Cabin Fever

Thanks for posting that Steve. Even though I kind of new we were near the limits of VLF, that gave me a whole new perspective and understanding of it.. The part about removing ground affects is where the Minelab FBS detectors have succeeded in moving in front of the pack for coin hunting.. They are not necessarily deeper than any other brand detector but their technology allows better ID at depth over others in bad ground. You see the same thing in their gold detector line as well. I'm hoping they have a little of that ground penetrating magic in their new Monster Gold detector. Minelab seems to be in the forefront of "removing ground affects" Bryan

I hope they are clearing inventory for a new model but you would think the new company's are digging in to their market share. The used detector market seems flooded too which I'm sure affects them. As for the T2 Classic , I just bought one and was a little take back by it. I love the simplicity of it. I have not had a chance to hunt with it because of snow but just playing around in the house with it I can tell it's going to be good. One button, one dial and a trigger combined with speed and depth.. At $499 it feels like a steal and they can be had for just over $400 if you shop around. The more serious I get about detecting the less I depend on screens. I crave depth, speed and audio.. Bryan

Thanks Steve for the additional info. Steve. There's a lot going on inside that Impact! Can't wait to see some videos and hear more details on performance. That little elliptical coil will be a must have if its anything like the one they make for the Gold Racer. Are the Impact updates available on both PC and Mac? I know CTX software only works on Windows PC. Bryan

Fred I bought one of these Mojave's out of curiosity and frankly cabin fever with still over a foot of snow in my yard. I have only been able to play with it in my basement with the nail board test and various targets, but it performs a lot like a Silver Sabre. I would call it a cross between a Silver and Compadre because it does have the expanded Full Range 180 Discrimination like the Compadre. At less than the price of a coil for my CTX the Mojave is a bargain. I won't be able to test the new ground switch until the snow melts so I'm not sure how functional it is. Should be a great detector to keep full time in the back of the truck for when you wished you had one. It picked up a 2.5 grain nugget at 2 1/2" which I though was respectable for a cheap silent search detector. If the bad ground switch works it might actually be usable as a nugget detector for the kids or friend along for the hunt. With Tesoro's famous iron handling abilities you can use it for relic hunting too. Bryan

Were you an Impact tester Steve? Looks like it could be very capable nugget detector. Bryan

Really early yet but the Impact might be the ultimate trash busting detector. there are a lot of features, some of what Keith alluded to in his post about audio adjutability that can be used not only in the iron range but the aluminum range if I read it correctly. That 4x7 coil they have for it looks like the one I have for my Gold Racer which is shockingly deep for it size. I absolutely love that coil. There Is also some type of discrimination on one of the All Metal Modes. Three different frequencies that sound like they actually work like 3 different frequencies unlike the multi frequency machines out now and 12 different modes makes for a complex but possibly powerful tool.. Bryan

You are exactly right Steve. Out of coil frustration for my CTX I just picked up a used ETrac and one of the first coils I purchased was the SunRay 8" round coil. I have no desire for this 9x14 for Turf hunting. Bryan

I'm optimistic about the Monster. It might not be submersible but it looks like it can play in the mud to me. Knowing how well the Auto ground tracking and sensitivity works on the CTX this Monster might be a smooth running little beast. Also the components look to be versatile so you can put them on custom shafts easily. Might be able to put together an ultralight telescopic shaft setup to throw in a backpack.. Extend the shaft for regular detecting and shorten it up for banks and hill sides. Bryan

Just a guess but if it's like the CTX 3030 the Auto + will run 1,2 or 3 numbers higher than the recommended Auto sensitivity. Bryan

Like you said Steve. Tesoro has the ability to put something together pretty easy. The Tejon is very powerful, runs at 17kHz, and has dual discrimination knobs that you can trigger between. Add another tone or two and a tone break and you could have a great detector.. Fix the weird All Metal mode and you would have a good nugget hunter too. Bryan

I picked up a Golden uMax off Craigslist last fall. Definitely a very unique detector with what seems to be great potential as a fresh drop type Jewlery detector. I threw a 3x18 Widescan coil on it and took it for a short spin one time before the snow rudely interrupted my detecting season. I didn't find any Jewlery but was very happy with its performance with the 3x18 coil. It was my first time using one and I was a little shocked at the speed you can cover ground with that type of coil. Not sure why Tesoro stopped making the Golden uMax because it's a pretty neat little detector. Extremely light which is a big plus for that type of hunting. Bryan

