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I have been detecting for 2 years. I started with a White's DFX and added an Excalibur. I then bought an MXT and used it for a week or so before giving it to my son for his birthday. Next week I am picking up a new Explorer II.
I have read the field tests and the manual on the Minelab page.
Are there any "do's or dont's" or tips that I should be aware of? From what I have read it does not seem to be as "programmable" as the DFX. Is there a source of proven programs for various types of hunting? What about sweep speed, fast, slow or is it programmable like in the DFX? What about auxilliary coils, I am mostly interested in coin/relic hunting.
I'm looking for any information that will make the transition easier.
 
Tom,
Seeing as you are going to be picking up an EX2 next week and you have used those other detectors you should have a fairly "easy" transition. The Explorer seems similar but is a different "animal" and will place some extra "demand" you're thinking BUT it is not a difficult detector to learn to use.
One of the many good things is that there are a lot of "cyber sapce" or the www. resources like here at Minelab Explorer Classroom or the FBS forum:
http://www.findmall.com/metal/bbs/config.pl?.
You may wish to also visit:
Mikes Detecting Page
http://mike45177.tripod.com/index.html
or go directly to the url at the bottom of this post and click on the purple colored letters to get you there on this section at his web site:
There is a great deal of very useful and fairly consice info that Mike has gathered there. You can get a lot from what is a available to help you learn the Explorer.
I also believe that learning the Explorer, in itself is a bit of an adventure, but this I think you will have to wait and see.
Have a good one
Hardnosed
 
tom, congrats on your purchase of the ex2. you should enjoy using it It is a great machine for coinshooting if you like finding deep coins. You must take the time to learn the coin tones with this one, which takes time. I also have the mxt which is a simpler machine to learn and alot lighter but is not as good in iron as the ex2. the ex2 must be swept slower than the dfx inorder to find deep coins about 1 second/foot. I use ironmask 90% of the time with ferrous tones for coins as well as conductive tones depending on the area. this machine doesnot have all the programs that the dfx has but I believe will out perform the dfx once you get familiar with the tones and controls. dont rely on airtesting with this one as it wont airtest like the mxt or dfx (it likes to see the ground where it works bests) I dont use programs much with the ex2 as I open the machine up as much as possible to hear the good sounds. good hunting!! jim p MI
 
What a great site. I learned a lot from my 1st reading. I will pick up the Ex II tomorrow and can't wait to try it out.
I do have another question. Is the depth reading "accurate" when using other than the standard coil, such as the WOT? The readigs were only accurate beyond 6 inches when using the DFX with other than the standard coil.
Thanks for the help. <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":)">
 
Hey Tom,
This machine takes time to process the signals it encounters. So if you pass over targets faster than it can process them, you won't get to hear them. If you want to determine your swing speed, place several pennies and pulltabs (alternating) in a row about 4 or 5 inches away from each other. You want to find the maximum swing speed you can get away with and still be able to hear each item as you make your pass. Sweep over them while you are in iron mask -10. This represents the speed that you should be sweeping in a trashy area. In a clean area, you can sweep a little faster.
This machine is very simple when it comes to programming it. If you want to make a coin program, you simply sweep your favorite coins in front of the search coil and the machine will learn those coins while excluding other items. I have a friend who just bought the machine and he learned in wheat cents, silver coins, and indian heads, and rejected every thing else. Now he just walks around and finds coins.
This machine can be used for leisure-hunting, or it can be used for the hard core detecting of hard to get coins. If you want to relax and cruise around looking for obvious coin hits, you can make a simple coin program like the one mentioned above. Dig any repeatable signals. It is that simple. I watch my friend do it all the time. This method causes you to get only obvious coin hits, and causes you to miss coins that are tough to hear because of great depth, corrosion, proximity to trash, or angle of orientation. When you feel that you want to be very careful and go for the hidden stuff and deep old coins, you have to switch to iron mask mode and commit yourself to learning the sounds. When you go into iron mask mode, you will be minimizing the amount of discrimination down to just a little iron discrimination. This helps you hear all those iffy coin signals.
If you use too much sensitivity in a real trashy area, all those iffy coin hits will turn into terrible sounds. You have to turn down the sensitivity until the targets sound like well-defined individual signals instead of sticky chirping sounds.
I use the 7.5inch minelab coil in trashy areas, and the stock 10.5inch in cleaner areas. My deepest penny with the 7.5inch coil was at 9 inches.
I think the 7.5" coil is an excellent coil to learn on. When you get familiarized with machine behaviour, then you can switch to the 10.5 coil.
You also need to get the Sunray X1 Target Probe or you will be miserable.
Do not dwell on the screen for target identification if you are in iron mask and learning the sounds. If you rely on the screen, you will miss coins. The most valuable skill to have is the knowledge of the sounds.
Set up your machine with settings recommended by an expert. After that, do not change them until you have a couple hundred hours of practice with them. If you change settings all the time, you will not learn your sounds.
To make the transition easier, you might want to set up a simple coin program like I mentioned above and practice going after repeatable signals. Then each time you hear a signal that you think is good, switch to iron mask -10 and listen very carefully before you dig up the target. After a while you need to force yourself to search in iron mask -10. This is the mode of operation where you will learn the sounds and find a heck of alot more stuff.
Mike
 
Lots of good advice there Tom, but here's a suggestion I didn't see mentioned. Get a swingy thing. The weight of the Explorer compared to the DFX will surprise you. The ST will help you transition into the heavier EXP-II and save your arm until you get used to it. Another side benefit is it help you keep the coil close to the ground throughout the sweep and that minimizes falsing at higher sensitivity.
Me personally, because I go back and forth between the DFX and the Exp-II, I got used to the digital mode. I set mine in Iron Mask -15, ferrous tones, deep response, and dig everything that sounds interesting. Haven't had much reason to change anything since I set it. The digital mode is very accurate even at depths so you can rely on it especially if you are after a certain type of target. Good luck with your new toy.
 
