Garrett Sea Hunter mark II information and questions

[Mac urban]

Hi all does anyone have the sea hunter mk II and if so are u happy with the performance etc,I just found it strange there was no mention in this section of the forum ,cheers for any good feedback .....

 

[Goldpick]

Possibly due to more people ending up buying the Infinium due to its versatility and extra features, plus the fact that it can also be used on wet sand or underwater as well, just doesn't offer discrimination on foil and pull tabs like the Sea Hunter.

 

[gadgetman45]

I've got the sea hunter mk 2, It's a great machine, be prepared to dig deep.

 

[Mac urban]

Yeah I've heard it can read really deep looking forward to its arrival late next week then take it on its first outing on the weekend woohoo

 

[Guest]

Great machine. Threshold is very stable about 80% smooth and depends on how you hold down you coil cable.

These detect deep.

I laughed as I was reading people were spending $3300 in buying an ATX for the beach.

No need. If you want to dig deeper holes get the larger coil.

 

[Goldpick]

There's a Sea Hunter on ebay for $399 start bid, no bids so far and only a couple of days to go. P

I think it's probably a little unfair to compare pricing with the ATX, as it is an all-round machine vs a specialised beach/surf PI detector with no ground balancing capability. Buy a Sea Hunter brand new, and say another PI gold specialised detector with similar capabilities as the ATX, and you will be looking at a lot more than what the ATX costs, considering the ATX is marketed as a do-it-all detector. Most guys that have bought the ATX have only done beach detecting as it is an area that is readily accessible, I'm sure they have every intention of running it in gold bearing areas.

I'm still happy with my Infinium, only cost me around $700 with several coils, at least the coils are cheap to buy from the US, if you can find someone willing to post them here, and I have a local repairer that can fix anything on it.

 

[Guest]

Not unfair at all. As stated you don't need to spend $3300
If your aim is solely beach detecting. A sea hunter will do
Just fine.

If you want a multi purpose machine then thats a different story.

Looing forward to the ATX field reports.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Who on here ended up winning the sea hunter

 

[Mac urban]

Well the sea hunter is now finally in my possession I've been out twice so far and have found it a very good and easy machine to use still got a bit more learning to do but holy crap this thing really does pick up deep targets , overall very happy with my new toy
Cheers all.

 

[Sa_bogan]

Nice one mate, you outbid me on that, you must be in adelaide then?

 

[Mac urban]

Not in Adelaide mate I bought it from a shop sounds like u we're watching one on e bay or gumtree , I'm going to see how it goes on the rivers up bush

 

[B5MECH]

Hey everyone, long time stalker have finally joined your awesome forum, I'm Laurence from he who hates Sydney!
My heads exploding with to much info but not enough on what I want. My question is about the GARRETT SEA HUNTER MKII, yes I understand it is a serious beach machine with useless discrimination but I was wondering if anybody has used one in the bush for gold and how well and capable it could be?, I know it would be a nightmare in places of excessive junk, but maybe good in hard to get into places where most people would walk away from, or would mineralization be the killer to drive me mad, I'm looking for one for the right price but AUST. prices are a joke and I've had no luck with direct from the US. Or should I be looking for an INFINIUM? Thanks in advance, Laurence

 

[Goldpick]

The Infinium would be the better choice, it is a more dedicated and flexible propecting PI than the Sea Hunter, as it includes auto ground tracking and DD coils for mineralised ground, whereas the Sea Hunter misses out on both of these. Whilst the SH is a lot cheaper, it really is a dedicated beach/water detector, the Infinium can double duty as both a propecting detector and as a very capable beach/water detector, hence the price difference.

The Infinium is getting a bit long in the tooth now, and isn't exactly the best PI on small gold - though there are not many other choices on the market for a waterproof PI detector other than the much more expensive SDC2300 & Garrett ATX.

Unfortunately you have no choice other than to buy from Garrett Australia, unless you organise a third party to purchase and ship the item from US to Oz. Postal providers such as this https://shopmate.auspost.com.au/ can do the job, though might be more expensive than you bargained for with the inclusion of import duties, GST, postal costs and fees, and not to mention the poor exchange rate.

 

[grubstake]

My question is about the GARRETT SEA HUNTER MKII, yes I understand it is a serious beach machine with useless discrimination but I was wondering if anybody has used one in the bush for gold and how well and capable it could be?
1. I know it would be a nightmare in places of excessive junk
2. but maybe good in hard to get into places where most people would walk away from, or
3. would mineralization be the killer to drive me mad

1. All PI machines are a nightmare in areas of excessive junk. If you fancy your chances in such a spot, a good VLF discriminator is the way to go.

2. Why do you think a specialist beach machine might be good in such places?

3. Mineralisation would certainly be a killer for a PI with no ground balance adjustment, such as the Sea Hunter II. It's designed for low/unmineralised beaches and salt water environs, where it works very well indeed.

I'm not sure why you are so certain that the Sea Hunter II's discrimination ability is "useless". Untrustworthy is probably more accurate, but if a beach is like bottle cap city, it could be a feature that saves the operator's sanity while still allowing some worthwhile finds to be made. The problem is, you never know what you might be leaving behind.

