Potential Upgrade Question

[fllawboy]

I have been the proud owner for over a month now of a Quattro, I love it. I am learning how to use it thanks to the book "Mastering the Quattro." I am enjoying myself very much with it and feel that I am getting good results on the beaches down here in South Florida. I may have the opportunity to trade in the Quattro for a brand new SE in the next week or two for a really good price. The dealer has said he is going to make me an offer I cannot refuse. Obviously, he does not know my wife!

Anyway, the question I have is what are the benefits of trading up to the Explorer over the Quattro? Are the added bells and whistles worth it? What type of learning curve can I expect if I were to trade up? Is there a "Mastering the SE" book? Currently, I do mostly beach hunting with occasional parks and old home sites. I do occasionally get to go out of state to TN, KY and would be hunting relics. I am using the Quattro and my trusted MXT, which has every available White's coil known at this time, to hunt these locations. Would the SE give me that much of an edge over the Quattro in these hunting sites?

I would appreciate all the input I could get on this, as the thought of trading up to the Explorer SE is tempting.

Thanks.

 

[NH Bob]

QUOTE: The dealer has said he is going to make me an offer I cannot refuse. Obviously, he does not know my wife!
Or maybe he does.
As for trading up, you know you want to.
Learning curve, this one always gets me. The explorer is an easy machine to run. First off if you do as DFXGreg did and take it one step at a time, instead of trying to do it all at once. You'll be much better off.
Once you've learned the tones of the Explorer you can go right to Iron mask and open it up all the way-clear screen. Ferrous sounds and adjust a few other settings that you can learn here. The iron drone will be dominant and overwhelming at first. Then it will be your friend. The persistent drumming of the iron will give you a base to quickly pick up any other change in tones. Especially the high pitch of the silver.
I hope you took no offense of my dry humor in the beginning of this post. Happy hunting and good luck in what ever choice you make.

 

[fllawboy]

No offense taken. Thanks for the advice.

 

[DFX-Gregg]

I agree with you 100%....learning the Se for me is a step by step trial and error process..... As well as the great advice and support I have received here.... Thanks everyone! I worked with the fast setting a ton... Now I am learning deep.... Up to now I like both but would not use them together at the same time.... I hit silver again today using the deep setting. For me the only way to really get confident is in the field with my Lesche in hand...

 

[NH Bob]

n/t

 

[mattockman]

I am not sure if anyone ever mentions this to newbies. Also I wonder if any newbie does what I am going to say.
When I first got my explorer XS it freaked me out....That being said.....I had tons of choices to make. and by reading the posts and trying the favorites out, it gave me a starting point.

I personnaly went right to advanced and set my preferences before I went out to hunt. I took coins and air tested them. I noticed when I changed 3 things, tones changed, sometimes it took a few diff #'s of change and sometimes just 1 number change to get a diff. tone.

The 3 things from audio menu (Tones) was (1)" Th.Hold tone", which every time I went up or down, not only did the threshold tone changed so did the the tone of coin changed, (2)" Varibility", would change after a few diff. times I uped or downed it...and then(3) "Limits"...same for limits it may change tones of coins after a few...

I went thru all those to set it up for what MY ears liked, and I felt I had the best understanding of diff. coins and could easily distinguish the diff. of each coin before I went out and hunted. My ears don't like HI pitched sounds so I kept variability to 8 cause after 8 they shrieked to me and my ability to hear the diff. between zinc and silver and clad was just not there for me. I liked limits to 10 cause it gave me better seperation of tones the more the better as far as I am concerned.....and finally Threshold Tone was a preference to my ears....5 was the best for me.....it makes a big big big difference to a newbie to get these set to what you like the best and leave them alone and never touch them again.....cause this will be your normal tones for you all the time....it will be easier to get very close to your detector and know it well as far as what she is saying in tone language.


