help with xterra 705

[yowow#1]

I just recently purchased an xterra 705, and my first few weeks of detecting with it 'is not a happy one', it doesn't seem to get very good depth, and also when it detects targets into the 30-32-34 and sometimes 36-40 number reading, it always comes out a pulltab. I ground balance it based on the "owners manual" instruction, i don't know if i am doing something wrong or what, any help would be definitely appreciated. Thank You so much in advance for any help or advice offered.

 

[Old Longhair]

First......Welcome!

Next, w/o knowing more about the general conditions where you'e hunting, and what you're doing, it's going to be tough to give you much speciffic help.
Beyond that, the best advice that I can give is to go to the MineLab website and register. It's free. Then go to the members area and download Randy Horton's FREE e-book "Understanding Your Xterra" and read it....twice. Then play with your detector some more, and go home and re-read the e-book again.

That book is easy to read, easy to understand, and more help than you can get in any internet thread. If you still have problems/questions, then by all means ask away, and we'll be happy to assist.

HH!

 

[Dbersh]

Welcome! I have been using the 705 now for about 4 weeks, i would like to validate everything Longhair has stated. The free book is a great resource! I still have a lot to learn, but it will come, I am very happy with the machine. I know that if I am not getting results, it is me and lack of knowledge and experience and not the machine
Good luck, and give it some time.

 

[yowow#1]

Thank you very much for everyones responses, I very much appreciate it. I will download Mr. Hortons book on "understanding your xterra", Thanks to everyone again, and if anyone has any extra info to add, i would really like to hear it. thanks so much.

Jim

 

[Digger]

Thanks to the others for commenting on my eBook. I'm glad to hear people are finding it useful. Other than having a good understanding of your X-TERRA, a few things that come to mind ....... the first thing to do after turning on your X-705 is to Auto NC. If you're not noise cancelling, that could be part of the problem with depth and TID accuracy. Also, when you properly ground balance, which coil are you using and what is the common ground phase number? Again, an improperly ground balanced detector will cause loss of depth and erroneous TID numbers. If you are new to detecting, I'd also suggest you may be sweeping the coil too quickly. A good average sweep speed would be no faster than a couple seconds each direction. Even slower in areas with lots of targets (including trash targets). Once again, having too fast of sweep speed will result in loss of detection depth and TID inaccuracy. You're hitting pull tabs, so we know the detector is detecting. We just need to help you figure out why the problems with depth and TID. Let us know if you've properly Noise Cancelled, Ground Balanced and how quickly you are sweeping and we'll see what we can come up with. HH Randy

 

[Nuke em]

See below, my signature.
Dont forget the Terra is a cheaper detector with less target information than an ET or CTX , go slow but even in trash when you know the machine you will know if there is more than one target under the coil.
I only use mine on a very trashy stoney beach and all the cash this year i have had by the Terra has been on that beach.
Dont use mine on land so cannot comment .

 

[Mtnmn]

If you want some quick answers, try reading thru the FAQ's. I find it very strange you are finding so many pulltabs reading up in the penny and dime range, that is most unusual. Most read much lower (14-22). Like mentioned previously, you probably need to work on your noise cancelling and ground balancing. They and swinging your coil close and "parallel" to the ground, not to mention slowing down your swing speed will improve your depth. To find more good targets it is also helpful to "shorten" the length of your swing. I have a friend who is a world class detectorist and he only uses a 2 foot swing on average. Also as you gain experience with the 705, your depth on coins will improve too. My first couple of years with the XT-70, I gained an extra inch of depth each year. If you have a lot of ground mineralization that will also affect the amount of depth you get. Getting one of the large DD coils can be helpful with that and usually gain you an extra inch or two of depth over that of the stock concentric coil.

