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Showing content with the highest reputation since 03/29/2023 in Record Reviews

  1. My review on the Minelab Xterra Pro. I rate this machine a 5 out of 5 but it does have a couple problems that I have noticed. The VDI is all over the place and not at all stable. BUT., With a little tinkering, I was able to make the machine quite stable. One thing for sure, this is a very sensitive machine. What I have discovered is to turn the sensitivity down, but not so far down that you are loosing deep targets. I find that in most cases I run mine at around 14 to 17. The second thing to do to get the VDI more stable is to Check and set the (AU) Freq now and then or anytime you make a change. Also, do a manual ground balance even with ground tracking now and then. If the VDI starts to jump around then experiment with these menu items. The other thing I do not like about the exterra pro is that there is little or no bottle cap rejection. This is where you really need to pay close attention to your tones. One thing to do is swing the detector over the object and back it off so the target is at the edge of the coil. A bottle cap will start to sound trashy. Move the coil swing in cross way, try both directions. I really love this machine... Its perfect for beginners and pros alike. My second day at the beach, I found a $2400.00 dollar 18K Cuban gold chain. The day after, a 10k gold ring. Just a small one but it was gold. Get to know this machine. I have it down fairly well but I think in about 300 more hours, I should have it mastered. So over all... I give the Minelab Xterra Pro 5 stars out of 5 100% The build quality is great and well balanced. May you all find great treasures. Sincerely., Digging 4 Gold!
    4 points
  2. I honestly feel that this Is the most underrated machine in its class. It is hard to write about this machine with any brevity because there's so much that needs to be touched on. What were intended to be its strengths actually became its drawbacks in the mainstream of detecting. I believe the intent was to create a kind of ultimate do it all machine that would outclass anything on the market in terms of target information and user access to customizing operating parameters. To me, it accomplished that. But that is not your average metal detector consumer's preference or how the average joe is accustomed to detecting as we saw with the success of competitors with machines that work in a more automated or simplified fashion. Most guys would rather just get on about the business of detecting. I say all that to say this...if you're not committed to learning each feature that makes a (multifrequency) metal detector tick, and if you're not willing to invest significant time on the academic aspects of this machine, it's not for you and you will not get the most out of it. You'll jump into a rabbit hole or quicksand to be quickly overwhelmed with each change. When it comes to the more technical aspects of the hobby this machine is a lesson in humility. From the beginning I decided I would try where others have failed and that is in resisting the temptation to blame the machine rather than my own ignorance of complex interactions and lack of patience or discipline. Resisting the temptation to settle for the easier, automatic, good enough of other platforms. To me it was important to put that out there because I often see user shortcomings being projected onto what is almost a blank slate with a powerful set of tools. In the world of general detecting (relics, coins, jewelry) in most conditions this machine is what you make of it and will parrot your technical skill, knowledge level or lack thereof back at you in its performance, whereas other machines are more forgiving and supplement more for that. Don't get me wrong, there's a persuasive argument to be made to reject the V3i for not being user friendly and not doing more on its own. I continue to believe that it provides an edge in conditions ranging from mild to moderate, that there is especially no better machine on isolated targets in those conditions if you want to use a machine like this for what it was intended, and that is finding valuable targets while digging the lowest ratio of trash to treasure to get to such targets. No machine has more data points and tells to learn from. There are features on this machine that can be used in ways probably never intended, to gather information on target composition and the presence of an adjacent target that tone and VDI are not able to capture alone. In this last season particularly I had a paradigm shift about how approaching this machine with the dogma of traditional methods of detecting can limit you. In any case, in terms of its ability, The Pros: it is well balanced across the spectrum of metals. It can hit anything from deep silver down to fine gold thanks to its true simultaneous, broad 3-frequency approach to multifrequency with single frequency options. No other machine to this day that I'm aware of shows you in color how each of its frequencies are actually reacting to a target and in so many ways. I've found more jewelry with it than I know what to do with. Contrary to some opinions, it can be a deep machine. The ability is there, but does seem limited by stock or in house coils to a bit above average. Detech coils, particularly the ultimate 13 turns it into a depth monster even out of proportion of what you'd expect a 13" coil to do for it. That coil brings it into F75 LTD depth territory albeit with a bit larger coil, but with far more