Steve Herschbach

There appears to be a new genuine by Minelab smaller battery option available for the GPX series. Oddly enough it is not on the Minelab site and no reference to it anywhere except one Australian dealer http://www.minersden.com.au/minelab-gpx-small-lightweight-battery/

Part number 3011-0332 and less than half the weight, 18.6 wH good for around three hours.

This is your fault Paul for asking me if I wanted to meet up for a little park detecting. Maybe next week!

Nice Fred, looks better than the fresh snow out my window!

Thanks Lanny but all I am doing is cutting and pasting. It is best to go to source material for this type of stuff because so much out there is based on opinion. Goldbrick is right, people constantly use ground balance numbers to compare mineralization from one site to the next. Most people would agree that ground with lower ground balance settings is generally easier to handle than ground with high ground balance settings. However, the information below will show that is not always true, it is just what we experience most often in the U.S.

I did throw that note in from Bruce Candy above because Australia ground in general is fundamentally different than most ground in the western U.S. Our big offender tends to be magnetite (Fe3O4), in Australia it is usually maghemite (Fe2O3). From Dave Johnson at https://www.detectorprospector.com/files/file/53-gold-prospecting-with-a-vlf-metal-detector/

Susceptibility refers to a material’s ability to attract a magnetic field. In the context of metal detecting, it corresponds to the amount of magnetically active mineralization in the soil. It is often expressed as an equivalent percent by volume concentration of magnetite.

Tangent of loss is the ratio of magnetic energy absorbed by a material and dissipated as heat, divided by the magnetic energy which is attracted to the material and not dissipated. The tangent of loss is most commonly expressed in arctangent form as the loss angle. In the context of metal detecting, it corresponds to the ground balance point of the soil. In a general way it represents the type of mineralization present rather than the amount.

Magnetite (ferrosic oxide) is a heavy black iron oxide mineral which exhibits high magnetic susceptibility and low magnetic loss angle. It is commonly found as “black sand” or as dense black rocks. It is strongly attracted to a magnet. It usually “balances” near the ferrite calibration point of the metal detector, which on most detectors is within the range of 80 to 95% of full scale. Many black colored rocks, especially igneous (volcanic & extrusive) and high-grade metamorphic rocks, contain appreciable amounts of magnetite. So do many rocks with a bluish or greenish cast, especially rocks in ultramafic greenstone belts. Magnetite in the soil is usually in the form of sand, because particles smaller than sand unprotected by rock matrix tend to oxidize to maghemite or to be dissolved by organic acids.

Maghemite (gamma ferric oxide) is an earthy iron oxide mineral found in most soils and some rocks. Red iron rust is a form of maghemite with which everyone is familiar. Maghemite is formed by the oxidation of lower oxidation state iron minerals such as magnetite, free iron and pyroxene. The oxidation commonly happens through weathering and exposure to fire. Maghemite is usually reddish brown or red in color, and even in low concentrations its color tends to dominate the material it’s in. Like magnetite, maghemite has high susceptibility. It differs from magnetite in having a substantial loss angle, causing it to ground balance in the range of 40 to 80% of full scale on most metal detectors and under most conditions.

Now, if you read that again, magnetite will usually produce ground balance numbers in the 80 - 95 range. Maghemite, although it is much worse for detectors and in fact is what gives even PI detectors trouble in Australia, ground balances in the 40 - 80 range. In other words, ground with lower ground balance settings in Australia can be much worse than ground with high ground balance settings in the U.S.

Final tidbit. You know that really bad, bad soil that drove you nuts in the forest fire area? That is maghemite. Intense heat will bake our more normal soils and produce soils more common in Australian goldfields. Those of you that have run into it now know what the Aussies deal with in some regions.

They are all mine detecting models. This is an area of huge interest for humanitarian reasons and so has been subject to a lot of funding and study. The Minelab F1A4 mentioned is the machine that gave us the housing for the ill fated Relic Hawk and Golden Hawk models.

