One Detector For All Things

[Roughwater]

4 minutes ago, walkerrj said:

The MXT has found the most gold and silver rings, whether it be beaches or parks.

Do you have some idea of what depth it gets at the beach and what settings you use at the beach?  

Thanks

Terry

[Guest]

Actually I was thinking the Makro Gold Racer. Good gold machine to compliment your GPX, and fair to middling on hunting jewelry. For and old building site I would personally use the CTX, but bet the MXT would be good as walkerrj mentions .

[auminesweeper]

I guess you could call the MXT the 30-06 of the detecting world, as old as they are it seems crazy that the only break through's we have made is sticking a detector in an Ipod type setup like the Deus, these new machines are no deeper even at 4 times the price and until the F75 and Nokta Makro came on the scene  it was still the only True multi purpose machine  it will whoop the F75 But the F75 is a first Class machine too.

I know the V3i costs some serious Bucks but just because it costs more does not always mean it's Better, and when you take in to account Bragging Rights then that has to go to the MXT over all others, it's like Old Yella faithful as hell, I am on my third one now because every time they bring out a new one I grab one and I have also come to thinking about grabbing a spare because I don't like the direction some circles are moving in. I found over $700 worth of Gold on my first day out with my first MXT and I have found a heck of a lot lore from Australia to all over the UK Not once have I ever got skunked, I have always found coins jewellery or something old from at leased the last 2500 years, That's not a thing that I am willing to give up and the wrong machines had me stumbling around for years but I kept the faith and the day I changed to the MXT I have never looked back, And no matter what they bring out has never given me reason to change machines, Newer machines are made of plastic which makes them nice and light But I prefer the Tough bullet proof design of the MXTs because I got full power at the twist of a knob unlike the V3i with multi menu's and I can go where it can't, It is about as real as the GPX-5000 but in a VLF format, Depending which batteries I use I can get between 60 to 150 hours out of them, Every thing is in the right place so who else can top that, I normally hunt with the big 12" coil on it, the first couple of days were noticeable but after that  you don't notice the weight, and there is about 30 or 40 coils out there for them so what else does a person need really. I have owned many 4x4s but the best one was my CJ-5.

John. 

[Roughwater]

4 minutes ago, SLGuin said:

Actually I was thinking the Makro Gold Racer. Good gold machine to compliment your GPX

Aw, the gold Racer.  Nice too.  Could probably find some of those tiny nuggets the 14-15 Khz machines can't see or at least can't see as deep.  That might keep me from being skunked some days if I had one.  A little bit is better than no bit for sure.  It should find bigger one's too just not as deep.  But at this moment leaning toward the Racer 2 or the MXT pro.  If the single freq detector I buy works OK at the beach then before I head out west there could be some cash left for a more dedicated VLF gold machine.   If I bought the CTX though it would limit my funding much more.   

[auminesweeper]

If you click on this link and read this story it will give you some idea what the MXT can do, But you have to remember that Australia has some of the toughest ground in the world for detectors which is another reason the GPX is so good,, Enjoy.

john

http://www.goldsearchaustralia.com/index.php/mxt_stories

[Reno Chris]

Like asking what is the one golf club I should use in all situations or the one fishing lure for all fish, the one gun for all hunting situations.

[Guest]

I did not mean to suggest a CTX purchase, it is simply what I would prefer because nothing I have ever used hunts general targets better in trash, but for gold nuggets it would not make even a good back up detector unless the they were pretty good sized ones.

[Roughwater]

1 hour ago, SLGuin said:

I did not mean to suggest a CTX purchase, i

No problem, I have gone back and forth several times considering the 3030 as I think it would serve me well near home.  Maybe in a year I'll pick one up but there are new detectors in the works it appears so well see what kind of magic they bring.  

[Guest]

It will be interesting to see what you get and how it works. A compromise is almost inevitable without multiple detectors, hence the genius of looking at it as a spectrum and choosing what works for what you want to do. I have been looking at what people choose for this like GPZ 7000+Makro Gold Racer or GTX 5000+Gold Bug 2 as PI+hot vlf combo for nugget hunters. Big and small covered, clean and trashy covered, bad ground and good ground covered and with only two detectors. If the pair is chosen well, two detectors also work for other things outside the main area of focus even if not quite as well. Nugget hunters seem to do this much better and more intentionally than other treasure hunters who have a less cohesive collection of detectors perhaps because the focus is less defined. This last points up the value of knowing with precision what you want to find and where, which makes detector choice so much simpler. For instance, if you decide you want to nugget hunt with two detectors the choices are obvious and even with several good PIs and VLFs to pick from for each side of the two detector spectrum you are less distracted from good logical choices.

 

[argyle]

23 hours ago, Roughwater said:

Ok, we know there is no perfect detector for all types of detecting (Prospecting, Relic, Beach and Coin).  But what is the closest thing to it that is available?  The CTX3030,  a great machine from most accounts really good at 3 of the 4 types of detecting but many say not as good for Prospecting.  Then we have all the BBS, FBS detectors great as well for the same 3 types of detecting.  Then the many Other single frequency detectors, many good for Coin and Relic and some span on into gold detecting as well.  Of course the PI detectors which have poor if any discrimination value but are really deep seeking but not so good if you are working a trashy areas.  

So what would be the best detector out there if you want something that spans all 4 of the primary modes of detecting?  In my search I can only find one so far that I think fits that requirement pretty well:

That would be the Whites Spectra V3i.  That's only my amateur opinion as I have a limited knowledge of metal detecting.  Are there better Multifrequency detectors out there probably, are there better gold detectors out there - For sure, and are there better coin and relic detectors out there, probably but not that many as this is probably the detectors strongest area.  

There are several things I like about this detector as it has 3 frequencies and you can run all 3 at the same time or individually.  It can use all the MXT coils which are many so no worry about coil selection.  It appears to have a better than average discrimination.  It allows for an abundance of control of the machine.  In multifrequency one can go pretty deep in wet salt sand, or running it at 20 khz one can prospect or hunt for smaller types of relics.  Want to go deep for coins or lager targets switch to 2.5 Khz and put on a big coil.  It also has preprogrammed modes as well if you want to keep it simple.  I just recently became aware of this machine and in many ways it has the properties of what most would want in a all purpose detector.  If a new company came to me today and said they would build me the Ideal detector and asked me what characteristics I would like to have built into it, this detector would fill most of my request.  Only other thing I would want is one more Frequency (50Khz or so) and be water proof! 

Ok now this is where I would like you all to chime in because I know there must be weakness to this machine as well or it would be far more popular than it is.  I have heard issues with EMI. I don't know what other issues there may be, maybe it don't ground balance well in real mineralized soil?  I don't know but I'm sure some of you do.  Please give me your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Terry

    

 

The big 4 in a VLF eh ....Multipurpose.

Let's see now ....I should be saying something like "in my humble opinion" but I'm not a very humble guy (I are in person though) plus it ain't church day.

So I'll just come straight out and tell you that the most all-round Coin/Jewellery, Prospecting, Relic and single freq beach VLF detector ever made, and is still in production, is the XTerra 705.

If you haven't used and mastered one already Terry, feel free to give us a hoy and I'll give you the complete run down on them, and directly compare them to every detector you'd like to mention on in-ground un-dug targets, all the way from benign open parkland, heavily junked areas, sand, and mild to the hottest of gold bearing dirt.