Tony N (Michigan)
Active member
Calabash,
Do you have a favorite settings for your Deus for iron infested sites?
Do you have a favorite settings for your Deus for iron infested sites?
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Question for those who own both Deus and Orx
- Thread starter Bell-Two
- Start date
Tony N (Michigan)
Active member
Iron infested sites are the sites Calabash detects in. He mentions iron infested sites in his youtube videos.
In his post above, he mentioned "A person who hunts iron loaded ghost towns."
In his post above, he mentioned "A person who hunts iron loaded ghost towns."
bigtim1973
Well-known member
Looks like this post is fixing to go south real fast!!
but seldom do I see or hear a good description of what the individual refers to as being "iron infested."
I've met many people who say they have searched "iron loaded ghost towns" and, on an occasion, I thought I had hunted a site or two that was an iron challenge as well. But that was early-on when we had less serious and refined detectors to hunt them with, and it was before I had experienced a broader-range of ghost towns and got to enjoy the reality presented by some very serious challenges, for both the metal detector and coil as a team along with the operator's skill and patience, that can really put someone to the test of working a truly dirty-bad-nasty iron plagued site. Just like no two or three city parks will offer the same challenges and site conditions or rewards, so it is with other types of places like a ghost town.
A genuine, unoccupied and long-abandoned site we refer to as a "ghost town" is just another loose-fitting description of something yet not described. Just like other general terms like "iron infested" they are also kind of like other general references, for example, "spicy food." Just what is 'spicy" and exactly how hot is it. A little zap to it, or more of an abrupt wake-up taste to it? To some folks it's not too bad, while to others it's anywhere from unpleasant to downright punishing to hit the taste buds and refuses to ease up!
The same thing applies to "iron infested' because there isn't a definition in any book as to what that term means, therefore we can either use that reference in a conversation with someone who knows us, hunts the same sites as us, and therefore between us we can make a reference like that and we each know what we are referring to or talking about. I know that I am just as guilty as the next guy by using the term in a discussion, but I often might be more descriptive by including descriptions or references to help better describe the site challenges I refer to. For example, I can describe the ghost town as having been built in mid-1860s, being a modest-sized town, and all of the structures were burned down in the early 1870s when a fire raced through town and destroyed everything [size=small](obviously leaving a lot of iron nails and other ferrous structure debris in the remains)[/size] but the town simply rebuilt right where it was.
Fires were a frequent problem and the town was devastated by fire again in 1883 and once more at the turn of the century, but they simply rebuilt. It continued to flourish for six more years before the railroad built a different route and the town simply packed up and moved eleven miles away to start over in the new development. The abandoned town remains that were not hauled off have long since simply decayed. I have hunted several ghost towns that fit that description. I still hunt some ghost towns that are what I consider 'typical' with regard to sporadic or occasional iron debris covering maybe 70% or more of the entire town and only a few dedicated portions of the site that might have a little extra iron junk to deal with. Some ghost towns were short-lived and never got very large or had a lot of commerce, rendering them more of a mellow place to swing a detector coil about, but others, well, they are different.
Perhaps better sized with a resident population, or more of a smaller but bustling transportation hub or freighting junction that had a transient population passing through for commerce and it was an active hub for two or three decades before slowly dying. And many of those busier places were also associated with being on a railroad line and calling for the support of railroad maintenance and crews for service and repair. Simply a lot more activity that resulted in a greater amount of ferrous junk to build up over time.
I can't tell you how many times I have met people, from various parts of the country, and some with many years of experience, who have used a reference to hunting in a lot of iron around their home region who have traveled on a trip or for a WTHO get-together to some of the ghost towns I enjoy hunting in Utah, Nevada, Oregon and a few other places "Out West", and when they get here and start working some of my favorite old places they abruptly awakened when they realize the meaning of sites I consider to be "iron infested!"
I guess it's just one of those undefinable terms we use in this great sport that adds a hint of what we might deal with, but still leaves a location undefined without a more specific description or audio demonstration of what we might verbally describe. I wish Calabash would make a journey out this direction to enjoy a Welcome-to-Hunt Outing with a bunch of good folks who like to hunt older sites but have a tough time learning how to pick better detectors or coils, or use settings and search techniques, to better deal with the search environment. There's only been one or two participants who has used an XP Deus on the outings for the past 4-5 years, but there are now maybe 4-6 more of us who have added a Deus or ORX to their arsenal this year. If Calabash has a magic formulae program for his Deus, it would be quite a treat for him to make an appearance for an Outing and help others [size=small](we usually have 17 to 25 attend the events)[/size] learn to appreciate what the XP models can offer the serious Relic Hunter in the old west.
