Which detector shall we need.

[john coulson]

Hi
My wife and i have joined the forum recently and need a little advice please.
We are getting back into the hobby and the machines have changed greatly from those available in the 80's.
we will be beach detecting 80% of the time with the other 20% being on farmland.

From watching Mal's videos we are very keen on the excallibur but unsure how this would do away from the beach (Wet sand).

The other thought is to get a 705 in the hope that it is general purpose (if there is such a beast)

Budget is £2000.

Would it be overkill to get two machines or is it a necessity to get both uses covered?

Many thanks in advance for any help.

john and Dawn Coulson

[DDazzzle]

I have a Sov and a 70 to cover both bases, I have no need to wade, I'm sure the Excal would work on pasture , as my Sov does, they are basically the same once you strip away the waterproofing, one of the tech guys will confirm/correct this shortly.
Nuke'Em uses the 705 with the 10.5 DD 7.5KHZ as I do on the sand ,it does a great job, just be a little careful as some of the coils are water resistant only.
Gravediggermax ( maxbenns on here) has just gone back to an Excal from a CTX, he has a channel on Youtube, which has a lot of good info and there are a couple of guys on here who produce good scoops for the beach.

[Davidhod]

If you plan to get it wet get the excal, if not the soveriegn is excellent on wet sand and good if a little slow inland. An old XS2a pro would be a very cheap way to find out whether you like the Minelab multifrequency way of detecting.

[Kyle]

for a few hundred pounds extra - you can have a great set up - etrac/blisstool/garrett at pro - or - deus/blisstool/atpro - personally i think one of those combi is as good as it gets.

[chriscolle]

There isn't exactly one machine that does it all great.

My hunting is 90% beach work and 10% inland and I've got 5 machines.
However if I had to choose one I would start out with the E-trac to stay within budget.

A great selection of coils available, and the standard coil is very nice for beach hunting.
It has great discrimination, you'll need it to sort out the trash on the dry sand.

The Deus or other XPs are very decent detectors, but you'll be constantly digging iffy signals on the dry beach.
Change frequency and you need to readjust your disc pattern.

[john coulson]

Many thanks for the input.
Will have to pay a visit to the dealers and look at the options.
Best regards
John and Dawn

[Garry J]

Where do you start ????? thats the big question. From what ive read,one of the best beach detectors are the sovereign range (equally as good on land) but if you intend going in the water and getting it wet,then the only machine is the excal. If you watch Mal,s videos you,ll see the 705 in action and used to good use.Things have changed a lot since the 80s so you,ll be learning all over again.But by asking on here you,ll soon get the answers you want.

[john coulson]

Many thanks Guy's

[chriscolle]

Indeed where do you start?!?!?
Thinking about it on another line of thought.
You actually need to start out with a comfortable handy beach scoop, no matter what detector you buy.
That target will need to be retrieved.
Check out the threads on scoops.