Mid North Coast newbie looking for first detector help.

Hi all, this is my first post & I'm brand new here & looking to make that first detector purchase. No doubt you're all sick of this same question. I have read just about everything I can on the various detectors & everyone has an opinion, trouble is few of them seem to match!
I have $2k to spend on a new or second hand detector, I get that the Minelabs & PI in general seem to be the way to go but as you can see from the budget that isn't a reality at the moment.
I live on the mid-north coast NSW & am looking for a machine that will find the coins & necklaces etc at the local beaches, and hopefully help me finance into a PI machine, but which I can also use looking for gold locally & out west. Although it would predominately be used at the beach I would like a machine biased toward gold.
As I said I have spent days reading the various forums etc; and as soon as I think I've got the answer someone comes up with a, seemingly, better machine, or slams the one I thought was the go!.
I seem to keep coming back to the Whites GMT but really know no more than I have been reading over the past few days so ALL advice will be most gratefully received & considered.

Some advice from one newbie to another.
The majority of people on here will tell you to get a second hand Minelab like a SD2200 or similar for that money & rightly so. In any research I have done the Minelab's are the way to go - they have the runs on the board.
In saying that though I have a Whites GMT as this was within my budget (thanks to Uncle Bob) & from what info I could find was a good VLF to have. Haven't found any gold as yet with it but have found it fairly easy to use & get used to the set up. I have found nearly every other metal known to man with it & some very small stuff at reasonable depths. Not sure how it would go on the beach someone else may answer that for you?
Another option may be the Whites PI machine (Whites TDI Pro - Oz Series) it may fit what your looking for & you may squeeze a new one in at your budget? There are some posts from other members here about these:
https://golddetecting.forumotion.net/f48-whites-detectors
Of course there are others like Garrets AT, Goldbugs, Minelab Eureka Gold etc. etc. & each user will have good & bad points about any of them.
My advice would be do your research around what you want to do, stick to a budget & if warranty is important buy new. Once you make a decision then try to use whatever you do get to its strengths as I believe, from my reading etc., that all machines have good points that you can try to utilise to get the most out of them. Personally I like reading about the different machines, set up, how they go in the field & what people have found with them etc. Makes for a better forum to have a wide range of experiences to consider rather than just Minelab's. (especially for us budget challenged members).
As I said the Minelab's are definitely the way to go but budget is a big consideration for most of us so they may not be a starting point reality but definitely something to aim for eventually.

Ah, thanks for the reply, so you are the one who beat me to Uncle Bobs' GMT??? Think you were looking just before me, well done & good luck.

Buy something second hand, I think it's the way to go because once you are ready to upgrade or throw it in you won't lose much money this way.
To top it off you will gain some experience.
I started detecting the beaches for 6 months before moving and upgrading to a better detector.
I have heard of some people who buy the best detector money can buy and throw it in after a short time for whatever reason and sell up and lose money on the sale.
So, some pointers to think about.
all the best out there.

Uncle Bob.

aussteve wrote:Hi all, this is my first post & I'm brand new here & looking to make that first detector purchase. No doubt you're all sick of this same question. I have read just about everything I can on the various detectors & everyone has an opinion, trouble is few of them seem to match!
I have $2k to spend on a new or second hand detector, I get that the Minelabs & PI in general seem to be the way to go but as you can see from the budget that isn't a reality at the moment.
I live on the mid-north coast NSW & am looking for a machine that will find the coins & necklaces etc at the local beaches, and hopefully help me finance into a PI machine, but which I can also use looking for gold locally & out west. Although it would predominately be used at the beach I would like a machine biased toward gold.
As I said I have spent days reading the various forums etc; and as soon as I think I've got the answer someone comes up with a, seemingly, better machine, or slams the one I thought was the go!.
I seem to keep coming back to the Whites GMT but really know no more than I have been reading over the past few days so ALL advice will be most gratefully received & considered.

*** I have advertised my 2100 in the for sale section....if you buy a anti interference Coiltek coil it will make a good beach and goldfields unit...then if you decide that prospecting is not your bag you sell the coil seperately and you should recoupe most of your money back on both items....

























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