Then he could learn what we have to confront out this way when it comes to "iron infested" sites and he could paint a better picture for folks of how to deal with them.
Monte
Yes, I have seen some, but very few, of Calabash's videos that let me hear some iron here or there, but the thing is I have been at this great sport for over half-a-century and I most certainly hunt in some extremely challenging sites that abound in a terrible amount of ferrous debris, but there is no broadly-accepted definition of just exactly what "iron infested" really means. Not in a broad sense so that anyone reading or listening to a reference to that term would really know what that type of experience it would be.Tony N (Michigan) said:
I've met many people who say they have searched "iron loaded ghost towns" and, on an occasion, I thought I had hunted a site or two that was an iron challenge as well. But that was early-on when we had less serious and refined detectors to hunt them with, and it was before I had experienced a broader-range of ghost towns and got to enjoy the reality presented by some very serious challenges, for both the metal detector and coil as a team along with the operator's skill and patience, that can really put someone to the test of working a truly dirty-bad-nasty iron plagued site. Just like no two or three city parks will offer the same challenges and site conditions or rewards, so it is with other types of places like a ghost town.
A genuine, unoccupied and long-abandoned site we refer to as a "ghost town" is just another loose-fitting description of something yet not described. Just like other general terms like "iron infested" they are also kind of like other general references, for example, "spicy food." Just what is 'spicy" and exactly how hot is it. A little zap to it, or more of an abrupt wake-up taste to it? To some folks it's not too bad, while to others it's anywhere from unpleasant to downright punishing to hit the taste buds and refuses to ease up!
The same thing applies to "iron infested' because there isn't a definition in any book as to what that term means, therefore we can either use that reference in a conversation with someone who knows us, hunts the same sites as us, and therefore between us we can make a reference like that and we each know what we are referring to or talking about. I know that I am just as guilty as the next guy by using the term in a discussion, but I often might be more descriptive by including descriptions or references to help better describe the site challenges I refer to. For example, I can describe the ghost town as having been built in mid-1860s, being a modest-sized town, and all of the structures were burned down in the early 1870s when a fire raced through town and destroyed everything [size=small](obviously leaving a lot of iron nails and other ferrous structure debris in the remains)[/size] but the town simply rebuilt right where it was.
Fires were a frequent problem and the town was devastated by fire again in 1883 and once more at the turn of the century, but they simply rebuilt. It continued to flourish for six more years before the railroad built a different route and the town simply packed up and moved eleven miles away to start over in the new development. The abandoned town remains that were not hauled off have long since simply decayed. I have hunted several ghost towns that fit that description. I still hunt some ghost towns that are what I consider 'typical' with regard to sporadic or occasional iron debris covering maybe 70% or more of the entire town and only a few dedicated portions of the site that might have a little extra iron junk to deal with. Some ghost towns were short-lived and never got very large or had a lot of commerce, rendering them more of a mellow place to swing a detector coil about, but others, well, they are different.
Perhaps better sized with a resident population, or more of a smaller but bustling transportation hub or freighting junction that had a transient population passing through for commerce and it was an active hub for two or three decades before slowly dying. And many of those busier places were also associated with being on a railroad line and calling for the support of railroad maintenance and crews for service and repair. Simply a lot more activity that resulted in a greater amount of ferrous junk to build up over time.
I can't tell you how many times I have met people, from various parts of the country, and some with many years of experience, who have used a reference to hunting in a lot of iron around their home region who have traveled on a trip or for a WTHO get-together to some of the ghost towns I enjoy hunting in Utah, Nevada, Oregon and a few other places "Out West", and when they get here and start working some of my favorite old places they abruptly awakened when they realize the meaning of sites I consider to be "iron infested!"
