Jackpine

Going along with the lower frequency idea I got out the "new" Id Edge and put the 6" coil on it for some testing. First thing I noticed was the thing was responding to my hand at several inches????? So, I taped my (pt) .1 gram test nugget on a ruler and the dang thing hit it with low positive numbers and clear audio out to 1 1/2". Had to recheck the manual... 6.25Khz. crazy. Now that I think about it, the smallest gold chain I have found fresh waster wading was with the ID Edge. One thing about this detector, it has a narrow field which helps in iron but you really have to use a lot of overlap. Also, having used a lot of so fast response iron hunters I can say that the ID Edge gives the most accurate target ID I have ever seen on severly co-located coins in nails and not just your typical nails, large rusty spike sized nails. Tom

Funny thing about how alloys effect the conductivity. In actuality when alloyed together two high conductors read lower. Take the ring I posted, although it has good mass, the fact that it is 20K or 83% pure gold helped push it up into the zinc range. I have found many large 14K mens bands and none of them read much higher than tabs. Tom

Mike I agree on the lower frequencies being better discriminators. Detectors such as the Fisher 1270 with an expanded disc range in the right area and a volume control that acts more like a threshold control can eliminate small foil bits easily by the audio response. No screen needed. Tom

If I remember correctly it was in the 13 to 15 gram range. Thanks for the replies everyone. Tom

That's one of them. He has several videos on his channel using the multi-freq coils.. What was amazing is how close the 6x10 was to the 10x13 in depth. Tom

Steve I actually found that wading with a detector you did not care much for. The ID Edge. LOL There was a "closet queen" advertised on ebay and just had to have it. So now I am a proud owner of one again! Tom

The multi-freq coils seem to work well on the 705. detectingMo has some vids on the 6x10 Mars sniper. Multi freq Mars coils

This was a nice zincer. 1897 20Kt wedding band

Platinum and Gold 49Grams!!!! Jeez I'd have a heart attack Beach and Water Forum

Glad to meet you Grandpa Shorty is quite the guy. Never have seen him go much over waist deep while hunting. I spotted a small pothole lake out in the middle of nowhere on google earth one time that looked like it had sandy beaches. Drove 2 miles down a 2 track to get there and who do I see? Yup, Shorty! Years ago I ran into a couple guys from Kalkaska and they asked me if I ever hunted Shanty Creek beach. I didn't say. They told me someone hammered that place. Really! LOL Tom

Tom Thanks for your quick reply. The MXS performance in iron is also also important to me for working the shallows in fresh water lakes. The lakes near me very considerably in bottom makeup. From deep sand, to marl or clay bottoms to exposed gravel cobbles. It's those cobble areas that can be a problem for some detectors. Place a nickel or gold ring under a fist sized cold rock and many machine won't see it. Have only seen a couple VLF's using concentric that can do this usually a DD will handle them. For example, the Tek Omega with a concentric coil fails but, put on the 11" DD coil and it passes the test. White's must have some cold rocks for testing laying around?? The kind that null when passing over the center giving that boing sound response. Tom

Gramps The stock 10" might be all that's needed for coverage and depth. At least try it out for a while before springing for a larger coil. I also would like to know if someone has tried the concentric for wading. The design doesn't look to friendly for swinging through the water. BTW I live in Central Lake so we are neighbors. Ran into Shorty a couple times last summer while wading. Have known him for years. Tom

Tom, one of my requirements for a fresh water detector is the ability to see targets under cold rocks. I'm in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan where they are abundant in a few lakes and beaches around here. DD coils usually take care of this but I need to be sure. Thanks Tom Z

For me it would depend on the site. High use sites get a large coil to cover ground fast for recent drops and also for deep sand areas to get those lunker men's rings missed in the past and have worked there way down. Popular high use sites get hit hard by local detectorists so you gotta hit em hard and fast. Smaller coils for near shore iron infested sites where patient slow work is required.

