A few X-terra questions.

[bugg]

The prices on these units are hitting the dirt cheap range, I'm thinking on picking up a 505 for a back up unit.
How will does these units handle mineralized dirt and rusty bottlecaps? .
I have has BBS and FBS units in the past and I loved the way they handled those two items.
Any comments appreciated.
Bugg

 

[Old Longhair]

My suggestion is to spring the little extra for a 705, then don't look back. The 705 has a lot of features that the 505 lacks which make it a vastly superior machine in tough ground. The Tracking and Tracking Offset capabilities alone make it worth the difference.

 

[txop]

Bugg,

I can't reall comment on you questions because I a, in pretty neutral soil.

I can comment on EMI. I have an explorer SE Pro as well as 6 other detectors. The 705 I just bought is the only detector that runs smooth in my back yard. My interference comes from underground cable internet. I buried a test garden in that area. Surprisely my wife's White's Classic ID works well also.

I have had my 705 for just a few weeks. I haven't dug any bottle caps yet but it is pro ably because I haven't swung over any yet.

I agree with Longhair the 705 is worth the extra few dollars.

Harold

 

[bugg]

Thanks

 

[txop]

Bugg,

I haven't replied to your bottle cap question because I was waiting for someone with more experience with the X-Terra's than me. I have only had this detector out 4 or 5 times so I only have about 10 hours into it. I have the 705 and agree it's the way to go. I have been digging all signals that sound good to me. I am in Dallas, Tx and mainly hunt parks, schools, and older houses when we are luckily enough to get permission. We have been at a large park by our house for the last couple of weekends. I will tell you that I dug a lot of bottle caps. Some were rusty and folded, other just a little rusty. I also dug tons of pulltabs and other trash. It's just part of the hobby.

I have an Explorer SE Pro so I took it with today so I could play with both. IMO the X-terra is the most versatile and fun machine I have owned in it's current price class class. It is just plain fun to use because everything is easy to adjust on the fly. There are 4 memories in the 705 plus all metal. Memory 1 is my play around memory that I am constantly changing up right now, 2 is the default coin program, 3 is with nothing except iron and hot rocks discriminated out, and 4 is the ring program I found on youtube. Then you can switch to all metal quickly. What I am trying to get across is how easy and fun it is to use. I have been mainly using the 9 inch MF coil. I did put the 6 inch HF DD coil on a couple of days ago and found a copper ring. It was a very trashy park and it was the only coil that made since. I also have the 5x10 HF DD. I bought the gold pack so it was actually my first coil. I thought I like it until I bought a used 9 inch coil.

I also have a White's MXT. That was my go to detector until I got the X-terra. I put it in the same class as the MXT but with features like notching that the MXT doesn't have. Both are great detector's but neither are high end detectors. The X-terra has a nice clean threshold where the MXT is chattering all the time. I am not sure how to say this but the discrimination is a little slow if that makes sense. Basically it pops quite a bit before knocking out the offending signal. This is compared to the Explorer SE Pro.

I guess the best way to sum it up is this is not an FBS machine like the Explorer.. If that is what you like I would suggest you get one used since they are not made now. The only reason I have not used it over the last year was because of my back problems. I can't hunt but about 1/3 of the time as I can with the X-Terra or MXT. IMO, the last Explorer's are hard to beat. That said I am having a blast with the 705. I was about to trade my Explorer off for something lighter but after using it today I am going to wait and see what gives with my back. Had another MRI on Thursday and it's a mess. Massive infection or spinal leak. Got 2 docs trying to figure it out. It's a mess.

Sorry for such a long answer to your question. With the small amount of time I have used it I don't think it would be for you. I think you would be better off getting an Explorer or E-trac. That's just my opinion based on your questions. For me the X-Terra will be a keeper and I bet after using it longer I will figure out the bottle caps.

BTW, me and the wife still have our original Shadow X2 detectors. We having used them in a while. They are just beepers and to be honest we used to dig more and find more when we used them. The ID detectors can cause you to miss a lot of good targets. That is why I am basically running the X-terra in all metal and digging all signals that sound good.

