garrett ace 250

Hi all, quick enquiry is the ace 250 worth it for a first up detector for gold fossicking, as the relative low cost for a beginner is appealing and the controls seem fairly easy to follow. thank you

Mark M

Hi Mark

As long as you dont expect to get the same sort of performance as you get from the likes of a PI machine like a GPX, the Ace 250 is quite a capable little machine when used within it's limits.

There is an old gentleman who frequents Ophir with one and seems to score small bits quite regularly. He targets the mullock heaps and trashy areas.
Having said that, I'm sure if you walked over a large slug within the depth range of the Ace, she'd pick it up just as a PI would...but you have to walk over it no matter what detector you're swinging!

Thank you, with such a plethora of machines available cost is a deciding factor on one level, and performance another, after reading most of the info sheets is the cost relative to the capabilities ie Minelab's to Garrett's to Whites to Bounty hunter's etc.? or is the swing of the thing and the audio definition the key? I have been out once with a borrowed detector from Seben (don't laugh) and had some fun, found nails bottle tops etc even some pyrite but I would like to become more serious over time.

Mark M

A lot of the Whites, Garretts, Bounty hunters etc.. are VLF machine more aimed at the coin and relic side of the market and some really excell there!
The Minelab PI machines are dedicated gold machines and that is where they excell.

Also the Minelabs are built in Australia and built to suit the Australian ground conditions where as The other PI machines tend fall down in this respect.
As a rule of thumb, buy the best you can afford that suits the type of detecting you wish to do.

There would be hardly anyone who'd dispute the fact that Minelab make the best dedicated gold detector by a huge margin...unfortunately that comes at a price.

Thank you.

Mark M

most forums and reports generally for gold detecting for vlf's put the gold bug 2 and whites gmt at the top of the heap for that sort of dollars.I've bought a gmt probably because of the auto ground balancing and is exceedingly good for very small gold. The only trouble is lack of coils to suit gmt
Some of the forum members could probably suggest good second hand vlf minelab that could be suitable,mark

Gidday,

Been looking at some other posts talking about PI vs VLF, would it be safe to say VLF are more multi purpose and PI more purely for gold detecting, and at the end of the day would the variety of VLF finds out way PI or have I got it arse about or am completly of the track. Ta

Mark M

jacktar wrote:Gidday,

Been looking at some other posts talking about PI vs VLF, would it be safe to say VLF are more multi purpose and PI more purely for gold detecting, and at the end of the day would the variety of VLF finds out way PI or have I got it arse about or am completly of the track. Ta

Mark M

PI detectors go DEEPER and are MUCH more capable of handling GROUND NOISE compared to a VLF. Standard VLF detectors tend to reach down about 12-14 inches in beaches and parks. But in the goldfields they have far less depth. Unless your VLF detector is designed to work in the goldfields, it's penetraction will be limited to just an inch or so. Hence, VLF detectors like the Garrett Ace 150/250 will pick up material right on the surface but not deeper down. But VLF Detectors like the X-Terra 70/705 are designed to penetrate the mineralized soil so they can punch down deeper... but not quite as deep as they go on a beach or a park. The Fisher GoldBug is another VLF detector that can handle the goldfields as well although it's frequency is MUCH higher than other VLF machines so it's better from finding smaller specimens than deeper ones.

VLF detectors find small gold that PI detectors sometimes miss... especially if the PI that passed that way was using a larger coil.

The depth of a PI detector can reach is many times deeper than that of any VLF detector, including the X-Terra 70/705s. But the VLFs have their place on the goldfields and all the early prospecting was done with VLFs. And yes, the VLF is going to be better for discrimination and target identification on the beach or the park.