Larry--IndianaHVAC
New member
I actually wrote this report 3 weeks ago and thought I had it posted but realized I never posted it. I went out actually that Monday and used it for a short period and had to call it quits because of darkness. I went out the following day and this was my report.
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I received the X-terra 30 on Monday. After a quick assembly of the detector (which is extremely easy) I decided to make a quick read of the manual again. The X-terra 30 & 50 use the same manual as Minelab incooperated both detectors into one easy to understand pocket manual.
The obvious notable differences between the X-terra 30 & 50 are the colors and face-plates. The 30 having red and the 50 blue. The 30 also has two less button on the face-plate then the 50. The two extra buttons on the 50 are the, all-metal and ground balance. The 30 has an all metal mode which is accessed through the pattern button. The 30 does not have a manual ground balance but a pre-set which has been done at the factory.
The X-terra 30 utilizes one pattern for discrimination which one can accept or reject segments (numbers). The 30 has 12 segments. The target id's range from -4 up to 44, increasing in steps of 4. In this pattern, -4 & 4 are being rejected for the turn on and go detecting. The 50 has 18 segments, three being ferrous and fifteen non-ferrous. In pattern 1 for the 50, -9 to +3 are being rejected and in pattern 2, segments -9 to +6, & 15 & 18 are rejected.
The sensitivity for the 30 goes to 10 max. and the 50 goes to 20 max. Both of these detectors are shipped with the same coil and cover which is a 9 inch single frequency 7.5 kHz concentric and both have Minelabs new VFlex technology.
VFlex uses state of the art digital and mixed-signal components to ehance standard single frequency technology by replacing most of the analog circuitry with digital signal processing. VFlex requires coils that are actually constructed and calibrated. Every time the detector starts up, the micro-controller in the control box and the coil establish communication through a digital data link. The primary micro in the control box transmits to the secondary micro which is in the coil. The secondary micro senses and transmits coil type, size and frequency back. For the X-terra user, all this precision means dependable performance and improved immunity to environmental conditions such ad ground mineralization, electromagnetic interference and temperature variations.
Field-test
For my first session of detecting I decided to head to my town park which is 3 miles from my home. I only had about and hour and a half to detect as darkness was nearing. I powered up the X-terra 30 and found myself wanting to push the all-metal button which I was use to on the 50. Realizing I didn't need to go to the all-metal, because there was no need to GB this detector as it is pre-set. I opted to detect in the pre-set discrimination pattern and then went to the menu to set my volume up and sensitivity to 8. After a few swings of the coil and hearing some chatter, I knew I had the sensitivity set too high. I backed it down to 6 and the chatter was gone. My first signal was a 36 which turned out to be a clad dime 3 inches deep. My next few signals would be 32's which turned up one zinc penny and 3 screwcaps. Hmm, a signal I may start ignoring or reject I thought to myself. After detecting for an hour, I dug some pulltabs at numbers 20 and 24 and a nickel which came in a solid 12. I noticed the performance of the X-terra 30 was doing very well spite the hot soil in this park which is heavily mineralized and reads in the low -90s on my dfx. The pre-set gb was sure better then I expected it to be.
The 30 seemed identical to the 50 as far as hearing broken signals which had numbers jumping around. This would always be some type of trash unless there was a solid tone to hear with the jumping of numbers. One of my finds on this outing would be a number jump or 32,36,40. I thought it would be a quarter and a dime together. When I removed the plug, I had 2 quarters a dime and 2 zincs all sandwhiched together in the plug. For a nine inch coil, this was pretty amazing to me. This hunt would have to come to an end as it was getting hard to see and I pretty much had my impression of this X-terra 30. After using the 50, I felt that this detector gave very favorable results. Operation was so similar to the X-terra 50 and pinpointing was identical, accurate and easy with a push of a button. Granted, it doesn't have a manual ground balance and has a narrower range of targets to accept or reject. It seems to me that you will dig more trash with the 30 because of the less segments for discrimination.
Conclusion
I feel the X-terra 30 would make a great turn on and go detector for anyone who wants just that. With the weight of this detector, a person can detect all day with no fatigue. The fixed ground balance did its job for me in this hot soil. There are times when I thought the detector actually turned off because of its silent running. I have not been able to do any depth comparisons at this time between the 30 & 50. Both of these detectors have been enjoyable to use and very simple to learn and operate. Future testing by myself will be posted as soon as I can get back out detecting. Old man winter is starting to show his ugly face around here in Northern Indiana and one never knows what to expect living so close to Lake Michigan. Good detecting to all.
