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Etrac and Diggin' Virginia
- Thread starter ksabubba
- Start date
Wasn't what I wanted to hear...may have to think of another road trip...thanks for the info.Multi frequency VLF machines don't tend to do well in heavily mineralized iron soil. Single frequency machines do better in the VLF realm. The problem with that dirt is the high content of natural iron in it. If your machine doesn't have a true all metal mode, you're not going to dig much of anything. It's like throwing a quarter under a piece of rusty tin and trying to get a correct ID on the quarter without hearing the tin. So it has a bad tendency to cause non ferrous things to read like ferrous (iron). Thus why the PI machines are rocking in it. Take any machine that has a Rep for doing well in gold fields and it will work in Culpeper, VA. Most all gold machines that are VLFs, have one frequency and true all metal modes.
I have heard folks with Explorers make the comment at DIVs that I've been on, that they could have done just as well by walking and digging random holes.
I have heard folks with Explorers make the comment at DIVs that I've been on, that they could have done just as well by walking and digging random holes.
Jason in Enid
Active member
Daniel Tn said:
That statement is completely backwards!
In addittion to multi freq machiens doing better, the DD coil of the E-trac is better in mineralization than a standard concentric coil. Yes, a PI will do better in mineralization than any VLF, but that is that strength of the PI.
It is a bold statement but until you've hunted in the red dirt you dont have a dog in the race! I have been to 6 DIV hunts in Culpeper and have spots in TN with the same kind of dirt. Having personally seen people with Explorer IIs and eTracs so upset they could almost break their machine in half....I simply say don't believe advertising hype or ads. Your best bet is to see it for yourself but I'm giving fair warning...you better bring a backup machine that has true all metal and single frequency. Multi freq machines may work great in moderately mineralized soil but not in red dirt!! That's why of nearly 400 diggers at a DIV hunt, the only ones that have Explorers or eTracs are the ones who have never had a taste of the red dirt and believe that everybody else that has tried and failed didn't know what they were doing. Matter of fact if VA is too far I invite you to a hunt with me in TN and I will take you to a couple spots you wont be able to pick up a civil war minie ball at just 6" deep with an Explorer or eTrac. I betcha a free steak dinner on it. In any other dirt, yes...in red dirt...not happening. But a F75, T2, Gold Bug, AT Pro and AT Gold...those are some proven VLFs that do well in red dirt providing zero disc is used but better if true all metal is used.
DirtyDeedsDugDirtDeep
Member
Would it be safe say then,that that is why the Nautilus detectors were/are a favorite of relic hunters ???
Single frequency and all metal mode ???
Single frequency and all metal mode ???
Bell-Two
Active member
Do you have any idea how an X-Terra 705 responds to the "red dirt" of Virginia? And what coil would work best low freq 3khz or standard 7.5khz or the high frequency 18.75 khz?
Is the hole state "red dirt" or just areas. Reason I ask my wife has relatives in the Richmond area and we might visit.
Is the hole state "red dirt" or just areas. Reason I ask my wife has relatives in the Richmond area and we might visit.
I don't think I've ever saw a Nautilus at the DIVs I've been to. With how the Nautilus audio is setup...I think you could hear the targets if it is set to zero discrimination. I haven't ran a Nautilus in several years but it seems like I don't recall it having a true all metal mode, but rather an audio filter that worked based on where you set discrimination at. Everything you reject will come in thru one audio channel and everything above the reject level will come through the other audio channel with a different tone. In good ground where targets read well, they do well but in the red stuff you would have to set disc to zero and dig everything that beeps. Without a true all metal mode it makes it difficult to size up an object to get an idea of its characteristics. I know on the F75 platform...a minie ball will read just like a square nail with iron VDIs between 11-13. So numbers wise....there's no difference. Audio wise in discriminate mode at zero disc...the audio filter to disc mode will condense the signal to one very small spot and the signal will ID and even sound like a nail. In true all metal mode on the same machine, the target ID numbers will still be the same but without the signal compression audio filter, you can get an idea of the size of the target and by that you can tell a bullet from a nail 90% of the time. The nail giving a much narrower signal vs the bullet's quarter size profile.
