Just got a "new" explorer XS

[IDXMonster]

no one has bought them yet.....open to offers

they are both XS models? Id be in on the probe only at 175.00 shipped,if it is indeed brand new...Im in Wisconsin.

 

[IDXMonster]

Well my NIB Explorer II is now two weeks old. A friend bought one for him and one for his wife in 2005. He still uses his and hers was never opened.
Still in the box with everything it came with. I'm accustomed to the Sovereign GT so I'm just now figuring out all the beeps squeaks, menus and display items.
It's going to take a while....heh heh. It seems easier to turn on and go than the Sovereign but not nearly as deep reading. I'm happy with it as a back up detector.
Good luck with yours.

Whatever you do.....DONT GIVE UP ON IT! There are lots of sounds,adjustments,fiddling to do....DONT GIVE UP ON IT!! My take so far with my Ex2 is that the 8" Sunray coil is the best for MY hunting,which are parks,schools,and some private houses. The stock coil is a REALLY GOOD COIL,but,it's a bit too big to get the separation I need to sift through everything in the ground. When I'm in a WIDE OPEN park or maybe a field,then I'll install the Sunray X-12. When the junk is SUPER DENSE,out comes the 5" Excelerator coil. I can't say enough about that little guy,it's stupendous in finding anything to 7-8" in ALOT of closely spaced junk. Talk about a LASER! Get one of those just because,or a Sunray X-5,it'll do about the same thing when nothing else will work. It feels like you're swinging nothing,which is just about true,but the job it does will leave you speechless,you won't believe it.

Good luck!

Kevin

 

[K4INC]

Dont use DEEP , use FAST , on the deep setting it has filters which slow the machine down and maybe lose depth..

I normally use FAST in trashy areas and parks, but DEEP has shown in a clean area it reads deeper.

Stock coil ? as in the black one like the X.Terra 10 in DD ? not the best , i use the E.Trac Pro coil.
Hunter ?as in Nell ? , i used that a while back and did not find it deep .

Yup, stock coil but it is 10.5". I'll give the Pro coil off the etrac a try. Thanks. The Hunter reads slightly deeper than the stock coil but it does a much better job of finding good stuff next to bad stuff in a trash area

Adjust the threshold pitch to 1 , all the tones that are deep will be different then readjust the tone to just audible .

Thanks to an all expense paid vacation by uncle Sam I don't hear any tone a setting 1....as a Morse code operator my best pitch for detecting change in sounds is in the 600Hz to 800 Hz range. I'll give it another go at 1 but doubt I can hear that frequency.

Dont use any Minelab presets or similar , they will mask targets .
Knock out nails top left and do the same sort of pattern bottom left.

Yup, the preset is what I set the XS on for the wife to hunt in....she has no patience for learning but the tenacity of a pitbull at digging up anythng that makes a tone. Coin, pultab, screwcap ....don't matter. she's happy

You wont be able to use numbers on deep targets unless obvious iron , check for deep iron by lifting the coil 6 inches , if there it could be iron but ferrous numbers will be high anyway.

Been there done that, know that trick

Thanks for the info I'll let you know how it works out with the Pro coil.

 

[Nuke em]

If you have hearing trouble then you may not be hearing the deepest targets ?

 

[K4INC]

If you have hearing trouble then you may not be hearing the deepest targets ?

Nah....hear it just fine at 650 to 750 Hz. It's also proved (in my field of work) the human ear has a much easier time separating minor tone differences ( 1 to 3Hz difference ) in the 400Hz to 800Hz range.
I'm at present of the opinion the Sovereign GT reads deeper than the EX II and the EX II discrimanates and separates much better than the Sovereign GT.
The Ex II has found wheats at a spot I have gone over many many times with the Sovereign. But it has yet to read solidly that silver dime at 10 inches the Gt and 3030 read. It might be more than 10 by now. It was buried in the late 70's.
I'm looking forward to trying some of your other setting though and the Pro coil.

 

[K4INC]

Whatever you do.....DONT GIVE UP ON IT! There are lots of sounds,adjustments,fiddling to do....DONT GIVE UP ON IT!! My take so far with my Ex2 is that the 8" Sunray coil is the best for MY hunting,which are parks,schools,and some private houses. The stock coil is a REALLY GOOD COIL,but,it's a bit too big to get the separation I need to sift through everything in the ground. When I'm in a WIDE OPEN park or maybe a field,then I'll install the Sunray X-12. When the junk is SUPER DENSE,out comes the 5" Excelerator coil. I can't say enough about that little guy,it's stupendous in finding anything to 7-8" in ALOT of closely spaced junk. Talk about a LASER! Get one of those just because,or a Sunray X-5,it'll do about the same thing when nothing else will work. It feels like you're swinging nothing,which is just about true,but the job it does will leave you speechless,you won't believe it.
.

Good luck!

