Hello all,

I live in Northern California in the 49er Gold Rush area. I think it would be very interesting to start metal detecting around here. I am not really looking for gold, pretty much everything I can find. I have visited a lot of sites but I still have a few questions. I do not have much money to start out with so I am looking at the cheaper detectors and I have read great things about the Bounty Hunter IV and the Garrett Ace 150. I need to stay under $200, are there any better ones I should be looking at? Or should I not even bother with such cheap ones? Also, does anyone know of somewhere I can look at maps that show the accual land used by state parks and historical sites? Most of the maps I have seen only show you a star or dot of where the park is generaly but I want to know property lines. We have a lot of Historic sites around and I don't want to stumble on to them. Are there any other laws I should be aware of? You can detect in local city parks, lakes, streams, and rivers right?

Sorry for the million questions all at once but I am getting excited and I want to make sure I start out as best as I can.

Thanks in advance for your help,
Steven

when you say "gold", do you mean, gold in its natural state? (ie.: nuggets?") If so, none of those you listed are made for nuggets. Unless the nugget were pea sized or bigger, you'd need a specialty nugget machine (which finds them as small as pin-heads).

For coins, relics, etc... the machines you list will work for them. Naturally they won't go as deep, TID, or have as many whistles and bells as a more expensive machine would. But yes, they would work.

As for legalities and permissions and stuff, you're in luck! I sell a permit to detect anywhere in CA. Send me your $100, and I'll send you the permit :thumber:

But seriously now, as long as you stay away from obvious historic monuments, and as long as you don't stick out or make a mess, you'll be ok. There are some state and federal land rules, but once again, as long as you're not at sensitive sites being a nuisance, you'll probably be ignored. I have not heard of any cities in CA with any rules regarding md'ing (parks, schools, etc...) so long as you're not sticking out, making a mess, walking over people's beach blankets, etc...

I am not looking for gold nuggets so I will probably go with one of the detectors listed.

Thanks for the quick reply.

If you think you will be spending a lot of time detecting, or tend to "geek out" on hobbies, then I'd skip the cheap detectors and get a higher end machine to begin with.

If you're not sure though, and think there's a chance you might toss the machine in the closet after the first few outtings, then by all means, the lower priced models will do fine.

The Garrett Ace 250 would be my suggestion as an entry-level detector. Easy to use, decent quality as a first machine, and cheap. Personally, I'd not suggest the Bounty Hunter machines, but if you find one super cheap or something, then it might suffice as a first detector.

Lastly, if you can find someone nearby that will take you out for a few outtings and show you the ropes, that would help immensely. It can be frustrating at first if you've never done this before and having a more experienced person around might alleviate some of that frustration.

A good place to start is the sand or bark play yards at your local school or park. No problems with digging, stuff isn't deep, and you have a decent chance at finding a ring.

I like the others will say that the more you spend the better the detector. A rule of thumb, that may not hold totaly true says, for every $100.00 spent on a new machine it will penetrate approx 1". So if it were me I would get the best that I could afford, even if it meant that I had to get a good used machine.

Both the Garrett Ace 250 and the White's Prizim II are good starter machines if money is tight and they both will hit good targets in the four to six inch range.

Here is my 2 cents.

I agree with Jeff on the Ace 250 if you are going to stay under $200. Check ebay-- you can find some deals on the 250.

I bought one for my kids and it is a good little machine. I also bought the larger 9 x 12 coil to go with it and just yesterday, I was doing some tests with it and it will hit a 7 inch dime so I do not agree with the "1 inch for every $100" . The standard coil will get pretty decent depth too. This is probably the best "Beginner" machine there is. The Ace seems to like to average signals if there are a couple of signals close to each other so if there is a dime and a pull tab close to each other, it will often average them and give you a reading in between both of them. At deeper depths, the Ace had troble locking on to a target and the ID will jump all over the place. But it does tell you that somethign is there, jsut not a very accurate "something"

Yesterday I marked about 7-8 targets (Wheat penny signals) that I found with the Explorer all in the 6-8 inch range and then checked them with the Ace 250 with the larger coil. The Ace heard all of them, but had trouble IDing them. but if you are just digging everything over a certain level, you will hear and dig some deeper/older items.

My next suggestion would be to look into a Minelab Explorer XS. You can get these in the $400-500 range (used) and you would have top of the line performance. You are only sacrificing the new "tweaks" that don't really affect the performance too much. I have owned all 3 Explorers (XS / S, Explorer 2 and the SE) And you will find deep coins with all three of them. Also, if you get bored with the hobby, you will probably get 90%-100% of your money back by selling it on ebay.

Next: go to www.SacramentoValleyDetectingBuffs.com This club is in the Sac area. A lot of great people and a good club. You will meet and learn a lot in a short period of time. They have a monthly meeting and a weekly Sunday hunt that you can participate in and ask questions and get pointers. I was affiliated with the club for a number of years prior to moving and you will not be disappointed.

Good Luck

Ron

What would be the best upgrades/accessories to buy for the Garrett Ace 250? Better coil? Coil Cover?

Thanks

there ain't a whole lot you can do to improve on it. The stock coil that any manufacturer makes, is already usually the best compromise between depth, target separation, masking, etc... There is a "point of diminishing returns" on coil sizes. Ie.: Yes, you do get deeper with bigger coils, but for coin-sized items, only to a certain extent. There's comes a point where you only get larger items deeper, not coin sized items deeper. And a point where you loose sensitivity on smaller items, etc... The manufacturers are all-to-aware of the pro's and con's, and design their choice of stock coil size to cover the best of all bases.

Occoasionally you'll read in some advertistements that some after-market coil touts "XX% more depth over the stock coil". But if you read closely, they're usually comparing their larger after-market coil, to the manufacturer's stock regular sized coil. Well of course you'll get more depth with a larger coil, but have inherent drawbacks as well, on other fronts. Think of it, if there WERE some superior innards/electronics to an aftermarket coil, you'd think the manufacturer themselves would be "all over themselves" to get that technology on their own stock units.

So depending on the type places you intend to hunt, is the factor of whether you need a larger or smaller coil. Like, if you were going to hunt extremely trashy iron-ridden sites, then yes, go to a smaller coil. If you're going to hunt wide-open clean areas, sure, get the next-sized up coil to increase ground coverage, etc... But for all around general purpose, the stock 250's coil is geared to cover most bases.

Great I will just stick with the stock one then.

Thanks

I have been reading a lot of reviews on the Ace 250 and it seems to have a lot of issues with the pinpointing feture. A lot of people have suggested the sniper coil to help out. Is it hard to switch them out? Should I even bother with it or would a handheld device be my best bet?

Also should I be worried about the fact that it has factory preset ground balance?

sent you a PM

check craigslist.com (sacramento) There are a few detectors there.
The dealer listed there (Big Valley) is a straight shooter, I've dealt with him in the past.