5 years of the X-Terra.

[Mick in Dubbo]

How quickly time flies. I stumbled onto this forum just as it was getting off the ground. The X-terra was about to be released and looking at it, I remember thinking that I've gotta have one of these. That must have been in October 2005. The X-terras went on sale in November. Starting out with the 30, it sure was a big improvement on using the Bounty Hunter tracker 4 that I was using almost up to that point. I gotta say, the X-terra was a huge improvement! I remember being blown away by the audio and visual display, as well as the VCO pinpoint. As a relative newbie, I hadn't come across that before. Even to this day, the X-Terra's have been the easiest to master detectors that I've come across. That said, I've had my dark moments with it, but on balance, as far as what floats my boat, the X-Terras still are the best light weight detector that are on the market, and it will be interesting to see what new features will be packed into the next marque of X-Terras that will at my best guess come out around April next year, if Minelab remain consistent on updating every 2 years. Given that a number of detectors are coming out with a modulated tone feature, I wouldn't be surprised to see that sort of feature added. Given that the 30 and 50 were released in Nov 05 and the 70 in April 06, I remember seeing an X-terra 70 sitting on a shelf over the shoulder of Des Dunne in the first instruction video, which I thought was pretty cheeky.
We are pretty lucky to have a lot of good tips corralled into the FAQFAQ section as well as some very good articles written by digger, including his latest offering found at the top of the page. A lot of folks will be able to benefit from such practical insights.
Something that's surprising, that even though the X-Terras are simple to use detectors, it surprises me that even after 5 years of using then in one form or another (currently using the 70) that I'm still picking up little tricks that help ID targets.
Mick Evans.

 

[kiwi-jim]

Howdy Mick,yip they are great alright I have only had mine for a year,and it has become my best mate (ha ha).
And like you I am picking up more knowledge with each outing, always amazed at the way it performs,always consistent,
and easy to use for a dummy like me......

 

[xwyokid]

If you quit learning...You will do better just staying at home.

 

[Digger]

5 years! How can that be? Seems like only a few months ago I got my first glimpse of the X-TERRA! 5 years! Wow! Time flies when you are having fun. Anyway, thank for the comments and kudos. I appreciate all the information that folks (who frequent this forum) are willing to share. HH Randy

 

[TomB]

A straight shot...........Thanks Mike. TomB

 

[Jack Beam]

I hear ya Mick! I'm goin on my third year with the x-terras and lovin every minute of it! I started with the 50 (wifes now) and use the 70 now. I read these forums almost everyday. Soakin up every bit of info my brain can handle. I've learned so much from every one here it's really a blessing to have so many with so much knowledge!!

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Hey ya Jim.
A little something that I picked up a couple of days back while messin' around with screw caps and goldies ( I assume your goldies hit in the same area) is that when you go into pinpoint; on the very first pass, a screw cap will hold onto the audio noticeably longer than a coin. I haven't had too much time to check out how reliable it is, but it's lookin' pretty good so far. It can't hurt to try. It won't work on subsequent passes, as it detunes on the next pass. It seems to work with most of the coils.
Mick Evans.

 

[Danno]

5 years has flown! I still have the original X-terra promo DVD and glossy, full colour Info sheet that Minelab mailed me back in early 2006.

Collectors items now!

Danno

 

[kiwi-jim]

Thanks Mick,yip you are right our coins ring the same as screw caps,I will try that in future,anything to save me old backbones a bit.....cheers jim

 

[Furious T]

HI mick, time flies when you're having fun...hope that the floods aren't affecting you too badly. I got my 70 in Feb. 2007 and it still performs like a champ. You're right about the screw caps...the first hit can be a giveaway, but I've also noticed that (unless they are squashed and compacted to the size of a coin) the sound given by the screw cap is slightly more "tinny" and less solid than that of a coin...I still dig a lot of the darn things anyway, "just to make sure". HH

 

[brawsky]

Thanks for the info