Club Hunt Today

[flysar]

Drove 2 hrs to hunt with a metal detecting club today. Wanted to meet other hobbiests, see what they were swinging, find out how clubs work, and of course see how my X70 with the 10.5 MF DD coil would stack up.

After approx 20 folks had access to 3 schools for 3+ hrs we all assembled and the "count-out" began. Top 6 point earners used various detectors... Etrac, DFX, MXT. No club mbr I met used a X70 or X705. Majority of coins were clad with a few silver, some silver rings, and a late 1800's find but I didn't get the details.

What I found interesting was of the folks I talked to, including 3 Etrac users, all coins, rings, and other valuables were found no deeper than 5" so in this case I don't think it would matter what detector you were using regarding depth, but what I'd like to know is...

What Xterra coil would you have used in this situation, my GB was 28/29, some trashy areas (pull tabs, foil, small iron pieces) but for the most part pretty clean?

Discriminate (a lot or a little) or AM mode? I used AM 99 tones and seemed to be spending a lot of time at some targets trying to figure out what they were, could be my limited experience with the X70.

Any reason why the Xterra 70 may have been a disadvantage compared to some other machines in this hunt/competition?

How did I do... I started aprrox 1 hr after most (didn't have location until 8am plus my drive) and didn't participate in the count-out because I wasn't a member but I ended up with about $1.60 in clad (Qtrs, Dimes, Nickels, & Cents) and about 20 pieces of trash. The top clad picker was over $8 but most were $2 - $5.

I had a good time but I'm not sure I'm going to make it a monthly quest because of the drive.

 

[mapper65]

Of the coils that I have I would have used either the 10.5" MF or the 10.5" HF. Those have become nearly interchangeable to me at this point. The only disadvantage between those two coils is that the MF doesn't do as well with nickels so I may lean a little more towards the HF being that quantity of finds probably mattered in this situation. Also, you can use a little faster sweep speed with the HF. The MF doesn't seem to recover as quickly when used in trashy areas.

I would use 99 tones with -8 and +48 notched out. That's how I typically hunt. If it was trashy I would goto my tried and true pattern 3 which is pretty much everything notched out but coins. In a school yard situation like it sounds like you guys were in I would have been concentrating on clad and not too worried about rings.

I can't say that I would be one for competition hunting. To me that takes a lot of the fun out of it. My family usually goes in a group of 3 and sometimes with a friend and we are all about cleaning everything out as a team and seeing what everyone is able to find but it's not competitive. It seems like we kind of rotate through who ends up with key finds for the day and on a good day we all walk away with something notable. To me, that's fun!

 

[ramairnut]

I have an X70 also. Honestly .I have been killing my local school playgrounds/parks with the stock 7.5kHz coil. I have been out 4 times now and have found 4 rings(3 silver, 1 18kt white gold), 2pendants (1 silver) and a gold plated bracelet. As far as clad goes, the 7.5 finds nickels all day and of course does well with dimes and quarters.
My ground balance numbers are very similar to yours. I have been to 3 different locations so far this season and the GB numbers have ranged from 21 up to 35. I run my sensitivity at about 19 and have been hitting dimes at 1-5" and nickels about the same. Although, the nickels have been bouncing 10-12 but that seems to be the norm in my area.Quarters are locking in on 42 and I am digging them at 1-6" all day.
One of the silver rings and the 18kt white gold ring were dug at about 5". The 18kt came in at a solid 8 and the silver ring was a 36. The other silver ring came in at 36 but was only 2" down.
I also have a 3kHz coil but I am doing so well with the stock 7.5 kHz coil that I hate to change it out.I just use the auto GB ,set the threshold at 12(with headphones) and run in pattern1 with 4 tones.This X70 is really a smooth operator and very accurate.I just swing slow and have my PP and digger ready. Hope this helps ya. Brian