New with MXT-Frustrated

[rkennedy66]

I am fairly new with the MXT. I have hunted with it for about a year off and on. I have found numerous coins but everything has been in the 1-3" level and nothing old. I hunt mainly parks, schools, and sports field areas. Many of these areas date back to the early 1900's. My frustration is no rings or old coins and nothing deep is showing up. I run my settings on normal settings with a hum on my ear phones. I have the standard 950 coil that came with it as well as a smaller one I bought for the heavy pull tab areas. Can someone give me some suggestions or recommendations? Also how do most of you dig the deeper items? I normally us a popper I made to pop out coins but they are not all that deep either. Do they make a special digging shovel? Thanks for any help. GO MXT.

 

[widebody]

[size=large]ya don't say where your from. some of the problem may be your ground. you might do better with a DD coil if your ground is high in minerals. ya need to also wonder how often has your hunting places been hunted by others. i live in a small town, a little bigger than small, but i know now of at least 21 other people hunting the same parks and areas i do. targets are getting thin. are you digging repeatable targets? the 23 to 60 range of vdi? hope some expert chimes in here for ya.

HH[/size]

 

[rkennedy66]

Hunting in central Kansas where some is med-heavy clay and some med-sandy-loam. Hunting very rural, small town sites. Population less than 1000. But all are old areas of stage coach travel some abandon school lots etc. But there are many metal detectors in my area. Many of these sites have been hunted hard. I would have just thought with my White I would have found something deep others were not finding. But I have found nothing say over 4". I normally hunt using the coin mode but have started using the relic mode instead and listening for the higher pitchs and watching the VDI range. I am open to any suggestions from anyone. One thing I know I am probably not digging enough because I get so frustrated with the pull tabs. All the areas are loaded with pull tabs and foil. Thanks for your response.

 

[scoper]

Hi there.Firstly,your mxt will go deeper than 4inches in your soil so do no worry that your machine is underperforming.You say that the areas you hunt hunt have had a lot of detectorists seaching them and this is probably why you are not finding many good targets.The mxt is a fairly deep machines but really no deeper than other top end machines so most good targets have probably been hunted out.The only thing you can do is persevere in the trash with the smaller coil......it is hard work but may eventually pay off.

 

[usafaviator]

You should plant a few coins in a test garden with the same soil that you detect in. See how the MXT performs with coins planted at different depths. I agree with Widebody that it could be your ground, consider a DD coil. I live up the road in Nebraska and have no problems hitting deep targets with my Pro. Swing slow to get the deeper targets...all machines require a bit of time to "read" the target (especially if it is deep). From what I have read/noticed, most of the silver hits between 6-10"s in many locations (assuming that the soil has not been topped with fill/disturbed much, etc.). Anything you're hitting in that area is probably worth digging. Just a thought. Good luck and HH.

 

[rkennedy66]

Thanks. I will try slowing down with my dd coil. Also i hardly ever check the depth until pre digging. I probably should be checking depth more often.

 

[littfam]

I hear, and understand your frustration. I have used my MXT Pro for a couple of years now, and have felt the same frustration as you. Most of my finds have been in the 0" to 4" range as well. There are times when I feel like my machine is running poorly, and then there are times when it feels like it is "dialed in" and running extremely well recovering coins at 6" 7". I think the MXT is wonderful machine, but just won't do it all. I have done a lot of reading and research in multiple forums reading stories of finds people dig, and if I'm reading about some dude that is killing the silver coin finds, it is almost certainly always an E-Trac user. When I read of someone who has found some killer gold ring worth hundreds or thousands of dollars (worth way more than 200 silver coins a year), it is almost always a Whites MXT user. This is not to say that the MXT will not find deep silver, it just takes a lot of experience and a good ear combined with better than average conditions to hit those very deep silver coins. I have yet to use an E-Trac, so I base some of this on the reading I have done on the E-Trac, along with my personal experience with the MXT. The MXT is a killer jewelry machine especially with gold that the E-Trac can't and will never compete with, its just not the machine for those who wish to "specifically" target deep old silver coins. The whole issue here is that the MXT is a fixed frequency machine whereas there are other machines that run at multiple frequencies. It's true that many areas could be hunted out, and the silver coins are just not there, but I feel as you do, that there should be a few at least that the MXT is missing. I have basically come to the realization that my machine is a awesome jewelry machine, and I use it as such. I am currently saving for an E-Trac for those times I want to hunt for deep silver, and will never sell the MXT for what it does.

 

[rkennedy66]

Thanks for your response. I am still waiting on my first gold or jewelry. Maybe i am just not doing it correctly or in the wrong area. Man current coins just no jewelry.

