Minelab X-Terra 705

[vanursepaul]

Well i pulled the trigger on a 705 the other day and i am having a wonderful time trying to figure it out-----

First thing i learned the hard way was the screen icons....as in sensitivity and beach mode-----

I hunted all one day in NorCal and when i got with in 30 yds of the truck on my way back in i realized I had been in beach mode the whole day -- - (have to be careful with the GB button)

But once i came out of beach mode and resumed walking back to the truck i immediately hit a target that was a  penny---- so i know it will get a target if i have it set properly..

I also  found that it was driving me crazy after that making all kinds of noises (making the 2300 sound like a Buddhist monk) then i looked in the handbook and saw i was running sensitivity as high as it would crank!!!!

Turned it down and all is well....lol

I got this to hunt in trashy areas ......and in a bunch of tailing piles i have found while out exploring..... I am in NorCal and the trash is crazy!!!!

I couldnt stand running the 2300 any longer-- i had to have a break---

I am also looking a a TDI-SL for the areas where it may be a little too hot--- i like the idea of cranking the knobs on it to get the desired effects... an ATX would be nice too--if it were lighter---- too many steep hills over here for this old man!!!

Got a good deal on the 705 i think---500.00 with three coils---3khz round, 7.5khz round, and an 18.75 khz eliptical....

SO far i am one cent closer to paying for this unit!!!! lololol

If anyone has any NorCal settings for gold that wanna share I am all ears----

And i already downloaded Randy's book.....

[Norvic]

On ya Paul tis a fine machine, patience and perseverance plus it doesn`t hurt to touched by the Sun a wee bit (well lets face it we all are, no completely sane person would run around listening to a squawking detector rather than some music) and you`ll be amongst it. 

[klunker]

 Paul don't get discouraged. The 705 is way more capable than what I first thought but it is convoluted in it's operation and I despise icon type menus. Also I forget how to deal with all it's quirks when I don't use it for a month. There is some really useful information in Steve's archives.

 

  NORVIC!!!!!! A squawking detector IS my music!

[vanursepaul]

Not discouraged.. I like trying to figure it out..

In my heart I think it will work good for me in this trashy arena I work/play in..

I

Also, I can't forget the beach hunting that I have available here in Truckee.

[bado1]

Hi Paul,

It's funny to me how you and I are on the same track. First the SDC then the X-Terra. I got a hold of a XT 70 and am trying to learn it as well. Totally different than prospecting but loads of fun. Finally getting the pin pointing method down...in my back yard anyway. I'm going to give it another shot with the XT-70 this weekend. Haven't grown tired of listening to the SDC yet as I find gold just about every outing. GREAT machine.

The coin shooting is another fun aspect of our hobby though! Good luck!

 

Dean

[argyle]

Hi Paul.

Good on you for going for the 705. They are the best prospecting allrounder ever built and oh so lightweight.

Once you get used to the menu, and it'll come to you real fast, you'll realize the menu is so quick to manoeuvre with common sense precision that the changes of settings and the dialing in of functions very simple to use on the fly..

Probably the most important thing with the 705's is that the less processing the unit has to do, the more it will run with excact presision, depth and stability. This means any extra processing at all, wether it's using Iron Mask in Prospecting Mode, Ground Balance Off-Set during Tracking, any discrimination segment bin rejectment while in Coin and Treasure Mode, all the way to the frequency of the coil used ...will force the unit to behave below it's potential.

All 6 XTerra's were made for the mid-freq 7.5kHz. The 18.75kHz and 3kHz coils are a 'fake' frequency that merely tells the unit to 'act' like that frequency, thereby messing with the processing again.

You will always obtain a truer Ground Balance, Auto Tracking, Bin segmentation in Coin Mode an Tone ID, plus real in-ground depth, by using a mid freq 7.5kHz coil. And on all ground types from fair dinkum hot ground to the quiet tailing piles you'll mostly be detecting (quiet with the exception of hot or cold rocks) and every bit of mushy ground in between. Except for saltwater. Dry sand of course is fine.

Thankfully the stock coil 8.5" with a nice fat 4.5" inner ring which you already have, the 6" 7.5kHz Concentric and 7.5kHz 14.5" Coiltek all terrain are ideal combos for the 705's.

The Auto Tracking on the 705 is excellent. I never let the units Auto Balance before Tracking, and prefer to manually balance the unit then set it to Tracking.

More often than not I feel the Auto Balance just doesn't get it spot on. And if you can manually balance it spot on, the Tracking will take to the ground better.