Government. Saving money and time. Crazy thoughts klunker.

Abstract

Metal detectors are basic tools used in humanitarian demining throughout the world. Because of the importance of these instruments, a document has been produced with broad international support that standardizes the testing of metal detectors. This document was produced by CEN Workshop 7 and is known as a CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA 14747). In particular, tests for determining detection capability are specified.

Some soils have magnetic properties that can influence metal detectors, causing them to alarm when no metal is present. This is one of the main factors limiting the effectiveness of metal detectors in some mined areas of the world. Many modern detectors incorporate techniques that allow the detector to reject the effects of the ground while maintaining metal detection capability. An important test in CWA 14747 is to determine the effect of problematic soils on a detector and the effectiveness of any such "ground compensation" function.

JRC is engaged in a metal detector testing programme and already has some magnetic soil on which to perform tests. However, a further soil was required that better represents the problematic soils found in many parts of the world. A soil was required with a high frequency-dependent magnetic susceptibility.

Using existing knowledge about the relationship between soil magnetism and other soil properties, areas in Italy that were likely to have soils with the required properties were predicted. Zones were identified based on ecopedological and geological maps. Several areas investigated were in Tuscany. Using further local information from the Tuscan Regional soil science service, more precise locations were identified.

A brief field survey confirmed the locations where the appropriate "Terra Rossa" soil could be found. A large container of the soil (~1m3) was then transported to the JRC facilities at Ispra where it was installed in a soil test box. The soil in this box proves to have ideal properties for testing the detection capability of detectors in soil.
 
To read the rest see Identifying and Obtaining Soil for Metal-Detector Testing

For en extremely detailed report on testing methods and results with several metal detectors see Systematic Test & Evaluation of Metal Detectors

I would say you have it spot on Merton.

It is a common misperception that the ground balance (ground phase) setting on a metal detector tells you how bad the ground is. It is only vaguely related to that. The ground balance setting is determined by the type of ground mineralization you are dealing with, but it does not directly report the amount of ground mineralization or magnetic susceptibility. In other words, you may be setting the ground balance to reject magnetite, the most common iron mineral in a lot of locations. What you do not know is whether you are tuning out a lot of magnetite or a little magnetite. Several Dave Johnson detectors like the White's GMT and the Fisher F75 and Gold Bug Pro plus Teknetics T2/G2 have Fe3O4 amount readings to complement the ground balance reading. It is this combination of the TYPE (ground phase) of ground mineral as indicated by the ground balance number and the AMOUNT (magnetic susceptibility) of ground mineral as indicated by the Fe3O4 meter that matters. Now for the technical details to back that up.

From the Gold Bug Pro manual:

Understanding ground conditions assists the user in setting up the machine, knowing when to readjust ground balance, and in understanding the responses of the machine while searching.

This detector displays two kinds of ground data:

1. The type of mineralization (which affects where the ground phase should be set). This is GND PHASE

2. The amount of mineralization (the greater the amount of mineralization, the greater the loss of detection depth & ID accuracy; this loss is more pronounced in Discrimination Mode). This is Fe3O4.

The goal of ground balancing is to equate the GND BAL number to the PHASE number. PHASE is the measurement of the ground. GND BAL is the detector’s internal setting which calibrates the detector to the ground’s phase. Notice that the GND BAL number is three digits, with a decimal point. PHASE has only two digits. GND BAL is a higher resolution number, so may differ a bit from PHASE in a perfectly balanced scenario. After pumping and releasing GG, the exact measurement of the ground will be transferred to the GND BAL setting. The two-digit PHASE number displayed on the screen indicates the type of ground mineralization.

