buying a good used 705?

[kgramlich]

Just wondering where I might buy a great used x terra 705 or maybe trade and add some more money for my Garrett 350.

 

[kgramlich]

also what coil would be best for finding silver coins?

 

[surfchunker]

as for the best coil for silver coins it's going to be the Coiltek 3kHz 6" Digger Coil ... hope you find a good deal on one they are a great machine

 

[yowow#1]

There are some great forum sponsors on here, you might make some calls and let them know what you're looking for,

 

[Old Longhair]

also what coil would be best for finding silver coins?

It's more the frequency that makes the difference than the specific coil. If you're in high trash density, then the 6" 3kHz Digger is the hot ticket in most circumstances. If you're hunting in open fields with little trash, then the 15" 3kHz All Terrain is the berries! But....
Not all soil conditions allow the use of a LF coil, and for those parts of the world an MF coil will work better. If your GB is in the 15 or less neighborhood with the stock 9" MF, then don't bother with a LF coil unless your targets are shallow and in heavy trash where the 6" Digger might have a little advantage.

 

[mapper65]

If you are only going to buy one additional coil for coin shooting, the 6" Coiltek coil gets my vote. If you think you might eventually buy addition coils I would still buy that one first. Chances are you'll be so satisfied with the results that you won't feel the need to spend any additional money.

Have fun!

 

[Mark in S.E. IA]

I would buy the MD first and use it to see what kind of GB numbers you have in your area and I mean in several different places, not just one pl,ace.

Then come back and tell us what kind of GB numbers you see the most. As a rule of thumb if you see alot of GB numbers in the upper 20's and higher a Concentric type coil will work better for you, but if you see alot of GB numbers in the mid 20's and lower then a DD type coil will work better for you.

You really need to figure out what type of soil you have in your area before you go out and buy a different coil.

 

[mapper65]

I would buy the MD first and use it to see what kind of GB numbers you have in your area and I mean in several different places, not just one place

It's true that you are going to see different ground balance numbers but if your are like us and travel around a lot, even 45 minutes or occasionally less from our immediate area can render ground balance numbers completely different than our "home" area which makes choosing just one coil kind of difficult.

The surprising thing is that the Coiltek 6" coil seems to do well for me on either end of the spectrum when it comes to ground balance numbers unlike the Minelab coils. There is just something about that 6" coil that seems to be very forgiving when compared to the Minelabs in certain GB numbers and soil conditions.

Having both of the 10.5" DD oils and the 9" concentric coil you'll really find as Mark states, between those three I really have to take GB numbers into consideration along with frequency at any given site.

On paper there is a reason to pick one coil over another but there's no replacement for eventually owning a couple of different frequencies and/or patterns of coils to be able to take on any kind of site. If you find that you stay relatively close to home you should be able to nail down a coil that will work very well for you.

Keep in mind that none of these coils seem to be terrible under any given condition but sometimes just using the "right" coil in the right situation can make all of the difference. Honing your skills with the detector is probably the best thing that you can do regardless of coil.

 

[Scanman]

How is the stock coil on the 705? is it waterproof? Thanks

 

[Old Longhair]

How is the stock coil on the 705? is it waterproof? Thanks

In the U.S. the Standard it is, but on the Gold Pack and U.K. Standard machines it isn't.
Out of twelve authorized coils available for Xterras, only three are NOT waterproof. The 10.5" MF & HF DD coils and the 5x10" HF DD are only water resistant.

 

[mapper65]

How is the stock coil on the 705?

When I bought my 705 it had the stock 9" coil on it. Within a month I had found an 1834 half dime with it which was for the longest time my oldest find. That coin was easily 8 inches down. I used the stock coil continuously for a few months before deciding to buy another coil.

I then bought the 10.5" HF coil because I knew that I would eventually be doing some beach detecting and that coil, although not waterproof is probably the best for salt water mineralization being a HF coil. Once I stared using that coil, in my opinion it was just so much easier to find coins in my immediate area than with the stock coil. The 9" coil is pretty hot right in the center where it's sweet spot is and the HF coil being a DD has a sweet spot that runs almost the entire length of the center of the coil. Everytime I went back to the 9" coil I still never felt that it was as good as the 10.5" HF coil and eventually still not as good as the 10.5" MF coil. After 100's of hours with the 9" concentric I kind of put it on the back burner.

I'll be honest and say that I may have had the 9" concentric on once or twice at the most in the last year. I eventually got to the point that in the places that I was detecting, the DD's seem to outperform the 9" coil. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, none of these coils perform terribly in any given situation. If the 9' was my only coil I would probably be happy with it and I'm sure in some other areas that coil would be a better choice than any of my DD coils but around here, it's my least favorite coil. Locally our typical ground balance number is a 28. I know that contradicts what Mark has posted above but I can only tell you what I have seen when comparing that coil to the others that I own in similar conditions. Outside of my local area there have been a few times where I have switched to the 9" and feel that the detector was much more stabile in the ground that I was detecting in. Stability was the advantage that I gained but by switching, the tradeoff was a little loss of detection area. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good and in one particular instance that comes to mind, that was a good tradeoff.

I don't think anyone can tell you definitively what coil to buy we are all good at relating our own experiences for your consideration. My experience may be completely the opposite of the next guy's and unless we are all detecting the same soil on the same day in the same area you are always going to get a difference of opinion and even at that I'd still question how closely we would agree. Each person's style of detecting can also greatly influence results.

Just get out there and have fun, that's what it's all about. Some days you will have a little more fun than others. Ha ha ha

 

[surfchunker]

I didn't use my stock coil long either then got the 9" concentric in 3kHz and it was just a little better then I got the digger coil and it's my go to coil. I ended up trading both those coils for the 10.5 MF coil for more open area's. If I had it to do all over again I would buy the Gold version and buy the digger coil ... most of this area GB's around the low to mid 20's with a few places that may drop in the high teens from Slag from the old coal furnaces and people just dumped it but the Digger still works I just have to turn down the Sens. a little so it doesn't hit the deep slag.

 

[mapper65]

If I had it to do all over again I would buy the Gold version and buy the digger coil.

My sentiments exactly and what I have recommended to 3 family members and a friend. So far they have all followed suit. I don't think you can go wrong with that combination and then eventually adding one of the 10.5's.

Keep in mind anyone reading this that your results may be different but thus far it's worked out very well for all of us in the mapper65 camp.

 

[Scanman]

Great information, thanks everyone.