Help needed from you beach detectorists Please

[Dissbloke]

Finally got the funds to allow a new beach detector,just so undecided what i want,help needed Please,decided against a PI as dont want to be digging unwanted targets,from reading informative posts,users opinions etc its a Minelab but which one,Blackadder put idea in my head of a cheaper PI,and then a 2nd hand Minelab for days i dont want to dig to Australia!! Not new to the hobby,had Arado IBA 45,120B years ago,and recently a Euroace,but having a holiday home on the beach now,i want to pick the right machine to spend some well earnt time on the beach,Any advice good,bad or ugly would be much appreciated,having got the funds i really want to get the right machine,many thanks,almost hit the buy it now button a Sovereign GT,but the Safari and Etrac keep winking at me!!! I know ive posted similar recently,just would like some of you beach guys/gals to give me valuable info!!

[Dissbloke]

Just looked on Joan Allens at reviews Andy and yes they are now thrown into the equation?what are you using?cheers Mark

[kopparberg]

are you only going to be doing beaches or will you be doing some land based detecting as well .also what sort of budget have you got always buy the best you can afford . i have an etrac which is good on land and good for beach detecting all minelabs are pretty good machines on land and beach wet or dry sand

[Tomo]

Can't comment on other machine's but have used the etrac on the wet and it produced some nice goody's at good depth

[Dissbloke]

i nearly bought a Csp41 on a well known auction site today for a very good price,but i know i wouldnt love it like i didnt the Euroace,im in position at last to afford a Minelab,the wife getting quite attached to Pot Noodles!! so hoping for some good advice to decipher which one,same as you Andy i quite like id Display hence the Safari and Quattro,but the Sovereign GT sounds the one!

[stephenbeetleman]

Hi Dissbloke,

I use a GT, very good beach machine albeit a little on the heavy side. I use a sunray dti 2 meter with mine for ID readout, you can also get Minelabs own ID meter for the Sov too but i have heard they are getting hard to come by. Depth wise i wouldn't say there is much in it between the Sovereign and the Safari or Etrac on the beach i have dug some pretty small deep targets with my machine which impressed me. Yes the rcovery speed is on the slow side but on the wet sand of the beach it doesnt matter as much as it would do on pasture or plough.

I've also had a CS4PI ... Good machine and very deep for sure but if you use it on a beach littered with iron be prepared to get a sore back from all the digging and lack of discrimination. B-)

I cant comment on any of the Whites machines mentioned as i have never used them.

Best of luck with your purchase.

Regards
Stephen

[manicdev]

Ive been using a whites dfx on the beach wet and dry for years, can't fault it also use it inland.

as said here, and by bainsie earlier, ive got the DFX which is used land and beach both wet and dry and it's good .
also you can use in shallow water as long as you dont get water in the "box".......
minelab are said to be the ones tho but not had one myself .
good luck with your purchase what ever you decide on
Dave

[Mega B]

I also use DFX and due to its dual frequancy it does make a very good detector as also does the Sovereign,but saying that if you are going to all or certainly most of your detecting on the beach a dedicated machine would be better this could well be a PI or if you tend to be detecting in the surf then a total waterproof machine could well be the way to go.

These suggestion of my are based on what you have mentioned but you dont say what you budget is as that could either delete or add alot more detectors to those that other people have mentioned.

If you are on a tight budget then a Cscope PI although you said you dont want a PI machine they do provide good machine solely for beaches but if the budget is some what larger the best machine would be the Minelab Excalibar which is my opinion the top machine for beaches due to it being waterproof and also has the advantage of being used on farmland as well.

These of course are only my thoughts and opinion

[Tombs]

etrac or x terra, the etrac is a very versatile detector. i cant comment on the dfx but i hear good things about them.

[ray77]

On the beach I have used the Eagle Spectrum, XLT, DFX and Minelab Sovereign. All good machines with very little to choose between them. Its only personal preference that I use Whites detectors, I had the use of a couple of different Minelabs and the Eagle and XLT when I first started detecting thanks to friends and just could not get on with the Minelabs.
Any of those machines will do what you want I would just suggest that if you can you try before you buy. It does not matter how good a detector is if you don`t get on with it.

Ray