help with x-terra 70 in prospecting mode with 10" elliptical coil

[dazandyue]

i recently purchased this unit and have no troubles in coin and relic mode but the prospecting mode i find difficult to use. i have tried it in the high country and at the warburton gold fields area and i cannot seem get the unit to be stable. i can pass over a set period of ground where it seems like i am getting a very faint signal but once digging it will go away. I presume this is due to the ground conditions and i have ground balanced it several times and played with the sensitive but to me the unit just seems far too unstable to use in prospecting mode. Any help would be appreciated.

I found this on another post which i followed but still could not get the unit to be stable. I seem to get very faint signals all over the place so to me it seemed like the unit would suit to the ground conditions. Some signals would be clearer on certain directional passes with the coil compared to others too. I dug one large hole which the signal did not get any stronger and the pinpoint mode sent the unit crazy.

* Always use the X-Terra in Prospecting mode for nuggets as this is more sensitive than other modes.
* Switch to Coin/Relic mode to discriminate a target or, preferably, dig it anyway.
* Targets which are found in Prospecting but disappear in Coin/Relic mode should ALWAYS be dug.
* Use a DD HF coil (preferably the Elliptical 10x5" Coil) for Goldfields to cut through the mineralized soils.
* Noise Cancel and Ground Balance before switching on Tracking.
* Listen for FAINT, repeatable sounds. Always dig the fainter sounds that are repeatable.

The only thing that will confuse a VLF detector is usually Ground Noise. This can mask a good target so you need to try to properly balance your detector when you start using in in a new location. Headphones will help you to hear fainter sounds.
Carry lots of drinking water and enjoy yourself.

 

[BarnacleBill]

A few thoughts on the Prospecting Mode as opposed to Coin mode. First, the two modes are like night and day to use. The Coin mode by design is meant to filter out the ground noise, so it is much quieter and easy to use. The Prospecting mode allows you to hear more of the ground, & thus ground noise, because you are trying to find an unrefined mineral(metal) usually mixed in with ground having other minerals that cause ground noise. I would practice in ground that is not highly mineralised first before heading for tough ground.

If possible team up with someone that has used the X70 in the area you are going prospecting. It may be that the areas you are trying to use it in necessitate the use of a Pulse Induction(PI) type detector because of the level of ground noise. Measure the ground to see how "hot" the ground is, http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,574329,574329#msg-574329 However there are some steps you can take to minimize ground noise issues.

1. Always use Auto Tracking Ground Balance.
2. Always swing slowly, the swing speed in Prospecting should be dramatically slower than in Coin mode.
3. If the Ground is changing quickly and the Tracking can't keep up, then switch to Beach GB mode with Tracking on. The Tracking in Beach mode is about 5X faster than in standard GB mode. But as soon as you locate a target turn Tracking Off, or it will quickly Track a small target out.
4. Make sure you Noise Cancel and are not carrying a cell phone/pager that's turned on.

HH
BarnacleBill