Newbie

[benzoflex]

Just starting out a couple of months ago.
Glad to be here.
I am using the X=terra 705. A little bit frustrating at first, but things are comming to me now...
Have read the PDF file from Mr. Horton and it has been very helpfull. Thanks Digger Dan....
Ive been hunting some places with little (luck), it's not the detector, but the detectee...
Hoping i can gain some possitive feedback here because i have a great desire to become a good Dirt Digger.
Thanks ahead for any advice to questions i WILL have in near future.....
Benzoflex.......................

 

[Mark in S.E. IA]

Welcome to the forum.

if you have any questions just ask, that is one of the reasons why they have this forum. I'm sure somebody will help you out.

good luck and have fun.

 

[benzoflex]

Thanks...

 

[bob.oz]

Welcome............You are starting off your addiction with a great detector.It can be as simple as a turn on and go machine or so much more...,ask questions........Where are you from?

 

[benzoflex]

Cincinnati,OH... Yeah, it is a good machine,and hopfully it will produce some good finds.

 

[mapper65]

Hi Benzoflex, it's like anything else, the more you spend time doing it the better you will get. Take your time and don't get frustrated. I really think that the first few months you are kind of training your ears to what the specific sounds are besides getting used to the controls. Trust me one of these days almost overnight you will click with your 705 and you'll pretty much master it.

 

[7centsworth]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[team sidewinder]

Had my xterra 705 about a week now and am finding coins so am pretty happy and learning my machine

BUT the prospecting mode has got me baffled and while not the main reason I bought the 705 I want to be able to use it to find gold. I bought a small gold nugget just to see how it would read it and the sound it would make. When in the prospecting mode I am running it at iron mask 5 or all metal, threshold at 10, sens 22. I do the noise canceling and auto ground balance and leave tracking on. But while I can tell the difference the sound the coil makes going over the nugget the coil makes the same noises everywhere else when I move the coil just about anywhere even when away from the nugget. .I know I am going to get alot of noise when in all metal mode but don't think I should be getting all this noise that sounds just like the gold nugget. I can probably not explain this well enough being the newbie I am for anybody to even help. Wish there was someone in my area who had a 705 to show me the ins and outs of this machine in the detector mode. I have watched every internet video and tips on 705 operation but know I am missing something as I have tired the prospecting in lots of different soils and conditions and it does this all the time. I have just about given up on using the prospecting mode and going back to just the coin/treasure mode where I have no problems finding coins. I am also suprised that even in the coin/treasure mode I can't get a TID or sound out of the .9gr gold nugget when passing the coil over it.

 

[Old Longhair]

For starters....Welcome to both of you two newbs!
You have purchased a fantastic machine that's far more capable than many have any idea of.

Had my xterra 705 about a week now and am finding coins so am pretty happy and learning my machine

BUT the prospecting mode has got me baffled and while not the main reason I bought the 705 I want to be able to use it to find gold. I bought a small gold nugget just to see how it would read it and the sound it would make. When in the prospecting mode I am running it at iron mask 5 or all metal, threshold at 10, sens 22. I do the noise canceling and auto ground balance and leave tracking on. But while I can tell the difference the sound the coil makes going over the nugget the coil makes the same noises everywhere else when I move the coil just about anywhere even when away from the nugget. .I know I am going to get alot of noise when in all metal mode but don't think I should be getting all this noise that sounds just like the gold nugget. I can probably not explain this well enough being the newbie I am for anybody to even help. Wish there was someone in my area who had a 705 to show me the ins and outs of this machine in the detector mode. I have watched every internet video and tips on 705 operation but know I am missing something as I have tired the prospecting in lots of different soils and conditions and it does this all the time. I have just about given up on using the prospecting mode and going back to just the coin/treasure mode where I have no problems finding coins. I am also suprised that even in the coin/treasure mode I can't get a TID or sound out of the .9gr gold nugget when passing the coil over it.

You have a lot working against you at this point. You should really get to know the 705 a little before going off in prospecting mode. You need to learn about things like proper swing speed and such first.
Beyond that, you really need headphones, whether prospecting or not.
You also should have an 18.75kHz coil on when prospecting. You didn't say which frequency you were trying, but the HF coils will work better on gold, and for small gold a small coil is needed, else the small nugget will "get lost" in the large detection field.

