Some info on FBS and BBS units...

[David]

I wrote this on the Sovereign-Excalibur forum and thought this would be appropriate to post here as well:

Now people with the new E-Trac out will rely heavily on the meter more so (as some people liked to go by tones on the SE but at the same time some also may go by tones on the E-Trac as well.)

Also the 2 big disadvantages of the BBS and FBS units is they are very slow "and" also not sensitive to very small gold.

I was told by Minelab this about not being sensitive to very small gold and also many reports of the slow coverage speed.

Otherwise they are about the best machines(ones with BBS and FBS) out there.

I was told that the extreme depth VLF Minelab Muskateer Advantage found things behind the Sovereign that it missed, meaning deeper(in a black dirt type field if I heard right) and was many times faster than the Sovereign in coverage. So a person may prefer to use a ordinary VLF in black dirt--ploughed fields also to cover many times more ground in a day.

Jack Lange in Australia did tests and said this about the X-Terra 70 as compared to the FBS and BBS units, this says it all, read this:
DEPTH
(The X-Terra 70)This detector goes as deep as the expensive models (Explorer Quattro Sovereign) in dry beach sand, all soils, but does not go nearly as deep in damp beach sand because of the salt effect. Especially when set in

 

[Beachcomber]

Yes but for some reason you posted where all a a person was doing was asking about which larger coil he could use on his GT while beach hunting. It was pretty irrelevant to the question that was asked. Most people know that have used them for awhile know that FBS and BBS machines don't like new plowed fields and actually have less depth capability there than a good single freq. machine like the Musketeer or X-Trerra 70. Also someone who is nugget hunting isn't going to choose and FBS or BBS machine because it isn't the right detector for the job. Also I don't think a lot of Explorer and E-Trac users are going to rely even more on the meter. Most of us hunt by sound. I personally use hunt by sound first, meter depth reading second, and the TID display as an amusement and to adjust the menu settings.

HH

Beachcomber

 

[Jim upstate NY]

Just dont know whether in my type hunting thats a good thing.. 22 shorts etc hit a lot harder on the etrac.. So I assume it will probably be better on small gold and earings, and hopefully small buttons.. I never used an Xterra 70 but had a 50, and I tell you what the explorer did better in iron.. I couldn't pick up small pewter buttons on top of the ground in high iron, where at least I got a blip on the explorer.. I assume the etrac will do as well or better, and maybe the xterra70 can too... I guess its a matter of where and what you hunt which machine is best for anyone

 

[Hungry]

Beachcomber, your spot on there. Yesterday I was at the local beach, If you went by the numbers you would lose a lot of coins,you have to learn the sounds. Our $2 coins are 3/4" diameter, about the size of your fingernail, and the in air reading is 12 - 39 , But at the beach in dry sand, they came in at 12 - 35 to 12 - 41 and down to 15" deep. I wonder how many other detectorists have past these by, because they are going by the numbers and not the sounds. By the way, Yesterdays finds totaled $49-20 for 4 1/2 hrs.