I know what I mean, but am not sure if I confused anyone...I am not very good at explaining over internet but hands on I can show you what I mean....so take it and run, or if you have any questions......ASK BOB!!!!!!!!........LOL ......sorry Bob.....I am a joker and just want to have a little fun here now and then.

 

[NH Bob]

The one thing that you said about testing your machine with different coins and learning those tones is probably the one most important thing that a new user should do and most don't. There lies the first problem.
If honest, there are a lot of users that still have not gone through all the coins and buttons they've found and air tested them to see exactly where they fall on the screen or in the digital readout or even the tone they each give..

 

[John - Maryland]

n/t

 

[Arturo de Zorro]

n/t

 

[BlackX]

Yes, it was. I didn't notice that the threshold tone changed the pitch of the target tones. I'll have to play around with that since I do have some hearing loss in some frequencies.

 

[mattockman]

n/t

 

[Hard Nosed Dave]

Apart for some other detectors, I have the Explorer XS, Ex 2 and the Ex SE. I prefer them over any other detector because I feel comfortable and confident that if I use them CORRECTLY that I will and they have produced some very good results.

I have an old friend who went from Quatro to Xterra 70. I tried the Quatro and thought it was a very close cousin to the Explorer XS. I have always wondered why the Xterra 70 was a better proposition for my friend to use instead of the Quatro but as it is said......Viva la difference. Simply, the Xterra 70 is his cup of tea. Could be my cup of tea MAYBE........BUT.......I'll stick with the Explorer's for most land and some water detecting(a modified version of one that I have underwater usage).

Now, my other good friend who I have detected with over the last many years, purchased the Ex SE when it first came out . He just did not like it. So I offered to buy it and sold it to me. This friend, Raoul, was using and still uses the Whites MXT. His finds speak for themselves. He just did not entirely like what the Exp SE had to offer . Not a complete package for him. His knowledge of the MXT and his finds , in my opinion are formidable. He does get out more often than I do, so that to must be a consideration when I am telling you about how good his results are. We also have a couple of other friends who run the MXT's. One of them sold his Xetrra 30 to purchase the MXT.

What I have realized, is that Raoul, who has detected for a long time and has used many detectors and has made some very awesome finds, is using his MXT detector with above average results. He surely seems to find quicker and more often that most of us and only equaled by another friend of his , who also wons the MXT and has detected for years. Both these guys Raoul and Trevor( cantankerous buzzard that he is) rejected the ML product and chose the White's MXT over everything else. When they both go detecting and find the right site, they can be "killing the pig" with how and where they use their detectors. NOT everywhere but most sites are.
The fact that they walk over a buried target before anyone else does MAY also have something to do with. Both are pretty quick off the mark and seem clued up on where to look. That's the way it sometimes seems.( Given that they seem to get most of the filthy
lucre( OLD AND NEW) than some of us.

So around here at-least, on the very distant west coast of Australia, there are atleast 5 MXT's that seem to be the rule of thumb...and of late I seem to be the only one who I have ever encountered with the Explorer SE. Hmmmm......not looking hard enough....or not getting out enough maybe.

The Explorer is a really fantastic detector. If your going to go for the EX SE , then you'll find it a pretty good upgrade form the Quatro if you search some area's I believe you'll find it a lot of fun and more capable over the Quatro BUT ther are just some things that the single frequency Whites MXT may have over the EX SE IF that MXT, it seems, gets used by someone who knows how to and what they are doing.

That also goes for any of the Explorer detectors.

Hope I've helped you out with the little I had to tell.

Take care

David Di

 

[SNOWY]

Real good thread !!!

I remember my first day out with my Explorer XS ~ ALONE...

A total newbie, I pushed the start button, hit my first target and ...WHOA !!!

Different beast !

It took a steady learning curve, to get me on track, I love using the Explorer detectors now !!!

It's the awesome info that the Explorers give me that keep me grabbing my SE.
I have a Cortes, a Tejon and an X-Terra 70 ~ all wonderful machines, but I must say the Explorer is KING !!!