 

[team sidewinder]

For starters....Welcome to both of you two newbs!
You have purchased a fantastic machine that's far more capable than many have any idea of.

Had my xterra 705 about a week now and am finding coins so am pretty happy and learning my machine

BUT the prospecting mode has got me baffled and while not the main reason I bought the 705 I want to be able to use it to find gold. I bought a small gold nugget just to see how it would read it and the sound it would make. When in the prospecting mode I am running it at iron mask 5 or all metal, threshold at 10, sens 22. I do the noise canceling and auto ground balance and leave tracking on. But while I can tell the difference the sound the coil makes going over the nugget the coil makes the same noises everywhere else when I move the coil just about anywhere even when away from the nugget. .I know I am going to get alot of noise when in all metal mode but don't think I should be getting all this noise that sounds just like the gold nugget. I can probably not explain this well enough being the newbie I am for anybody to even help. Wish there was someone in my area who had a 705 to show me the ins and outs of this machine in the detector mode. I have watched every internet video and tips on 705 operation but know I am missing something as I have tired the prospecting in lots of different soils and conditions and it does this all the time. I have just about given up on using the prospecting mode and going back to just the coin/treasure mode where I have no problems finding coins. I am also suprised that even in the coin/treasure mode I can't get a TID or sound out of the .9gr gold nugget when passing the coil over it.

You have a lot working against you at this point. You should really get to know the 705 a little before going off in prospecting mode. You need to learn about things like proper swing speed and such first.
Beyond that, you really need headphones, whether prospecting or not.
You also should have an 18.75kHz coil on when prospecting. You didn't say which frequency you were trying, but the HF coils will work better on gold, and for small gold a small coil is needed, else the small nugget will "get lost" in the large detection field.

Thanks for the welcome. I have tried both my 9 inch 7.5 concentric and my 18.75 10X5 DD and can't tell any difference with the constant tone changes which are the same as when over the gold.even when not over my gold nugget. My hearing being what it is at my age may also make it difficult with the tone changes also. Not sure if the headphones that came with the detector are good ones or not but they are Eagle brand so maybe not top of the line.
Thanks again for the help

 

[Jack Beam]

Welcome to the forum!!

 

[Old Longhair]

Thanks for the welcome. I have tried both my 9 inch 7.5 concentric and my 18.75 10X5 DD and can't tell any difference with the constant tone changes which are the same as when over the gold.even when not over my gold nugget. My hearing being what it is at my age may also make it difficult with the tone changes also. Not sure if the headphones that came with the detector are good ones or not but they are Eagle brand so maybe not top of the line.
Thanks again for the help

Alright, we need to back up a little.
First, you're not doing the test indoors are you? Because that won't work, especially in Prospector mode.
Did you Auto Noise Cancel?.Auto GB?
Is the machine stable in Coin mode?

The smaller the target you're looking for the smaller the coil required. From what's been reported a 5x10" finds most pickers, but the 6" HF DD is even better and will find tiny bits.

 

[team sidewinder]

No I did it outdoors in several different ground conditions. Once in the ally behind the house and once in a sand volleyball court with the same results. I did the Auto Ground Balance and the Auto Noise Cancel before each time. I just got my Garrett ProPointer today and it won't pick up the gold nugget either. OK. So I even went to a jewelry store to make sure this nugget I bought was real gold. Well sure enough 24K gold. I am sure I am not smart enough to know why both the Garrett ProPointer is not picking up this nugget or the Xterra is doing what it is doing or not doing. With the Xterra it is just adjustments in the prospect mode that I need to make.
And again I thank you for your concern and helpful post.

 

[Old Longhair]

Just trying to cover the basics, as we want you to enjoy your machine as much as we do ours.

It is curious about your Garrett Propointer. I have one, and it will hit on a gold crown through my cheek, and that's not much more than porcelan covered gold foil.

GL&HH!