I guess it's just one of those undefinable terms we use in this great sport that adds a hint of what we might deal with, but still leaves a location undefined without a more specific description or audio demonstration of what we might verbally describe. I wish Calabash would make a journey out this direction to enjoy a Welcome-to-Hunt Outing with a bunch of good folks who like to hunt older sites but have a tough time learning how to pick better detectors or coils, or use settings and search techniques, to better deal with the search environment. There's only been one or two participants who has used an XP Deus on the outings for the past 4-5 years, but there are now maybe 4-6 more of us who have added a Deus or ORX to their arsenal this year. If Calabash has a magic formulae program for his Deus, it would be quite a treat for him to make an appearance for an Outing and help others [size=small](we usually have 17 to 25 attend the events)[/size] learn to appreciate what the XP models can offer the serious Relic Hunter in the old west.
Then he could learn what we have to confront out this way when it comes to "iron infested" sites and he could paint a better picture for folks of how to deal with them.
Monte
88junior
Well-known member
I believe that Calabash battles iron ridden colonial sites in his area along with nail ridden sites. I hunt the same type of sites but I also have to contend with bad mineralized soil. So far out of all of the top of the line current detectors the Deus is the winner in my honest opinion. But I also use a F75 with 5" coil and it's a awesome setup for iron ridden sites.
Tony N (Michigan)
Active member
To me, "iron infested" is where there is at least four pieces of iron per cubic meter of earth.
There, I just defined "iron infested."
There, I just defined "iron infested."
C
calabash digger
Guest
I hunt sites where you make one coil sweep and it sounds like a machine gun going off....that is my definition of a iron infested site...Rice plantations were very busy places back in the day.
C
calabash digger
Guest
Yes the program is Andy's new Deus book...
Tony N (Michigan) said:
C
calabash digger
Guest
To test it and see how it stacks up to other detectors in the price range. It is a 3 tone Deus and simple to use...if that is what someone is looking for it will suit them just fine. Deus performance in a simple package at a lower price point.
jmaclen said:
I'll start by thanking you for providing your definition of what would constitute an "iron infested" site. Even your description of "iron infested" can bring about more questions, just like many other factors we deal with in this great outdoor adventure.
[size=large]
One question might be: "What is a 'piece' of iron?" In most typical places, perhaps, a commonly found 'piece of iron' might be a Nail. An elongated shaped object, but there are thin nails and thick nails. Short nails and long nails. Straight nails and bent/angled nails. Round nails and square nails. So just 'Nails' or other wire-iron objects can cover many examples. Then there are other sizes and shapes of iron debris we can encounter that isn't in the 'wire-iron" category. And finally we get to man's most annoying group in the ferrous trash category, and that is TIN. Full-size discarded tin cans, scrunched tin cans, lids from tin cans, bigger broken pieces from tin cans, and the very challenging, hard to see, and easily blended or mixed in the shallow ground surface are those hunks of rusty tin shards.
Another question would be: "What is the location or position of most 'iron infestation'?" While desired targets can be located at various depths, so will be the unwelcome debris. The bulk of the typical nails and other iron junk, as well as most naturally lost non-ferrous keepers, are going to be anywhere from surface to relatively shallow. Unless it is a cache or other intentionally buried items, we are not talking about iron junk being located 3 feet, or a meter, deep. Therefore we don't need to concern ourselves with ferrous trash located within a "cubic meter" but just that which is going to pose the biggest challenge to us and the working portion of the detectors EMF.
So much unwanted iron litter is on, or reasonably near to, the ground's surface, and since the reactive portion of the generated EMF is generally diminishing in size as the distance increases from the near-proximity to the coil, it is going to be the shallower targets, combined with the close relationship to the desired targets we are searching for, that is going to pose the biggest frustration we have to learn to handle by using the best search coil size and coil type, the best settings, the best detector circuitry design, the most functional settings and most effective sweep for search coil presentation. It's more important to know the amount of iron that might be located in a Square meter rather than in a Cubic measurement. [size=small](Although we could try to factor in a depth limit but it would be more like a sixth-of-a-meter deep, and even that could be arguable.)[/size]
If I took the 'Cubic' measurement and changed that to just a 'Square' measurement, let's consider the surface to near-surface trash. And since I don't like metric let me just change that 1 Square Meter which would be roughly 1.2 Square Yards or 10¾ Sq. Ft.. If you took your "four pieces of iron in a cubic meter", which would have them pretty well spaced apart, and compressed them all one direction so as to be four pieces of iron within 1 Sq. Meter, or within slightly bigger than a 3 Ft. X 3 Ft. Square, then I agree that it would appear to be a bigger "iron infested" square of ground than an average urban Coin Hunter would like to deal with. And in many rural, out-of-the-way old sites it could certainly present quite a challenge.