Hope all my rambling helps. I really was hoping someone else would jump in and answer you question but since they didn't I thought I would share my limited experience with the detector.

HH

Harold

 

[bugg]

Thanks Txop! I appreciate your response. I hope our health Issues get better! I am just looking at the Xterras as a machine I can keep in my truck all the time. I don't want to carry my Expensive detector around all the time.

 

[Neil]

Bugg,

I haven't replied to your bottle cap question because I was waiting for someone with more experience with the X-Terra's than me. I have only had this detector out 4 or 5 times so I only have about 10 hours into it. I have the 705 and agree it's the way to go. I have been digging all signals that sound good to me. I am in Dallas, Tx and mainly hunt parks, schools, and older houses when we are luckily enough to get permission. We have been at a large park by our house for the last couple of weekends. I will tell you that I dug a lot of bottle caps. Some were rusty and folded, other just a little rusty. I also dug tons of pulltabs and other trash. It's just part of the hobby.

I have an Explorer SE Pro so I took it with today so I could play with both. IMO the X-terra is the most versatile and fun machine I have owned in it's current price class class. It is just plain fun to use because everything is easy to adjust on the fly. There are 4 memories in the 705 plus all metal. Memory 1 is my play around memory that I am constantly changing up right now, 2 is the default coin program, 3 is with nothing except iron and hot rocks discriminated out, and 4 is the ring program I found on youtube. Then you can switch to all metal quickly. What I am trying to get across is how easy and fun it is to use. I have been mainly using the 9 inch MF coil. I did put the 6 inch HF DD coil on a couple of days ago and found a copper ring. It was a very trashy park and it was the only coil that made since. I also have the 5x10 HF DD. I bought the gold pack so it was actually my first coil. I thought I like it until I bought a used 9 inch coil.

I also have a White's MXT. That was my go to detector until I got the X-terra. I put it in the same class as the MXT but with features like notching that the MXT doesn't have. Both are great detector's but neither are high end detectors. The X-terra has a nice clean threshold where the MXT is chattering all the time. I am not sure how to say this but the discrimination is a little slow if that makes sense. Basically it pops quite a bit before knocking out the offending signal. This is compared to the Explorer SE Pro.

I guess the best way to sum it up is this is not an FBS machine like the Explorer.. If that is what you like I would suggest you get one used since they are not made now. The only reason I have not used it over the last year was because of my back problems. I can't hunt but about 1/3 of the time as I can with the X-Terra or MXT. IMO, the last Explorer's are hard to beat. That said I am having a blast with the 705. I was about to trade my Explorer off for something lighter but after using it today I am going to wait and see what gives with my back. Had another MRI on Thursday and it's a mess. Massive infection or spinal leak. Got 2 docs trying to figure it out. It's a mess.

Sorry for such a long answer to your question. With the small amount of time I have used it I don't think it would be for you. I think you would be better off getting an Explorer or E-trac. That's just my opinion based on your questions. For me the X-Terra will be a keeper and I bet after using it longer I will figure out the bottle caps.

BTW, me and the wife still have our original Shadow X2 detectors. We having used them in a while. They are just beepers and to be honest we used to dig more and find more when we used them. The ID detectors can cause you to miss a lot of good targets. That is why I am basically running the X-terra in all metal and digging all signals that sound good.

Hope all my rambling helps. I really was hoping someone else would jump in and answer you question but since they didn't I thought I would share my limited experience with the detector.

HH

Harold

Harold make sure you give the prospecting mode a good workout and try different iron mask settings with it. Its deeper than the all metal setting that gives a meter reading....like the disc mode does. Prospecting is really a great mode and doesnt get mentioned much.
Hope you heal well sir!

