"Seen some other questions about this on this forum, but not much in the way of answers."... I, too, have seen questions, but also answers. Unfortunately, too many readers are looking for the perfect answer that suggests perfect performance and you can NOT have that in an imperfect environment!
If you're waiting for someone to tell you the X-Terra is 100% accurate in TID in "heavy trash" then you'll have a long wait or you'll be listening to a fibber. What you have to do is compare the X-Terra models to competitive units, and you also have top appreciate that "heavily trashed" will mean something different to different individuals. A description of what your definition is would help.
x
x
"Does these units have pretty good see through ability?"... A term that's been used a lot and yet the ability doesn't really exist. Not when you're referring to metal, or dense mineral bodies or bad ground or ????
A detector will not "see through" trash targets that are located under, over, or close-by a desired target without being impacted to some degree by the trash. Now, if some trash target is directly below but much deeper and the 'good target' is shallow, then there will be minimal problem caused by the trash. Other than that, your electromagnetic field is not going to see a targets without also seeing trash that is within the field as well.
So, before I share my opinions on the X-Terra's, I will remind you that the only fair comparisons you can do right now are by pitting them against the competition with a similar or close-sized coil. Minelab needs to get a smaller coil on the market for the X-Terra's for them to excel in heavy trash environments.
x
x
"How about coins mixed in with say iron nails and so forth. Will it still read that coin and give a good solid ID reading ( Not jump around)?"... Any detector might, or might not, respond to the coin. When they do, they might or might not produce a good quality audio 'hit,' and they will usually not produce a reliable "lock-on" and not be a little jumpy. They could 'jump' or they could read higher or they could read lower, or they might read way low and indicate iron even thought they are far from it. It all depends upon the good target (size, shape, alloy, position) and the trash target or targets, and their own variables.
x
x
"How about the audio response in trashy areas. Does the multi tones create confusion because of all the different targets (drive you nuts)?"... Yes, using any multi-tone or mixed tone audio can cause you fits, regardless of the make or model detector used. These are metal detectors and that's what they do. They detect any and all metals and respond based upon all the information input into them.
x
x
"Say you have some items notched out, does it create a chattering sound if a coin is setting next to a notched out target?"... You might call it "chatter" if you're referring to an inconsistent reading. If a trash target is rejected, then ALL targets, good or bad, that produce a similar response will be rejected.
If a particular target segment is notched out and you detect a good target that is close by a rejected target, then you might benefit from hearing some broken response from the desired target that is impaired by the rejected (silenced) trash target.
When this happens you have a few choices. One is to just ignore it. I mean, if a person is going to try and notch out a lot of junk it's probably because they are low on patience to deal with it and just want to concentrate on the most likely-to-be good targets responses.
Another way to handle these iffy responses that are in a segment adjacent to a rejected segment is to turn a little and re-sweep the spot from a different angle. You can spend some time trying to get a better mental guess as to whether it is a bad target, a good target by a bad target or ???
Or, you can just decide that you're going to recover all solid hits and all questionable hits, ignoring only those that you don't hear anyway because you have notched them out.
x
x
"It's bad news when you have no dealers close at hand so you can get some hands on before you purchase that detector. Once you buy you own."... That is true. But it's also true to state that many people get a little "hands on" in a dealer's shop/home and make a purchase decision, but that brief "hands-on" experience doesn't really let you grasp the strong and weak points of any detector. Once you own it, then you can learn it and master it.
