New MXT user - help please!

[Anonymous]

I have just used my new MXT for the first time today at the beach..... its a little step up to say the least from a Coinmaster Classic - and I need a bit of advice.
I am sure the machine is OK and my lack of knowledge is the fault but could anyone please reassure me and advise if the following is 'normal' for this machine.
I turned it on with the selector set to 'salt' and the other knobs set to their 'P' settings with it in coin mode. With the threshold set to a low hum on the headphones I put it to about a foot from the sand and pushed it up and down a few times as per the instructions.
If I touched the sand it gave a loud 'hum' and a reading such as VDI +45 5c or the like. If I touched a pebble it does the same. If I manage to keep it a couple of inches off the sand and not either touch it or any pebbles it seems OK.
It does pick up targets and goes quite deep to say the least compared to what I was used to..... I have just got a bit concerned at the noises and readings if I touch the ground + the numerous 'low' readings that seem to sound as a 'hit' no matter what the discrimination is set at. Is this just me? I know a beach is not ideal but it displayed these traits in my garden; indicating numerous things every few feet. Is it just a case of this is a rather more sensitive machine with much more ability than I have ever had before and I need to hear all the 'hits' to make up my own mind as I gain experience to sift the intensity of the readings into things I need to dig or not?
I hope this makes sense and any advice and reassurance would be much appreciated!
Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

Stock concentric coil may not be best for salt beach. Try lowering your sensitvity. Salt mode, use relic mode, low disc. Dig most targets. It is sensitive to foil etc. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

will block any low signal that you choose to discriminate. You will hear a little quiet pop sometimes, it is the sound of the mxt cancelling the low signal. I have hunted beaches that have black sand on them which the detector picks up and goes crazy on. Also of course salt has a electrical conductivity that can effect your MXT. The MXT is very sensitive to even the smallest metal. I would bet that in your garden you have a lot of metal. Aluminum, coins and such. I would definitely turn up the discrimination, and turn down your gain. It is better to lose a little depth than to be drove batty by tons of signals. The MXT is so sensitive that it sees almost everything under the coil. I use the small dd coil, which is very helpful in seperating targets in trashy areas. Another thing you could do is ground balance your detector over the areas of sand that are the worst for giving you false signals. Just put your detector in the ground setting and pump your coil over the bad ground. After doing this change to the lock mode. This will cause your detector to recognize the ground that was previously causing your detector to false as ordinary ground. It will now ignore whatever was causing your detector to give false readings. I would definitely still turn down your gain. Sometimes the presets are too high for certain areas, especially when you are just learning your machine. There are many different ways to set up your detector. The forum has tons of advice on these subjects. I recommend reading as much as you can. If you want to know what your ground reading is, go to the prospector mode and ground balance your detector. Your ground reading will display in the upper right hand corner of the screen. 70+ is high. One great tip is if you put your MXT in lock before you turn on your MXT it will automatically set up your machine and lock it at an 83 ground reading (much thanks to Monte for this tip). Very helpful in highly mineralized ground, as long as your ground reads lower than that. HH Jason

 

[Anonymous]

I have just gotten back from Myrtle Beach, SC. No black sand but salt water and sand. When properly adjusted your MXT should be able to operate even while sliding the coil along the sand. Even wet sand. Even in slight surf.
If you have the threshold too high you will have problems such as described.
I set mine as follows.
Set in RELIC mode, trigger forward, disc at zero. Pump the coil up and down until the audio signal quits changing. If it takes about 10 - 15 pumps you have it as sensitive as you care to go. It it takes less, you can increase the gain. It it takes more or does not stop changing, you have the gain set too high.
You are border line if you pass over a coin and it hits overload. You may want to back it off a little.
You will get excellent depth. The real test comes if the coil catches some foamy surf. If you have too much gain it will go into overload. If you want to stay in the foamy surf, back the gain off a little until it stops going into overload.
This was in sand. Rocks or pepples may require different settings but I imagine the procedure will still work for you.
Once you get it adjusted correctly the only problem you will have with the surf or wet sand is that the coil wants to stick to the wet sand. You can twist the coil slightly to lift the leading edge to minimize the sticking. With a little practice you can keep up your sweep. You will have to muscle it a little more though. I am 64 and can manage it so it isn't really too bad.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for your advice guys - I will try lowering the gain a bit and see what gives.....