Regarding the XTerra series....you would be in a similar situation as above. With all disc notches at zero, you still have the audio filters that wont give you a true sizing ability and you will be forced to be digging everything. What you can do though is utilize the prospecting mode and try to figure that out. Some of the MXT guys do that with their machines and do quite well. The Xterra's prospecting mode and MXT prospecting mode are very similar in behavior. The key is just realizing most in ground targets of mid-high conductivity that normally reads good....in red dirt will read as iron and if you're rejecting iron, you're missing 98% of good targets. I remember my first DIV I dug a breastplate at just 8" deep laying flat in the ground. It is super high conductivity...well into the silver range on id machines...yet it read like a nail all the way ID number wise but the all metal side let me size it up and I still thought it was a bullet. I never would have thought something as big as a plate laying flat and that shallow would still read as iron but that's how it works.
Regarding the XTerra series....you would be in a similar situation as above. With all disc notches at zero, you still have the audio filters that wont give you a true sizing ability and you will be forced to be digging everything. What you can do though is utilize the prospecting mode and try to figure that out. Some of the MXT guys do that with their machines and do quite well. The Xterra's prospecting mode and MXT prospecting mode are very similar in behavior. The key is just realizing most in ground targets of mid-high conductivity that normally reads good....in red dirt will read as iron and if you're rejecting iron, you're missing 98% of good targets. I remember my first DIV I dug a breastplate at just 8" deep laying flat in the ground. It is super high conductivity...well into the silver range on id machines...yet it read like a nail all the way ID number wise but the all metal side let me size it up and I still thought it was a bullet. I never would have thought something as big as a plate laying flat and that shallow would still read as iron but that's how it works.
DirtyDeedsDugDirtDeep
Member
Thanks for the detailed explanations.
So, what have you seen as the most popular/successful machine in these red dirt hunts ???
So, what have you seen as the most popular/successful machine in these red dirt hunts ???
First as a disclaimer...even a mediocre machine in the hands of someone who knows it and also knows how to read the site will do better than a newbie with the best machine in the world that doesn't know much about reading the site.
That said, over the last few years and hunts, there is an ever growing crowd of Pulse Induction machines. I would say they now makeup 3/4 of the detectors used. The following now is the Minelab GPX machines. Followed by the Whites TDI. Then the Infinium by Garrett. VLFs on the other hand...the F75/T2 seems to be at the top of the VLFs and the MXT a close 2nd.
There have always been those who got smoked in finds at one hunt then bought a new machine that the majority of people were using and still done horrible with the new machine. Case in point was when everyone dumped their VLF machines for an Infinium or TDI...some did see an increase in finds just because they were Diggin more targets. Then a few folks brought in a GPX and smoked everybody. But those same guys were smoking everybody else with VLFs too. The GPX is a heck of a machine though and deeper than any detector on the market. I had people tell me I was crazy when I invested in a GPX 5000...then when the dust settled at the first hunt I used it at, everyone was like WOW...me and some of the other GPX dudes just flat tore it up. By the next hunt there were close to 100 GPX users LOL the number went from like 10-15 tops, to nearly a hundred.
That said, over the last few years and hunts, there is an ever growing crowd of Pulse Induction machines. I would say they now makeup 3/4 of the detectors used. The following now is the Minelab GPX machines. Followed by the Whites TDI. Then the Infinium by Garrett. VLFs on the other hand...the F75/T2 seems to be at the top of the VLFs and the MXT a close 2nd.
There have always been those who got smoked in finds at one hunt then bought a new machine that the majority of people were using and still done horrible with the new machine. Case in point was when everyone dumped their VLF machines for an Infinium or TDI...some did see an increase in finds just because they were Diggin more targets. Then a few folks brought in a GPX and smoked everybody. But those same guys were smoking everybody else with VLFs too. The GPX is a heck of a machine though and deeper than any detector on the market. I had people tell me I was crazy when I invested in a GPX 5000...then when the dust settled at the first hunt I used it at, everyone was like WOW...me and some of the other GPX dudes just flat tore it up. By the next hunt there were close to 100 GPX users LOL the number went from like 10-15 tops, to nearly a hundred.