Explorer XS

[ldhrelics]

I thought I would relate an early story about my first Minelab the Explorer XS. I unboxed the detector, put it together, studied the manual and headed for a camp site. Well, the weather didn't cooperate. It started poring down rain, and I was wanting to hunt so badly. My buddy had his Garrett GTI 2500, and I was going to show him what he had been missing with the Garrett. I had to find a place to hunt, and I remember a small rock shelter that was used to play poker years ago and decided to try it until it quit raining. The area was literally covered with pull tabs, the Garrett was useless. I was convinced that the Minelab could find something within the pull taps. I kept getting a sporadic high tone in one area, and kept raking the pull tabs away convinced that it was a silver dime. My buddy kept saying no way. Well after about 10 minutes of searching, I came up with a Mercury Dime in all that trash. I've never looked back. I rarely use my Garrett these days. The moral of the story....trust your detector.

 

[UtahRich]

Great Story.

I've had so many great experiences with my old XS and now E-Trac. My daughter has gone detecting with me a few times and I picked up a Explorer II for her in the middle of the summer. There are other very capable detectors out there, but I've really grown to love the Minelabs and their ability to ferret out good targets in and amongst rusty old iron and trash.

Rich (Utah)

 

[weequay]

Hi Rich,

What has been your experience of the E-Trac vs the Explorer XS?

Thanks!

 

[UtahRich]

My comparison of the two detectors? I'll try to keep it short.

Well, I loved my Explorer XS's ability to find coins deep and to get good targets that were with or adjacent to rusty nails and iron.

I was using conductive tones and a very low Iron Mask setting. I hunted primarily by sound. The rest I left up to cursor behavior and position. I really liked the sound.

Pinpointing was a little hard to start with coming from using concentric coils since 1985, but I learned how to X my targets to optimize pinpointing at depth. Not long after acquiring my XS in 2000, I was fortunate to get a Sun Ray X-1 pin pointer. I don't know how I lived without one before. It make recovery quick and easy.

Earlier this year I decided to try my hand at an E-trac. The difference?

Lighter
Better hand position, it is more up and down rather than my hand tilting forward.
Simplified pinpointing, more accurate for me and no need to X the target unless I want to
Even better depth than my XS
Pro coil is lighter and seems more sensitive
New screen orientation (X,Y) and increasing of conductivity scale 0-50. I like the new screen layout better.
Seeing both the graph and the smaller digital scale (kind of like picture in picture) is a big help as I analyze a possible target
There is a 1/4" headphone jack.

Still a problem that they haven't fixed?

Yes;
1. The V shaped arm cup is still wrong. Still have to go aftermarket there.
2. It would be nice if it were rain and splash resistant.
3. It could be even lighter
4. Hand grip could still be better. I'm seeing a lot of electrical tape jobs and tennis racket grip and handlebar tape.

Those points aside, I still like love the E-trac and it's ease of use. There are settings to tweak, but not so many that one gets lost and isn't sure which way to turn.

The Explorer lineup is actually pretty easy to learn and become accomplished with. Becoming an expert still takes time behind the display and out in the field, but a person can take an older XS or a brand new E-trac and shortly be recovering deep targets in relatively easy fashion. I think that is why the Explorer's in general have been so successful and we see so many success photos and stories on this and the E-trac forum.

I'm sure that others can add to the list of improvements that have been made to the original XS as it has evolved to the Explorer II, SE and now SE Pro.

Good luck

Rich (Utah)

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Once they got the bugs out of the original XS with new plastic and minor problems learning from their original after the 2000 came out many XS units are still being used 10-11 years later and grabbing the deep silver. Never used the E-trac but used the 11 and SE and XS was as good as either. Sounds like the E-trac made a lot of improvements and made a good detector even better. Now if Minelab would only lighten the load as arm and back problems are a major concern for them appearing on the classifieds...

 

[UtahRich]

Once they got the bugs out of the original XS with new plastic and minor problems learning from their original after the 2000 came out many XS units are still being used 10-11 years later and grabbing the deep silver.

Now if Minelab would only lighten the load as arm and back problems are a major concern for them appearing on the classifieds...

My original XS was one that went back due to the plastic cracking at the upper rod clamp. Minelab put a new housing on it and got it back in my hands pretty fast. Never had another problem with it. Always reliable. It was really a great detector. I ended up selling it about a year ago, one of the forum members bought it as a back up and I assume he is still using it.

I had some shoulder surgery a couple years ago, and that shoulder can get a little sore after a few hours of swinging. I do like the lighter E-trac and the improved hand position, it is much easier on the shoulder and wrist. It would seem to be a natural for Minelab to move the next version of the Explorer into this style of housing.

Rich

 

[utahshovelhead]

Hey Rich and you fellas,
I might add one more thing to Richs list of differences. The E trac is now simpler to use and adjust with the menu being fairly intuitive more than with the XS and the II.

Rich is dead on with All the likys and the added screen info makes it very easy to pre check your targets and the Pinpoint made a great difference for me personally.

On the con side...I would love lighter too. ( rotator cuff, but I am miraculously able to forget pain when detecting)

Good luck
utahshovelhead

 

[weequay]

Do you find that the E-Trac is faster? I thought I had heard that the E-Trac recovery time is faster. It seems that my XS needs to go slow, and re-sweep a couple of times to uncover targets.

 

[ldhrelics]

I found that the E-Trac is much faster. I upgraded to an Explorer II after the XS, and then to the E-Trac. The E-Trac is better by far. I'm finding a lot more silver with the E-Trac. If you upgrade to the E-Trac be sure to buy the Andy Sabisch book on the Explorers; it will save you hours of trial and error.