 

[yowow#1]

Thanks to the others for commenting on my eBook. I'm glad to hear people are finding it useful. Other than having a good understanding of your X-TERRA, a few things that come to mind ....... the first thing to do after turning on your X-705 is to Auto NC. If you're not noise cancelling, that could be part of the problem with depth and TID accuracy. Also, when you properly ground balance, which coil are you using and what is the common ground phase number? Again, an improperly ground balanced detector will cause loss of depth and erroneous TID numbers. If you are new to detecting, I'd also suggest you may be sweeping the coil too quickly. A good average sweep speed would be no faster than a couple seconds each direction. Even slower in areas with lots of targets (including trash targets). Once again, having too fast of sweep speed will result in loss of detection depth and TID inaccuracy. You're hitting pull tabs, so we know the detector is detecting. We just need to help you figure out why the problems with depth and TID. Let us know if you've properly Noise Cancelled, Ground Balanced and how quickly you are sweeping and we'll see what we can come up with. HH Randy

Thanks you for responding to my inquiry about my 705, and i downloaded your eBook, 'Thank you for sharing that' not got to read it thoroughly yet. I will tell you how i set my 705, i have been using pattern 1or 2, i auto noise cancel, then i auto ground balance, "i am using the nine inch concentric and the ground phase in a couple places i hunt is up near fourty". and then i slightly turn up the threshhold and sensititity beyond the factory preset. after that it's pull tabs beware. I consider myself an experienced detectorist i have metal detected for many years using fishers and tesoros, this is my first minelab,"only owned it a few weeks" and before i get to discouraged i thought i would consult experienced minelab xterra users and i thank you again for responding, it would be easy to shelf it and pull out the fisher or tesoro but i won't do that yet, i'll just keep trying to learn it. thanks again for responding, good luck, happy hunting and be safe.

 

[Digger]

If your ground phase is in the 40's with the concentric coil, I'd say your soil has a moderate level of magnetic mineralization and the concentric coils should work fine. If you've read many of my posts on any of these forums, you know I am not a big fan of the pre-programmed discrimination mode number 2. Simply too many good targets being passed up with that level of discrimination. Pattern one isn't so bad, unless you are working an area with lots of iron trash and would like to work out the adjacent coins. Then I prefer to hear the low tones opposed to nulling (on the ferrous targets). Simply a matter of personal preference.
If you are an experienced detectorist, I won't go into the technical aspects of sweep speed or coil placement. But I would suggest you take a TID reading on those pull tabs after you dig them up and see if they still read the same as when they were buried. If they do, and they happen to read the same TID as some of the coins you are looking for, then there is little you can do to not dig them if you are simply going by TID numbers. As you know, the TID is an electronic display of the target's conductive properties, based on the software's interpretation of the return phase. I know I have a problem with Pepsi screw caps. Coca Cola caps don't pose a problem. But those darn aluminum Pepsi caps fool me into thinking they are a quarter all the time. However, on the pull tabs, if you listen carefully, there is typically a subtle difference in the tonal quality of the audio response. Since they are not round, pull tabs are not usually consistent in tone when sweeping from various directions. It is important, however, to use multiple tone audio (28 tones) when listening for the broken sounds. Using 2 tone or 4 tone will not provide the variations that you can hear with multiple tone.

Don't get discouraged, I've used just about every Fisher since the 555 back in the early 80's, and every Tesoro since my first original Silver Sabre in the mid-80's. And I can say without hesitation that I prefer my 705 hands-down. It looks quite simple to operate. And for the most part, it is. But to truly understand how to maximize its potential, you need to learn to "hear" what it is "saying", and not rely on TID numbers. Learn to hunt by ear and use the numbers merely to give you a headsup as to what to expect to find in the hole. Take one of your Tesoros or Fishers along on your next hunt and do some comparisons. Grid off an area and hunt it with one detector, marking the targets with golf tees or poker chips. Take notes on what you think each target will be. Then hunt it with the other detector, confirming each target you hit the first time, and marking any new ones with a different colored marker. When you get done detecting, dig up the targets and compare the results to your notes. I think you'll find that the skills you are using to distinguish pull tabs on your other detectors are same skills you will need with the X-TERRA. Just a matter of listening for the right sounds. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Nuke em]

n/t

 

[yowow#1]

