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Hello Steve I have a? I bought a gmt a 2008 e series from a brian that was at gains creek when you found a big nugget with a Mxt . I have an mxt 300 the gmt I got from him seems weak or not ad great as my mxt can you help it's an old gmt 2008 e series is there a way I can make it better. the brian from amds aka akmining he know you I want it to be better than my mxt

Was talking to my sister yesterday (she has an MXT w/10" DD and 4"x6" DD). She said she was headed to a construction site with lots of rubble (rocks, dirt clods, piles of excavated ground) and wondered which to use? She lives in Colorado which, in my limited experience, has just moderate ground in the parks and school-yards. With your timely post, I'm wondering if the 5.3" Eclipse is the solution. No more head scratching; just post here and get good answers! Second question -- I cut and pasted this Dave Johnson quote from Steve's excellent review of the MXT here (Equipment Review sub-site): "Back in the late 1990's and very early 20th century, the MXT was developed around the 10x6 elliptical DD. When you're used to that searchcoil, stick a 950 on and the 950 feels downright clumsy with its muddy response and bad masking characteristics. Downright insufferable. The 950 searchcoil geometry was designed for completely different platforms. But, if you ask "does the 950 work?", well, yeah, it does. Wrong question. Sometimes engineers/designers view things from a different 'angle' than end-users. You obviously like the 950 coil on the MXT. Care to comment?

Back by popular demand and priced $100 less, the White's M6. The M6 is an extremely simplified White's MXT variant, and although it may be simple the MXT power is still there. See my early M6 review here. White's M6 information page White's M6 Owners Manual White's M6 metal detector White's M6 metal detector features White's M6 metal detector diagram and controls

The idea of another 14 kHz machine has been simmering on the backburner for quite some time. But which one to get, nose heavy At-pro, troubled MX Sport, all new Impact, depth challenged F75 DST, new white coiled Deus version umpteenth,... problems, problems,... the sheer agony of it all. So I stumble upon this nice looking second hand MXT All Pro. It's got Eighties Design written all over it. LCD reminding me of my Hewlett Packard Scientific Calculator, Black metal box with the field manual printed on it. Nothing touchy screeny or I-tector to be had. Am I as my stepdaughter often says becoming "Vintage", longing for the days when switches clicked, knobs turned and machines didn't great you with a goodmorning message. Goodmorning,... you've got to be kidding. Haven't had my coffee yet! So impressed with my TRX, tactile, functional, well thought out. My brain and mostly gut feeling pulled the trigger on the deal. Here's to 30 year old tech, 25 year old whiskey and most importantly,... I'm really hoping this one is spot on,... most importantly high quality LP record sound quality.

I want to start detecting some of the iron trash dumps that I come across out nugget hunting. I currently don't have a detector that can successfully hunt these areas. I have done some research and have narrowed it down to two. The MXT, proven winner and the Racer 2, because I have read good reviews. What I need is the opinion of the users on this forum and if you think there is something else that I should consider, please let me know. I know the Deus excels in this area, but not sure about having to charge so many batteries. Also, I thought I read the coils for the MXT were being discontinued??? Brian.

OK. the MX SPORT came out to take on the GARRETT AT PRO. Jury is out on that one at present. Seems a decent detector though, on a good platform. So.... with the waterproof casing already there, why not bring out a dedicated prospecting version at 19khz, with a lot less bells and whistles (tones?), to compete directly with, and hopefully be superior to, the GARRETT AT GOLD? The "WHITES MX GOLD" might be a winner Maybe tboykin can chime in on this? thanks jim

Ok guys, I would like to pick your brains on this. I just got back from running my mxt all pro out in a few parks. While I was digging a target, I ran my coil over it and it seemed to have disappeared. But my garrett pinpointer said it was still there. I thought this was odd so I ran the coil over my shovel and got nothing. I sat there a moment and decided to shut it down and restart it, and I was back in business. A few minutes later the threshold got really quiet, and it did the same thing when passed my shovel over it again. So, again I shut it down, restarted it, and it seemed to work fine. This happened a few times. So, after this happened for a bit, I started to think that that batteries might be going south since they were the ones that came with it, and I had been running it a lot since I got it just over a week ago. I jumped in the truck and ran up to the store and got some fresh batteries and something to eat and headed to another park. After a bit it happened again. I noticed that when I got around some playground equipment it wasn't sounding off with the normal interference that I usually get from it. So,I put the coil right on a part of the playground equipment and nothing. So I restared it again and got the response from the machine that I would expect. I replaced the batteries, checked the coil connection to the box, and had been running with the ground switch in the lock position. If it helps I had the gain set around 4 to 5, the discrimination set at about 3, and had be bouncing between the different modes (c&j, relic, and prospecting). I figured I would get some opinions before I contacted Whites to rule out any user error on my part.

