Newbie advice on detector - F1A4

Hi all,

Newbie here and hope I'm posting this in the right area. Just starting out been interested in buying a detector for awhile and finally in the position of freedom via divorce pursue detecting. Ive been looking at the F1A4 being sold by gold-detectors com au. They quote on their website  "Our systems use the same Minelab PI Super Detector Technology as the top of the range $6000 models, but at less than a fifth of the price!"
Can anyone let me know if they are legit? Should i save my $ and buy a GPX 5000? Complete newbie so would appreciate some advice

Cheers

Kav

Hi Kav
Welcome to the forum.
I would encourage you to have a good look around the forum as it contains all the info you need.The F14's are legit and there are some posts regarding them.
You could also try before you buy on a training day or hire option to get some idea of what suits you.There are many facets to detecting such as technology,experience,research and just plain luck.
Regards Steve

G'day Kav & welcome to the forum

The F1A4 is a Minelab detector, old technology and obsolete x mine detectors. My understanding is that they bought them at disposal auction and gave them some modifications and now reckon there equal to the $6000 minelab GPX machines.

If this was the case then I believe Minelab would have done this themselves. But hey some people out there swear by them and reckon there the best thing going.

cheers dave

HI ALL , I have a modified F1A4 with nugget finder coils works great ;but may not have all the bells&whisles of the 4500's etc..
Mine was self modded With ''all help'' from a M/L guri [not woodie] [Thanks Mick] ..
I feel your best WA modder is on this site [Ismael] a good friend of the guy that taught me how to mod mine..
ALL the Best to ALL ,,BARRY ..

Here is a good read for best metal detector reviews that will help you to learn better on choosing a device to use for hunting relic, gold, ring, coin and more.

ViolentBee wrote:Here is a good read for best metal detector reviews that will help you to learn better on choosing a device to use for hunting relic, gold, ring, coin and more.

I'm sure you mean well, mate, but none of the detectors "recommended" on that very US-oriented website has any relevance whatsoever to hunting for gold here in Australia. Some of the models listed aren't even sold in this country and all of them are suitable only for park/dry beach/homesite detecting at best. My recommendation would be stick to reading Aussie detecting forums, if you want info that's up to date and relevant to conditions here.

Hi all
There are a few things that should be looked at when chasing gold.If money is no object the Gpz 7000  would have to be first choice.
If your budget is less, consider these issues.
In Victoria where the ground is highly mineralised the best machines would be the GPX 4500 and GPX5000 also the sdc2300.Gold can be found with the sd and gp series, but this is a difficult task on well worked areas.

For WA the same can be said but there is a difference. Two factors come into play here.1 The areas are vast .2 The ground in general is less mineralised.
The rule of thumb used to be for every ounce found in Victoria with the same effort 6 ounces would be found in WA.This may have blown out to 10 to 1 by now.
As WA is quieter  GP machines with monos are a budget option.The GP3500 being more user friendly with push button ground balancing.
In general you could say the remaining states goldfields fall into the not as mineralised as Victoria and not as generally quiter as WA.
You will note that all the above machines are Minelab.This is because they have consistently been head and shoulders above any other company.Until I see consistant finds from other operators using non Minelab machines I would not recommend others.
Cheers Dig

hi the advice given by dig24crt on the minelab detectors is very informative for newcomers like myself and others on this site.
im from tasmania and have been looking around detecting for about 2 months to date so far.
currently i am using a goldmonster 1000 and have found plenty of rubbish but coins as well so its not all bad news.
i would be interested to hear dig24crt assessment of the goldmonster and what other mine lab models would be good to use in tasmania......thanks mark

Hi Mark
Havent detected tassy , hopefully others can give a rundown on conditions. As I mentioned the machines I listed have a score on the board as far as finds go.The goldmonster is relatively new and little is known. There is a load of information on Minelab machines in the above section.
Cheers Dig