 

[Neil]

The prices on these units are hitting the dirt cheap range, I'm thinking on picking up a 505 for a back up unit.
How will does these units handle mineralized dirt and rusty bottlecaps? .
I have has BBS and FBS units in the past and I loved the way they handled those two items.
Any comments appreciated.
Bugg

Bugg Im gonna echo Harold and Old Longhair...the 705 is worth the extra money.
I do not find it as good on bottlecaps as the sov or the fbs units but that simply might be me not having as much time on it as I have on the others......
Great machine, nice and light, easy to adjust, great performance.

 

[Old Longhair]

Okay, now that I have an extra minute I'll jump back in here with a little more insight.

First, I want to concur with Neil about Prospector mode. It is a valuable tool to have in the box, especially in tough ground. I've found that where conductive mineralization is high, an HF coil and Prospector Mode can be the most productive combination. Where magnetic minerals are more the problem, an LF coil and Prospector Mode have a distinct advantage. The fact that the 705 is the only detector on the market that has a Prospector Mode alone is one reason that I will never be without one. It takes some getting used to (practice), but the result is worth the effort IMO.

As far as bottle caps go, the key is largely in the nuance of the audio response. Coins and other good targets tend to have a very clean clear tonal response, while bottle caps (particularly rusty ones) most often will produce a broken tone, or one that crackles, is fuzzy/scratchy, or a tone that is inconsistently shifting with each pass. It is more apparent with lower frequencies, ie; the HF coils due to the difference in target segment bin width arrangement vs MF and LF coils is less able to accurately distinguish rusty iron from high conductors like silver, even though the same HF coils do very well at detecting small gold, nickels, and other non ferrous low conductors more accurately.

Another useful tool that the 705 has exclusively is Tracking Offset. It allows the machine to track ground phase with a user defined offset that can either be positive or negative, meaning that you can set it up to track with the machine being told that the ground is a little hotter or milder than it really is, which in turn can clean up some signal responses on otherwise iffy targets. Just remember that the ground phase shift is opposite other detectors, in that the higher the number the less phase angle shift is (higher the number the milder the ground), so an offset of say +3 would add 3 to the actual ground phase angle and the machine would track as if the ground is milder than it really is, and an offset of -3 would subtract 3 from the actual ground phase number and the machine would then track as if the conditions are 3 points hotter.

Check it out....play with it. And let us know what you find works best for you in your conditions.

 

[txop]

Great comments! I have never even looked at Prospector yet. Having to much fun learning the basics. I'll give it a try in the next day or so. It's still in the low 70's here so trying to get in as much time as I can before it get's really cold.

Bugg, let us know if you pick one up.

Harold

 

[Scotia59]

When you say 3points hotter or milder, can you explain what this means please? I am a total newby. Thanks.

 

[Old Longhair]

When you say 3points hotter or milder, can you explain what this means please? I am a total newby. Thanks.

It's a reference to the levels of minerals in the ground that can affect target response. Hotter ground being more mineralized, and milder ground having fewer affecting minerals that need to be compensated for. Milder ground is typically easier to hunt, and targets are generally detectable and identifiable at greater depths.

 

[oldkoot]

The prices on these units are hitting the dirt cheap range, I'm thinking on picking up a 505 for a back up unit.
How will does these units handle mineralized dirt and rusty bottlecaps? .
I have has BBS and FBS units in the past and I loved the way they handled those two items.
Any comments appreciated.
Bugg

I am going to agree with old longhair on his reply

I run my 705 in Arizona on ground that changes constantly and the 705 runs pretty smooth I run with th GB tracking activated but periodically check my GB tubers just to see what the GB numbers are and I have seen the GB numbers in the areas I hunt with the 705 go from single digit Numbers to the mid 40s with the 705 the lower the Ground balance numbers the hotter or more mineralized the ground is and with the tracking activated the 705 has always ran real stable have been using the 705 since 09 or 2010

 

[Des D]

...I'm somewhat late to the Party here but...

1. EMI - the X-Terra's are pretty much resistant and impervious to it bar the very worst you can find.

2. Rusty bottle crown caps - pretty great at IGNORING them, even when NOT rusted!!!

The 505 is a pretty great detector and a bargain steals right now!!!