If your ground phase is in the 40's with the concentric coil, I'd say your soil has a moderate level of magnetic mineralization and the concentric coils should work fine. If you've read many of my posts on any of these forums, you know I am not a big fan of the pre-programmed discrimination mode number 2. Simply too many good targets being passed up with that level of discrimination. Pattern one isn't so bad, unless you are working an area with lots of iron trash and would like to work out the adjacent coins. Then I prefer to hear the low tones opposed to nulling (on the ferrous targets). Simply a matter of personal preference.
If you are an experienced detectorist, I won't go into the technical aspects of sweep speed or coil placement. But I would suggest you take a TID reading on those pull tabs after you dig them up and see if they still read the same as when they were buried. If they do, and they happen to read the same TID as some of the coins you are looking for, then there is little you can do to not dig them if you are simply going by TID numbers. As you know, the TID is an electronic display of the target's conductive properties, based on the software's interpretation of the return phase. I know I have a problem with Pepsi screw caps. Coca Cola caps don't pose a problem. But those darn aluminum Pepsi caps fool me into thinking they are a quarter all the time. However, on the pull tabs, if you listen carefully, there is typically a subtle difference in the tonal quality of the audio response. Since they are not round, pull tabs are not usually consistent in tone when sweeping from various directions. It is important, however, to use multiple tone audio (28 tones) when listening for the broken sounds. Using 2 tone or 4 tone will not provide the variations that you can hear with multiple tone.

Don't get discouraged, I've used just about every Fisher since the 555 back in the early 80's, and every Tesoro since my first original Silver Sabre in the mid-80's. And I can say without hesitation that I prefer my 705 hands-down. It looks quite simple to operate. And for the most part, it is. But to truly understand how to maximize its potential, you need to learn to "hear" what it is "saying", and not rely on TID numbers. Learn to hunt by ear and use the numbers merely to give you a headsup as to what to expect to find in the hole. Take one of your Tesoros or Fishers along on your next hunt and do some comparisons. Grid off an area and hunt it with one detector, marking the targets with golf tees or poker chips. Take notes on what you think each target will be. Then hunt it with the other detector, confirming each target you hit the first time, and marking any new ones with a different colored marker. When you get done detecting, dig up the targets and compare the results to your notes. I think you'll find that the skills you are using to distinguish pull tabs on your other detectors are same skills you will need with the X-TERRA. Just a matter of listening for the right sounds. JMHO HH Randy

Mr Horton (digger), Thank you so very much for your information and for your time to help explain the xterra to me, all i can say is "very much appreciated", Thank you so much. I will swing it many hours and i will learn it to the best of my ability, Thank You Sir.

 

[yowow#1]

If you want some quick answers, try reading thru the FAQ's. I find it very strange you are finding so many pulltabs reading up in the penny and dime range, that is most unusual. Most read much lower (14-22). Like mentioned previously, you probably need to work on your noise cancelling and ground balancing. They and swinging your coil close and "parallel" to the ground, not to mention slowing down your swing speed will improve your depth. To find more good targets it is also helpful to "shorten" the length of your swing. I have a friend who is a world class detectorist and he only uses a 2 foot swing on average. Also as you gain experience with the 705, your depth on coins will improve too. My first couple of years with the XT-70, I gained an extra inch of depth each year. If you have a lot of ground mineralization that will also affect the amount of depth you get. Getting one of the large DD coils can be helpful with that and usually gain you an extra inch or two of depth over that of the stock concentric coil.

Thank you Mtnmn, for your response, the pulltabs readings i get 'in the ground' usually reads between (30-36) mostly, but when i pull them out and lay them on the open ground they have a normality read as low as 12 up to 24. (but mostly near 12 ) I will definitely gain experience with the 705 as i will not quit on it. Also i will try other coils, as i know different coils are very important pertaining to what your objective is. Thank You for responding to my post.

 

[Mtnmn]

I have bad habit of assuming things. With your already being an experienced detectorist, it shouldn't be long before you are doing just fine with the 705. Once you have gained some experience with the 705, then experiment until you find what works best for your particular area and style of hunting. Be it a different coil or modifying your settings to match your conditions. Think you'll like what the 705 brings to the table