Some typical ground mineralization types are:

0 – 10 Wet salt and alkali
5 – 25 Metallic iron. Very few soils in this range. You are probably over metal.
26–39 Very few soils in this range -- occasionally some saltwater beaches
40–75 Red, yellow and brown iron-bearing clay minerals
75–95 Magnetite and other black iron minerals

Fe3O4 BARGRAPH

The Fe3O4 7-segment bargraph indicates the amount of ground mineralization, independent of type, expressed as an equivalent volume concentration of magnetite (Fe3O4). It updates every second. It is sensitive to motion and will give the most accurate readings if you pump the searchcoil up and down several times over the ground. The presence of metal or “hot rocks” will cause the readings to be inaccurate. If you stop moving the searchcoil, the bargraph will go blank.

INDICATION RELATIVE % Fe3O4 SUSCEPTIBILITY MINERALIZATION

7 Bars -------- High over 1 over 2500
2 to 6 Bars -- Medium .026 - 1.0 61 - 2,500
1 Bar --------- Very Low 0.006 - .025 15 - 60
none -- less than .006 less than 15

Magnetic susceptibility is expressed in micro-cgs units. In a salt water environment in the absence of iron minerals, the bargraph indicates relative electrical conductivity. In soils with greater than 10,000 micro-cgs units magnetic susceptibility, the signal from the soil may saturate, or overload, the circuitry. This will not harm the detector but the machine will not be usable in that condition. The solution is to hold the searchcoil several inches above the soil surface so it is not “seeing as much dirt.” By listening and watching you will know how high you need to hold the searchcoil in order to avoid overload. The highest magnetic susceptibilities are usually found in soils developed over igneous rocks, in alluvial black sand streaks on beaches, and in red clay soils of humid climates. The lowest magnetic susceptibilities are usually found in white beach sands of tropical and subtropical regions, and soils developed over limestone.

The Fisher F75 and Teknetics T2 have a better defined Fe3O4 meter as explained in the T2 manual:

BAR GRAPHS Fe3O4 (magnetite)

This bar graph displays the magnetic mineralization factor, or magnetic susceptibility, of the soil. Magnetic susceptibility is expressed in terms of the percent volume of the iron mineral magnetite, which most black sand is made of. The depth to which objects can be accurately identified is strongly influenced by the magnetic susceptibility of the soil. High Fe3O4 values have a greater effect on detection depth in the Discrimination mode than in the All Metal mode. For the most accurate Fe3O4 reading, pump the searchcoil as though you were ground canceling.

Fe3O4 approx. Range micro-cgs Description

3 --- 7,500 --- uncommon but not rare, heavy mineralization
1 --- 2,500 --- heavy mineralization, not uncommon in goldfields
0.3 --- 750 --- heavy mineralization, but not uncommon in some regions
0.1 --- 250 --- medium mineralization, typical
0.03 --- 75 --- light mineralization, but common
0.01 --- 25 --- light mineralization, often low G.C. setting
blank <14 --- quartz & coral white beach sands

From Bruce Candy at https://www.detectorprospector.com/files/file/52-metal-detector-basics-and-theory/:

"In geologically new soils, the degree of mineralisation is usually weak, except for some volcanic soils. These relatively new soils are commonly found in North America and Europe (from glacier scrapings during the last ice age and mountain erosion etc). In contrast, surface soils which have remained surface soils for a long time often have high mineralisation, because the action of water, over a long period, causes iron compounds to migrate to the surface. For example, Australia has old soils, having had no glaciers recently or significant mountains to be eroded. Some volcanic rocks or sands, known as black sands, may be highly mineralised and are found, for example, in a few USA mainland and Hawaii areas. These black sands (or rocks) are made of mostly magnetite, an iron oxide called ferrite. These typically produce almost entirely X signals, and almost no R. They are heavy, that is they have a high density, and can be identified because they are strongly attracted to a magnet. Small roundish magnetite/maghemite pebbles (a few mm in diameter) are also attracted to a magnet. These, for example, may be found in many Australian goldfields, but do produce significant R signals. Thus, USA goldfields are typically different from Australian goldfields:

• The USA soils are mostly mildly mineralised but in some areas may contain either nearly pure magnetite black sands or rocks, which  are problematic for metal detectors as they have very high X components (strongly attracted to magnets).
• Australian goldfields have highly mineralised soils, but very few black sands or rocks that contain nearly pure X magnetite. The magnetic materials are in the forms of magnetite-rich small pebbles and rock coatings, clays and general “sandy” soils. These all contain magnetic materials that produce high levels of X signals as well as R. The ratio of X and R is random, and the R component arises from extremely small magnetic particles called superparamagnetic materials, which are discussed below."