So, if that was the case, then to you, and for the sites you might hunt with ferrous debris, that certainly would be "Iron infested" for sure. Using that description, however, it more closely represents an 'average encounter' for so many of the ghost towns and other early era sites I have searched for decades. Some portions of the locations I hunt are a little kinder with some areas having a little more space between iron junk. Most of the huntable area would easily present itself with 4 to 6 pieces of iron in a 3'X3' square, and I would just say I was dealing with some of that annoying iron crap! But wasn't yet in what I considere the really bad iron conditions.
However, any day someone would like to stop by for a visit and detecting jaunt, I'd welcome them to join me at any of several old ghost towns, that date to the Civil War Era, with three of them close enough I can pull out of my driveway, visit all three, and return within a 100 mile drive. And there would be an ample supply or iron, all kinds and sizes and shapes, that I would welcome to be found and removed from these sites. These are old ghost towns where you can very easily find 4 to 6 to several more pieces of iron, be it nails to shards of rusty tin, in just 1 Sq. Foot! Hunting those types of places is what I call working an "iron infested" site.
Occasional iron trash encounters are expected, and we've all been hunting iron littered locations for a long, long time but most folks didn't, or don't, know it. That's because so many people are using a high Disc. setting to reject most of or all of the typical iron. They don't hear it, so they don't realize just how much of it is there. In more recent years, and with more people giving up on local Coin Hunting and turning to more of the older ghost towns, homesteads, battle sites and the like, and with better detectors bringing us audio Tone ID to hear more low-tone iron, and Iron Audio Volume on many models now so we can hear it more comfortably, more people are learning that there is more discarded ferrous material out there and are learning how to search iron challenged sites.
Sorry to ramble on, but I do appreciate your response and clarifying how YOU might classify or describe a dense confinement of iron at a site. Using my compressed method of viewing your 'cube' and then simply bringing all the iron targets to the surface, that gave us 4 pieces of Iron in a 1-Meter Square. I'll use 1 Square Yard, if you don't mind, and agree that for most average detector operators, 4 iron trash objects, of whatever size, type or shape in just a square yard, would certainly present them with a challenge. Many would walk away, but the dedicated detectorist would work it to the best of their ability. That much iron to deal with at a typical hunt site would have me mumbling, as I stated earlier, that I was just dealing with annoying iron crap! Start putting more iron pieces into a square foot to two, then I see it as "iron infestation."
We each have our own thoughts on what an iron target challenge might be to us, and it's good to know what other's opinions are. I admire your definition and know that would be more of a challenge than a lot of hobbyists would care to endure. That's one reason I checked out the XP ORX w/5X9½ HF DD coil, and then decided to hang onto it. It has its strengths and, for me and my choices of sites, it has been working well for me for the past couple of months. Very favorable performance, so much so that it travels with me all the time and joins my other two, very proven, Relic Hunting devices for tackling the really tough iron contaminated sites.
I wish you all the best on your next adventure afield,
Monte
[size=large]
[/size]Tony N (Michigan) said:
One question might be: "What is a 'piece' of iron?" In most typical places, perhaps, a commonly found 'piece of iron' might be a Nail. An elongated shaped object, but there are thin nails and thick nails. Short nails and long nails. Straight nails and bent/angled nails. Round nails and square nails. So just 'Nails' or other wire-iron objects can cover many examples. Then there are other sizes and shapes of iron debris we can encounter that isn't in the 'wire-iron" category. And finally we get to man's most annoying group in the ferrous trash category, and that is TIN. Full-size discarded tin cans, scrunched tin cans, lids from tin cans, bigger broken pieces from tin cans, and the very challenging, hard to see, and easily blended or mixed in the shallow ground surface are those hunks of rusty tin shards.