 

[Mark in S.E. IA]

something that you guys have to keep in mind. Their is a big difference in detecting 24K gold vs 10k gold. the less the K, the more copper is mixed in with the gold and that makes the gold crown easier to detect with the pro pointer. I have some really small pickers that the pro pointer and the x505 can not detect. I also have a super small 10k gold earring that the pro pointer can detect if I touch the pointer with it but the x505 can not detect. So when it comes to 24k gold it takes a bigger piece to be detected by the PP and the Xterra but I am surprised that the PP and the x705 did not detect that 9gm nugget, that's a good size piece of gold.

that's my 2 cents worth on that matter, lol

 

[team sidewinder]

Love the ProPointer and it works fantastic for metal everything except pure gold it seems. I can't imagine either.

I live in the same town as the " Diggers " that have their TV show on the National Geographic channel. Maybe I can bum them for some hands on help if/when I can catch them here. I feel bad about asking them anything though as I didn't buy my detector from them as they are sponsored by Garrett and from their web site they only sell Garrett.

Having a blast digging the coins.

Thanks.

 

[team sidewinder]

Love the ProPointer and it works fantastic for metal everything except pure gold it seems. I can't imagine either.

I live in the same town as the " Diggers " that have their TV show on the National Geographic channel. Maybe I can bum them for some hands on help if/when I can catch them here. I feel bad about asking them anything though as I didn't buy my detector from them as they are sponsored by Garrett and from their web site they only sell Garrett.

Having a blast digging the coins.

Thanks.

Guess I should have added that while the 705 will detect the gold nugget it seems to me anyway that it makes the exact same tones when I move the coil away and sweep a few yards away. It just seems to be so noisy when sweeping anywhere in the prospect mode with the iron mask set at 10 and I have tried it at 20max and it is no better.
Thanks Mark for the 2cents as that is all I have found today. LOL

 

[argyle]

Love the ProPointer and it works fantastic for metal everything except pure gold it seems. I can't imagine either.

I live in the same town as the " Diggers " that have their TV show on the National Geographic channel. Maybe I can bum them for some hands on help if/when I can catch them here. I feel bad about asking them anything though as I didn't buy my detector from them as they are sponsored by Garrett and from their web site they only sell Garrett.

Having a blast digging the coins.

Thanks.

Guess I should have added that while the 705 will detect the gold nugget it seems to me anyway that it makes the exact same tones when I move the coil away and sweep a few yards away. It just seems to be so noisy when sweeping anywhere in the prospect mode with the iron mask set at 10 and I have tried it at 20max and it is no better.
Thanks Mark for the 2cents as that is all I have found today. LOL

You may have already worked out by now 'team sidewinder'....that the prospecting mode is extremly sensitive, as it was intended for nice open and clean ground, and the very small targets can can be heard quite clearly.
When we use the prospecting mode on ground that holds minute pieces of foil and tin and tiny rust fragments, the mode can drive us to distraction sometimes in the wrong type of ground for It's use as the pick-up of these tiny fragments and metal is far too constant.

 

[team sidewinder]

Love the ProPointer and it works fantastic for metal everything except pure gold it seems. I can't imagine either.

I live in the same town as the " Diggers " that have their TV show on the National Geographic channel. Maybe I can bum them for some hands on help if/when I can catch them here. I feel bad about asking them anything though as I didn't buy my detector from them as they are sponsored by Garrett and from their web site they only sell Garrett.

Having a blast digging the coins.

Thanks.

Guess I should have added that while the 705 will detect the gold nugget it seems to me anyway that it makes the exact same tones when I move the coil away and sweep a few yards away. It just seems to be so noisy when sweeping anywhere in the prospect mode with the iron mask set at 10 and I have tried it at 20max and it is no better.
Thanks Mark for the 2cents as that is all I have found today. LOL

You may have already worked out by now 'team sidewinder'....that the prospecting mode is extremly sensitive, as it was intended for nice open and clean ground, and the very small targets can can be heard quite clearly.
When we use the prospecting mode on ground that holds minute pieces of foil and tin and tiny rust fragments, the mode can drive us to distraction sometimes in the wrong type of ground for It's use as the pick-up of these tiny fragments and metal is far too constant.

OK. Thanks. That makes more sense to me now.
I admit I haven't been using the prospect mode that all that much yet so will need to work on that and different machine settings. So far I have been using the coin/treasure mode with the 9 in. concentric 7.5 coil that came with the 705 and have only had the elipictal 18.75 prospecting coil option on a couple of times. I am beginning to wonder if we really have any clean ground around where I live. Loving finding coins.. Thanks again so much for the info and reply.