X-terra Prospecting Mode

[team sidewinder]

I love the fact that the X-terra 705 can be both the coin/treasure and a prospecting MD. BUT with my poor hearing ( from shooting guns ) I so miss the numbers that you get in the coin mode as it is hard for me to tell the difference in the tones in prospecting mode with no numbers. Any tips ?

 

[Squirmingcoil77]

I personally use prospecting mode most of the time. I find that it goes the deepest. Even though it's only single tone, I find it to be very effective. Make sure you set it up just like disc. mode. Ground balance, set your sensitivity and all that. I also hunt in all metal mode and rarely, if ever, dig any negative numbers. When i get a signal in prospecting mode, I quickly switch over to all metal to get a better read on what the target is. If it's an iron signal, I put it back into prospecting mode and continue on. Or, you can just use the iron mask in prospecting mode and when the signal drops out, or blanks out, you know it's most likely trash and you can move on. I've found many deep targets with prospecting mode. I found a deep musket ball that had a very faint whisper of a signal in PM that I would have missed in disc mode. It's great to use when in an open field that doesn't have a lot of targets.

 

[Digger]

You can buy a battery operated, portable amplifier that plugs into the detector, and then you plug your regular headphones into it. Some models allow you to change the pitch of the audio response for those who just have difficulty with certain sounds. Do a google search for metal detector headphone amplifiers and you'll find quite a bit of information. HH Randy

 

[team sidewinder]

Thanks for the help.

 

[pecor]

you may want to jump on this, You don't see them that often {http://www.findmall.com/read.php?65,1926128} Good hunting. Jay

 

[michaelosully]

I too hunt primarily in prospecting mode and toggle back and forth to coin mode. Most of my MDing is in remote areas without a lot of trash and in highly mineralized soils. I have found many coins (particularly deep silver and clad quarters) that I believe I would have missed had I been in coin mode due to depth of the target. Like Squirming, I run in AM and when I toggle to Coin Mode and get a neg. number...I don't bother with the target.

I don't know if this strategy would work in trashier areas like parks and around houses or if it would be beneficial in more 'neutral soils' as depth might not be any different between Prospecting Mode and Coin Mode...but in my soils, I'm sticking to what works for me!

Ah...to toggle or not to toggle, that is the question?

 

[Squirmingcoil77]

Toggle...definitely toggle.

 

[team sidewinder]

What would be the best settings for prospecting mode while looking for gold which is my main use for the 705 and not so much coins/relics ? I am using the ellipitical 18.75 coil.
Thanks

 

[Old Longhair]

Wide open is best, but if there is iron in the vicinity you'll want to increase the Iron Mask level accordingly. As high as five won't knock out any gold, but above that and you risk missing the smallest.

 

[team sidewinder]

Wide open is best, but if there is iron in the vicinity you'll want to increase the Iron Mask level accordingly. As high as five won't knock out any gold, but above that and you risk missing the smallest.

Thank You

 

[Old Longhair]

One other thing......be sure to go slow. The machine is looking for very small targets, and in Prospector Mode is looking deep, which takes time if you don't want to miss anything.

Going slow enough is the hardest part when hunting in open country. Detecting small or deep targets is a case where "Slow but steady wins the race."

 

[team sidewinder]

One other thing......be sure to go slow. The machine is looking for very small targets, and in Prospector Mode is looking deep, which takes time if you don't want to miss anything.

Going slow enough is the hardest part when hunting in open country. Detecting small or deep targets is a case where "Slow but steady wins the race."

You are so right about the going slow in large open areas. It seems like I am covering some ground when in town but think I have so much ground to cover that I better move faster when in the large open areas. I will work on the going Sloooow thing.