Advanced Nugget Hunting With the Fisher Gold Bug Metal Detector by Pieter Heydelaar & David Johnson. Part 2 of this book is titled The Effects Of Ground Minerals, Native Metals and Man-made Metals on the Fisher Gold Bug starting on page 29 https://www.detectorprospector.com/files/file/55-advanced-nugget-hunting-with-the-fisher-gold-bug-metal-detector/

Predicting Soil Influence on the Performance of Metal Detectors: Magnetic Properties of Tropical Soils http://www.jmu.edu/cisr/journal/13.1/rd/igel/igel.shtml

Influence of Soil Properties on the Performance of Metal Detectors and GPR http://www.jmu.edu/cisr/journal/17.1/RD/takahashi.shtml

Magnetic Properties of Rocks and Minerals http://wellog.com/RF003p0189.pdf

Workshop On Soil Magnetism http://www.gichd.org/fileadmin/pdf/LIMA/SoilMagn_Proceedings2008.pdf

I appreciate your enthusiasm Alex and wish you all the best. Here is a link to some good information on Rye Patch http://nevada-outback-gems.com/prospecting_info/majuba_mtns.htm

What do I like? My Big Foot coil. Unfortunately endless lobbying on my part with White's failed. Too labor intensive, not a volume type thing. My argument over and over is people will pay big bucks for them, just look at eBay used prices for them, and that they are the sort of coil that will make people buy the brand that makes the machines that run them. Kind of a prestige item if you will. Still a no go with the powers that be.

The other coil not currently being offered for the MX Sport that is a bit of a no-brainer is the 4" x 6" Shooter coil.

Frankly, I wish White's would ditch near their entire coil lineup and start over. The new 10" round DD looks like a modern coil. All the old thick foam filled been around for years because we still have the same old mold we have been using for decades coils need to go away. I mean the Shooter is a decent coil but compared to a 20 year old Fisher Gold Bug 2 6" elliptical it is a bit embarrassing. Pretty much the same story with every White's coil so if they are going to make me start over and buy brand new coils, at least give me brand new modern thin profile coils.

And a Big Foot!

If you are comfortable with White's no reason to look elsewhere for a VLF. It simply does not make that big a difference in the outcome when looking at VLF detectors.

The TDI and Garrett Infinium/ATX are only worth looking at if you are encountering bad ground mineralization and hot rocks. Those detectors frankly do not go much deeper than a good VLF in all metal mode, so what you are really buying is ground handling capability. At the same time you will give up an edge on smaller gold you can get with a VLF. To me those units have more value in California where there is some really nasty ground. Nevada not so much. In the end you can't say one will be better than the other because it is all about the nature of the ground and the gold you are hunting. My opinion is not any better and probably not as good as people who have been hunting Nevada for longer than I, but given what I have seen I would just as soon use a VLF as a Garrett or White's PI in Nevada. Unless you go to the next level and get a Minelab, but that is going to run more than you want to spend.

The CZX may or may not see the light of day in 2016. My bet is yes but I simply could be wrong. As far as what it brings to the table, that is a highly guarded secret at Fisher. I am hoping mainly for decent performance at a low cost and with good ergonomics but I do not expect performance exceeding anything currently on the market per se. Again, just my opinion, I could be wrong. All I can say is I never wait for new detectors coming because there are always new detectors coming.

