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Wow! thanks for that great lesson, argyle! I'm putting the stock 7.5 back on and giving that a go this weekend with the GB tips that you mentioned. I haven't tried the XT-70 in the gold fields as I have the SDC for that and I love how it ignores the hot ground/rocks.It has totally spoiled me in that regard. Right now using a VLF for nugget hunting just has no appeal but I will have to give it a try since reading your post. My current hunting area has very little trash is shallow and the SDC runs super smooth there so using a VLF there never even crossed my mind. Thanks again, argyle! Dean

Have you noticed any "lag time" (latency) with this set up? Looks good. Dean

She's a good lookin dog! We have two pitbulls ( Staffordshire & American) and a boxer. Totally spoiled rotten!

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

My condolences, AjR. It's always difficult to lose a friend. Dean

+1 for the SDC. I found that the ATX falsed when the coil bumped a rock or branch. I just couldn't put up with that. That said, I think that the ATX is a capable machine in areas where it won't be bumped alot ( beach, cleared ground,etc.) I didn't find the weight to be it's biggest issue. I bought the SDC and love it. Perhaps Garrett has addressed the falsing issue? Dean

Welcome to the forum. I've seen your videos and posts on other forums- you are killing it with that FORS. Glad to see you here. Dean

Thanks guys! Now I will practice with a bit more education under my belt. Dean

Thanks for the tips, Steve. I'm hitting the gold fields tomorrow to scratch the gold itch then I will practice with the X-terra again next week.

Should be a nice cool weekend to hunt. Probably the last one for a while. I'm up in Prescott. Dean

Klunker, Yes, I am much better at the "reckless abandon" style of digging and recovery! I have found that when prospecting anymore I just set the detector down grab my pick and dig a hole until I'm sure the target must be out then detect the pile and go into recovery mode. I'm just tired of scraping a little then a little more then some more until the target is out. Hey, it works for me. Coin shooting in parks is totally new to me. I can't be a "dirt butcher" in a park. I did a search and found Steve's posts on Findmall re pinpointing with the XT70 and using prospecting mode. Good stuff! I think my problem is that I don't know exactly where the target is under the coil. Unlike a mono coil you can't use the edges to pinpoint and that is what I am used to. I need more practice for sure. I see where a small 6" coil would be helpful. Dean

I started out with a GB2 and love it. Very durable. Have fun with it! Where in Az. are you? Dean

Iv'e been wanting to see what the coin shooting/relic hunting thing was all about so I borrowed a buddy's X-terra 70 last week to give it a go. I did all the usual prep- YouTube vids, read the manual, practiced in my back yard, etc. I felt that I had a pretty good grasp of the machine and it's capabilities. Iv'e only ever had dedicated prospecting machines so I was pretty stoked about all the different modes and disc, etc. The machine has two coils a 9" concentric 7.5khz and a 10"x 5" DD 18.75khz. I found during my practice sessions that the DD handled the Az. ground better so I put it on for my maiden "coin hunt" adventure. ( I know the differences in the two coils and their uses. The DD was just more stable. The GB #s were anywhere from 10-20.) The first place I went this morning was to a farm that hosts a bunch of festivals, fireworks, etc.. Thousands of people a year tromp through there. I know the owners and they told me to knock myself out. TONS of garbage but the machine did well. I hunted in 3 tones, all metal and then went through the disc patterns to pick out the good targets. I used a small shovel as I was in fields. Here is where the frustration comes in....even with a SHOVEL and my scoop it was taking me waaay too long to get the target out of the hole. I will never ever, ever complain about pinpointing with my SDC again! So, I leave the farm (found a few corroded modern coins) and move on to a old park. Think grass here. I grab a big screw driver so as not to make giant holes in the grass. I decided to hunt under some big trees which was a good decision as I got a number of good sounding targets and could not recover any of them due to my inability to pinpoint them! ARRRGH! I didn't want to leave big areas of plugs (which I was doing) and ruin it for other detectors. Now I see why they make the small pinpointers and, honestly, I don't know if even that would have helped me. The guys on YouTube make it look easy. Well, I sorely need more practice at this coin shooting thing and probably more appropriate digging tools. At this point, though, I'm sticking to prospecting until the frustration wears off:(. Dean P.S.- I was very surprised at the depth capabilities of the XT-70. Very capable machine in the right hands.