I really appreciate your input here on this forum and will benefit from your experience in my metal detecting.
Thanks
OL

 

[Detect-man]

Don't be too concered, I use an X Terra 505 and i am three quarters deaf and have no problems with reading the face or hearing the beeps.


cheers

Detecta

 

[mapper65]

I too hunt primarily in prospecting mode and toggle back and forth to coin mode. Most of my MDing is in remote areas without a lot of trash and in highly mineralized soils. I have found many coins (particularly deep silver and clad quarters) that I believe I would have missed had I been in coin mode due to depth of the target. Like Squirming, I run in AM and when I toggle to Coin Mode and get a neg. number

I personally use prospecting mode most of the time. I find that it goes the deepest. Even though it's only single tone, I find it to be very effective. Make sure you set it up just like disc. mode. Ground balance, set your sensitivity and all that. I also hunt in all metal mode and rarely, if ever, dig any negative numbers. When i get a signal in prospecting mode, I quickly switch over to all metal to get a better read on what the target is

I not trying to stir something up and I'm going to try this for myself but what you guys are saying is almost a conflict. You're saying that prospect mode goes deeper and you would not have found some of these coins had you not used prospecting mode but then you say once you find a target in prospecting mode you are switching over to coin mode to check the signal. If it's finding it in coin mode when you switch over then I have to believe that you would have found this same target in coin mode because it's reading in both modes. So this is translating to the depth being the same in either mode since you are picking the coin up in both modes. Based on what you guys are saying If prospecting mode went deeper than coin mode then when you switch over to coin mode the target would go away. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

[Squirmingcoil77]

Prospecting mode is just more sensitive and will pick up deeper targets. That's why I switch over to disc mode when I get a signal in prospecting mode just to see if it will pick it up in disc mode. If it doesn't pick it up in disc mode, then I know I have something deeper.

 

[tonopahkid]

I have noticed that deep iron read high numbers in the 40s in disc mod I usually am using the hf elliptical coil put it into all metal usually will give me negative number letting me know its an big iron target like a pipe,anyone elso get that?

 

[michaelosully]

I too hunt primarily in prospecting mode and toggle back and forth to coin mode. Most of my MDing is in remote areas without a lot of trash and in highly mineralized soils. I have found many coins (particularly deep silver and clad quarters) that I believe I would have missed had I been in coin mode due to depth of the target. Like Squirming, I run in AM and when I toggle to Coin Mode and get a neg. number

I personally use prospecting mode most of the time. I find that it goes the deepest. Even though it's only single tone, I find it to be very effective. Make sure you set it up just like disc. mode. Ground balance, set your sensitivity and all that. I also hunt in all metal mode and rarely, if ever, dig any negative numbers. When i get a signal in prospecting mode, I quickly switch over to all metal to get a better read on what the target is

I not trying to stir something up and I'm going to try this for myself but what you guys are saying is almost a conflict. You're saying that prospect mode goes deeper and you would not have found some of these coins had you not used prospecting mode but then you say once you find a target in prospecting mode you are switching over to coin mode to check the signal. If it's finding it in coin mode when you switch over then I have to believe that you would have found this same target in coin mode because it's reading in both modes. So this is translating to the depth being the same in either mode since you are picking the coin up in both modes. Based on what you guys are saying If prospecting mode went deeper than coin mode then when you switch over to coin mode the target would go away. Maybe I'm missing something.

Perhaps it's my bad hearing...because I can't hear 'whisper tones' even with quality headphones. My 705 in prospecting mode literally screams at me over a target (one tone). BTW, I always pinpoint in prospecting mode by Xing the target before I toggle to coin to see if a neg. reading.

Perhaps it's the soil I hunt. On my 705, I usually auto GB in the low teens and very rarely in the high teens with my DD coils.

Perhaps it's that the prospecting mode is actually deeper and more sensitive to all metals. Iron vs. metal in prospecting mode VS. identifying/slotting/sounding all coin metals when in coin mode?

Perhaps it's the confidence that I have about finding deeper targets by toggling from Prospecting to Coin and back (I can tell you that I have found targets that did not 'hit' when I toggled to coin mode).

Take your pick...it's an easy thing to try out. May not work for you but I know it works for me!

 

[foxy]

Why don't they say switch between modes instead of toggle which is im sure what they meen ,To me a toggle is is a way of fastening things together !

 

[Squirmingcoil77]

Why don't they say switch between modes instead of toggle which is im sure what they meen ,To me a toggle is is a way of fastening things together !

According to Webster's Dictionary:

"Toggle"

intransitive verb

: to switch between two options especially of an electronic device usually by pressing a single button or a simple key combination

One could say "switch between modes" but it's more fun to say toggle.