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X-Terra Pinpointing Frustration


bado1

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Iv'e been wanting to see what the coin shooting/relic hunting thing was all about so I borrowed a buddy's X-terra 70 last week to give it a go. I did all the usual prep- YouTube vids, read the manual, practiced in my back yard, etc. I felt that I had a pretty good grasp of the machine and it's capabilities. Iv'e only ever had dedicated prospecting machines so I was pretty stoked about all the different modes and disc, etc. The machine has two coils a 9" concentric 7.5khz and a 10"x 5" DD 18.75khz. I found during my practice sessions that the DD handled the Az. ground better so I put it on for my maiden "coin hunt" adventure. ( I know the differences in the two coils and their uses. The DD was just more stable. The GB #s were anywhere from 10-20.)

The first place I went this morning was to a farm that hosts a bunch of festivals, fireworks, etc.. Thousands of people a year tromp through there. I know the owners and they told me to knock myself out. TONS of garbage but the machine did well. I hunted in 3 tones, all metal and then went through the disc patterns to pick out the good targets. I used a small shovel as I was in fields. Here is where the frustration comes in....even with a SHOVEL and my scoop it was taking me waaay too long to get the target out of the hole. I will never ever, ever complain about pinpointing with my SDC again! So, I leave the farm (found a few corroded modern coins) and move on to a old park. Think grass here. I grab a big screw driver so as not to make giant holes in the grass. I decided to hunt under some big trees which was a good decision as I got a number of good sounding targets and could not recover any of them due to my inability to pinpoint them! ARRRGH! I didn't want to leave big areas of plugs (which I was doing) and ruin it for other detectors. Now I see why they make the small pinpointers and, honestly, I don't know if even that would have helped me. The guys on YouTube make it look easy. Well, I sorely need more practice at this coin shooting thing and probably more appropriate digging tools.

At this point, though, I'm sticking to prospecting until the frustration wears off:(.

Dean

P.S.- I was very surprised at the depth capabilities of the XT-70. Very capable machine in the right hands.

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 I haven't had a pinpointing problem with the 705 but I rarely detect in polite society where i can't dig with impatients and reckless abandon. But I have found the 705 to be quite honest. If it says something is there I'll start digging. I'm assuming the 700 would be the same.

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Klunker,

Yes, I am much better at the "reckless abandon" style of digging and recovery! I have found that when prospecting anymore I just set the detector down grab my pick and dig a hole until I'm sure the target must be out then detect the pile and go into recovery mode. I'm just tired of scraping a little then a little more then some more until the target is out. Hey, it works for me. Coin shooting in parks is totally new to me. I can't be a "dirt butcher" in a park.

 

I did a search and found Steve's posts on Findmall re pinpointing with the XT70 and using prospecting mode. Good stuff! I think my problem is that I don't know exactly where the target is under the coil. Unlike a mono coil you can't use the edges to pinpoint and that is what I am used to. I need more practice for sure. I see where a small 6" coil would be helpful.

 

Dean

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It just takes a little practice and you have had very little. Try beaches or sandy areas (or wood chips) around playground equipment to build pinpointing skills before hitting the turf. I do prefer toggling to Prospect mode with the X-Terra as a pinpoint method as it "sizes" targets well in that mode.

Hitting the target from 90 degree angles is a tried and true method.

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Thanks for the tips, Steve. 

I'm hitting the gold fields tomorrow to scratch the gold itch then I will practice with the X-terra again next week. 

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You may find that the tip of the dd-elyp is a good guide...when you get a signal just approach the target slowly, when you start getting a signal the target should be just in front of the tip of the coil...it does take practice...

fred

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There are 2 pinpoint modes on the X-terra 705.

Switch it to pinpoint sizing.

Then when you hit the pinpoint button it instantly tunes to that setting and let's you feel the target.

On larger targets or for more precise pinpointing you can Re-tune and find the target much easier.

Prospecting mode is very nice for pinpointing, but in regular pinpoint it updates the ID of the target.

Big iron will hightone, but when pinpointing you'll see the ID drop.

Coins on edge will pinpoint off center, so it's not always the guy behind the wheel!

The SDC VCO is unreal at pinpointing a target :-)

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