target information and disc ability. The wireless headphones are a plus and bring added features to the platform as well, like mixed stereo for disc in one ear and all metal in the other. This machine is durable. The membrane buttons on the machines I have, some of them near 10 years old are still responsive and springy for lack of a better word. Pinpoint trigger has never failed and LCD shows no signs of going anything soon. The V3i is no exception to Whites legendary durability. For now, my summary is this. This machine is the very best I have used in the specific set of conditions I described. But you must earn it. If you're not willing to invest time in academics and experimentation you will be better off with a machine that makes more decisions for you. Stock programs on this machine will perform at an average baseline level with above average target information. The strength of this machine is to be able to dial in the parameters with more latitude than has ever been given to users. It operates on a philosophy of trusting you with all the fine tuning normally left to blanket algorithms hoping that a bit of knowledge combined with human senses will know better what adjustments to make to give it an edge. You have the ability to create or even copy a virtually unlimited number of programs because of the storage space available. Even the VDI system can be altered and tailored by the user. Do not be put off by the age of the platform. This machine was ahead of its time and still has what it needs to be a top shelf metal detector. Metal detectors are not very hardware intense to start with compared to phones, tablets and computers. I would argue most advances have come in the form of software and programming, and integrating more compact, energy efficient circuitry. The cons: it is heavy by today's standards. It is not waterproof. That is a shame because of its potential in freshwater lakes and rivers. It is not the fastest machine on the block even when recovery is maxed out, but being a hub of target information and analysis, you wouldn't expect it to be. That is not its greatest strength. This is one issue that can be overcome in time as you acquire small coils, and learn to integrate alternate methods of adjacent target interrogation that take advantage of a visual on frequency reaction in manipulating the pinpoint trigger, and even some temporal analysis in some configurations. The ground balance system on this machine is the biggest disappointment and limits what this machine could've been in more circumstances. Getting a good ground balance on this machine in rapidly changing terrains can be challenging. Autotrac does not keep up as well as you'd like, so you must locktrac with offsets, which works, but is not optimal on a machine that is all about optimization. In other words it will do well enough on a salt beach, but that's not where it shines. It is important to make a point about this though. I have 2 V3s and 1 V3i that I compare and contrast and run experiments on. I've been able to confirm prior reports that the V3 is able to ground balance and track harsher and rapidly changing conditions better than the V3i. Software changes when the V3 became the V3i shined a light on its ground balance system in such conditions. It was reported that Whites reduced tracking parameter in order to get a better target ID. So there are some advantages to owning a V3 and not upgrading it. Including the ability to communicate wirelessly with other V3 users to exchange programs and settings on the spot. But there are some things you give up when it comes to target analysis. It's a trade off. As an aside, In 2018 these machines have some untapped potential and capability as well as yet to be discovered hidden menus that would be interesting to access and explore, maybe even more tracking access. Although this platform has its weaknesses and limitations, I'm giving it 5 stars because there is nothing like it on the market that can satisfy the geeks and egg heads of the hobby to experiment and push boundaries like this one can. There is a reason even guys like Steve H, who would likely describe themselves as more of a prospector, keep coming back to it. It is hard to get the general potential of this machine out of your head once you've had it and have the level of information that tells you there ought to be some pretty wicked combos that could be assembled if provided enough time. There's still a lot of room for user development and contributions. V3i is both an instructor and a powerful tool in all things metal detecting if you have time to dedicate to it. It is unbeatable as an inland relic, jewelry, coin, and cache machine. Even the things it's not the best at it can do competently. Combine it with a machine like an Equinox whose strengths and weaknesses are like a lock and key, and you'll have the deadliest duo around. In presenting the V3i as I have I'm not necessarily saying that it is the "best" at more things than any other machine. Just that there are fundamental things it can do best in the hands of a learned user. I'm an arsenal detectorist and appreciate all our technology. But I feel comfortable saying because of its complexity many of the best detectorists in the world have not realized it's potential and it's rightful place among the very best general application machines. As a result it has suffered a lack of the level of professional user development that other major platforms have gotten. Whites may have been wrong about how many people would be interested in a machine like the V3i, but they weren't wrong about what it could do if they were. (I have somehow managed to end up with different font sizes. I wrote this up on my iPhone and not sure how to correct that with its limited tools, but I will correct this {I'm too OCD to accept it} and continue to edit for the sake of brevity and being as concise as possible on my MacBook where I'm more familiar)
