MX5-My dream machine.

[slingshot]

Monte was right on about this machine! And thanks for the pm, Monte. After only 30 minutes I loved this machine! Of course, I've been doing this for over 40 years, but still-I knew this was different than what I've been using. True-most finds are within the 3-4" range and ID is a crutch at times-but the FUN factor FAR outweighs being a die-hard beep-dig enthusiast. One target about sums it up. I got a tab/zinc varying tone/ID signal. It was a trigger off a toy gun. You could see where the tones/ID were actually FOLLOWING the outline of the trigger! I LOVE this machine! Just too much to post about at one time-and only after 30 minutes.

 

[Hombre]

Good choice, slingshot

If you don't have the 5.3 Eclipse coil yet, save your clad finds for one, mine stays on all the time. It goes deep for a small coil, found some silver dimes in the nails at respectable depths. Funny you should mention tracing out the toy gun trigger, mine did the same thing when I found three old brass house keys, low ID's until the coil went over the big end of the key reading as a penny. Have fun with, no doubt you will and Happy Hunting.

PS; The MX5 is a battery miser, I have about 50 hours on mine and still showing half strength on the meter.

 

[Monte]

isn't perfect ... but it certainly is one heck of a value and full of performance. The primary thing I wish it had is a 'Lock-Trac' option. However, after well over a year of using mine, the ONLY time I have had a real problem was in the worst iron plagued site imaginable and all of the repeated sweeps over the dense iron targets did start to degrade the Ground Balance setting enough to cause a slight problem, but that was only once.

My 9" spider Concentric coil is at-the-ready on a spare lower rod, but, as Hombre suggested, the 6½" Concentric [size=small](the 5.3 Eclipse)[/size] is 'THE' search coil to have and probably keep mounted most of the time. That's what I do, unless I use it on a beach [size=small](freshwater)[/size] because it balances great, works efficiently, and you have ample depth for most sites. It is now my most-used White's model.

Monte

 

[slingshot]

Thanks guys. I have realized the single tone seems to be the deepest. I was finding the usual targets at the usual depth at half sensitivity when I got a one-way signal with 74 ID and a faint hum on pinpoint. It was a penny at 8"!! I was just enjoying the hunt with half sensitivity and threshold just ticking every so often and wasn't really expecting anything deeper than 4-5"and just trying out the single tone vs. the 8 tone. I did run across a small patch of ground similar to what Monte was describing and merely slowed the sweep down considerably to recheck the signals. A lesson for screen watchers; I got a tab reading but the signal was so strong I dug it-two quarters with 2 nickels on top! I like the 9" coil cause I'm using this machine as a sort of field detector for the many spacious areas I'm unable to cover in my allotted time and it really gives me fresh areas to hunt.

 

[mudpuppy]

Very nice write up and that shout out on your Distributor's delivery speed was admirable as well...

I can feel your excitement! That multidenom stack you just found, the 2 q,2n stack?...thats a good one!...makes a fellow wonder how many Silver Dollars are out there with a handful of indian pennies right on top? Great posting Slingshot!
Mud

 

[MattBullSummerville]

Taking my MX5 to Cartagena Colombia in about a month. See what the tourist have left behind on the beaches. Still trying to decide what coils to take with me other than the stock 9 inch. The 4x6 Eclipse Shooter hits hard on coins here in the Charleston area. I'm thinking bigger though to cover more area. Anyone who has used the MX5 at the beach with suggestions I'm all ears.
Matt

 

[ROBOCOP]

I've been using the Detech Ultimate 13" on mine for about a year. Use it on the salt water beach wet and dry sand and I can run it at full sensitivity. If the coil goes under water I can get the occasional overload signal. I usually do all dry sand first. Then I go over wet sand and repump the coil a few times than stay over wet sand. The machine is a fast responder. I like the 8 tones and run it in all metal.

