New To This Forum and Site

[ewcoinhunter]

Hello to all. New to this forum and site but not to metal detecting. I have received my new 705 and I have been scratching my head here a bit. Mind you this in not my first Minelab. I have had the Sovereign, SE Pro, and the Etrac. I travel a bit and this unit seemed easier to tote around while on business trips. I have read the book, looked at Diggers ebook, a couple times, and now reading again. I am in Illinois and the ground is still white from all the snow, so I have been air testing, and I know this unit is different in a lot of ways, and similar in others. I cannot figure this unit out. I can not come up with a good starting point or settings to get me to improve from there! I am sure I am making this harder than it has to be. I also know practice makes perfect, and then practice some more. I am gong to read Diggers ebook again, and try and make more sense of this unit. I guess with my other units, there are some good starting settings out there to down load and make them fit your hunting style. That way I guess is just easier for me. I said I am not new to detecting, did not say I am all that smart!! HaHa. I hunt Coins ONLY!! Same type of sights as Digger does. Not interested in Gold Nuggets, but will not turn them away either, or relics, I just loves coins, from Indian Heads to Seated, I love them all. Any and all help would greatly be appreciated. Please do not ask what my settings are, I have changed them so many time, I have tree wood coming up on the screen!! Just kidding.
Look forward to many posts and a lot of great digs. Keep your coils to the soil.

 

[Old Longhair]

Welcome to the forum.

We will be happy to assist you, but the best place to start beyond the material you've already obtained can be found in the FAQFAQ pinned thread near the top of the forum page. Pay particular attention to the links to Randy's four part blog article "Which Xterra Coil Is Best For Me?", and his article "What Am I Missing?", as they contain great information expertly explained.

 

[ewcoinhunter]

Thanks Longhair. I will go over it again. Please do not misunderstand me, Randy (Digger) did one heck of a job on the ebook, and very understandable, but for me and maybe others also, work better with some type of a setting. Meaning I was terrible in school as far as studying in books, but you do something like "on the job training or a hands on approach" I did wonderfully. It has always been hard for me to take from a book and apply. I am not asking for someone to hold my hand, just a starting point other than factory settings. Not trying to be difficult, I just do not much hair left to pull out..
Keep the coils to the ground...

 

[Digger]

Welcome to the X-TERRA forum. And thanks for the kudos on the eBook and articles. I guess if I were to tell someone "how to start" using their X-TERRA, it would be to turn it on and have fun. If I had to be more specific, I'd say to turn it on and set the Theshold so it is just barely audible. Crank up the Sensitivity to Max and set a Noise Cancel channel. Then properly set the Ground Balance, or set it to Tracking. Then lower your Sensitiivty so it doesn't drive you nuts when you bump the coil. I like to hear an occassional chirp or chatter as I sweep, as I know it is probably set as high as it should be. Not much....just a bit. Then, if you have a test garden, use it there. If you don't have a test plot, build one. If it to cold to build one right now, put that on your "things to do" list when it thaws. If you can get outside, I would suggest you toss some targets on the ground, both good and trash, and open up the discrimination or go to All Metal mode. Then learn what sweep speed works best for you. Learn how to isolate and separate targets. Learn what sounds correspond to which targets. Learn what TID number generally appear with each target. Toss a couple nails down beside a quarter and see how close they can be, and still allow for separation. Switch to Pinpoint and Pinpoint Sizing to see what works to your advantage. Then switch to Prospecting mode to see if you can learn more about isolating a target, by using that mode. At this point, it is just a matter of practice and time......

Even with the snow on the ground, you can do a lot of these same steps inside. Noise cancel might be more difficult, depending on your household appliances and lighting. And a proper GB can't be set effectively. But if you lay the detector across a chair or on a table, with the coil hanging over the side so that it doesn't pick up anything metalic, and pass targets under the coil (or even above the coil so you can see the display, you can learn a lot about the sounds, TID numbers and even how fast it responds. Once you learn how it works inside, all you have to do when you get back outside is to properly GB or use Tracking. The rest of it is very similar to what you will learn inside, during the winter.

After you get use to the "technique" and target response, take some of your previous finds and build a Pattern that accepts them. Then run some trash items under the coil to see how they respond. If you want to reject certain targets, set that notch to reject. In a perfect world, we would reject all trash and detect all the good stuff. But as you know, we don't live in a perfect world. Regardless, adjust some of the Patterns to reflect the types of sites and targets, that you like to hunt. If you've detected for awhile, you already know what you've been digging in the past, what targets you hope to recover, and the trash you may encounter at those sites. Hold some "keepers" a couple inches from some trash, pass them both under the coil, and hear how the audio sounds differently than an isolated, individual target. Listen to the sound, not just the pitch of the tone. As with many other detectors, there are subtle differences in how the X-TERRA responds to coins on edge, adjacent trash, flattened rings, deeply buried iron, etc. Most important, make it a point to learn something each time you turn it on....and enjoy your X-TERRA.

JMHO HH Randy

 

[surfchunker]

for me I have had the most luck in 4 tones, all metal mode and just learn to ignore the iron sounds and use the 6" digger coil from Coiltek. That coil is a coin magnet. I usually run sens. in the low to mid twentys but have run it 27-28 but it can get a little touchy and threshold where I can barely hear it around 7-8 for my old ears with headphones and a little higher with the speaker. threshold is saved with both once you set it up. always do noise cancel and then GB and hit the GB tracking button and hunt my little heart out ... good luck

 

[ewcoinhunter]

Digger,
I appreciate the time you took to read my posts, and to reply to them. I really enjoyed your ebook, and it looks like you have a vast amount of time, knowledge, and years under your belt. I will be reading it again, and then probably again. I will also refer back to the manual, and try to make sense of all this. Your pointers will help out, and will keep all posted as the year progresses.
Take care and thank you again.

 

[ewcoinhunter]

Surfchunker,
I appreciate the input, I will try them as well. I will keep posted as the year moves along.

 

[7centsworth]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Mark in S.E. IA]

ew, welcome to the forum

Do the things that Digger said to do and that will help you out a lot at getting started. The only thing that I could add is to run in pattern 1 with four tones and dig just about everything that beeps and that will help you to learn what the Xterra is trying to tell you.

Good Luck and have fun

 

[BillF]

Ewcoinhunter,
Welcome. There have been a few times that I have been out hunting, finding an occasional wheat but felt like I wasn't doing as well as I could. I did a factory reset, noise cancelled and set GB and start picking up IHs.
Don't discount the power the 705 has with factory settings.
Good hunting.

 

[ewcoinhunter]

Thanks Guys,
I appreciate everyone input, and ideas. I will give most if not all a try. Look forward to a great year and many digs. Even though I have other units, I know with enough time sniffing around, it can and will keep up with the other units, and my goal is to surpass them with it. Time and patience. One thing I do want to buy is one if not two more coils, probably from Coiltec. I was thinking the 15" and the 6", or do you think it is a waste to get both? I only have the factory one from Minelab right now. Keep your coils to the ground..

 

[Old Longhair]

One thing I do want to buy is one if not two more coils, probably from Coiltec. I was thinking the 15" and the 6", or do you think it is a waste to get both?

Not a waste at all! The 15" and 6" Coiltek 3kHz coils see more action than any others that I have. We begged for these coils, and now that we have them I'm glad that we persevered.