    3 points
  3. Over a decade ago I would have given the White's MXT a five star rating, and am only giving it a four star rating because it is showing its age. The MXT was one of the first detectors to really leverage a microprocessor design in a metal detector by having a switch that made it like owning three detectors in one - Coins & Jewelry, Relics, and Gold Prospecting. Yet it stuck with an analog knob type control interface that is one of the best examples of simplicity and ease of learning I have seen in any detector. The controls are not only clearly marked with "cheater" settings but an abbreviated set of instructions is printed on the bottom of the control box! The MXT also has one of the best coil selections of any VLF detector ever made. The only real weakness is that as a non-waterproof single frequency detector the MXT is not the first choice for saltwater detecting. The MXT 14 kHz circuit is one of the best of the 20th century and the machine is already a true classic. There are newer designs that make the MXT look a little old fashioned but the fact is that it is a very capable detector that would be hard to go wrong with to this day. I have moved on to other units myself but will always consider the MXT to be one of the best metal detectors ever designed. The fact it is still selling almost twenty years later is a testament to that. See my detailed review for far more information than I can present here.
    3 points
  4. Best detector i have ever used. Fast deep with a lot of data that is past your way From great sound and screen. Thanks Minelab.
    2 points
  5. I already have what many would consider most of the best detectors on the market, but NM keeps putting out deals that are difficult to resist. From the moment it was announced I knew I would eventually grab one. For people like me, whether or not you hold onto it is about managing expectations. I don’t like to use the word “hype,” but this machine has seen a lot of it, and if you have a machine like the equinox, Anfibio etc and you’re expecting that much depth out of it, you’ve been slightly mislead. I did a lot of research prior to purchase and my expectations were that depth would be somewhere in between the AT Pro and the F-75. That’s nothing to scoff at, and I wasn’t disappointed that way. My opinion is you’re looking at upper mid to lower high end depth if that makes sense to you. Not bad at all for $254 (or buy for around $200 used at this point) I think this machine is a keeper no matter what you have or where you are in the hobby. There are always situations where you might not want to take a $1,000-$2,500 machine. After the Equinox and CTX breaches I really wanted a machine I’m not afraid to dunk in fresh water swimming holes. This fit the bill and I have to say I’m a fan of the vibration feature and also the built in LED feature for lighting up underwater and at night when it’s cooler to detect in the summer time. The Simplex is a great backup or spare. It’s also great to just get out and have some fun with a powerful but very simple machine on a nice day, on a rainy muddy day, or in the water. In park 2 this is a super fast machine. But again, manage expectations. Don’t expect a Deus or ORX. Definitely invest in the 5.5x9.5 inch coil if separation is important to you. The machine also seems to behave a little better with this coil. It will be exciting to see what other coils come out for this. I would imagine a 13” coil or larger would boost depth up even further up into higher end territory. If you’re completely new to the hobby or will be lending it to someone completely new, be careful not to try to max it out at first. Knock sensitivity down a couple notches. Just focus on recovering some shallow(er) targets and making nice plugs. This can make the difference between buying a closet queen and giving up in frustration or motivating yourself to continue on. Maybe even have someone, or learn, to set it up to cherry pick for a while. It made all the difference for me and nearly 10 years later I’m as enthusiastic as I ever was. I like the build quality and aesthetic look of this machine. It goes to show that you don’t have to make a big heavy monstrosity to be waterproof and premium looking. I like that NM took pride in their design on a $254 machine that looks better than another $950 machine I have. Some guys think there’s a little too much flex in the bottom shaft and I agree. I can live with a bit of flex but some guys may want to invest in the carbon fiber aftermarket lower shaft. The only other criticism I would offer, and I may be wrong on this, but it seems the mineralization meter is either off on this machine or the F-75. On this machine I have 0-2 bar dirt. On F-75 I had 2-3 bar dirt. Can’t both be right or perhaps they are meant to measure differently. Lastly, I love Apple products because of the continuity and coherence of one platform working seamlessly with the next in their walled garden. NM is building toward that. The machine works with their wireless headphones, and so does their Pulse Dive pinpointer in either configuration. I would only like to see more integration with the machine in the future, and something tells me we may.