I don't know how to start this off so I'd better just jump in feet first with this one Too, I got in to the MXT's quite by accident and because of it I then I met Steve in the early days of AMD, I hung on to his every word and the more he taught me the more I wanted to know, So I decided to Specialize In one machine and that was the MXT-300 and then the pro and now The All Pro and I have many thousands of hours invested in the MXT somewhere between 3 to 4000 maybe more, but who cares, that's not important, And like Steve has done I sold all my other machines and I did own some very serious Gear. I saw the Video and it was like getting a kick where it hurts from Whites because not only did they Ridicule a machine that I have pushed to the limits for about 5 or 6 years but they placed it lower than machines costing 4 or 500 Dollars less within their current product range, besides 3 to 4000 hours PLUS, using and testing the MXT's in some of the worst places on the planet, And yes I have other Whites machines too and on many forums I have done my best to promote Whites, So that Video to me is like getting a kick down south from a member of your family and in the past year alone I have spent somewhere between $5 to $7000.00 of my own money on Only White products, That Video was performed by a person who has extreme skills with computers and software, But I have 5 or 6 years of testing and using the MXT, I hope the people at Whites leave the serious side of testing to the learned People that reside here on this particular forum ABOVE all others, For a simple reason The People here actually care about what they are doing and using, they are not just digging up some ones lawn looking for stuff, They actually care about the products they use and want those products to be the Best that they can be, Certain members here could sell any machine on the planet, So I Urge YOU Whites to please work with Those such members because there Is a Resource Here for you to make use of like you have never Known, I have Spent thousand of hours helping people with buying Whites products and supplying parts all over the world along with helping many others come to terms with their machines who have bought them on my recommendation, and because of one video I have had heated arguments with people whom I have always held in high regard and as friends, and it was all for nothing. And a lot more other nasty stuff has gone on behind the scenes too, I have never had to say sorry for being in the right so much in all my life. Many people here have used the MXT but they have all got side tracked and forgotten just how good it is even after all these years. I think that people need to go back to the MXT and put the fun back in to detecting/prospecting in junk filled sites, It can do way more than what most people remember about it and their want for other things has replaced there knowledge about what it Actually can and will do, The laws of physics dictate what a detector can do not people and definitely NOT ME, I recently did my own video in reply to the video that Whites did and I also copied their tests,, I won't quote figures or numbers but their is no way would I trade this machine. If there was a better all round machine I would own it and my comments are not to try and convert others and I am not a Fan Boy, I look at this very seriously, It is about will it work where I am going and in strange lands it has become more of a test kit because if I am going somewhere unknown to me it is the perfect Tool for researching unknown areas, I have used it to locate Roman Villa's, WW II sites, Live munitions, Bomb fragments Gold, jewellery and coin hunting, in sites with over 5000 years of metal workings which lead me to discover a Neo-lithic site just for good measure. john