A lot of these different VLF detectors have pretty close to the same performance but a completely different feel, sound, display and menu.. You almost have to try out a lot of the different brands so you can to see what YOU like. What might be a complicated menu for one person might be a breeze for someone else. The sounds of some detectors is enough for me to refuse to use them no matter what their performance. Join a club so you can check out other members detectors or do like me and buy used detectors to try out.. You can re-sell them and get your money back as long as you don't over pay for them in the first place. Another thing to think about is your type of hunting style and ground conditions. One guy in some state across the country gets 10" dimes with detector X and in your state detector X IDs a 6" dime as a nail if you can hear it at all. Bryan

Nice! That cross is pretty neat. That 01 Barber have a mint Mark? An S would be a bonus for sure.

Nice hunt and great story. Shows it's smart to change up settings and detectors on a good property. I'm going to try and run more detectors this coming year just for this reason. Bryan

I know what you mean Strick... I buy and sell a lot of used Detectors just to play around with them and test them out. The one detector I couldn't part with is the CTX.. I am buying an ETrac as my backup just in case my CTX goes down. I don't want to be caught without an FBS detector and the Etrac will make up for the one downfall of the CTX, and that's coil selection. I have already bought several coils for my future Etrac. As far as settings I use combined mode and right at the end of the season I started changing from Ferrous Coin to more High Trash and Ground Coin but still use all three. My ground is pretty bad and I'm finding GC the deepest in my soil but I think High Trash is what I should be running with my ground and sweep speed. Ground Coin requires a slow sweep speed which I forget to do quite often. I'm anxious to get back out because I just now feel like I'm getting to a new level of understanding of the CTX, so I will be making more changes to my programs this spring. I run it hot and noisy so my goal this year is to quiet it down and still try to retain its depth. It's going to take a combination of discrimination, Target Seperation mode, sweep speed and sensitivity.. Any tips you might have would be appreciated. Bryan

The new Minelab 15" 3kHz coil is the exact same Coil as the Coiltek WOT. It's just grey, labeled Minelab and is cheaper. I had one for a short time and it is a fantastic coil for the 705. Very deep and quiet in bad ground. Deeper than my CTX 3030 17" coil combo on dimes. Well worth the price. https://www.minelab.com/customer-care/product-notices?article=269779 Bryan

Thanks everyone! Patience and persistence like a couple of you said is a big part of my success. The Parks in my are are not "untouched" and our city has had very active club since 1971. The Parks I hunt have been pounded. 3 silvers in one day is considered a good day for me to kind of put in perspective. When I go to a park I establish that parks old zone depth wise and focus on that area which usually starts somewhere between 5 and 7 inches. I'm not a clad hunter and bring home very little. The more time I spend fighting a zinc penny from the grass roots is that much less swing time try to get to put my coil over an old coin.. GB Amateur maybe I didn't explain my finds very well. I have found lots of wheat cents of all dates including the later date coins. I just didn't show them. I added a photo of the jar of common wheats I found this year to my post. I just put the better date and condition coins in the flips that I have pictured. Steve I have a weird obsession with Tesoro detectors and can't help myself when one comes up for sale on Craigslist for dirt cheap so I buy it. I have very little actual swing time with them but I plan to put a lot of time on them this year as I hope to do some relic hunting if I can get to some ghost towns. Another reason I want to use one is to see if I can improve my detecting skills. The simplicity of them fascinates me I guess. Buying and selling used detectors is kind of part of the hobby for me. I have to give a lot of credit to the CTX for my success as it can ID deep coins and coins on edge in bad soil better than any detector I have ever used. I would like to take a little credit for learning to push the CTX and eke out those really tough signals that many people might walk past. Most of the easy stuff is long gone in these parks and all that's left are the ugly signals. Another detector I forgot to give credit to this year is the Minelab 705 coupled with the 15" Minelab 3kHz Coil. It's actually a little deeper than my CTX on silver coins but does not have near the ID power of the CTX. Thanks, Bryan