    2 points
  6. For the most part, I really enjoyed using the TDI SL special edition with the Miner Johns coil. It was well balanced and had almost enough features to satisfy me. Where it was lacking the most was in audio nuances and basic power. I could not hear enough audio information for me to distinguish target characteristics easily. Coming from a GP3000, I loved the TDI SL's simplicity and light weight but not its limited tonal deficiencies. The biggest problem though, was its lack of power. I tried different battery scenarios including the RNB product for this model. It helped some but not enough for me to trust that the TDI SL had the raw power to detect effectively past 5" in high mineralization on medium to smallish gold targets. At least that was my experience. In milder soil conditions or in really bad serpentine with shallow targets, it would be great. In my opinion it cannot compete with the GP/GPX series as a gold prospecting PI in the vast majority of detecting environments. As a relic or beach detector it would probably really do well.
    2 points
  7. Been using mine since the end of January. I’m just now comfortable with changing some of the factory settings. It’s been more of a learning curve than I thought it would be as I have both equinox’s. It feels good in my hand and is well balanced. I really like the screen with the ferrous and nonferrous display, plus I’ve had instances where there were two nonferrous targets displayed at the same time. Turns out one was a pull tab and one was a small gold ring, tones were mixed but looking at the display I could see there were two different targets. My only negative comment would be the depth indicator is usually wrong. I primarily salt water beach hunt and and hunt in beach low conductor mode. I get more depth information listening to the strength of the signal than looking at the depth meter.
    1 point
  8. I picked up the Minelab Safari from a local guy in town, not a bad machine at all. I been out of detecting for a while now, got the itch, bought the Safari and been busy almost daily swinging for at least an hour a day. This machine does find everything, the good, the bad, everything. Still trying to figure it out but would recommend.
    1 point
  9. This is basically just a copy of the review I left for the Fisher F19. The Teknetics G2+ is exactly the same detector but with a different coil and rod setup as normally sold. Electronically and operationally it is the same detector as the F19 with identical performance. I actually kind of prefer the pistol grip design over the S rod on the F19 for comfort but both suit me very well and so frankly its a bit of a toss up for me between the two models. I am a Fisher Gold Bug Pro fan. The machine is lightweight, easy to use, and very effective for what it is designed for. However, the Gold Bug Pro is somewhat feature limited and the G2+ adds some extra capability that many people would welcome - things like a meter backlight or ferrous volume setting, for instance. This 19 kHz model is a very solid performer on low conductors like gold and small targets like ear rings or small gold nuggets. The 19 kHz platform is a little weak on silver coins but still does very well as a coin hunter. The main thing I like is the light weight, solid performance, and very simple operation. The 19 kHz circuit is also one of the best I have used for ignoring electrical interference in areas where other machines may have issues. To repeat, the Teknetics G2+ is the same unit electronically as the Fisher F19. The only real difference is the rod and grip assembly and the coil that comes stock. The F19 has the classic "S" rod handle, while the G2+ has a modified "S" rod with pistol grip design some people may prefer.