When it comes to disc setting we all have our preferred settings and we all carry on swinging the coil all day long without a care in the world, but after reading the Nokta fors gold thread, I got to wondering how many people adjust their Disc setting to allow for the Draw down effect caused buy hot ground, Most just get lazy and grab a rusty nail and wave it frantically over the coil and twist the knob til it sounds like a Goose farting in the fog and off we go til lunch time moaning to our mate that we got nothing, So then I got thinking about using the target we are after IE a rust stain Nugget in hot ground, So if we are lucky enough to find a small rust stained nugget then that would be the perfect item to use to tune our Disc settings with, As Steve pointed out on the other thread this draw down effect can be as much as minus 20 to 30 on the VDI on a machine like the MXTs, Using the standard settings in the relic mode around 2.8-2.9 the MXT will knock out most junk but when using the relic mode for prospecting the normal thing to do is set the machine up so it just knocks out nails which is at around "2" on the dial but even with rust coated nuggets and hot ground this might be way to high, I started testing and making notes of the where the dial starts to take effect and also what happens when you back it Off, The first thing I noticed was if you use a very rusted decaying 2" nail and by starting at disc Zero and turn it up to about 1.9 on the dial and at that setting the MXT will make Goose FF sounds with a VDI reading down from -10 ish down to -43. Now Once you have it set to that if you want to make that nail now make a High tone you will have to turn the Disc right down to 1.5 which will allow VDI reading of around the high -40s although you had to take it up to 1.9-2.0 to get it to make the low tone so Add the draw down of the ground effect and that the nuggets might be iron stained means that you have moved your chance of ever finding that nugget even further away,, There is a reason for the Iron probability meter on the GMT and in the manual they tell you to dig targets that read in to the 80%+ iron readings, Because if that nail can give you a reading of -25 add on to that That the ground can drag down the VDI reading by -30 or more that will give you a total reading of -55 yet you have set you disc to knock out nails that come between -25 to -40 then that would be Nugget is -15 below your Disc level which means you won't dig or hear it, This brings to mind a mate in OZ who went prospecting in the centre of OZ in an area where 5K was having fits because of the junk, Anyway he took his MXT there to sort through the Iron and the hot rocks using it in the prospect mode In Tracking he was getting GND readings of 95 which is about as high as it goes and Yes he did find Gold, Although a Pi might of been the better choice which means digging the junk as well. Good luck, john

G'day Folks, Today I Bought the 15" MXT MAX Coil, I tested it on 0.12 gram Nuggets and it see's them easy between 4 and 6 inches and Coke cans at over 4 Feet, It seems to give you about an Extra 25% more Depth which is Good Because I have Gridded my sites with the 12" / 300 Coil, I have No Doubt this coil will see Smaller Items than 0.12grams so just because it is Big doesn't mean I am loosing sensitivity So I am Happy about that. John

In the past we have used VLFs for Nugget hunting and everyone was over the moon with their machines and since the Birth of the PI a lot of people put down VLFs, Which is A Bit unfair Really, We have seen all the manufacturers Telling us all how good their machines are and about the Difference with their tracking systems etc etc, In OZ a certain Famous Gold Nugget was found with A Garrett and that was a VLF although the nugget was Huge it was found about a Foot Deep, No Doubt our Machines have moved on Since the 1980s and Now we have different types of Tracking systems, The Theory of these system is to Balance out the Ground and keep the Detector running Smoother by making the Ground Invisible to the detector, Well If This Is The Case then why when we GB our machines Does the Ground still give us Problems, Like Drag down the VDIs or make Gold Give an Iron Signal or Reduce the Depth of the machine when the Ground balance was supposed to Take Care of that Problem?? So If the Ground is still causing problems It makes me Wonder if I am in fairly hot Ground and I wave my coil Over a 2 ozt Nugget ? ( I wish ) would I still hear it at about 7 to 8+ inches using My MXT, Or Would My GMT do it better. I know the 14 kHz will work better and deeper in hot ground, But after reading A Famous prospectors comments I am not sure about which machine would find that 2 ozt Nugget easier. Thanks Guys,, John

G'day All I have just been Testing the GND readings On My MXT and My GMT and naturally they don't Match?? Anyway the MXT read 84 to 85, But the thing that has me Thinking Is with the GMT If I have the 6x10 Long Scan coil on it I get a reading of 65, but If I put the Twin D Coil on it I get A Reading of 78, So If DD's are meant to be Better In Hot Ground, Then why does the Concentric give A Lower Ground Phase Reading Than The DD, I am starting to think that Concentric Coils are just as Good In Hot Ground BUT ??? because they are more sensitive that they pick up More Noise, And the fact that they are more Sensitive they Give A Truer Ground Reading?? I know that the 6X10 Long Scan see's things that you would normally find with the Little Shooter Coil, Which is another reason why the GB 2 Is So Hot on Tiny Gold. But It is those GND Readings that are making me think this way. John