Happy New Year everyone! Here is my 2016 detecting year review. This was my first full season running the CTX 3030 and I used it almost exclusively for all my detecting. The Makro Gold Racer is responsible for a few of the finds and I plan on giving it more swing time next year. In fact, besides my Chinese coin my Gold Racer found my oldest coin of the year. An 1875 Deutsches Reich 2 Pfennig. Almost all hunting was done in Public Parks with a few curb strips and private home sites thrown in but I would say over 90% of the finds were from parks.. My goal for the year was 100 Silver Coins and I just made it with 106.. Next years goal is to NOT set a goal. It kind of took some of the fun out of detecting towards the end of the year with the pressure on and unusually bad fall weather cutting in to hunt time as I was trying to reach 100. Once I hit my number everything was good again. I was able to slow down and enjoy the hunt. I didn't get a chance to do any nugget hunting this year so I hope to change things up a bit in 2017 with some nugget and relic hunting too. 2016 Totals: Wheat Cents 328 might be missing some Indian Head Cents 30 Silver Coins. 106 V Nickels. 9 Buffalos. 8 Silver Rings 11 Misc Silver Jewelry 10 Gold Rings. 2 Key Date and better date coins 1921 D Mercury Dime 1895 S Barber Dime 1917 S Buffalo Nickel 1931 S Wheat Penny 1909 VDB Wheat x2 1911 D Wheat x2 1912 D Wheat 1912 S Wheat x2 1913 S Wheat x2 1914 S Wheat 1915 S Wheat x2 1926 S Wheat x2 Foreign Coins No Date Victoria Quarter 1870-1901 1907 1956 Canada Dimes 3 Fish Scales (5 Cent)1892 1909 and a no date 1875 Deutsches Reich 2 Pfennig. (Gold Racer) Chief Lung Tung Pao 1736-1795 Several older Canada pennies My favorite finds of the year are probably my Key Date 1921 D Mercury Dime (VF-XF) And my Sterling Type 1 Eagle Scout ring 1930-1940. I also remember the Sterling pocket watch belt clip being an exciting find also with its booming high tonesand lots of silver flash when I opened the plug. Although my area in the Pacific North West lacks some old history and does not produce really old coins like other parts of the country, it kind of makes up for it a bit with a lot of S and D mint marks.. A lot of the key date pennies I found are really nice and should still have some good value even after coming out of the ground. Coins hold up well around here for the most part with a few exceptions. I found quite a few VF XF coins. I moved mid year so lost a lot of hunt time and am missing some of my misc. finds like buttons, keys, pins and tokens. I'll find them eventually if I ever get fully unpacked. The more serious I get about old coin hunting the more I don't care about the quantity but rather the quality of my finds and the hunt itself. Might not ever find a hundred Silvers again in one year and that's ok with me. Funny how you perspective of things can change over a year. Thanks for looking and enjoy the hunt. Bryan

I know you earned that gold Strick. The CTX is a great coin detector but no magic bullet for gold. You dug a LOT of aluminum for that gold if that was mostly park hunting Really nice finds! Bryan

Nice details on the Barber and I agree, the boot plate would make my day..

Those are some amazing depths you are getting already Paul! Makes me want to go buy a Fors Core to try out. I have never been able to punch past 10" on a dime or 12" on a quarter with any detector in my soil. Your doing great! Bryan

Ya when the battery gets low on my carrot it starts doing all kinds of bizarre things. Great pointer otherwise. Bryan

Glad to see some additional forums Steve. Even though I really like following the prospecting forum,the fact is I get very few chances to nugget hunt and spend most of my time old coin hunting. I'm more likely to spend more time on your site if there is a good coin detecting forum running. Just an Idea but I was thinking maybe some kind of New Eqipment News bulletin where new metal detectors and related accessories can be announced. Bryan

It sounds like something was off on your ground balance. Like you said you might of set it over metal. If you are going to use Manual you need to constantly check it to make sure the ground under you has not changed. Try tracking to see if that runs better for you. You are also correct that you may have to learn to live with some extra noise to get real deep. I only have about 10 hours or so on my X-Terra but was surprised how quiet it ran compared to my CTX 3030. I was running the big 15" 3kHz Coil which is real deep on silver by the way and I didn't have much problem with wrap around or ground noise. I was running sensitivity around 26 and used both tracking and manual ground balance. If you can't get it to run quieter for you and the wrap around is driving you nuts you might notch out 48. I don't think you will lose out on anything by doing that.

Until someone smarter than me chimes in to help you out I would say that wrap around seems to increase with sensitivity. My CTX 3030 does it real bad when you pump up the power. I haven't experienced it much on my X-Terra although I haven't used it much. I would say make sure your ground balanced. You might have to use manual instead of tracking and maybe try slowing down your sweep speed and cut back the sensitivity a bit. I run the X-Terra in AM mode and don't notch anything. I use Prospect mode to check the shape of the signal. I have also run it opposite of that and search for deep sounding coin size signals in prospect mode and check the target in AM. Visual ID on very deep coins can be all over the place and even the tones will turn to Iron tones at the very edge of detection.