Kevin

Not a chance I'll give up....LOL. I have the Excelerator EQ2 and the SunRay X5. Both have been impressive. I like the NEL Hunter coil as well but wasn't aware of an 8" coil. something new to ponder and play.....

Thanks for all the tips,
Randy

 

[azdigger]

Found a video that helps figure the explorer out and how to set it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Mpb33KY3I

 

[K4INC]

Yes,
I have seen that one and about all the other II vids there...LOL
It was one of the videos there that sent me to FindMall.

 

[azdigger]

it sure helped me to understand the machine some, I think I am going to have a lot to learn but I won't give up.

 

[IDXMonster]

it sure helped me to understand the machine some, I think I am going to have a lot to learn but I won't give up.

Rick-I found it to be quite easy to get through menus and with the help of great sites like this,to understand why I should or shouldn't do something. They are actually really fun to use,I find myself with "perms-grin" every time I go out. An assortment of coils is nice...but that stock coil will CERTAINLY do well at a lot of places. And....you can use ALL the FBS coils available from ANY of the aftermarket manufacturers....PLUS the ones ML makes,except the CTX coils. The boys from here and the Dankowski forum finally got me to get the EX2 and I've had it for just 5 months or so. I have SO much to learn,but feel I'm already pretty schooled in many aspects. Going back through the archives here in the "Classroom" section will net you enough stuff to read for a long time. Many great minds with much experience they have been gracious to share,I cannot thank these guys enough. What a hobby huh?

 

[azdigger]

-- moved topic --

 

[K4INC]

Don't use DEEP , use FAST , on the deep setting it has filters which slow the machine down and maybe lose depth , thats what i have heard and thats what i do now.
Stock coil ? as in the black one like the X.Terra 10 in DD ? not the best , i use the E.Trac Pro coil.
Hunter ?as in Nell ? , i used that a while back and did not find it deep .
Adjust the threshold pitch to 1 , all the tones that are deep will be different then readjust the tone to just audible .

Dont use any Minelab presets or similar , they will mask targets .
Knock out nails top left and do the same sort of pattern bottom left.

You wont be able to use numbers on deep targets unless obvious iron , check for deep iron by lifting the coil 6 inches , if there it could be iron but ferrous numbers will be high anyway.

The Sovereign is a true all iron detector which the Explorer and others aren't but the Sovereign does have its drawbacks and nulls just as much .

Ok Nuke Em and IDXMonster,
Here is what is working for me and reading within an inch of the GT: (close your eyes, you might not like this .. heh heh)

i realize this is probably old news to a lot of the longtime EX II users but it's still interesting and fun for me to compare.

Display - On smart
Manual Sensitivity - At 20-26 or higher .. Just under where it remains most stable.
Basic discrim pattern but I do edit per site
Threshold - At 6 and just audible
Iron Mask - At -10 Off until I need to verify an iffy signal
Sounds - On Ferrous (this gives me a very distinct "squeak" on silver and deep coins. I'm back to a "very" solid reading on silver dime at 9")
Response - 1
Recovery - Deep
Variability - 10
Limits - 10
Gain- 8-9

The Pro Coil did work noticeably better than stock and slightly better than the Hunter. But the Hunter is giving me better separation.
The little sunray X-5 and Excelerator eq2 coils are killer in the trashy areas. Good depth also.
I think I would like to try a Sharpshooter.

Thanks for all the help and advice. It's always welcome and I never Give Up... LOL
I'm a Happy Explorer II user now

 

[IDXMonster]

K4INC-I agree with all that,to me the biggest thing is running in Ferrous,I don't know HOW people use Conductive. If things are squirrelly I'll go to Auto,but have been using Manual more,where I can. Problem is,the sites I'm at for the most part have things that make the machine very noisy. Even reducing Manual to 10 doesn't do it sometimes. Other than that and with my relatively limited experience I'd run those...maybe Normal instead of 1 but that's a hearing preference. I like signals sharp and short,generally.
As noted elsewhere,if the machine is squirrelly,turn down the Gain before you turn down the Sens. You need Sens to get the signal in the first place,then Gain to amplify it. Gain will do you no good if it's got nothing to amplify....
Glad to hear it's coming along and keep up the input,it's all valuable to someone at some point!

Kevin

 

[IDXMonster]

Remember azdigger saying they were "new" Explorer XSs? Well,I bought the X-1 probe he had gotten with them,I can put this to rest. It is NEW. It could not get newer,so things like this can happen,albeit very infrequently. You would think SOMEBODY knew about them and what they were,but....here it is. It's installed on my EX2 ready to rock. I wish I knew how to post a picture here...grrrrr!

 

[IDXMonster]

Here it is....

 

[IDXMonster]

I can't figure out how to flip the picture upright...you get the idea hopefully...

 

[braveheart1954]

Get a RNB.. CHARGE LASTS FOR WEEKS..NOT DAYS! LAST BATTERY YOU WILL EVER BUY!

 

[braveheart1954]

Let us know where you got these MIRACLE batteries! I want stock in that company!