On controls, buttons. Machines that got it right: FTP T2, F75, ML 705, Racer1/2. All options on the screen with as few sub menus as possible. Were talking VLF here so KISS. Tone choices of course, but would probably have to be a sub menu. Iron ID grunt or null. Depends on which the engineers could give the best iron see-through capability. I like the X-terra 705 because it has both options. A true all metal mode with iron nulling instead of a discrimination grunt would be nice. Tom

First off, my thanks to Steve for setting up these new forums. Adding to this thread, here are a few things I have seen with the X-Terra's which has ended up being a mini field test of sorts. LOL. Back before the original XT 70 was released I was fortunate to have an X-T 50 on loan to try out. After receiving the new 70 and doing some comparisons, I found that the 70 was not seeing a target in iron that the 50 would signal on. I rechecked the ground balance and still nothing! Going back to something I remembered about the Fisher Coinstrike's iron handling I turned on tracking GB. To my surprise the target was now clear and a full walk around signal! I questioned one of the field testers about this and he confirmed that the auto tracking circuit has an iron filtering affect. Why they do not give this information in the manual has always been a puzzlement to me as it is makes a huge difference. A big complaint filed against the X-Terra's was and still is that they do not have the fast response of the competition. While true to a degree, when setup properly they can do very well in iron filled sites. Unlike some others you cannot run them wide open in iron, you have to throttle them back. A friend that was a Sovereign user often spoke of lowering the sensitivity to reduce nulling in iron for better iron see through. This works with the X-terra's as well. To do this chose one of the preset patterns and accept in all iron notches then, noting which notch or notches the iron is hitting in reject them. This will of course cause the threshold to null out on the rejected iron and allow you to find a sensitivity level that reduces the iron response for better see through. The X-Terra's are in my opinion one of the better do it all machines out there. Tom

I will definitely be getting this. The long battery life and ability to use with any detector have me sold. Hopefully manufacturers will start making built in systems available. Detectors such as the T2/F75 with the rear mount battery pack would be good candidates for a manufacturer to convert to Li-Poly and power a complete built in system.

Something similar to the Fisher X series and CZ's. Solid epoxy and bullet proof. I have thousands of hours in the water with them on Fisher machines with not one failure.

FYI Dave J is back on board with concentric coils. All future FT products will be able to use both DD and concentric coils.

I'd buy the MXS, but the only thing holding me back is the 9.5" concentric coils design. That thing looks like it would be a huge drag swinging in the water. Should have been an open spoke design. Sorry White's you ain't got me on board until you come up with a properly designed concentric for fresh water use. Tom

Shows a US patent listed at the bottom of the specs...Hmmm Tom

I'm totally with JP on this. Given a chance even old ears like mine can hear soft sounds. I prefer headphones but, alway use the lowest volume possible that still allows me to hear a faint signal. Only when it's windy do I turn them up a bit. ALWAYS when adjusting headphone or detector volume start at zero or the lowest volume and adjust upwards. Never start out at high volume and adjust downward, this overdrives your ears and you will end up with a higher volume than necessary even though it may feel comfortable compared to louder response you started with. Audio tests on subjects have proven this to be true. Tom

I gave the Sharpshooter a run on the T2 this afternoon and I have to say it appears to be as deep as the stock coil. Dug a pencil eraser at a measured 7" and an old 12 ga. head at over 9". Pretty impressive for a 5.5x9.5" coil. Had the T2 wide open on sens and both targets banged hard in 1+ mode. Probably could have got them another inch or so. Tom

Tip for those that use the Racer 2 and Relic. Turn the iron audio to 0. The slightly softer "fuzzy beep" sound of certain targets that I and others have noted will be more pronounced. An early tip I believe from Tom D who should never be taken lightly. Tom

Steve I decided to go with the X-terra 705 for my next machine partially due to the multi freg aspect. I had a fair amount of experience on the 70 in the past and found the overall performance satisfactory for my type of hunting. The weight and balance match the T2. It has more features than the T2, however the controls once learned are very intuitive to use. The overall deciding factor was the available 6" concentric coil at 7.5Khz. Should work out great for my old site iron hunting. Hopefully it will be the "silver slayer" I'm looking for. Tom