Are we too polite about the garrett 150 & 250

[hydraglide]

When I got back into detecting earlier this year, I had 2 machines on my shortlist after reading up on what I should buy. These were the Euroace and the Whites Coinmaster pro. I opted for the Ace, it is an OK machine to be sure, shame I couldnt have tried a Whites before I bought the Ace but we dont always have that luxury of trying before buying. The Ace works well, finds the smallest items, OK looks a bit gaudy,but does its job. However (and Im not the first to say it) it couldnt pinpoint to save its life. (My theory on why Garrett sell so many propointers.. ) My last detector nearly 20 years back was a GTA 500 (I think) and I remember then saying "Im never buying another Garrett" I wasnt that impressed with it, and at the time I believe it cost about 800 quid. Whites Spectrums and any Tesoros/Lasers were the machines to have,back then not many people would give a Garrett 'house room'...my best/fave detector, (and Ive had a few) the Silver Sabre 2....Good luck with what ever you buy, you have to walk over it...to find it..

[klixxx]

hi three
i have tried all metals and iv tried jewelery mode im not sure what my friend has the coin-master set on.i use all metal and try to discrim by the tone of the target the problem is it so inconsistent the tones jump up and down all over the place and the lcd display may as well not be there because it just seems to make it up as it goes along most of the time it says foil and i dig its foil fine ..but then you'll get a great signal jumping from high coinage to low coinage your heart stops and bang guess what (foil horse shoe trash) i have found modern coinage and a few fairly old coins and a couple gold and silver rings and they made the same nice clear ring sound
im just very confused with it and im sure that there is some thing that im doing wrong with it.

[janner53]

Threemiles mate, I DREAMMMMMMMMMM of a ploughed field .
As yet, I have to keep searching... i have a nephew who has a mate that lives on a farm, I'm waiting for him to get back to me as i asked him to ask his mate for permission.
So fingers crossed .

Hi klixxx ,
Metal detectors can't tell you what the object really is in the ground, they can only indicate the conductivity it bounces back off its metal. Some coins and jewelry give off the same signal as trash. If you discriminate out to much trash on your detector you are more than likely discriminating out good targets too.

I don't think you are doing anything wrong, you just need to understand your machine a bit more. My Ace 250 does the same as you described. I mainly keep mine in one setting, the RELIC setting, and normaly on full sensitivity. I then ignore what the LCD display is saying. I have learn't the Ace 250 gives off three clear sounds, a low thud type of sound, a clear crisp bell sound, and a sound in between these two. I hardly ever dig the low thud sound, as it almost always junk, but always dig the other two. Yup, I do dig a lot of junk, but as you see from my earlier post on this thread, i dig a lot of good targets too in the limited sites i go on.

Hang on in there, it will come .

[Craiggold]

I'm with you on the thud sound! The Euroace does the same, and the thud is a good noise to learn, I totally agree it is "normaly" junk

[threemiles]

Two things.
Be careful about eliminating. Some hammies register as ring pulls so you may be ignoring them... argghhhh
Those horseshoes should easily grunt out at low tones, again ignore or dig. It's personal preference.
Janner...stop dreaming and pick up the phone, or knock on doors and ask..it's as easy as that.
There is real apprehension about this, but it really is that easy. Be prepared for no, but if you hit a few you will be getting a yes pretty soon. I really hope you get out there. You seem to have the get up and go, but in my opinion you really need to be walking over better soil to get the real goodies
Three

[janner53]

Threemiles, Yup, your right, I needed a kick up the you know where.
Its weird, but I imagine walking up to a farm house, saying my pitch to the farmer, and him saying NO, then the farmer going back in an saying to his wife, '' Bleddy 'ell Maud, some prat at the door just ask if he could metal detect on our land, cheeky sod''.

Ok, maybe it don't work that way as i have seen you all saying you do get the permissions.
As I'm driving past a farm if I see a farmer out working close by, I'm sure I would stop and ask him, but the thought of walking up to the door and knocking, 'ell, I find it sooooo cheeky.