 

[B5MECH]

This will be my first metal detector that I own, I live in Sydney on the northern beaches so I would expect a Sea hunter to be able to pay for itself in no time at all and hopefully be able to buy a better machine for the bush in the end, all the reviews I read or watch on you tube show the discrimination effects performance, I'm a mechanic/freerider/FMX/BMX and have dug enough holes building my own jumps to dig to china and back again, so discriminating is not what I will do no matter how many caps I find, when I said drive me mad I meant crazy noises stoping me from using it in that area, Im in the price range now to buy a Sea hunter but will have to work hard on making money if I wanted to step up to a new Infinium and may take some time as 2nd hand ones don't show up often, the vlf machines in that price range ATGOLD and ATPRO have the odd bad review so would want to wait till I could afford something better but with that type of money would probably look at a better PI machine Infinium, ATX or maybe a minelab, I haven't used a metal detector for more than 22 years so would not know what mineralisation will do to any of them as I was only about 14 years old then, I would get huge use out of a Sea hunter at the moment and don't get to go bush that often at the moment as I've lost my licence for another year plus, was just hoping someone has tried one in fresh water creeks/bush enviro. Or unless you would like to sell me your Infinium GOLDPICK :8 . I believe the SH would be the first right metal detector for me in my situation at the moment and was hoping someone would say that it could be useable in some certain bush enviros. I aim to have may be 3 or more detectors in the end. I've given up on the US. seems more hassle than its worth and will be buying it through a toy/hobby shop in Wollongong.
Thanks Goldpick and Grubstake for all advise

 

[Goldpick]

No worries, I thought you'd notice the Infinium in my detector list. Doesn't get much use these days as I mainly bought it for beach detecting, but got sick of wasting time digging up too much junk. It picks up the smallest bits of wire at ridiculous depths at times with the mono coils, also loves bobby pins and deep tent pegs. Believe me, when you bring home nothing but junk every trip, it starts to get a bit frustrating and demoralising.

I ended up using a Minelab Explorer and Etrac with more satisfactory results, less junk, and more time spent looking for the good stuff. They work very well on the wet sand and in the shallow water, with none of the falsing from salt as experienced on VLF detectors, being multi-frequency in operation.

Have you also looked at the multi-frequency Minelab Excalibur, it has an excellent reputation as a beach/underwater detector - also has adjustable discrimination built in?

 

[Heatho]

This will be my first metal detector that I own, I live in Sydney on the northern beaches so I would expect a Sea hunter to be able to pay for itself in no time at all and hopefully be able to buy a better machine for the bush in the end, all the reviews I read or watch on you tube show the discrimination effects performance, I'm a mechanic/freerider/FMX/BMX and have dug enough holes building my own jumps to dig to china and back again, so discriminating is not what I will do no matter how many caps I find, when I said drive me mad I meant crazy noises stoping me from using it in that area, Im in the price range now to buy a Sea hunter but will have to work hard on making money if I wanted to step up to a new Infinium and may take some time as 2nd hand ones don't show up often, the vlf machines in that price range ATGOLD and ATPRO have the odd bad review so would want to wait till I could afford something better but with that type of money would probably look at a better PI machine Infinium, ATX or maybe a minelab, I haven't used a metal detector for more than 22 years so would not know what mineralisation will do to any of them as I was only about 14 years old then, I would get huge use out of a Sea hunter at the moment and don't get to go bush that often at the moment as I've lost my licence for another year plus, was just hoping someone has tried one in fresh water creeks/bush enviro. Or unless you would like to sell me your Infinium GOLDPICK :8 . I believe the SH would be the first right metal detector for me in my situation at the moment and was hoping someone would say that it could be useable in some certain bush enviros. I aim to have may be 3 or more detectors in the end. I've given up on the US. seems more hassle than its worth and will be buying it through a toy/hobby shop in Wollongong.
Thanks Goldpick and Grubstake for all advise

I'm on the NB of Sydney too mate, you can get Minelab Xterra detectors from Anaconda up at Belsose, only thing is they are not the best on the wet sand but are all in all a great detector for anything but wet sand. The Garrett ATpro would be an excellent choice too, Ramjet here uses one and keeps amazing all of us with his finds. I think they do quite well on the wet sand from memory.

As Goldpick mentioned, the Etrac will be excellent for beaches but the control box is not water proof. The good thing about discriminating detectors is that you can turn the discrim off when you want to. Believe me though, I've been detecting around here for the past 2 1/2 years and you will want some kind of discrim as there is a hell of a lot of junk, especially in the parks, the beach has it's fair share too.

I've got a CTX3030 and paid it off with finds over a 3 month period.

 

[B5MECH]

Alright you guys have scared me away from the Sea hunter now 8.( I really liked how durable it is, being waterproof is a must for me so the ETRAC, EXPLORER and XTERRAS are out, and the EXCAL. scares me, If I was going to buy a minelab I would be looking into the higher range market witch is out of my price range at the moment, I liked the ATPRO INTER BUT The thing that scared me about it was some of the reviews of people throwing rocks at them saying that they are duds, now I'm starting to believe it is like all good tools it's not the tool at fault it's the tool trying to use it, I can get the ATPRO INTER. for $1115.38 which is quite good I think for new, just not sure why the ATGOLD is a little more expensive is it a better machine or is it not useable for beach work as well as bush?
I would be keen on your Infinium GOLDPICK but it may upset other forum members selling it to a newbie without offering it to longer members, as I don't want to cause any trouble, Maybe if RAMJET could poke his nose in and big note his ATPRO may help me decide to go shopping this coming weekend for one, Thanks GOLDPICK and HEATHO for advise I'm glad I joined to ask before I buy

 

[Goldpick]

The AT Pro is an excellent coin/relic detector, though won't be the best choice for the wet sand and water, depsite the fact that it is waterproof (ie. Noisy). Not trying to scare you away from the Sea Hunter, just making you aware of what to expect with a PI detector on the beach. Fine if you are willing to dig all targets, though won't suit everyone.

 

[nesral]

Garrett Sea Hunter MK II is a nice detector to use on a clean beach, no good for Gold prospecting.

Red Racer good for beach land and prospecting, but is not water proof so no water use.

Perhaps have a look at Whites MX Sport.