I've used several Explorers in the past, and am looking at getting another. What I want is everyones opinion on how much difference there is between the SE and say, an Explorer II. And if I were going to buy another Explorer setup, what would the ideal setup be? I am leaning towards an Exp II w/ a 10" and 12" coil, and may add a small coil alter on, but want feedback from you guys as well.
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SE vs. Older Explorer debate...
- Thread starter MIG73
- Start date
I have a friend thats uses an Exp II with a 14" coiltek DD coil with his and has a sun-ray probe on board as well. To put it simply I was impressed with the setup. Not only was he digging deep coins but was finding alot and all coins were either $1 or $2's.....the programing feature on the Explorers are nice. Hope that helps a bit.
Cheers!
Cheers!
jeff & Maria
Active member
Explorer II with Sunray 8 inch coil and a Sunray probe. I do have other size coils of course but this is what I use 90% of the time.
I am running an SE with a 5" coil. I have found relics in hunted out areas. You can set your own discrimination patterns and even has an accept/reject a target feature. I really like my little machine even though I am still learning how to use all of it's feature. You just have to do some reading and exploring to get the best out of it. Thanks.
And if your using the SE, it'll leave more finds for me! hehehee
Actually I've never used the SE but I'll bet it's a great machine as well!
The Explorer II will make you very happy as well! I wonder which is best!
One thing is for sure....either or if you haven't used a Minelab your in for a treat!
KCK/Ohio
Actually I've never used the SE but I'll bet it's a great machine as well!
The Explorer II will make you very happy as well! I wonder which is best!
One thing is for sure....either or if you haven't used a Minelab your in for a treat!
KCK/Ohio
I switched from the older Explorers to two new SE's. I hunt in Northern Ohio. Luckily, I hunt with a friend who uses the EX II.
He calls me over when he hits a deep target, 8 to 12 inches. I usually can NOT hear the target. If I do, the signal is not good enough or repeatable enough to have gotten my attention on one sweep. Remember, that he has already centered the target for me. All I have to do is sweep across it and get a signal. If I were hunting by myself, I would not know how many targets I was missing. The sound is Sweet and repeatable on his EX II.
The new SE is a real disappointment to me. I sent one machine back to Minelab. It is not any better than when I sent it in. My favorite hunting is going to old hunted out spots where the targets are deep. If you are only going to hunt where the targets are shallow, the New SE would be OK as it is faster. If you want to get anything deep, keep the older machines. I am hoping that Minelab will address the problem and fix this machine. The first two Explorers were great and I had hoped that the SE would be at least a small improvement. I was wrong.
Ohio Bud
He calls me over when he hits a deep target, 8 to 12 inches. I usually can NOT hear the target. If I do, the signal is not good enough or repeatable enough to have gotten my attention on one sweep. Remember, that he has already centered the target for me. All I have to do is sweep across it and get a signal. If I were hunting by myself, I would not know how many targets I was missing. The sound is Sweet and repeatable on his EX II.
The new SE is a real disappointment to me. I sent one machine back to Minelab. It is not any better than when I sent it in. My favorite hunting is going to old hunted out spots where the targets are deep. If you are only going to hunt where the targets are shallow, the New SE would be OK as it is faster. If you want to get anything deep, keep the older machines. I am hoping that Minelab will address the problem and fix this machine. The first two Explorers were great and I had hoped that the SE would be at least a small improvement. I was wrong.
Ohio Bud
Doctorcoinz
New member
Thats the same as a dealer told me , the SE looses about an inch depth on coins give or take a bit , compared to the explorer 2. The Se is without doubt better on small targets like buttons and tiny coins like hammered coins. The best combination is to own an explorer 2 and an SE - use the Se for hunting for smaller targets in between trash and nails and switch to the explorer 2 when your after the deepest coins on sites with less trash.
Doctorcoinz,
You make a lot of sense. I have found a seated half dime and several large cents along with a Walker, all shallow in busy areas, with the SE. I can do the same thing with the EX II except that I have to go a little slower. To bad Minelab didn't just make a little improvement on the old machine.
Also the sounds are different when compared to the EX II. My friends machine always sounds sweet on silver. My SE is all over the place on sound.
Ohio Bud
You make a lot of sense. I have found a seated half dime and several large cents along with a Walker, all shallow in busy areas, with the SE. I can do the same thing with the EX II except that I have to go a little slower. To bad Minelab didn't just make a little improvement on the old machine.
Also the sounds are different when compared to the EX II. My friends machine always sounds sweet on silver. My SE is all over the place on sound.