... but i will, i promise, I'm eager to get out there amongst the 'old' stuff

[threemiles]

If your a bit shy about it, try ringing them first. That may break the ice, and if it's a promising lead go down and talk in person.
Think in their shoes.. As long as your not wrecking their land what have they got to loose? Someone digging up some cool historical finds on their land and showing them is better than nothing.
My point is, it's not all give on their part. You may have something interesting to give them back
Three

[janner53]

Threemiles, Good point , I never looked at it like that.

Made a mental note of it and it don't seem so bad after all. Ya know, I just might try it.
... proppa job .

[threemiles]

Hope you do...I expect the forum to be filled with I'd requests on your good finds lol
Steve

[janner53]

I shall keep thee informed

[klixxx]

janner you would be surprised some of the farmers i have approached i think have been happy to see me .maybe its a break from work a new face to talk to for half an hour even if its a no i haven't had any one be horrible about it .as three said they are just as interested in whats on there land as you are ?plus when im talking to new farmers i all ways mention that ill keep an eye on there land and maybe animals and report any problems with gates and fences. all so give them my moby number and tell them i am more than willing to help them if needed and iv earnt a few drinks due this .

[Suresight]

For me I have used an ace of some form since I started I now have a euro Ace which I find very easy to use the only negative is that my dad has one as well and we cannot get too close to each other as we interfere with each others signal..... now I could write a snotty post on here about how naff euro aces are because they interfere OR I could just walk at a different angle to my dad ( I will leave it up to you to decide what I do) my point is each machine will have some thing you have to learn to live with.
I would also like to point out to the nice chap that posted this most helpful thread that the ace 150 that is so hard to use or get on with my 6 year old daughter who has never held a detector before was able to find a coin ( all be it a modern 5p ) with in 10 mins of walking. may I suggest that when you buy a machine you give it a real fair crack of the whip and not just vent online.

on a positive note if you have a kid who wants to try his luck a 150 will be nice and easy to use light and very inexpensive, if an adult wants to give it a bash then the 250 is a great machine light cheap and finds just as well as anything else ( presuming you walk over something) in my mind the only thing that moves the euro ace on is the size of the coil and a slightly better discrimination function and a better pair of headphones.
on the second hand front as people have pointed out, I bought a 2nd hand Hawkeye and within three months the unit was shot to hell as it had, had water ingress and ended up being shorted out I could not go and ask for my cash back I had to swallow the fact i have lost £200 so in my mind I would always take the slightly lesser machine (if indeed it is one ) and buy new as you have the warranty back up. sorry its so long but I had lots to say.

[craghopper]

I had thought of buying the Ace 250 but decided on the Fisher F4 and I am glad I did after meeting someone on the beach with a 250 it looks different in the flesh to the pictures in the mags quite flimsy and found display small and hard to read, a cover would hide the yellow control box but not the cuff looks too much like a toy .I know they are a competent machine but not my choice ,also use a V6 build quality beats the ace every time and and would say it's more sturdy than the F4, It's all down to opinions and personal choice .

[deanothehunter]

i had a 250 and did have some nice finds with it but it also falsed badly and jumped all over signal wise which is why i bought my minelab which i love and have had very nice sort after finds with it from Hammies to gold jewellery and as the bloke said in shop now your entering into the hobby wiv a proper machine instead of a glorified toy

[threemiles]

I had a thought today that may not sit right with some, but here in Yorkshire, we don't mince our words...
As the garrett 250 is a popular machine with folks new to detecting, I wondered how many of these people thought they were going to turn it on, walk over some ground, and find some ancient buried treasure. When that doesn't happen, it's very easy to come to the conclusion that the machine is naff.
So, next step, buy a better machine. However by then they may have got better permissions and more skill in knowing what to do.
So how many cut their teeth on the machine, but end up getting a different model, not realising they are getting better finds because they are developing their skills.
I wonder what the opinions of any other machine you care to imagine may be if that was recognised as the best "starter" machine
Three