Suggestions for purchase on older models?

[Hoosierdirt]

Hello all,

After lurking around this forum for literally months now, I thought I'd sign up and join the fray. I have detected on/off for the past 15 years, and have owned detectors from nearly all of the larger manufacturers except White's. I bought a Fisher F4 last year and despite putting many hours into it, just didn't like the machine at all. I sold it, and am looking for suggestions for a White's machine in my budget.

I prefer units with a display, and split time 70/30 between coinshooting and relic hunting. I've been watching the classifieds and Ebay for used Eagle Spectrums, Silver Eagles, QXTs, etc, as it looks like they are selling for 200-350 range. (Missed out on a $200 Silver Eagle the other day, but don't know enough about White's to know if it would've been a good buy for what I would use it for). Any advice, comments, suggestions for what to look for and avoid are welcome. And no, saving for an MXT, DFX, M6 is pretty much out, as my income is limited and I'm using the funds from the F4 to finance this purchase.

In the past I've owned a Tesoro Bandido II umax - great machine, but I prefer the units with a display now that I've used them, a Garrett GTA1000, the F4, and a couple of junk Bounty Hunters to give you an idea of what I've used.

 

[Hombre]

Howdy Hoosier

An IDX PRO would be the ticket! They are a slow motion 2 filter machine, with similar traits of the Bandido, Plus they have a great little LCD meter. A perfect blend of analog circuitry ( knobs for sens. and disc.) and digital diplay meter. I have one with the Mr. Bill's modification and I think it's great.............also a Classic ID is as good, you can pick these up used for about $200..........Hombre

 

[kraykepler]

The 6000 Di Pro is a great machine. Takes some learning, but don't they all? I've found many, many great things with mine.

 

[Hoosierdirt]

Hey hombre - isn't the IDX very similar to the Classic 5 ID sold by Kellyco?

 

[Hombre]

They are similar in that they are a Classic.........but they do not share the same coils, as they are a different frequency, the Classic 5 ID is 8khz and the IDX PRO is 6.59khz. The IDX PRO has more varied and cheaper ( used ) coil selection. For instance you can get a 4 inch (350 snooper) a 6 inch (600 Blue Max, 5.3 Black Max, and 5.3 Bullseye) an 8 inch (Royal 800, Blue Max 800, Pro Scan 800) and also a 9 1/2 inch ( any coils for the later 6.59khz White's ) and also a 15 inch coil. The Classic ID has three coil choices I believe. A 9 1/2 inch an 8 inch and a shooter coil that came about recently with the Prizm 6T. Hope this helps........... before I forget the 6 inch ( 5.3 Bullseye,5.3 Black Max and 600 Blue Max ) are my favorite coils for the IDX PRO .......... Hombre

 

[Monte]

The Classic [size=large]5[/size] ID has three coil choices I believe. A 9 1/2 inch an 8 inch and a shooter coil that came about recently with the Prizm 6T.......... Hombre

The Classic ID uses the same coils as the IDX Pro. The Classic ID and Classic 5 ID are based on the same circuitry with only needed revisions to change the operating frequency to the 8.1 kHz for use with Prizm coils.

The IDX Pro, especially with Mr Bill's mods, and one of the 6

 

[Hoosierdirt]

Based on the suggestions here, I snagged a Classic ID with the ProScan 800 coil for a tad less than $200 - looks to be in extremely nice (if not mint) condition. Once I learn the machine, I suspect I'll have to pack it off to Mr Bill for the mod work.

Question - since I do CW relic hunt on occasion, are there any recommendations for coils for this unit, such as the 950 or larger to get more depth? Has anyone used one of these for relic hunts, and if so, any hints on settings, what to watch or listen for, etc? Or would simply getting the mod work done add enough depth to make the larger coil unnecessary?

 

[Hombre]

Hey Hoosierdirt

Drop down about six threads and you will see "Monte, Crazyman, etc jump in" by rcasio44, read thru this and it will give you some tips. Also you can go the SEARCH and type in Classic ID or IDX PRO and search all dates and it will bring up page after page of info. HH............Hombre