Ever done the right thing only to discover that you haven't?

[Mick in Dubbo]

I took the Omega out on a hunt onto a local oval after a sporting carnival. While hunting where a large tent was set up that was used as a canteen, I got a good signal that hit like a 50c piece, about as large as well though I thought it may have been a bit bigger. Well it was a bit bigger and on probing it, thought it was a tent peg that they use on these big tents (with a rounded top. After recovering it from just under the surface, I found that it was an inlet valve from a car engine. Very bizarre! I removed this piece of junk and placed it in an otto bin that limits the bin to only opening a few inches. As I returned to the spot where I made the recovery, I noticed that the spot was right on the corner of the playing field! It was then that I realised that it was being used as a marker to mark out the field! Sure enough, I found another one on the other corner. I left it there.
I guess that that was my whoops moment for the month.
Mick Evans.

 

[below2doe]

Hi Mick,

Well i know its a bit early yet but what do you think of the omega against your extera 70. What is it like with our $1 and $2 coins and how does it go on aluminium screw caps. Has it got a tighter pattern in discrimination up against the 70.

Regards Below2Doe.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

G'day Richard.
Your asking a bit of a no brainer really. The X-terra is no match for the Omega. While I like it, the Omega ID's targets far better than the X-Terra. Pull tabs are easy to work out, screw caps are fairly easy to tell apart from coins and today I discovered that aluminium football studs are also easy to tell from goldies, registering as an 82. I still much prefer the pitch of the tones of the X-Terra 70 over the Omega and also the volume control which the Omega seriously needs. I Find that I hunt in D2 tones on the Omega for it's modulated tones is a significant advantage over the X-terra but unfortunately, I do find that the poor tone range of the Omega, which in most tone set ups, puts all our modern coins into a single tone. That can cause ear fatigue, which in turn can lead to you walking over targets if you switch off in trashy ground.
The overload feature, although a little annoying, is actually a very effective discrimination tool on shallow targets. This is what helps in separating what's what like screw caps and pull tabs. $2 coins hardly give off an overload signal, $1 coins do, but screw caps do a lot more.
I'm still very new to the Omega, so I'm sure I'm probably going to go through a period were' I'll have dark thoughts about it while I go through the learning frustrations, but I haven't had that as yet. Who knows, this might be the first detector that I might be spared that. time will tell, but at the moment, it just seems to talk to you fairly efficiently and pinpoints really accurately too.
Yes, it's discrimination is tighter than the X-Terra. Those footy studs are a clear example. On the X-terra, they sound like a $2 coin because of there size. $2 coins generally show up as a 77 and $1 coins as a 79. It's when you get these numbers, followed by watching the intensity meter, modulated tone and how much overload you get on the respective numbers, that helps to ID the goldies. I've only found around $20 so far, so it's real early days. 5 and 10c pieces are a delight to recover too,5c read as 55 and 10c as 57. Pull tabs go from 56 to 61. The overload signal makes telling them apart a black and white call! Even those dreaded new rounded pull tabs which most other detectors see a a coin. I even seem to enjoy recovering pull tabs too, simply because I know that that's what it is and I just like proving it to myself. A bit twisted, but fun.
Mick Evans.

 

[Monte]

Hi Mick,

Well i know its a bit early yet but what do you think of the omega against your extera 70. What is it like with our $1 and $2 coins and how does it go on aluminium screw caps. Has it got a tighter pattern in discrimination up against the 70.

Regards Below2Doe.

First a word or two about the X-Terra 70/705, and these are only my opinions. I liked the X-Terra 70 in many ways, and with ample experience from owning a couple of White's MXT's by that time, I regard the MXT as the current multi-purpose model to compare other with.. One is the light-weight design. Another was that all adjustments could be made with the operating hand rather than call fo a two-handed approach. Two other options were the option of a few Audio Tone functions, and my favorite, the ability to have an "auto-balance" or manually ground balance the detector. I favored the '70' over the '705' because I don't really care for the graphic labels compared to named labels for control adjustment.

Now, my comments on the White's MXT. While I did like some of what the X-Terra 70 offered, I preferred the MXT for a few reasons. The MXT has it's ID labeled segments for 5

 

[Monte]

It's going to be helpful to know the coil used as well as model. The same targets will VDI differently in some cases when you change to the 11" or 5" from the stock 10' concentric coil.

Monte

 

[bubbadirect]

It's going to be helpful to know the coil used as well as model. The same targets will VDI differently in some cases when you change to the 11" or 5" from the stock 10' concentric coil.

Monte

Anyone that is new to the Omega needs to read and re-read this post from Monte. The sames targets with different coil sizes WILL ID differently! Monte nailed it once again. In addition to learning your machine, it is imperitive to learn your COIL too!

 

[below2doe]

Thanks Mick and Monte,

I know its early days mick but as you know as time goes by you will be able to valuatue the omega a lot better. So far its looking not bad but time will tell.

Thanks for your help
Regards Below2Doe.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

The Omega 8000 is AUD$810, the X-Terra 705 is AUD $1150, the MXT is AUD $1285 and the Whites V3 is AUD $1875. All prices include 10% GST (tax). The Aussie dollar is at 85 cents US at the moment. We we at 93 cents only a few weeks back. There was talk of the Aussie dollar reaching parity with the US dollar, but it seems that each time it gets close, some crisis hits and our dollar goes down. To buy the Omega from the States and pay for the freight, is about the same as buying local! A few brands over here are way more than that.
I'd forgotten about the long stem on the X-Terra's. I cut both of mine short. I'm only 5'6 myself.
Mick Evans.