Another question would be: "What is the location or position of most 'iron infestation'?" While desired targets can be located at various depths, so will be the unwelcome debris. The bulk of the typical nails and other iron junk, as well as most naturally lost non-ferrous keepers, are going to be anywhere from surface to relatively shallow. Unless it is a cache or other intentionally buried items, we are not talking about iron junk being located 3 feet, or a meter, deep. Therefore we don't need to concern ourselves with ferrous trash located within a "cubic meter" but just that which is going to pose the biggest challenge to us and the working portion of the detectors EMF.
So much unwanted iron litter is on, or reasonably near to, the ground's surface, and since the reactive portion of the generated EMF is generally diminishing in size as the distance increases from the near-proximity to the coil, it is going to be the shallower targets, combined with the close relationship to the desired targets we are searching for, that is going to pose the biggest frustration we have to learn to handle by using the best search coil size and coil type, the best settings, the best detector circuitry design, the most functional settings and most effective sweep for search coil presentation. It's more important to know the amount of iron that might be located in a Square meter rather than in a Cubic measurement. [size=small](Although we could try to factor in a depth limit but it would be more like a sixth-of-a-meter deep, and even that could be arguable.)[/size]
If I took the 'Cubic' measurement and changed that to just a 'Square' measurement, let's consider the surface to near-surface trash. And since I don't like metric let me just change that 1 Square Meter which would be roughly 1.2 Square Yards or 10¾ Sq. Ft.. If you took your "four pieces of iron in a cubic meter", which would have them pretty well spaced apart, and compressed them all one direction so as to be four pieces of iron within 1 Sq. Meter, or within slightly bigger than a 3 Ft. X 3 Ft. Square, then I agree that it would appear to be a bigger "iron infested" square of ground than an average urban Coin Hunter would like to deal with. And in many rural, out-of-the-way old sites it could certainly present quite a challenge.
So, if that was the case, then to you, and for the sites you might hunt with ferrous debris, that certainly would be "Iron infested" for sure. Using that description, however, it more closely represents an 'average encounter' for so many of the ghost towns and other early era sites I have searched for decades. Some portions of the locations I hunt are a little kinder with some areas having a little more space between iron junk. Most of the huntable area would easily present itself with 4 to 6 pieces of iron in a 3'X3' square, and I would just say I was dealing with some of that annoying iron crap! But wasn't yet in what I considere the really bad iron conditions.
However, any day someone would like to stop by for a visit and detecting jaunt, I'd welcome them to join me at any of several old ghost towns, that date to the Civil War Era, with three of them close enough I can pull out of my driveway, visit all three, and return within a 100 mile drive. And there would be an ample supply or iron, all kinds and sizes and shapes, that I would welcome to be found and removed from these sites. These are old ghost towns where you can very easily find 4 to 6 to several more pieces of iron, be it nails to shards of rusty tin, in just 1 Sq. Foot! Hunting those types of places is what I call working an "iron infested" site.
Occasional iron trash encounters are expected, and we've all been hunting iron littered locations for a long, long time but most folks didn't, or don't, know it. That's because so many people are using a high Disc. setting to reject most of or all of the typical iron. They don't hear it, so they don't realize just how much of it is there. In more recent years, and with more people giving up on local Coin Hunting and turning to more of the older ghost towns, homesteads, battle sites and the like, and with better detectors bringing us audio Tone ID to hear more low-tone iron, and Iron Audio Volume on many models now so we can hear it more comfortably, more people are learning that there is more discarded ferrous material out there and are learning how to search iron challenged sites.
Sorry to ramble on, but I do appreciate your response and clarifying how YOU might classify or describe a dense confinement of iron at a site. Using my compressed method of viewing your 'cube' and then simply bringing all the iron targets to the surface, that gave us 4 pieces of Iron in a 1-Meter Square. I'll use 1 Square Yard, if you don't mind, and agree that for most average detector operators, 4 iron trash objects, of whatever size, type or shape in just a square yard, would certainly present them with a challenge. Many would walk away, but the dedicated detectorist would work it to the best of their ability. That much iron to deal with at a typical hunt site would have me mumbling, as I stated earlier, that I was just dealing with annoying iron crap! Start putting more iron pieces into a square foot to two, then I see it as "iron infestation."
