thanks guys.

 

[stalker]

You might be better off panning in those areas ..

 

[ProspectorPete]

You might be better off panning in those areas ..

Thanks for that stalker, I just bought a couple of sieves to classify and will be getting a river sluice for future trips into those area's.
I may have to re-evaluate and just look at a detector suited to gold and split my trips up into pan/sluicing trips in the high country creeks and detector trips out in the GT area instead of trying to cram it all into one trip.

 

[stalker]

I used to go to A1 and do a bit of panning up there . Lived in morwell and worked for the shire many years ago .
Plenty of good spots for a sluice and a camp .

 

[Guest]

Iv had a MXT wife now has a SPP I'd go for the SPP, with a budget of $1500 you can get a new machine, carry bag, pick, plastic scoop and maybe a small coil you won't need anything else.
If you would like to try my SPP your more than welcome to just give me a few weeks.

 

[ProspectorPete]

That's great info Zuke and thanks for the offer to try your SPP, I will probably head to Dunolly soon for a weekend when my RDO is due and compare both at GSA to see which feels better and more comfortable, I'll try and spend a good couple of hours there to feel confident about which way I go, the one that feels best is probably going to get more use in the end whether it's chasing coins/relic's in the high country or gold in the GT. The Whites are appealing to me more than other brands and both these appear to be relatively easy to use going buy reviews with good coil options.

 

[Pauly]

Hi Prospector, I havent been on here for a while but just found your post. Ive got a whites mxt pro with 2 coils, not sure what they are but ones a dd coil. Its basically new, I got it from an old guy who used it a couple of times but it was too heavy for him. I used it once and worked out I rather just chase aluvials.

Only chasing $800 postage would probly be $25 so its a good cheap option for what is basically a new machine.

 

[ProspectorPete]

Sent a message Pauly.

 

[ProspectorPete]

Ok, I've decided on the Whites MXT and a big thanks to Pauly for a great deal, pretty easy decider at that price.
I'm excited about getting to use it most places I go, even Bemm River for 2 weeks in March, will give the beach a flogging at Pearl Point if the fishing is quiet in the estuary.
I'll look at getting the Whites Eclipse Shooter 6"x4" coil for smaller targets as I'm pretty sure the other one in the pic is an Eclipse Elliptical 6"x 10" and the standard 12" Spider Search.
I've got a waterway reserve at the end of the road that is about 700mtr wide and goes for kilometres with play grounds etc. so it should be a good area to learn the basics and I'm fortunate enough to work on the road all over the East side of Melb and have at least 1-2 hours most days where I can play with it at a park or reserve.
Thanks everyone for your input on this post and it's all good advice and opinions and I've learnt a fair bit about different detectors before even holding one but I suppose the real questions will start when I'm using it.......or trying to at least.

 

[stalker]

Ahh bemm river now that's my neck of the woods . I went to school at club terrace . Good flatty fishing there. Pearl point for surf fishing .

 

[ProspectorPete]

We caught some crackin' Bream and nice flatties on plastics and blades there earlier this year, it was our first time there and we said we'd make it an annual trip as it was so laid back, can't wait for March again.

 

[stalker]

Tamboon is another good spot to wet the line

 

[ProspectorPete]

Was supposed to camp at Tamboon after Bemm but couldn't get a camp site so ended up back at Marlo, both new places for us and Marlo was also great but not as quiet as the Bemm which is why the Bemm suits our pace. It's rare for us to camp in a caravan park, usually in the bush but the Bemm's got something special about it, maybe it's the boat ramps, jetty's & pub are all in walking distance, it was the most relaxing town camping we've ever done, going before school holidays works a treat for relaxation too

 

[Pauly]

Your welcome Pete. I used it in my loungeroom picked up every joist and wall stud nail so we ventured out to the lawn dug up 6 bottle tops and decided i should pick up my bottle tops. we then walked to the beach dug up several bottle tops, dug down a foot and got a chip wrapper and i started to think hmm im a rubbish collector. We then dug down about 3 ft and found an old firepit that had a sleeper spike in it, bugger this, i am a rubbish collector. We walked home I wiped it down and put it back in the box, and thats where it stayed, all within 4 hours of getting it lol. To lazy to work out the technical stuff lol.

 

[ProspectorPete]

That's a classic Pauly, it's first detect might be the wall studs in my laundry, the missus wants a shelf put up so I bought a stud finder and can't work out how to use it, mind you I haven't bothered to look up the instructions yet either. Looking forward to get out playing with it shortly.

Can someone tell me if you need specific headphones for detectors, the MXT Pro uses a standard 1/4" jack and I have a set of Audio Technica monitor phones which were $99 a few years back that I used for recording music, the foam inserts started perishing so I bought more expensive ones for recording but have these just as spare, they are light weight and comfortable.

 

[slipped disc]

try your expensive ones first, then try others, cheaper ones. also depends how critical your hearin g is.

 

[Goldpick]

I believe the MXT requires mono headphones, just as the GMT does (or be switchable between mono/stereo). The MXT is apparently just as loud as the GMT, so you will require some sort of volume control. Generally the lower inpendance rating of the headphone, the louder they will be.

I just use a pair of common detecting headphones like the RPG's, with independant volume control for each ear piece, and mono/stereo switching capability. Maybe spend a bit more later on once you learn your detector, especially if gold detecting is going to be a regular thing.

 

[ProspectorPete]

That makes a lot of sense Goldpick, I'll start with my old monitor phones until I get a proper set in a few weeks time.