Last tip again - never be in a hurry and consider used with transferable warranty. White's for instance has a two year transferable warranty. Buy a used one with no less than one year remaining on the warranty, and yes, if you take your time you can find one. The Makro Gold Racer being new will inevitably get the buy and try guys that give it a spin, and some will be up for sale soon used. It is inevitable with new models, and they also carry a two year transferable warranty. I buy used detectors all the time, in fact I am shopping for a used DFX right now. I use the eBay "sold listings" to determine low end resale value and stick to my guns and wait until I can get one for a price I am sure I can recover nearly 100% of later.

I can make you even more confused if I wanted because truly there are a pile of good detectors on the market. We can go round and round and talk ins and outs forever, and everyone in general backs their chosen machine because they are all pretty good. I think highly of the Gold Racer myself, but when it comes to recommending detectors I tend to be very conservative and tell people to stick with the most popular well known, well proven units. You can't blame the detector if it has been used successfully by lots of people for lots of years and resale is easy if you decide it was not for you.

Take your time, tons of old posts on this forum and others to look over. At the end of the day just do whatever feels comfortable. Best wishes on a difficult decision!

Well, you can't be in hurrying if you want to find a good deal on a used detector. $2300 is way too much for a used SD2200.

SD units are considered obsolete by Minelab and so you are dependent on third parties for repairs. If it really is an older unit, ask specifically about the battery as the old lead acid batteries on the models went bad for numerous reasons if not cared for properly.

If all you wanted was a good VLF nugget machine the GMT is a very good choice for Nevada. As you saw, there are a ton of good units and it gets overwhelming. My list has grown over the years, and in an attempt to just cut to the chase I added my Steve's Picks last year.

There are two theories I have seen on detectors. Theory one is all in, go for broke, go for the best, because anything less and you hurt your chances of success, and so will ultimately fail. This theory is especially prevalent in Australia due to the tough ground there and decades of heavy detecting. You hear it a lot here also, and it has very valid points.

I tend more the other way for people starting out. I know for an absolute fact I can grab any decent VLF, go detecting next week, and have gold to show for it. No doubt, 100% certainty. That being the case, I think most people need a relatively cheap starting point to find if they even really have the interest or aptitude for nugget detecting, and no reason that can't be done with a $500 - $800 VLF metal detector.

The GMT has every feature you need in a good VLF prospecting detector and is hot of the small or specimen type gold that can be found here. It does give up the multi-purpose aspects of the MXT however.

I figure a person can't ever find any gold with a good VLF they need spend no more money on detecting. Find some gold in a confident fashion first, then invest in a big bucks detector. Even then most guys keep a VLF around and for good reason.

I can promise you one thing for sure. Spending big bucks on the "best" detectors is no guarantee of success. The key is researching and putting yourself on good ground and lots of patience and hard work.

Do you still own the MXT? If so not a bad place to start. And for what it is worth I think there is a lot of pretty mild ground in Nevada where a VLF works just fine.

Hi Kenny,

Well first off welcome to the forum, glad you could make it!

One thing to know is there is not a lot of difference between detecting gold and detecting aluminum and lead. Prospectors want two things in general. First, the ability to handle bad ground and hot rocks. That usually means avoiding detectors with preset ground balances. No problem there with MX Sport.

Then small gold capability, usually tied directly to frequency when talking VLF detectors. Anything over single digit frequency is good with most decent gold machines clustering around 13 - 19 kHz. The exception being dedicated prospecting detectors, which can run much higher frequencies. Again, at 13.8 kHz no problem with MX Sport.

You can substitute lead or aluminum for gold, and basically the smaller the pieces you can detect reliably the better. Going foil detecting is a good way to practice and get good with a prospecting detector. For big gold I use a U.S. nickel to approximate the depth I expect to get on a roughly 1/4 ounce nugget.

You really have no need to have big test nuggets as that nickel will suffice and big nuggets cost big bucks. You might want about a 1/2 gram nugget for a test piece but I am curious to see what other people think on that issue. If I am testing hot high frequency machines (40 khz and higher) it is more like 1 grain.

The stock coil will be ok but the 10" x 5.5" is a better nugget coil, half because it has a solid bottom and will not hang up on stuff. I hope they come out with a little 6" x 4" Shooter for the MX Sport.