We each have our own thoughts on what an iron target challenge might be to us, and it's good to know what other's opinions are. I admire your definition and know that would be more of a challenge than a lot of hobbyists would care to endure. That's one reason I checked out the XP ORX w/5X9½ HF DD coil, and then decided to hang onto it. It has its strengths and, for me and my choices of sites, it has been working well for me for the past couple of months. Very favorable performance, so much so that it travels with me all the time and joins my other two, very proven, Relic Hunting devices for tackling the really tough iron contaminated sites.
I wish you all the best on your next adventure afield,
Monte
Tony N (Michigan)
Active member
When did his new book come out? I may already have it. I have one from about 2 years ago.
calabash digger said:
Tony N (Michigan)
Active member
calabash digger said:
That is like the old farm I live on. Iron infested. Very challenging. Nails and trash everywhere. Back in the day they didn't have trash pickup out here.
Tony N (Michigan)
Active member
Monte, Why don't you like the MXT Por with its sounds? It is super simple to set up and go.
Tony N (Michigan)
Active member
Monte said:
Thank you for your wish, Monte! I do appreciate it. I also appreciate all your good thoughts.
By the way, yesterday I finally sprung for the same coil and hope it works better in iron infested sites since it will be sampling less ground per swing. It is supposed to get here tomorrow.
Tony
C
calabash digger
Guest
Few months back...
Tony N (Michigan) said:
Tony N (Michigan) said:
[size=x-small]?[/size][size=small]?[/size]
[size=small]?[/size][size=x-small]?[/size] I guess I'm lost as I don't see where I said I didn't like the MXT Pro. 
If you are referring to the list in my Signature below, that reflects the models I currently have in my Regular-Use Detector Team, then let me explain.
→ I have been trimming my Regular-Use models to those that I most often use and / or want to carry with me in my travels.
→ They are listed below in alphabetical order by Brand, and not in the order I use them the most.
→ These fall into one, or more, of three categories for me:
1.. My Primary-Use, get-serious Relic Hunting units I use the most of 'relic-type' sites where I most often encounter a lot of very challenging ferrous debris, building rubble, dense sagebrush, rocks, trees, weeds, etc.
2.. Models I tend to prefer for more dedicated urban Coin Hunting where I'm after modern coinage and lost jewelry, and where modern trash is also the main problem. This also includes quick work in tot-lots and similar places.
3.. One or two of these models is also on-hand to use as a "loaner unit" for friends and family, and especially to help gain access to private property.
→ I do not care to own every brand of detector, nor every model of every brand. I only own detectors that I like and that work well for me, and that handle all the needs I might have or to complement the performance of another model(s), if necessary.
You asked about the White's MXT Pro and I only list one White's model in my Signature and that is the XLT. Why it and not the newer MXT Pro? Very simple. The XLT was a well designed detector that offers a lot of performance and functional features for a lot of the places I like to hunt. Those are mostly urban, grassy, Coin Hunting sites, although I have used it in some older places, such as homesteads and around some outbuildings and barns, old dance hall sites, and other places where I am not encountering an annoying accumulation of iron trash. For the record, I keep the standard 950 and 8" Concentric coils in my Accessory Coil Tote and seldom use them. I keep the 6½"" Concentric coil mounted full-time because that coil does what I need it to do, where I need it to, and allows me to use a little better balanced unit and work at a bit slower sweep speed.
What about the MXT Pro? Like you stated, I agree that that model has a very clear, pleasant and workable audio tone. I was given an original MXT when they brought it out, and I enjoyed it for quite a few applications partly because I liked the bold audio response. It was a very good 'complement' at the time for the XLT as I was doing more urban hunting at the time where I lived. However, I do like to listen to a lot of iron trash, too, often working my Discrimination to just barely accept iron nails. The MXT did have an Iron Audio mode to allow a 2-Tone response, but I didn't care for the loud and blaring audio tones. I also had no use for the useless designed-in, preset Notch feature. When the next version was being worked on I was invited to take the prototype out for a couple of weeks to check it out. I noted a glitch, and also things I liked. When all was corrected and a few design changes made, the MXT Pro was introduced and I liked what I'd seen and immediately acquired one.
I tried an assortment of coils on it, but the best of them all, as a general-purpose search coil for urban and remote applications, was the 6½" Concentric. At the time, the MXT Pro then MXT All-Pro [size=small](which is the same detector with a sticker on the side decal)[/size] moved into my main-use detector spot with other models complementing it, such as an MX-5 and Omega 8000 for urban Coin Hunting, and a T2 Classic and F75 to handle some of the trashier or confined places with their 5" DD coils.