Years ago Steve Told me about NOT setting the Disc above 2 when using the Relic Mode for Prospecting, But I have found that his settings also Applies to Hunting Roman and Hammered coins too, As I was setting the DISC at 2.8-2.9 although I did have a lot of success, It seems that I can find those coins within the first 4 to 6 inches and A lot of Targets can be Missed because after that they send back an Iron signal when in the Ground yet in air test they send a good signal up to a foot - 13". I have found that either roughly setting it at 2 works Ok or as A Test piece to Calibrate it Properly as all Machines can Vary even from the same factory from Coils to Battery Power Etc, For you people who Are World Travellers and come over here to go Detecting, If you Get A New UK 5 pence piece and set your Disc up to the point where your machine (what ever Brand) tells you its junk then Back off the DISC so the Machine now makes it sound like a good signal That is the point you need to be Set At, There is a Risk that you might dig a bit more Iron, But a fair bit of it will signal as Iron, This way of setting the Machine will work for Gold Prospecting Too even more so if you have Nuggets with Iron Staining, Because it is low enough to allow the purities of the gold to come through which is also useful when searching for those elusive Tiny Gold Staters over here, and by using that 5 pence setting Nails with give an Iron signal one way and at 90 degrees they give a clear signal, My Settings on the MXT's were always 2.8 to 2.9 but using this method they are now at 1.7 - 2.2, It does not sound like much of an adjustment But Believe me it makes a heck of A lot of Difference, Like Small Gold to find Tiny Hammered Coins you have to dig a certain Amount of Trash and over here with 4 or 5000 years of metal workings we have our share of ferrous junk, This is the Coin In Question Hope this Helps,, john

Steve, I have been using the MXT's 3rd Tone for years Now, Have you ever use it When Prospecting and do you find it a useful feature, Its great on ploughed field where you can just kick back the dirt or in the bush, But some folks might get A Bit upset if you go doing it to their Lawns etc, Using this method can and does Add up to about 6 inches in depth on coin sized Targets and on bigger Items it c an add over A foot In Depth using the Standard 10" Coil. I don't know if many people know about this Third Tone, But we never hear of anyone using it, In Sites with less junk using the Third Tone Could really boost peoples finds Tally by the end of the Year, Thanks Mate, John

G'day Folks, I just got my New MXT with the 10" DD coil and so far I Like, It see's a 0.06 gram piece at about 2 - 2 and a half inches Or 1.0 grains And a 0.03 gram or 0.4 grain piece at about 1/2", That's not bad for the Stock Coil I can't wait to Try out the 6X10 or the 5.3 So Far I am Liking this New Set Up John

Steve, I am wondering In that Area where you found that 6+ozt Nugget which Machine would be better out of the GMT and the MXT?? Baring in mind that It appears that the Software In The Newer GMTs seems a lot more powerful, In Air Tests It seems to be a lot deeper or maybe I just have a bad memory, But it Picks Items up from a HUGE Distance and If it Losses 50% of that distance in the Ground ?? Then It is Going to Be Awesome Out In The Field, So I am Wondering Have I bought A Mutant GMT or are all The Newer ones Like This??, As you have pointed out Many times that the MXT works better in Hotter Ground, But with this GMT I am Not so sure Now With the 5X9 (6X10) Twin D coil it is seeing things at the Same distance as my MXT 300 did using the 12" concentric Coil, we all know that coil see things about 5 or 6 inches more than the 5X9 Eclipse Coil Does, So Something In The Power Department is really Set to The MAX with these Newer GMTs, Thanks Mate,, John