Your hauls are getting bigger and bigger each time you go out AjR! Very nice job. Steve, I've not seen cages like that on grow sites here in Az..Perhaps it depends on the growers technique? Usually, due to lack of water here, the site is located near a water source and they use a lot of the black irrigation pipe and run elaborate irrigation systems to bring water to the crop. I feel your frustration AjR. Very unnerving to walk up on one of those sites. The forest service is the authority that handles grow sites now. Good old Ranger Rick is now armed to the teeth, wearing kevlar, and using planes with infrared cameras to locate grow sites (the weed retains more heat than native plants so the FS goes up at night and looks for the heat signature of a field of weed.) so give them a call. Again, great job on the gold! Dean

That thing is awesome! Looks like something out of Mad Max.

Thanks Guys, That makes me feel much better. I'm hunting again on Sat. afternoon as the temps are supposed to be low this weekend. My buddy just bought a pair of Detector Pro 150ohm headphones so i will check them out and see how they do on the SDC. Yes, "deep" is a relative term when refering to the SDC. But it is what it is. Super easy as Tortuga says. I love it so far. My buddy is absolutely deadly with his GP3500 and finds fly spec gold as well as larger deeper nuggets but it is noisy by comparison to the SDC. He has learned it's language well though. My new area has lots of shallow schist bed rock very well suited to SDC hunting. The largest nugget has been only .7 grams but the area has produced consistently so I can't complain. The area is not known for slugs anyway but is very close to home so it's all good. Thanks for the amp tips, Argyle. I will do some experimenting. Dean

Yes, I was referring to the LED threshold settings not the sensitivity (gain) settings. On 1 or 2 the threshold is only audible intermittently no matter what the gain is on. On threshold 3 she is very stable (in the proper gain setting) and the threshold is a nice constant hum. I ask because I read posts where guys are hunting on 1 or 2 which would not be possible IMO with the way my machine sounds. Perhaps it's my hearing? I'm def in my right ear because that's the side of the car my wife sits on. Seriously, though, I didn't know if something was wrong with my machine. I guess if I'm finding fly spec gold at the #3 setting it's all good? Although, I hope a higher threshold setting wouldn't "mask" or over power a deep faint target? Thanks for your answers! Dean

Are stable threshold settings on the sdc (1,2,3...etc.) dependent more on ground conditions than anything else? The reason I ask is I have not been able to run the threshold on my sdc less than #3. On 1 and 2 the threshold is intermittent and "warbely" and basically un-huntable . On 3 she's stable and I'm finding the tiniest bits of gold. Iv'e hunted various locations here in Central Arizona and always have to set it to #3 to get a stable threshold that is not intermittent. Normal? Dean

AjR- Nice man! Great lookin gold. Glad to see you out and nailin them down. I'm taking the SDC for a swing this weekend myself and hope to duplicate your results. Great work! Dean

Great report, Chris. Certainly shows why having more than one "arrow" in the quiver can be advantageous. Owning both of those machines I think would cover most prospecting situations. The addition of a good VLF for trashy areas would round out them out. Did you notice much depth loss hunting in the salt mode on the SDC? Not that it would make much of a difference in that if the machine isn't stable you won't be effective at any depth. Thanks again! Dean

nugget65- Steve posted some great links to other posts that are very informative re going wireless in my post called "blue tooth SDC" just a couple of days ago (http://www.detectorprospector.com/forum/topic/595-wireless-headphones/). I've done some additional research as well. Looks like . the Sennheiser R160 with Kleer technology may be the way to go. Found some for right at $100 on Amazon. Dean

Awesome vid! Love Tool/PC. Great music choice. Wish I could listen to that whilst swinging then when I swing over a nugget the detector lets me know with a polite beep:).

Steve, Thank you, that was perfect! Dean

Has anyone gone blue tooth with their SDC? If so, is it as easy as getting any of the readily available blue tooth transmitters plugging it in and off you go (with the proper head phones/ear buds,etc.)? Thanks! Dean

Congrats on your find! I really like everything I have heard about that detector. Almost pulled the trigger on one myself. Great job!