When Tracking is initially utilised, make sure the coil is on the ground and swing very slowly for a few seconds as the Tracking works faster initially in that time, after a few seconds and with the right type of headphones or ear buds on you can hear the Tracking slow down a touch and bite into it's normal speed, that's the cue to start hunting at it's premium.

If you ever break the balance by raising the coil, tilting it too much, or after a dig, it'll through the tracking out and won't recover to the correct timing in that ground as it was before the break of balance,..... so manually balance and set the Tracking on and go through the Tracking routine again. Once you have the Menu downpat it only takes 5 seconds.

Very important if you wander off the tailings and onto solid ground.

Any time you see the ground in front of you changing ie: coming up from working a gutter over onto flatter ground, or coming down off from a tailing pile to undug ground, ...always go through that quick manual balance to tracking regime. Same goes for really hot ground that changes dramatically every 10 feet or so.

A bit like hitting the GroundGrab on the GMT or Fishers, only they cannot Track afterwards.... well the GMT can but it's untrustworthy.

Using discrimination (or Iron Mask) is no good on all units prospecting, including the 705, as it can place specimens and nuggets into the same category as junk. On the good side of things, pinpointing junk is a breeze and it's quickly dug and removed by two fingers...as opposed to our SDC's which as you know, can take forever.

In regards to the TDI comparison, I can run a 705 anywhere a TDI oz series can travel. Same depth, better pinpointing with the 705. Much slower swing speed with the TDI is needed (though the 705 requires a slow swing too)

Most of us got sick of running big coils on the TDI due to the deadly slow response on deep targets, most of which won't even come through with a hint if that swing speed is even a tad faster than super slow. So we end up putting small Sadie's, 6"s and 10x5"s on them searching for shallow gold. Which places the 705 and mid freq concentric coil and 14.5" Coiltek much deeper.

Forget what you know about concentric coils when it comes to the 705's, they handle hot ground well and kill the 10"x5" elliptical hands down for depth. The 10x5 is only more sensitive to small gold in air tests, as is the 6"18.75kHz coil, but in the undug ground the Stock concentric is just as sensitive.

My thoughts on the 10x5 are they suck in heavy trash due to the 10" blade hitting/confusing on too many targets, and in the depth department they suck due to the elliptical shape coning back too sharply toward the centre of the coil midfield underground, causing a hollow spot.

The Concentric gets through trash like a champ.

Hope a bit of this helps any....

[argyle]

I'm heading out at 4am tommorow for two weeks solid detecting with a couple of 705's. Firstly on some mad ground, then onto a large surfaced area, the rest of the time along the side of 10 miles of railroad track 50 foot either side, as the tracks here are on the flat and follow the main old gold leads between old goldfield towns. 705 country due to the amount of junk.I'll be coming into town every 3 days or so and will post up a few pics on your thread here.

My brother has a great video camera, umbrella and lights and top audio, I'll see if he can take a day off and do some filming. He know how to upload to utube, and it's always good to hear as well as see a detector working at it's best.

[vanursepaul]

Thx for those tidbits- argyle

--way different than what I was expecting!!!

I am looking forward to your trip and will be waiting for you to post up when you get to town.....

Great luck out there and be safe!

paul

PS Which frequency concentric are you talking about using the most----the 7.5khz??

14.5" Coiltek--???? This one?

Oh, I see you said mid freq for the concentric --- (7.5khz) right?

Any other coils I need to consider---- (waterproof) would be the ticket here too---

[argyle]

Thanks Paul, I'm really looking forward to because I've been rained out all this week.

Yep, the 7.5kHz stock concentric coil you have. Best coil on the XTerra, it and the 14.5" Coiltek in 7.5khz in that pic. The 18.75 kHz 14.5" hits better in air tests, but that is reversed in the ground where it counts.

All the Concentric coils are waterproof, as are the 14.5" Coiltek's. The elliptical is only water resistant but you can still hunt in the rain with it.

The older model 14.5" Coiltek had only the outer ring and a straight line down the centre and were very well balanced and never falsed. The new ribbed version in your pic feel more unbalanced and because of the thick oval shaped handgrip on the XTerra, you can get a sore wrist and elbow, even when hooking your unit up with a bungee. But they are top coils that do not false and in conductive ground are almost as deep as the Eureka gold with that coil on.

[vanursepaul]

Thanks for that --I will scout around for a used one first...

Ouch 329.00 new....

Sooooooo... In your opinion, I should learn my 705 well---and not worry with the TDI for now?

I do have a 2300 if things get too hot for the 705....

I will practice the ground balance technique until I get that down pat.

Sounds kinda like I used to have to do with the GB2 when moving from one area of ground to the next....but quicker..

Glad you chimed in--I would have never used the mid freq for gold... and I would not have known the concentrics would be better in trash...