    1 point
  10. I used both the earlier CZ-20 and the CZ-21. I am a fan of the CZ series in general, and consider the CZ-21 to be one of the two VLF detectors I personally favor for serious water detecting, the other being the Minelab Excalibur. I am purposefully excluding detectors waterproof to 10 feet when I say this. The CZ-21 at 250 ft and Excalibur at 200 ft depth capability are far more robust detectors for those that truly intend on using a detector almost exclusively in the water. Detectors good to 10 feet are ok for mask and snorkel use but the CZ-21 is a true SCUBA capable detector. The downside is that means it is built like a tank with the weight that goes along with that. Unless you actually need that 250 ft depth rating there are far lighter and less expensive options available now. One small thing tipped me from the CZ-20/21 to the Excalibur and that is the way its audio discrimination was designed for coins instead of jewelry, and audibly puts nickel range targets into the high tone coin category. As a detector designed more for jewelry use the CZ-21 should read nickel range targets as mid-tone. That it does not means that to use the discrimination you either have to accept on passing on nickel range targets if you dig only the mid-tone targets, or just default to a simple ferrous/non-ferrous setting. This flaw largely negates the benefit of even having a mid-tone audio response. The Excalibur dies not suffer from this flaw. That is unfortunate as I rather prefer the CZ-21 otherwise as having a standard control panel with knob arrangement that can be easily hip or chest mounted out of box without extra accessories. The battery setup is more straightforward than that on the Excalibur. The tone arrangement is also simpler and more understandable than the more complex audio produced by the Excalibur, again excepting the aforementioned flaw. Finally, the CZ-21 offers a true all metal ground balance mode which I like a lot. All in all a great detector but I wish Fisher would have updated the machine to put the nickel range back at mid-tone, which would make it a far easier choice for me as compared to the Excalibur. It's really that one thing that puts my off the CZ; other than that it is a near perfect VLF machine for use to SCUBA depths. Hip-mounted it actually is also a very effective coin detector .
    1 point
  11. This was my first PI machine. I was looking for a lightweight, affordable PI, and the TDI SL was high on my list. When I saw the SE model I researched the Miner John's folded mono coil it came with and really liked what I read about it. I contacted Digger Bob (Comstock Metal Detectors in Paradise CA) and met with him twice prior to purchasing. I am really happy with this detector, it is so easy to use that I was detecting within 5 minutes my first time out with it. It sees targets deep enough that I bought a bigger pick lol and it also found me my first detected gold nugget. I'm working in Northern CA, steep and brushy with soil mineralization's all over the place. The weight, maneuverability and the ability to deal with high soil mineralization/hot rocks has made this my "go to" detector.
    1 point
  12. I am an avid MXT user, am on my third MXT since 2002, its a MXT Pro, I find the machine to be very adequate for my coin/jewelry hunting, using a combination of sound and vdi readings its a great jewelry machine. There are a lot of coils available to use on the MXT, I found that the 4.5dd Detech excellerator, 6"dd Detech excellerator, 5.3 eclipse and Detech 8x6 SEF are great coils for coin/jewelry hunting. As far as a nugget machine it does work decent, I run mine in Relic two tone for nuggets and it will get a 2 grain nugget down to around 2.5" deep with the 4.5DD the vdi is pretty useless in gold country. But its only a backup machine for me when nugget hunting. Overall I think its still a viable very versitile machine compared to the newest vlf machines on the market.
    1 point
  13. This machine was like my right arm for quite a while. Some say it's complicated but all you have to do is use the machine a bunch and it's not hard to figure out. It's still my go to machine for trash infested parks. You can disk out bottle caps easily. There are lots of custom programs on line that you can down load onto your machine which makes life easier. I've found so much with it including one decent sized gold nugget. It's a little on the heavy side but you get used to it. I've never ran the battery out ever in a full day of hunting. Tough and dependable for amphibious detecting. I give it 5 stars. The only way I'd ever get rid of it is when they come out with a faster CTX 4040 strick
    1 point
  14. I have and use a MXT Pro, it still is pretty much on top of the vlf pile for coin/jewelry for me, I have tried some of the latest machines and gone back to the MXT Pro every time so far. Most my park finds are in the first 5" of soil, not worried about the latest and greatest, its very good on gold jewelry due to the khz freq, even with the 5.3 eclipse coil I can hit 10" on a coin if needed. The gold mode works well down to about 2 grain wt nugget, is limited in depth due to vlf but is a decent gold machine in some areas. Very wide range of coils makes the MXT very versitile.