Larry
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I received the X-terra 30 on Monday. After a quick assembly of the detector (which is extremely easy) I decided to make a quick read of the manual again. The X-terra 30 & 50 use the same manual as Minelab incooperated both detectors into one easy to understand pocket manual.
The obvious notable differences between the X-terra 30 & 50 are the colors and face-plates. The 30 having red and the 50 blue. The 30 also has two less button on the face-plate then the 50. The two extra buttons on the 50 are the, all-metal and ground balance. The 30 has an all metal mode which is accessed through the pattern button. The 30 does not have a manual ground balance but a pre-set which has been done at the factory.
The X-terra 30 utilizes one pattern for discrimination which one can accept or reject segments (numbers). The 30 has 12 segments. The target id's range from -4 up to 44, increasing in steps of 4. In this pattern, -4 & 4 are being rejected for the turn on and go detecting. The 50 has 18 segments, three being ferrous and fifteen non-ferrous. In pattern 1 for the 50, -9 to +3 are being rejected and in pattern 2, segments -9 to +6, & 15 & 18 are rejected.
The sensitivity for the 30 goes to 10 max. and the 50 goes to 20 max. Both of these detectors are shipped with the same coil and cover which is a 9 inch single frequency 7.5 kHz concentric and both have Minelabs new VFlex technology.
VFlex uses state of the art digital and mixed-signal components to ehance standard single frequency technology by replacing most of the analog circuitry with digital signal processing. VFlex requires coils that are actually constructed and calibrated. Every time the detector starts up, the micro-controller in the control box and the coil establish communication through a digital data link. The primary micro in the control box transmits to the secondary micro which is in the coil. The secondary micro senses and transmits coil type, size and frequency back. For the X-terra user, all this precision means dependable performance and improved immunity to environmental conditions such ad ground mineralization, electromagnetic interference and temperature variations.
Field-test
For my first session of detecting I decided to head to my town park which is 3 miles from my home. I only had about and hour and a half to detect as darkness was nearing. I powered up the X-terra 30 and found myself wanting to push the all-metal button which I was use to on the 50. Realizing I didn't need to go to the all-metal, because there was no need to GB this detector as it is pre-set. I opted to detect in the pre-set discrimination pattern and then went to the menu to set my volume up and sensitivity to 8. After a few swings of the coil and hearing some chatter, I knew I had the sensitivity set too high. I backed it down to 6 and the chatter was gone. My first signal was a 36 which turned out to be a clad dime 3 inches deep. My next few signals would be 32's which turned up one zinc penny and 3 screwcaps. Hmm, a signal I may start ignoring or reject I thought to myself. After detecting for an hour, I dug some pulltabs at numbers 20 and 24 and a nickel which came in a solid 12. I noticed the performance of the X-terra 30 was doing very well spite the hot soil in this park which is heavily mineralized and reads in the low -90s on my dfx. The pre-set gb was sure better then I expected it to be.
The 30 seemed identical to the 50 as far as hearing broken signals which had numbers jumping around. This would always be some type of trash unless there was a solid tone to hear with the jumping of numbers. One of my finds on this outing would be a number jump or 32,36,40. I thought it would be a quarter and a dime together. When I removed the plug, I had 2 quarters a dime and 2 zincs all sandwhiched together in the plug. For a nine inch coil, this was pretty amazing to me. This hunt would have to come to an end as it was getting hard to see and I pretty much had my impression of this X-terra 30. After using the 50, I felt that this detector gave very favorable results. Operation was so similar to the X-terra 50 and pinpointing was identical, accurate and easy with a push of a button. Granted, it doesn't have a manual ground balance and has a narrower range of targets to accept or reject. It seems to me that you will dig more trash with the 30 because of the less segments for discrimination.
Conclusion
I feel the X-terra 30 would make a great turn on and go detector for anyone who wants just that. With the weight of this detector, a person can detect all day with no fatigue. The fixed ground balance did its job for me in this hot soil. There are times when I thought the detector actually turned off because of its silent running. I have not been able to do any depth comparisons at this time between the 30 & 50. Both of these detectors have been enjoyable to use and very simple to learn and operate. Future testing by myself will be posted as soon as I can get back out detecting. Old man winter is starting to show his ugly face around here in Northern Indiana and one never knows what to expect living so close to Lake Michigan. Good detecting to all.
Larry
