Need some good advice!

[sillllvar]

Hi all

I would like to buy a minelab Explorer second hand on eBay. I am thinking a XS II or maybe a SE. What I really need to know is there a REAL difference out there in the field in finds rate? What is the real difference? I am a DFX user since they first came out.....I think it is about time to join the dark side

Thanks very much for your help

All the best
Alan

 

[Mike Bearden]

If it's there the Explorer will find it, no matter if it's the XS, EX II or the SE ... if YOU spend the time to LEARN it's language.

Good Hunting
Mike

 

[Hotcz70]

n/t

 

[Southwind]

I considered the Explorer II before buying my SE, but like you I was used to the DFX, and since the SE has a faster processor it makes it able to be swung more comparable to the DFX.

 

[sangamon]

...if anything, my clad count went down considerably since i started using the SE. at the same time, my silver count went way up!

i was stubborn and it took a long time for me to realize and admit that i was passing right over good targets with my DFX...
it simply didn't see them; and if i didn't have an Explorer following me and getting the goodies i missed, i never would have known!

a hard lesson, for sure, but i'm glad i made the switch. what was the question?

p.s.- i still have my DFX, but i'm having a hard time finding a practical use for it.

 

[NH Bob]

n/t

 

[NH Bob]

I have used all the Explorers and tried most of the other brands of Detectors to justify in my own mind if that there's nothing better out there.
I don't make a dime if you buy an SE or you don't. So when I say there's no better machine than the Explorers, it's from my heart.
You have to make a commitment to learn the machine or you will wast your money.

 

[sillllvar]

Thanks for the excellent advice guys. I found your advice the most interesting sangamon....I have found many great things with my DFX...I posted a few of them in the DFX forum a while back. It's just that I have a friend who uses an XS mark one and he has twice as many targets as I do when we hunt in the same field! I just can't kid myself any more..time for a change. I think that I am leaning towards getting an SE....now just to get the xtra money out of the wife

HH
Alan

 

[sillllvar]

NH Bob.....Do you think that the SE is an improvement over the XS II or a comparable machine?

HH
Alan

 

[jim cluster]

The SE is a leaning curve, but a fun one to learn. If a person likes to try something different a person can do it with the SE every time they go out, or just use the same program simple as that. Now regarding the wife and getting the SE "REMEMBER IT'S EASIER TO BEG FOR FORGIVENESS SOMETIMES, THAN ASK FOR PERMISSION TO BUY THE EXPENSIVE SE"

 

[sillllvar]

nice one Jim

HH
Alan

 

[sangamon]

a co-worker invited me to hunt his yard, so today i took my SE and my DFX to his place. i hadn't used the DFX since september and i had forgotten a lot, but i gave my host some pointers on it and turned him loose. i used the SE for an hour or so, but it wasn't really talking to me this time out. LOTS of falsing on iron targets, and i was chasing signals all over the place with no luck. after a while, i switched to the DFX, and i must say, it was refreshing if not rewarding. we ended up with zero coins and zero jewelry, but i got a handful of brass whatzits with the DFX. the SE could only seem to find iron today. i couldn't get it to run stable at all. we were near a river and the soil was very sandy. i'm not used to that soil type, so maybe that was the problem.

my point is, i'm glad i had the DFX with me today. usually, it's the other way around.

 

[Big Fang Coin Biter]

I have used the Explorers exclusively since they came out. I now have the II and SE. I am planning on selling the SE. From personal experience, the thing falses off iron too much (never mind the advertised claim to the contrary). The deal may be with processor speed (from some posts here), but being use to the II, the SE just seems to be lying to me too much. I am trying the II again after using the SE for a year. I did send the SE back and they gave me new cards. That seemed to help a little but I still like the II response to iron.

Here is the difference, short but sweet: With the II, get a high tone signal, turn 90 deg., still get a high tone signal... dig a coin. With the SE, get a high tone signal, turn 90 deg., still get a high tone signal... dig a square nail, or a coin (can't really tell!). Small problem but is a big deal for me.

I think a lot of SE users have turned to using Ferrous Tones with little or no discrimination to remedy this problem (I could be wrong). That is what I ended up doing. Unfortunately using those settings you cannot tell conductivity unless you stare at the display and who wants to do that when you are use to tone ID with a glance at the screen for confirmation?

Just my two cents. If you decide to go with the SE; I know where there is a one year old used one.

Good luck and HH - BF

 

[NH Bob]

At first I thought I had made a mistake getting the SE and letting my XS II go. I was frustrated over the Sensitivity of the Slimline coil. It seemed to false at every move. I learned to tone down the machine a tad over what I was used to the the XS II. I have been using the slimline and the ML800 this year and haven't had to use the FBS1050 yet. I think the wet grass is still going to false alot but I'll work around that in time.
To answer your question: Yes, I do think if one is truly in the market for an Explorer. Go for the SE and be done with it. Lest you always crave the and wonder.