Comparing the TDI SL and The MXT Pro (12") I was wondering if anyone as Compared these Two Machines, Because the SL is an in between machine, Between it and the ML 5K, I have been wondering about these two machine Because I have Read Stories about people Pulling One Ounce Nuggets at 18" At Gains Creek with the MXT fitted with the 12 inch Coil, And I have seen Coins come up at over 13" with the same setup with the Gain set between 6.5 to 7, Yet I have never heard about Deep Nuggets found with the TDI SL, and I have heard about people digging Bobby Pins on the beach with the TDI's at 16" to 18", In Air Tests My GMT with the standard 5X9 coil versus the TDI SL, On a Round Flat 1 1/4ozt Lead Nugget TDI SL = 18" and the GMT = 21" set at 7'5 (pre set mark) So I could do up to 10 if conditions Allow, But considering the SL has a 12 DF mono I would never of expected that to happen, Like The MXT when you Turn The GMT up you Can hear it Changing Gears so to Speak as it Multiplies the Gain, Has anyone here found any Deep Nuggets with the SL, I know that someone in OZ found a 5.6ozt nugget AT 32" using a 20 NF Coil, I have picked up Large Iron at have 4 foot deep and the subway Tunnel at over 6 feet deep, But as winter is all but over I am hoping to get out and do some testing ect, Thanks Guys,, John

Hi Steve, I'm down here in Oz and was considering considering an MXT Pro. Would I be better off going to the V3i? Best regards....Robin

Metal detecting and the jar of gold1 hannon from AMRA makes an exciting find. Not sure he even realizes how outstanding it is,lol. You may want to just fast forward to the last couple minutes. Ray

I have an application for a specialized metal detector coil. I want to use a Whites MXT to provide ferrous/non-ferrous discrimination information on targets which are deeper in quartz than common metal detector depths (2-30 feet). These targets were not found with found a metal detector. I want to insert a metal detector probe encased in PVC pipe into a 2” dia hole bored into the quartz. Reading Carl Moreland's “Coil Basics” tutorial at http://www.geotech1.com/cgi-bin/pages/common/index.pl?page=metdet&file=info.dat it seems to me one of the figure 8 configurations would work well in this application. I would insert the probe on adequate length sections of PVC into the drilled hole and connect to the MXT. I’m armed with no metal detector probe building experience, a lot of RF experience, adequate test equipment. Will this idea work in general? Is one of the figure 8 configs the right topology? Any other hints on making this probe before I start? What distance from centerline of 2” dia drilled hole can I expect to discriminate on a US nickel sized object for ferrous/non-ferrous?

I got to use one of the very first White's MXT units, by sheer chance at Ganes Creek, Alaska, when then White's representative Steve Houston brought an early version up with him on a little nugget hunt I arranged. I soon decided that the MXT was perhaps the perfect metal detector for the Ganes Creek mix of low mineralization, tons of ferrous junk, and large gold nuggets. I very much believe my early use and promotion of the unit at Ganes Creek lead to the many people using it there with huge success. See the last few paragraphs at http://www.detectorprospector.com/steves-mining-journal/garrett-infinium-whites-mxt-ganes-creek-gold-nuggets.htm written in August 2002. I know just one person who found over 100 ounces with the MXT at Ganes Creek, including two nuggets that weigh over a pound each. I am sure that over one thousand ounces of the nearly 2000 ounces of gold found at Ganes Creek with metal detectors was found with the MXT. That success at Ganes Creek made lots of news and no doubt helped launch the MXT into being one of the most successful metal detector models ever made. It was one of the very first of the now oh so common mid frequency detectors that can do everything well. And still one of the best. Still, we do not hear much about the MXT these days as a nugget hunting machine. Ganes Creek shut down, and that took away perhaps the perfect MXT location from making news. And as a VLF the MXT does not see as much use with the serious folks down south who are more often than not using a Minelab PI detector for most of their nugget hunting. I am one of those people myself, but I have always had a need for a good discriminating VLF. I really loved my MXT, but it was finally a couple weeks of hunting very long days in the UK (England) that caused me to sell my MXT. The reason? Swinging 4.3 lbs day after day after day was not as easy as it was once upon a time, and newer detectors weighing much less were now on the scene. I ended up switching to the Fisher F75 purely based on weight and balance with the F75 at 3.5 lbs. And then I downsized again to the Fisher Gold Bug Pro at only 2.5 lbs. But I still miss the MXT and think about getting one from time to time, before reminding myself of why I got rid of it in the first place. I sure would love to see the MXT packed into a 21st century box. Still, it got me to wondering. Is anyone here using the MXT to find gold nuggets? Been awhile since I have heard of anyone on the internet using the MXT for prospecting though a buddy of mine did very well at Jack Wade Creek last summer with his while I was there. Here is the 6.85 ounce nugget I found at Ganes Creek in 2002 that got the ball rolling. Only 12 years ago but seems like a lifetime ago now. More information on the White's MXT

