I've owned quite a few different brands and models of metal detectors over the span of my 51 years of metal detecting. However, the Teknetics T2 Special Edition is my current metal detector that I take with me most of the time when I go metal detecting.
My first metal detector I bought back in 1969 was a Relco BFO type metal detector . It didn't penetrate the ground very deep and would not discriminate between metals so I had to dig all targets. (good thing that it detected only shallow items because I would not have enough hours in a day to dig up all the trash items in the ground). My second metal detector was a Whites Coinmaster BFO which I purchased in 1975. It also was a shallow metal detector and I didn't get much improvement in depth from the Relco plus I still had to dig everything because of the lack of it's ability to discriminate between trash and treasure. I got so discouraged by digging up trash that I gave up actively metal detecting for 36 years. Then in 2012 my wife Phyllis asked me if I'd like to try metal detecting again. I said yes and she told me to order whatever I wanted. After researching metal detectors in the internet, I ordered a Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505. I received it during the winter so wasn't able to hunt until spring of 2013. Although I air tested the detector when I received it, I didn't realize that it had a bad coil until the spring when the ground was thowed and I was able to use it. The way I found out the coil was bad was that I ordered a 4" coil for it and was able to substitute coils. Despite this problem, the Pioneer 505 found more coins the first time that I used it than the previous dectectors combined. Because of it's ability to discriminate, I spent less time digging up junk and because of it's deeper seeking capabilities I found more good targets in less time. I credit the Pioneer 505 for rekindling my passion for metal detecting. The Bounty Hunter Legacy 3500 and my Teknetics T2 & T2SE were all progressive upgrades with better depth capabilities and better discrimination and advanced features. If only I had the detectors I now have when I first started, I would have found more and been less frustrated and would have stuck with the hobby without a long break. I really envy the youngsters just starting out in the hobby, they have much better and more advanced detectors available to them then we had back in the early days.
My first metal detector I bought back in 1969 was a Relco BFO type metal detector . It didn't penetrate the ground very deep and would not discriminate between metals so I had to dig all targets. (good thing that it detected only shallow items because I would not have enough hours in a day to dig up all the trash items in the ground). My second metal detector was a Whites Coinmaster BFO which I purchased in 1975. It also was a shallow metal detector and I didn't get much improvement in depth from the Relco plus I still had to dig everything because of the lack of it's ability to discriminate between trash and treasure. I got so discouraged by digging up trash that I gave up actively metal detecting for 36 years. Then in 2012 my wife Phyllis asked me if I'd like to try metal detecting again. I said yes and she told me to order whatever I wanted. After researching metal detectors in the internet, I ordered a Bounty Hunter Pioneer 505. I received it during the winter so wasn't able to hunt until spring of 2013. Although I air tested the detector when I received it, I didn't realize that it had a bad coil until the spring when the ground was thowed and I was able to use it. The way I found out the coil was bad was that I ordered a 4" coil for it and was able to substitute coils. Despite this problem, the Pioneer 505 found more coins the first time that I used it than the previous dectectors combined. Because of it's ability to discriminate, I spent less time digging up junk and because of it's deeper seeking capabilities I found more good targets in less time. I credit the Pioneer 505 for rekindling my passion for metal detecting. The Bounty Hunter Legacy 3500 and my Teknetics T2 & T2SE were all progressive upgrades with better depth capabilities and better discrimination and advanced features. If only I had the detectors I now have when I first started, I would have found more and been less frustrated and would have stuck with the hobby without a long break. I really envy the youngsters just starting out in the hobby, they have much better and more advanced detectors available to them then we had back in the early days.
But I guess I probably wouldn’t be doing this now if it hadn’t found me a few good things. So let’s finish off this Chinese bat virus because I need to get back at it.