Hi Mike,
Thanks for all the advice. With the DFX I only discriminated out -39 to -95 and used tone ID exclusively. Obviously I heard a bunch of "junk". I see the SunRay X-1 mentioned quite often. I assume the DD coil does not pinpoint very easily. I used the DD's on the DFX with VCO and it was right on the spot. I know the BBS1000 coil on my Excalibur is much harder to pinpoint with than the 6x10 or 3x6 Whites DD coils. I have a Periscope pinpointer which is another thing to strap on. Are there any advantages to the SunRay over the Periscope?
 
Hi gary
I did a Google search on "swingy thing" and did not find anything related to detecting on the 1st few pages. What is it? I assume it is a strap or harness of some kind. The DFX is a very well balanced detector. Looking forward to trying the EX II.
 
OK on the sweep speed, I will make a note of it. I usually swept slow with the DFX and got good results
 
Well, if you're like me (I owned a DFX first too) you'll be appalled at the "apparent" weight of the Minelab. I say "apparent" because it's not the weight of the Minelab per se but rather the poor weight distribution. On the other hand, the DFX is balanced so well, you can use it all day and not get tired. I'm getting used to the Minelab and really like it a lot, but nothing I've found comes close the DFX for shear ease on the arm. I own a Garrett GTI 2500 and it's even worse (what a clunker). It amazes me how detector design engineers can spend so much time perfectly the electronics and TOTALLY ignore ergonomics.
 
Here is the link to Doc's site that will tell you about the swingy thing and how to get yours.
 
To me the Explorer will pinpoint as good or better than most, but you need to get some experience with it. Now the Sunray X1 probe is a must for many and I couldnt hunt with out it anymore, unlike the periscope it has a good 3 to 4 inches of depth from the probe to the target. It also hooks up to the Explorer and uses the same electronics and the tones are the same as you get with the coil, infact the probe is just a 1 inch coil and will do everything but get the depth of the stock coil.
The reason many of us like the X1 is we can retrevie the targets faster and find more. If I know the target is with in a couple of inches of the coil I can get a general idea of where the target is and swich on the probe and pinpoint it with a 1 inch coil, so it will be right on. Now if it is deepr i will pinpoint normaly and dig out a plug and go in with the X1 and locate where the target is and tell if it is a good one or bad, then dig around it so I dont scratch the coin and able to get it out with the dirt.
Now also with the X1 probe you will be able to tell if it is deeper or if it is on the side of the hole. You will see more of as the Explorer will pick up coins on edge and at a angle some of the others will not, so sometimes they are not in the very center of the hole and the X1 will be able to find them so you dont have to dig deeper than you have to or bigger hole than you have to. It is worth the money.
Rick
 
Hi all,
Are swingy things available in the UK. We have bungee harnesses over here, but the swingy thing looks a vast improvment on them. <IMG SRC="/metal/html/ujack.gif" BORDER=0 width=22 height=15 ALT="uj">
 
Do I have to get a different upper and or lower shaft if I buy an X1. Most of what I found on the net referred to the XS model. What exactly do i need?
 
Hey Tom,
I don't know which is better, the X1 or the periscope. I've been wondering about that myself. But on the other hand, the X1 works so well for me that I haven't been thinking about getting another probe.
By the way, before I got my X1 probe, I thought that it was to be used to correct for the difficulty of the XS in pinpointing. But I found out that I can get a good position estimate on the target with my search coil. Then I go down and use the probe only for target recovery to avoid damage or to find that tricky rusty nail. Coins are usually right where the coil says they are. But rusty nails project a false coin signal a few inches away from their actual position which will trick the search coil when you are trying to "pinpoint" the nail's location. That's when the X1 comes in real handy with it's 3 inch distance capability.
Mike
 
I don't think you can really compare the X1 to the Periscope, because they are such different pinpointing devices. The Periscope really shines when you have a deep, deep target you don't necessarily relish digging if you don't have to. If I understand correctly (I don't own an X1) the X1 is not going to give you any more information than the Explorer except for a more precise location. With the Periscope's ground-piercing 14" probe, you can identify the target composition pretty quickly. It will, 100% of the time, identify rusty iron as rusty iron and I've found it about 90% or so accurate on aluminum. The only thing I've found that confuses it somewhat is a smashed al can, although you can determine this pretty easily by probing around to estimate its size. The Periscope is a "ground-piercing" detector (you physically stick the 14" stainless probe into the ground) before you dig. The X1 is not, so this distinguishes it from proximity detectors like the X1. I'm sure the X1 is really good, I just don't find it necessary owning a Periscope. Plus, my buddy and I share the Periscope and I can use it with my other two detectors (a DFX and a Garrett 2500). I have mine "bucket mounted" to I don't carry it around on my belt. The Periscope IS expensive, so it's not for everyone of course.
 
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