Here are some closeups of the 6.85 ounce gold specimen I found at Ganes Creek, Alaska in September of 2002 with a White's MXT. It has a solid gold core surrounded by dark reddish brown lustrous quartz. Theoretically no gold is ugly but I thought this one was so I dubbed it "The Ugly Nugget". The full story and more photos are at Garrett Infinium & White's MXT at Ganes Creek The quartz is representative of one of the several sources of gold at Ganes Creek. The quartz verges on being agate but not quite, is always a shade of brown or reddish brown, and commonly has wisps or sponge-like masses of dendritic (mossy) gold enclosed in the quartz. I will find pictures of other examples. Gerry McMullen found a huge one at Ganes in later years. My buddy Jeff and I were hunting way down below camp. We were on old cobble piles way back off the road near the creek, and I swung over the bank on one edge down into the bushes with my White's MXT. I got a loud signal and with a couple swipes of my pick basically just laid the moss back, and there it was. I did not think it was as big at the time as it turned out to be when it weighed in at 6.85 ounces. This still is the largest gold nugget/specimen I have found to date, though a solid 6.5 oz nugget I found last summer may have more actual gold in it. I eventually sold the nugget to Mike Robuck at The Alaska Mint http://www.alaskamint.com/ and it was still on display there when I visited last summer. It is not for sale but used as a set piece to show off gold chains draped over it. If you ever are in Anchorage make the Alaska Mint part of your visit because it is more like a museum inside than a jewelry store. The first picture below shows the general terrain the nugget was found in, Jeff with MXT in the photo. The last photo shows the other 1.3 ounces of gold I found on that visit to Ganes Creek, 8.15 ounces total.