PM me your mailing address and I will send you a 1/2 gram nugget.

I saw that post but frequency is the same as the MXT so I am not sure what Andy was thinking. Maybe the DFX reference threw him, but the MXT and the DFX do share coils. He is right of course about the eight pins, as I go into at length at http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1533-whites-mx-sport-waterproof-metal-detector/?p=18793 but that in itself does not preclude an adapter.

I would not buy the MX Sport thinking it can share MXT coils but with all due respect to my good buddy Andy I do not think it is a foregone conclusion yet that it will not.

Hello Alex,

So far you have ignored my last two responses to your posts, so I will try again. Have you considered joining a local club to meet people you could go with?

The thing that made the White's MXT a huge hit was the knobs. I sold a ton of MXT detectors and it was because I could point a novice at the knobs and it was easy for them to see and understand each control. No doubt the same will apply here.

There is also the fact batteries and everything are in one self contained pod - no underarm batteries as in the Racers. I don't think that helps the balance out but it does raise the possibility the pod can be removed from the rod. What is that knob sticking out of the bottom? Is it a control (strange place for one) or a knurled screw that attaches the control pod to the rod? If the pod can be easily removed it can also be easily mounted on other rod assemblies. If Nokta offered coils with longer cables, or better yet a cable extension that would work on all coils, then a person could hip or chest mount the control box.

The dual LED ferrous/non-ferrous readout is cool - I have floated that as an idea for a long time to folks. Forget the target id stuff, just tell me if it is ferrous or non-ferrous, and this does it as simple as it can be done visually. Be nice if one was green and one red, and you could get both in play at once. Solid green, dig. Solid red, take a pass. Flickering green and red - how lucky do you feel?

This is just another detector that makes me think Makro/Nokta has effectively replaced Tesoro as a player in the market. This reminds me of what Tesoro could be doing if they were not asleep at the wheel.

More information here on Nokta AU Gold Finder.

Hello Alex,

Have you tried going to any local club meetings?

I have used the AT Pro and AT Gold. Excellent bang for buck detectors. I would say that the FORS DI3 is pretty much what you have in the example in the middle above with Iron Audio off. Three preset tone ranges, with the disc or id filter control determining the stuff that gets eliminated on the bottom end. Boost or DI2 eliminates that third high tone area and instead uses a two tone scheme. The target id ranges are almost the same for the AT units, FORS units, Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Teknetics G2 and T2, and others. 0-99 with break between ferrous and non-ferrous at 39-40.

The AT Pro I thought the display area small and recessed waterproof connectors to be a bit of a pain. The new Garrett AT 400 looks to be a dry land version of the AT Pro eliminating the waterproof coil and headphone connectors plus adding a larger target id number to the display. That should be a great little detector for under $400

Hi Dean,

Well, no, not what you are doing on the CoRe and you seem to have found your answer while I typed this up, but here goes anyway. Technically "Iron Audio" is a trademarked term by Garrett describing a specific function on the AT Pro metal detector.

Once upon a time we had the single knob discrimination control. As it was turned up, everything below the setting was silenced, and everything above the setting went beep. Since iron was the first thing on the range of the control, turning the control up a small amount caused iron to be silenced, and everything else to go beep. In theory!

This suppression of signals has a few issues we can set aside for now, other than to say that some detectors rather than cause the rejected item to go silent, instead split the tones into two tones. The rejected items give a low tone, and the accepted items a high tone. The control would normally be set to cause iron to be a low tone, or this setting could be preset at the factory. The White's MXT Relic Mode is a very popular use of the adjustable version of this setting and the Boost setting on the FORS CoRe is a good example of a factory preset version.

