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One Detector For All Things


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1 hour ago, SLGuin said:

I did not mean to suggest a CTX purchase, i

No problem, I have gone back and forth several times considering the 3030 as I think it would serve me well near home.  Maybe in a year I'll pick one up but there are new detectors in the works it appears so well see what kind of magic they bring.  

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It will be interesting to see what you get and how it works. A compromise is almost inevitable without multiple detectors, hence the genius of looking at it as a spectrum and choosing what works for what you want to do. I have been looking at what people choose for this like GPZ 7000+Makro Gold Racer or GTX 5000+Gold Bug 2 as PI+hot vlf combo for nugget hunters. Big and small covered, clean and trashy covered, bad ground and good ground covered and with only two detectors. If the pair is chosen well, two detectors also work for other things outside the main area of focus even if not quite as well. Nugget hunters seem to do this much better and more intentionally than other treasure hunters who have a less cohesive collection of detectors perhaps because the focus is less defined. This last points up the value of knowing with precision what you want to find and where, which makes detector choice so much simpler. For instance, if you decide you want to nugget hunt with two detectors the choices are obvious and even with several good PIs and VLFs to pick from for each side of the two detector spectrum you are less distracted from good logical choices.

 

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23 hours ago, Roughwater said:

Ok, we know there is no perfect detector for all types of detecting (Prospecting, Relic, Beach and Coin).  But what is the closest thing to it that is available?  The CTX3030,  a great machine from most accounts really good at 3 of the 4 types of detecting but many say not as good for Prospecting.  Then we have all the BBS, FBS detectors great as well for the same 3 types of detecting.  Then the many Other single frequency detectors, many good for Coin and Relic and some span on into gold detecting as well.  Of course the PI detectors which have poor if any discrimination value but are really deep seeking but not so good if you are working a trashy areas.  

So what would be the best detector out there if you want something that spans all 4 of the primary modes of detecting?  In my search I can only find one so far that I think fits that requirement pretty well:

That would be the Whites Spectra V3i.  That's only my amateur opinion as I have a limited knowledge of metal detecting.  Are there better Multifrequency detectors out there probably, are there better gold detectors out there - For sure, and are there better coin and relic detectors out there, probably but not that many as this is probably the detectors strongest area.  

There are several things I like about this detector as it has 3 frequencies and you can run all 3 at the same time or individually.  It can use all the MXT coils which are many so no worry about coil selection.  It appears to have a better than average discrimination.  It allows for an abundance of control of the machine.  In multifrequency one can go pretty deep in wet salt sand, or running it at 20 khz one can prospect or hunt for smaller types of relics.  Want to go deep for coins or lager targets switch to 2.5 Khz and put on a big coil.  It also has preprogrammed modes as well if you want to keep it simple.  I just recently became aware of this machine and in many ways it has the properties of what most would want in a all purpose detector.  If a new company came to me today and said they would build me the Ideal detector and asked me what characteristics I would like to have built into it, this detector would fill most of my request.  Only other thing I would want is one more Frequency (50Khz or so) and be water proof! 

Ok now this is where I would like you all to chime in because I know there must be weakness to this machine as well or it would be far more popular than it is.  I have heard issues with EMI. I don't know what other issues there may be, maybe it don't ground balance well in real mineralized soil?  I don't know but I'm sure some of you do.  Please give me your thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Terry

    

 

The big 4 in a VLF eh ....Multipurpose.

Let's see now ....I should be saying something like "in my humble opinion" but I'm not a very humble guy (I are in person though) plus it ain't church day.

So I'll just come straight out and tell you that the most all-round Coin/Jewellery, Prospecting, Relic and single freq beach VLF detector ever made, and is still in production, is the XTerra 705.

If you haven't used and mastered one already Terry, feel free to give us a hoy and I'll give you the complete run down on them, and directly compare them to every detector you'd like to mention on in-ground un-dug targets, all the way from benign open parkland, heavily junked areas, sand, and mild to the hottest of gold bearing dirt.

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3 hours ago, argyle said:

So I'll just come straight out and tell you that the most all-round Coin/Jewellery, Prospecting, Relic and single freq beach VLF detector ever made, and is still in production, is the XTerra 705.

Interesting Argyle,

I'll look into it a bit this evening when I return home from work.

Terry

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MXT and X-Terra 705 are two of my favorite do it all detectors. MXT is ultimate in ease of operation (everything you need to know is on the control box) and does not fall over when set down. X-Terra is much lighter and way more features than MXT but the manual is needed. Year longer warranty also.

If I had to downshift from my CTX there is a very good chance it would be to the X-Terra 705. Right now my Racer 2 is occupying that position. It would be very instructive to run the Racer 2 against the X-Terra but I don't see myself springing for the bucks to do that.

The one machine for everything question can actually make a person crazy so that's about all the thought I am putting into that!

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Argyle...my kind of guy, no mincing around! I really liked my x-70 but I have played with a couple of x-705 machines...If I had to go to only one do-it-all machine it would have to be xterra-705 as first pick...especially with three coils.

Slightly off topic-which coils do you use and for what purposes?

fred

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If I was forced to make a single detector do all my land hunting needs I'd keep my V3.   I'd have to spend a lot of money in coil selection trials to make it just right for every condition but I'm pretty confident the V3 could do it.  

Little heavy on arm so I'd have to work out a little more.:sad:

HH
Mike

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19 hours ago, auminesweeper said:

If you click on this link and read this story it will give you some idea what the MXT can do, But you have to remember that Australia has some of the toughest ground in the world for detectors which is another reason the GPX is so good,, Enjoy.

john

http://www.goldsearchaustralia.com/index.php/mxt_stories

On this link I posted, I did the maths and that small piece of Gold they found in that hot ground they said it was I/15th of a gram, that works out at 0.06 gram which is just about ONE grain and when you consider they were using the 6 inch concentric coil in hot ground that is pretty good going because that Aussie Red dirt is murder on nearly all detectors,

I think too many people over look that 5.3 (6 inch) concentric coil, One thing that a concentric coil will do which no one ever mentions is that the Actually Lower your ground balance setting

For example on my GMT the Twin D Coil (DD) gives me a GB reading of 79 to 81, But when I put the Longscan 6x10 Concentric on there I get a GB of 64 to 66 which means that I have more adjustability left in reserve because it has lowered my GB by about 20%.

So this got me thinking, So I tested my MXT AP with the 10" D2 coil and I used something with High magnetic properties and got a reading of 86 so just to find out what the extreme reading would be with the So called worse possible Coil I used the 15" MXT Max concentric coil and I got a GB reading of 75, Now when you consider that I had over twice the surface area and yet I still got a lower GB setting that's quite an inspiring Result and on the surface it still managed to see a test piece weighing 0.03 grams which is about 0.43 grains.

Now that brings me to the JEDI of micro Gold, The Gold Bug II, it only uses concentric coils and it is the Grand Master of the specs, which is what prompted me to buy that Longscan Coil (concentric) mid last year and it has bought my GMT to a similar ability as the GB II if not the same Only I got more gadgets/Info to use.

Anyway hope this helps because that little coil will find Gold about as small as the SDC which is nice to know even in that Hot Aussie Ground.

John 

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