Despite all the noise about pulse induction (PI) metal detectors these days I firmly believe that in the United States most beginning and many professional nugget hunters are often better served with a good mid-frequency VLF. For beginners I think it is more important to master the real skills involved in prospecting before investing a ton of money in a metal detector. If you can't find gold with a $700 detector there is little point in investing thousands of dollars in a detector that still probably will not find the person any gold. Perhaps a PI is required in most of Australia but I have seen very few places in the United States where a good VLF will not work very well or at least well enough. Certainly in Alaska that is the case, where low mineral ground and smallish gold is the norm. Even locations where large gold lurks are so loaded with iron junk a PI detector has a hard go of it. It is nearly impossible to convince die-hard PI users to accept this until they experience it for themselves. One of the best detectorists I know has found hundreds of ounces of gold including two nuggets each weighing over a pound, all with a White's MXT. He also has a Minelab GPX 5000 and is very good with it. This last summer we hunted a lot together in junk infested tailing piles. I tended to use my GPX 5000 and he tended to use his MXT. We ran neck and neck for finds, and he detected less and dug way less junk than I. When all the shallow stuff is gone a PI shows its value with extra depth. But in target rich environments, especially ones filled with junk, a good VLF is a worthy choice. Let's set the VLF versus PI thing aside though and accept for the purposes of this article that VLF detectors are still a good choice for many people in the United States. I know for a fact I could own nothing but a VLF and do very well indeed. So what VLF to own? Two detectors stand out in their high operating frequency as dedicated nugget detectors, the Fisher Gold Bug 2 and White's GMT. I could make a great argument for why either of these detectors will eke out gold where other detectors fail and do it consistently enough that a skilled operator would be wise to own either one. However, I think overall a better case can be made that if a person had to own just one VLF detector, a mid-frequency model would be a better choice. There is much more versatility offered plus a better balance of performance on all ground types and all gold sizes than the hot high frequency models. The contenders from the "Big Five" brands? The Fisher Gold Bug Pro (also sold as Teknetics G2), Garrett AT Gold, Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold, Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ, and White's MXT. All available for around $700 more or less. This is the choice I personally faced, and the decision took several years of use to settle. What follows is purely personal but I will explain why I ended up where I did. Fisher Gold Bug Pro, Garrett AT Gold, Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold, Tesoro Lobo, White's MXT First up, the White's MXT. Simply a superb detector, and one that has found me pounds of gold. Yet I am just going to go ahead and blow White's off at this point! Why? The weight. I am sorry White's, but at 4.3 pounds the MXT is the heaviest detector in this slug-fest. I love what the detector does, but I am no longer willing to forgive detectors with poor ergonomic factors, weight being the most obvious. In the 21st century, the day and age of the iPhone, poor ergonomics is not acceptable. The MXT needs to lose a pound, plain and simple. So I sold my MXT after one particularly arm wearing day. Now the Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ is a great beginners detector in that it is very easy to operate, but it also gets put aside. The detector is locked in ground tracking at all times while in all metal nugget mode. This is great for beginners but I personally find it unacceptable. I almost never use ground tracking systems as they mess with the signals from weak targets. If there was a locked or fixed mode it would be fine. Worse yet, the alternative discriminate mode has a factory pre-set ground balance. Sorry, fail. Just my opinion, but the Lobo is way overdue for an update after 16 years on the market. Garrett is to be commended for finally producing a waterproof detector that does not penalize the owner by weighing a ton and removing all the features. The AT Gold is a miracle in being waterproof and yet fully featured, with even the speaker being waterproof. And only three pounds with batteries! This detector is so wonderful I really do feel bad about taking a pass on it here also. Why? Sadly, the waterproof design also means special o-ring connectors for the coils and headphones. If you do not need the detector to be waterproof they are delicate connectors that collect dirt and require quite a bit of care to not mess up. The coil connection in particular is in a maddening location making it almost impossible to connect coils with bare fingers alone. A special adapter must be purchased if you want to have a choice in headphones. If you want waterproof the AT Gold is an obvious choice but I do not need waterproof for most of my nugget detecting. So down to two models, the Fisher Gold Bug Pro and Minelab X-Terra 705 Gold. Both under the magic 3 pound mark! Both with extremely powerful all metal modes. So powerful that in all metal mode these detectors give the PI units a run for depth in most ground on most gold in the US. This was tough for me as the X-Terra has a far richer feature set than the Gold Bug Pro and for many all around users would be the better choice. But I looked at both from strictly a nugget hunting perspective where those extra features are extraneous to the task at hand. It came down to this. In all metal mode the Gold Bug Pro is simultaneously and separately running in discriminate mode. The audio response is pure all metal, but you also get the probable target id, when possible, displayed on the screen. Very deep targets will have no target id, which is why we are using all metal prospect mode in the first place. The X-Terra 705 you can run in Prospect Mode or Discriminate Mode, but not both at once. This one thing leads to more efficient detecting with all the information you need on screen at once. The Gold Bug Pro gives you the target id, ground phase, and magnetic susceptibility reading all on screen at once while in all metal mode. ads by Amazon... That is how I settled on the Fisher Gold Bug Pro as my all around do everything nugget hunting model. It is not a coincidence it is also the lightest of the bunch at only 2.5 lbs with battery and 5” round DD coil and 2.7 lbs with the 5” x 10” DD coil. It is a basic unit that gets the job done, and that appeals to me. Plus, it does just fine for coins, relics, and jewelry if I wish. if I could improve only one thing it would be to swap the position of the target id and phase readout on the meter. I have to wrap this up by pointing out that these are all fine detectors. I can actually find gold about as well with all of them. The engineers have mid-frequency all metal detectors figured out, and in all metal mode these models are practically equivalent. Small nuances that help one model in certain ground cost it in another and it all evens out. So from a straight up all metal nugget hunting perspective I think a person can use any one of these detectors and be just fine. What differences there are show up far more when comparing discrimination features which are of little use to the nugget hunter. With that said, the final lesson in this article is that it is all the other factors a person should be looking at when making a choice. For me it was just lightweight basic operation. But if waterproof is important, the AT Gold is a no-brainer. The Lobo is very forgiving for beginners simply because it is locked in ground tracking mode. The MXT is a superior all-arounder, and the X-Terra has various tone schemes and notch discrimination features common on top-end detectors. You can make the case for any of them depending on your own particular needs and desires in a detector, and know you will be well served for basic all metal nugget hunting capability. We are lucky to have so many fine choices, all at very affordable prices.