    1 point
  15. More than 10 years ago I started inquiring about some old locations I hunt. Most of the locations are old, shut down schools where coal was used as a heating source for decades. Before the EPA was birthed most people did whatever pleased them when it came to disposing of waste, regardless of what it was and these old school sites are no exception. The burnt coal waste was spread over many acres of school property which created some extremely harsh ground conditions. Grass and weeds find it hard to get a start and most areas are void of any vegetation. Most of the school grounds look like Martian landscapes with small BB size or smaller pieces of coal waste everywhere. This material attracts to a magnet with little effort and can reduce depth of all VLF detectors by well over half. In fact until recently maximum detection depth was actually 2-3”, any target deeper would give a solid iron audio report if any sound at all. After many years of hunting these areas all but completely unsuccessfully I finally purchase a White’s TDI SL with the stock 12” coil. It turned out the SL opened up these old sites and many nice coins and relics were unearthed, but not without many trials and numerous adjustments. Case in point: one particular area had been, in my opinion hunted out with many different VLF machines over a 10 year period and I was certain there were no good targets left. I had been hunting about 15 minutes and all the SL was giving were very short audio reports, which sounded more like chatter or EMI and not targets. This prompted me to increase the time delay to about 15 “which increases the time before a transmitted signal is analyzed” thinking the small pieces of coal waste were the short reports I was hearing. Continued hunting another 5 minutes and noticed the short audio chatter continued but not to the same magnitude. Stopping and increased the delay to around 17 and off I went hunting again. Suddenly I noticed the machine was running very quiet, to quiet. A minute or two later and a very loud low tone, which on the SL means a high conductor, I stopped and reduced the delay to 10 and found my definite answer. The coal waste was causing all the ground chatter and false audio reports. Increased the delay to 17 and recovered a wheat penny around 4” deep. Now to be honest I had to stop for a moment and think about what just happened. Decided to start over I returned to where I began hunting and discovered I had passed right over many good targets. After digging a few more wheat’s I decided to start checking these targets before digging and discovered if I decreased the delay most of these targets became the short sounding audio reports I had heard earlier. The PI was just the trick to discovering some nice coins deeper than 4” in these barren areas. I must add the SL is not the best choice to make if there is an over abundance of nails because of the very limited discrimination capabilities of this particular machine. As a final note I must admit this machine has opened up a lot of hunted out harsh ground sites. This machine is a specialty machine, by that I mean it’s not a cure for all hunting situations but for me has allowed me to hunt my harshest areas. Then a year later I found the largest class ring ever found and with the SL, in one of these same coal waste yards, amazing for me because this area has been hunted by many friends and the very best VLF detectors in the world yet not detectable until the TDI.
    1 point
  16. The Delta has many very good features. Unfortunately it could not cope with either the bad EMI or high mineralization in my area. I'm sure that in milder soil mineralization it would be great.
    1 point
  17. I have been metal detecting for over 45 years now and have waited decades for a metal detector like the Equinox 800. Until now the so-called "do-it-all" multipurpose metal detectors have been very limited in one fashion or another. In particular, there has been a wide gap between metal detectors that can handle saltwater very well and those that are very good at gold nugget prospecting. Waterproof detectors have also tended to be feature limited in the past, heavy, and usually expensive. I primarily prospect for gold nuggets, and hunt for coins and jewelry both in parks and at the beach / in the water. Historically I have needed different detectors for water hunting and for gold prospecting. Suffice it to say that the Minelab Equinox 800 is the first detector I have owned that can do all the types of detecting I like to do, and do it very well, if not better than other detectors. Add in the fact that it is waterproof, has built in wireless headphone capability, and is incredibly affordable, and you have a detector that pleases me more, and in more ways, than any other I have ever owned.
    1 point
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