I use the MX5 on busy public beaches.
On the Treasure Coast of Florida I use Excals, a Sovereign, Detector Pro HHPI and a White's TDI


ROBOCOP

 

[medic48]

I'm new to the forum and new to the hobby. Just got an MX5, it is my first detector. I am attempting to "teach" myself how to use it and having fun while doing so. Made some unusual finds already like a knife, a canteen, war nickel and a whole bunch of pull tabs. How do they get 7-8 inches deep?

 

[Hombre]

I'm new to the forum and new to the hobby. Just got an MX5, it is my first detector. I am attempting to "teach" myself how to use it and having fun while doing so. Made some unusual finds already like a knife, a canteen, war nickel and a whole bunch of pull tabs. How do they get 7-8 inches deep?

medic 48...


Welcome to the forum & hobby, you said "How do they get 7-8 inches deep?" Well first you have to run your coil over the deep ones. I did it with mine within a couple of weeks into owning the MX5. I was using the 5.3 Eclipse coil when I found an 8 inch deep wheat penny and my hunting buddy checked out the signal with a XP Deus. he said that it was not a coin when he run his 9" coil over the still buried wheat. I was using 8 bars of Sensitivity, Coin mode, 2 Tone Audio, all-metal accepted, iron is a low tone and anything above VDI number Zero is a bright high tone. The signal was a squeaker of a high tone mixed with low tones, VDI numbers were a bit jumpy, going to the upper 70's with some stray 40's but alway hitting in the 70's. I then adjusted the Audio to One Tone or sometimes called mono tone. Then went into Disc. and notched out the first 3 iron segments. This cleared up the deep signal and the VDI numbers settled down into some steady (70's) #'s. I used the all-metal pinpoint and de-tuned the signal by moving the coil just slightly off target then releasing then pressing pinpoint button again, the depth gauge read 7½". I called out to my hunting buddy that I thought the suspected target to be a deep wheat penny, dug down to 8" and found a 1913 D wheat. Just missed it by a year to be a key date wheat.

 

[Hombre]

I'm new to the forum and new to the hobby. Just got an MX5, it is my first detector. I am attempting to "teach" myself how to use it and having fun while doing so. Made some unusual finds already like a knife, a canteen, war nickel and a whole bunch of pull tabs. How do they get 7-8 inches deep?

I think now I understand what you meant by "How do they get 7-8 inches deep?" you were talking about the finds you were making were 7-8 inches deep, I guess It's just one of those metal detecting mysteries, like how does a 1962 memorial penny get down to 9" deep, been there done that !

 

[medic48]

Thanks, I appreciate the help from pros...I still want to find out who buries the pull tabs that deep though.

 

[liondogs]

: It's just one of those metal detecting mysteries, like how does a 1962 memorial penny get down to 9" deep, been there done that !

I was reading an article on this very subject a while back. Interestingly Darwin did a study on this very subject and determined that things sinking in the ground are caused by earthworms. He published a paper on the subject after his return from his famous trip on the HMS Beagle. His theory was scoffed at by the experts at the time and not well received but has been given the thumbs up in recent times. Darwin's theory is that earthworms tunneling looking for food and the collapse of these tunnels cause things to sink in the ground. The earthworms also deposit what is called casts on the surface of the ground which further help to bury things. Casts are tiny bits of dirt and the remains of what they eat. The more earthworm activity in an area the quicker things sink. The article stated this is why in very dry areas things tend to sink slowly because the dry earth has a lack of earthworm activity but in a well watered fertilized park area things will sink fast because of a lot of earthworm activity. The article also stated that there is probably a mother lode of old coins in any given area that have sunk just out of range of modern day metal detectors.

 

[ChuckVT]

I love my MX-5. It is just a coin vacuum at a very reasonable price with a lot of nice features. I picked up a 6 x4 coil and lower rod, and now I can handle just about anything. You can't beat that small DD coil in trashy parks, and it gets good depth. I really thing that this is a machine that is one of the most underated in the hobby!