Now, if the tones are factory preset so that iron gives a low tone, and everything else a high tone, you can go back to using the knob to silence items. The very simplest discrimination range looks like this:

-2 BIG FERROUS * * * -1 SMALL FERROUS * * * ZERO * * * +1 SMALL NON-FERROUS * * * +2 LARGE NON-FERROUS

So the ferrous gives a factory preset low tone, and non-ferrous a high tone. You can use the disc (id filter) control to eliminate just the -2 big ferrous sounds. Or both the -2 and -1 ferrous sounds. Or go even higher and eliminate the small non-ferrous. That is what turning up the ID Filter up or down would do for you except that by going under a setting of 10 on the CoRe you are actually getting down into the ground mineralization range, and may start getting ground noise.

What Garrett does with the Iron Audio feature is allow the zero point break between ferrous and non-ferrous to be shifted, or in other words turn off the factory preset and allow the "break point" to be adjustable. Just like the MXT Relic Mode has done for a long time with two tones, but it is a "new" Garrett feature on the AT Pro and with three tones.

Here is the Garrett sales pitch:

Iron Audio™

Scattered iron objects in the ground can mask good targets and even create “ghost signals” that appear to be a good target. Garrett’s selectable Iron Audio feature allows the user to hear discriminated iron (normally silenced) in order to know the whole picture and avoid being tricked into digging an undesired target.

Iron Audio also allows the user to adjust the mid-tone’s range to include all targets above the point of discrimination. The user is effectively adjusting the cut-off between Low-tone discriminated trash targets and mid-tone targets. This Garrett feature works in both Standard and Pro Modes on the AT Pro. (See illustration below)

Graphic illustration of Garrett "Iron Audio"

Other detectors can do this so no big deal but they can't call it "Iron Audio" since Garrett trademarked the term. The V3i for instance lets you set unlimited tones in any range and in any order you choose and the Garret system looks simplistic by comparison. Sometimes simple can be better however.

What I think is more interesting and available on only a few detectors is adjustable iron volume. When set to have ferrous tones if you get into a lot of ferrous trash the sounds can get overwhelming. Being able to set the ferrous volume allows you to set the volume of the ferrous sounds independent of the main volume setting. Nice and what I assumed you were asking about actually until I started looking into it.

Nothing to be sorry about Chuck! Maybe we will see an XVenture but it looks like the trademark process is stalled. Lots of name trademarks never become products. Name or not there is no doubt in my mind we will see more new products from White's soon. A low hanging fruit is something to replace the dual frequency BeachHunter model. That machine was pushed out the door early and should be an easy mark for some horsepower improvement. The control box and battery door design just plain sucks so stuffing a pumped up version into the MX Sport housing makes good sense.

Download the latest portable version of IrfanView at http://portableapps.com/apps/graphics_pictures/irfanview_portable

Full install versions at http://www.irfanview.com

Was reported here on the forum last September http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/1207-whites-xventure-metal-detector-trademark-application/

You are welcome Paul, just studying up and finding out what I can about it prior to getting one myself. Sold my V3i to make room - much as it was fun to play with just feature overkill for me anyway. They are saying about three weeks until we can get our hands on the MX Sport so we can compare notes once we get ours. MAP is $749 so time to line up a deal.

At least with the MX Sport we will be able to get our fingers around the coil and headphone connections. Those recessed fittings on the AT series are an annoyance for me. Wish the MX Sport headphone connection was underarm however instead of on front of pod. Oh well, there is always something!

Hey Paul!

OK, regarding your concern that any given two tones in the 8 tone or especially 20 tone mode may be too close for some people to hear the difference, making two tone areas blend together. There appears to be a solution on the MX Sport in the form of the previously mentioned Rejection Volume.

On most detectors notching out or rejecting a certain target segment causes items that fall in that segment to make no sound at all. With the MX Sport, you can set the Rejection Volume to a percentage, for instance 20% or 50%, and instead of being completely eliminated those items would be heard at 20% volume or 50% volume levels respectively.

The solution then if you get two adjacent tones would be to set one of the tones to reject, and then also set the Rejection Volume to, for instance, 50%. The accepted tone would be a full volume tone and the other tone at 50% volume would be very easy to distinguish.