That was up until the 8th of January of 2015 when I received a new detector, and doing side-by-side comparisons, using test samples and taking several detectors to a few old homesteads, sites of long-vacated school structures, and two ghost towns, I made some immediate changes in my personal detector outfit. I needed to thin down a lot of detectors I had at the time, and I needed to reorganize my personal detector group to better handle the iron challenged sites I hunted most often, but also keep some on-hand for the relaxing times I like to do urban detecting. In the next half-a-year I was able to thin down most of the excess I had so that by late June of 2015 I only had my Omega 8000 w/two coils left to go, and retained only a select few very proven favorites.
Gone were three White's modified Classic's, 2-ID's and an IDX Pro, a 5900 Di Pro SL and an MX-5. Also, a Fisher F75 and two F19's. Two Teknetics T2 Classics and a G2. Two Minelab Explorer II's and a Sovereign XS2a Pro. A Tesoro Bandido and Silver Sabre II, and perhaps one or two others I don't recall. Oh, and also gone was the MXT Pro. The only detectors I retained at the time were a very proven Tesoro Bandido II [size=small]micro[/size]MAX and Silver Sabre [size=small]micro[/size]MAX, a White's XLT, and the new detector I received in early January that simply out-performed all other models I parted with in a variety of old sites I hunt that easily presented a very 'iron infested' challenge. That was the Nokta FORS CoRe.
I also had the Makro Racer [size=small](original)[/size] that was just being introduced and it had very decent performance as well, easily on-par with the MXT Pro. I complimented my Regular-Use Outfit in January of 2016 with the FORS Relic, and I have had, or currently have, other new models that have come along. For reasons, some of the other detectors I own are in my 'Specialty-Use' group of detectors. And my Signature only reflect the models I have in my Regular-Use Detector Outfit that are loaded in my vehicle even now so they are ready-to go when I am. That doesn't count the additional detectors I have on the wall in my den. Those include my 2nd CoRe, Relic, Bandido II µMAX and Silver Sabre µMAX devices.
When folks ask me about a detector they are considering, and if it is an MXT Pro, I tell them exactly what I like about it and what I don't. It was my #1 detector and I know they can work quite well. It can fit the needs for many people who want to get serious in this great sport. But for me and my dedicated needs, to own and use some of the best detectors available for places I love to search, the MXT Pro just isn't a good 'fit' in my arsenal. It was already out-classed. Very good detector, and one of the better models White's ever made, but today it is way overpriced and even out-matched by one or two of their own newer models, and at a lower price as well.
I do still make adjustments as desired if and when something comes along that I like and that works for me. I know that very soon I'll add one more Nokta / Makro unit to my daily travel group, and that means there will be one more coming out of my vehicle. I did make a change-up in my travel-team just two months ago when I added the excellent XP ORX and I am very pleased that I did. Even more pleased that the XPlorer folks in France developed this new model which brings me everything I would liked to have had. Light weight, comfort, excellent balance, and all the Simplicity I desire along with the Functions & Features I desire in a nifty package of Performance.
There are quite a few detector on the market today that work quite well for a a lot of people and for many different uses. Many like a detector or coil because it has worked well for them in the past and does fine today, so they are comfortable with it and that's great. I'm very comfortable with what I have and changes I have made, and that's great.
This year I have added the ORX, I will soon add a Nokta / Makro, and there's one other newish detector I plan to check out and see if it, too, has a functional 'fit' in my arsenal.
Monte
I’m with Monte concerning iron infested ghost towns in the west. So many of them burned down, were rebuilt repeatedly, burned down repeatedly and were finally abandoned. I have hunted Civil War era sites in Colorado with the ORX and Nox using 9” and 6” coils where it was multiple iron targets ( mostly square nails) continuously under my coil so that in a full sweep the coil would pass over 12 to 18 iron targets in a 5’ long by 9” or 6” wide sweep. I could tell almost exactly where many of the burned up boards for the buildings were just by following the pattern of these nails spaced 2” to 4” inches apart. Finding non-ferrous targets in that situation takes tons of patience, a fast recovery speed detector, really slow sweep speed and as small diameter a coil as possible.
Jeff
Jeff