Ohio Bud
I had the original XS and now have the SE, so I cannot declare one way or another about the II because I skipped that model.
In my experience, my XS just never seemed to live up to the depth claims of other XS users at the time. It was still a great detector and had decent results, but I never got depth much over 6 inches.
Finally, being tired of the slipping shaft of the first XS and hoping for more depth, I bought the SE. It clearly gets more depth than MY first XS. It is lighter and faster and simply performs better than my XS did. Does that mean that it is deeper than all XS's? Probably not.
Does it mean it gets less depth than all (or most) II's? I have no way of knowing.
I can tell you that my SE is a great detector and I wouldn't be without it.
Having said that, I wouldn't be without my new F75 either. Is the SE better than the F75? Is either better than the older Explorers? Only when making my latest find do I like one detector the best. The F75 is lighter and faster and has equal depth compared to the SE. The SE has good depth and works better in mineralized ground. It also has a good assortment of coils. The F75 covers more ground in less time and the batteries last forever. Both work well in trashy areas. I have both because I want to use more than one tool when I'm detecting and both have their talents and faults. I'm sure that the II has good depth too. Does it cover all the other plus factors I just mentioned? Do those factors matter to you?
Whatever is finding treasure in the conditions I'm hunting in is my favorite. It really don't matter what the label says. It is whatever is going to make you happy. If the money is critical to you, then you have to consider that. But buy the one you really want if you have the money. Sooner or later you will probably buy it regardless.
That is just my opinion. Others have already posted some pretty good advice too. Just enjoy whatever you decide on.
HH Alton
In my experience, my XS just never seemed to live up to the depth claims of other XS users at the time. It was still a great detector and had decent results, but I never got depth much over 6 inches.
Finally, being tired of the slipping shaft of the first XS and hoping for more depth, I bought the SE. It clearly gets more depth than MY first XS. It is lighter and faster and simply performs better than my XS did. Does that mean that it is deeper than all XS's? Probably not.
Does it mean it gets less depth than all (or most) II's? I have no way of knowing.
I can tell you that my SE is a great detector and I wouldn't be without it.
Having said that, I wouldn't be without my new F75 either. Is the SE better than the F75? Is either better than the older Explorers? Only when making my latest find do I like one detector the best. The F75 is lighter and faster and has equal depth compared to the SE. The SE has good depth and works better in mineralized ground. It also has a good assortment of coils. The F75 covers more ground in less time and the batteries last forever. Both work well in trashy areas. I have both because I want to use more than one tool when I'm detecting and both have their talents and faults. I'm sure that the II has good depth too. Does it cover all the other plus factors I just mentioned? Do those factors matter to you?
Whatever is finding treasure in the conditions I'm hunting in is my favorite. It really don't matter what the label says. It is whatever is going to make you happy. If the money is critical to you, then you have to consider that. But buy the one you really want if you have the money. Sooner or later you will probably buy it regardless.
That is just my opinion. Others have already posted some pretty good advice too. Just enjoy whatever you decide on.
HH Alton
Axxeman,
I never run anything but a small amount of iron mask. When you use discrimination, you eliminate unusual sounds. I like to hear everything. When I come close to a target, it can sound like a piece of junk depending if I am approaching or pulling away from it. Discrimination will null the sound out if it is not set in the correct range. I want to hear everything so that I can work the signal, what ever it is, to see if I can improve it. If I get a sound that I can cross both ways and it is deep, I dig it. I do use the 8" coil in very trashy areas.
Ohio Bud
I never run anything but a small amount of iron mask. When you use discrimination, you eliminate unusual sounds. I like to hear everything. When I come close to a target, it can sound like a piece of junk depending if I am approaching or pulling away from it. Discrimination will null the sound out if it is not set in the correct range. I want to hear everything so that I can work the signal, what ever it is, to see if I can improve it. If I get a sound that I can cross both ways and it is deep, I dig it. I do use the 8" coil in very trashy areas.
Ohio Bud
I always use the manual sensitivity set around the 25-26 range, but have not tried a setting above that. I don't use the iron mask, so it is left on off. There are other settings that can be utilized instead. Depending on the area that I hunt, I will set the discrimination patterns to include coins and jewelry and reject the rest. I still manage to hit the usual trash such as pull tabs, but they are usually in the 4+" range. In the recovery setting I sometimes change the setting to deep. In the response mode, I sometimes will use the long mode. I have found targets in 6"-10" range with no problem. I just switched from the 5-inch Excellerator to the 10.5" coil yesterday just to try it out. Thanks.