 

[Bowie]

You have to dig a lot of trash for the jewelry. Plus, there has to be targets there for you to find,whether it be coin or jewelry. Ive never used an MXT but have used the M6. The MXT and M6 are easy machines to get going with, but, you still have to use them a great deal to learn what they may be telling you down deeper. But, I have found coins at 6 inches and my M6 easily identified them unless some trash was in close proximity or the coin was on edge.
I know how you feel, and you arent the only one thats been there. The places youve hunted may just have been pounded to death, but that doesnt mean there arent any other coins there. They may just be deep enough to be out of reach or masked by trash targets. I have dug and will still dig, a lot of trash, chasing iffy signals. MXT Pro is a good machine,no doubts, versatile also, wish I had one. I just bought a new machine,going thru a learning process, and having a hard time. Last couple days, I hunted a couple old vacant houses from the twenties and all I got were numerous memorials, 3 wheaties and a couple Rosies; and all around 4 to 5 inches. I definetly feel like there is something older there. Deeper??? Masked??? dunno, maybe its been hit before. And detecting is funny, or its probably me, Im a dummy, but Ive hit a spot and felt the way you do, or what just happened to me the last couple days; I will leave that spot, find another and come back to that spot several weeks, months later and bingo, make a nice find or two. Another thing I thought about, If you have a large area, dont try to eat the whole pie, eat a piece at a time. Grid, ( using some type of stakes or visual reference) a small area, working it one way, crisscross it and then work on a diagonal.
Dunno how you are setting your MXT up or just how experienced you are with it. You can crank it up a bit, if you can live with the chatter. Also dont know how much discrimination you are running. To much disc could hurt.
Digging tools, I use a Lesche hand digger when on public areas, using the plug method.
You may be like me and have no one close by to help you out, get going. Ive learned most of mine from this website mainly, lot of real nice people here.
Im sure Nancy and Larry will chime in, they are both very experienced and always happy to help.
HH,
John

 

[BarberBill]

You say you run your MXT on "normal" settings. Do you mean the presets? I ran mine that way for a while at first, but now crank the sensitivity up to max or a little under if the ground is noisy. That will increase your depth. As some of the others mention it may just be a matter or running the coil over the right targets. Remember it's much like fishing - the more time the line is in the water, the better your chances - the more time you put in and more ground you cover sooner or later that elusive target will be found.
BB

 

[Steve missouri]

rkennedy66: Some thoughts on your Frustration. 1- you are hunting public areas that have been hammered for fifty years, you say that you are aware of several metal detectors, and people hunting the same areas that you are, how many hunters do you think hunted the same areas before you ever thought of metal detecting ? good detectors with considerable depth have been made at least since the middle 80's, In the hands of an experienced hunter that is one with his detector, has cleared out the easy and a lot of the not so easy targets, are there still good targets there, YES, but they will require becoming one with your MXT and some hard work. 2- Finding areas that have been less hunted requires research and asking to search private properties, with permission, the last areas of easier good targets are on private property. 3- I suspect that you are watching the visual ID on your detector and making decisions to dig or not based on what it tells you, up to 3-4 inches, 5-6 with some detectors on a silver coin, you may have40 to 50% accuracy (know whats in the ground before you dig is marketing BS), the deeper a coin is the further back towards iron it will read, or your visual will bounce all over, several trash items also read in the same range (can slaw, and coming off the edge of deep iron with a DD coil) this is true for most all detectors. Learn your detector well listen to the sounds that it makes, not what a visual meter says, when you do this you will find more of what you are looking for, Patience and practices will pay off. The great finds that you see on the forums with few exceptions were found by hunters that have put hundred's of hours on there detectors and know them well. The MXT is a very good detector with good depth, it will serve you well, when you become one with it, remember your eyes are the only true discrimination. HH Steve

 

[rkennedy66]

Thanks for your response.

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

I've had the MXT for 4 years now and it has the factory 9.5 coil on it
since new.
I was using the coin /jew mode for a few years.
Decided last year to use the relic mode.
In that mode use trigger forward and you'll get two tones
low for ferrous items in the ground and higher tone
for non ferrous ( brass, copper, nickel, silver etc.
Found about $ 500 in clad 6 gold rings and twice silvers.
Since I went to this method good finds have really picked up.
Also was able to fill up two five gallon pails of junk and
that included those that came in as good signals.
Can slaw will make you pull your hair out as pull tabs.bottle caps.
Most of the gold came in 20s up to 40+ VDI.
Moral of the story you have to dig and have good locations.
I was in soccer fields and baseball locations.
As you see pull tabs and can slaw fall in the gold range.
Ended getting quite a few silver coins in the process also.
Lots of the finds were from 4 to 6 inches with some in the 8 inch depth.
This is the type of soil that I hunt in so your likely different

 

[Whitetail]

rKennedy, I also have had the same issues and have hunted with my MXT Pro now for about a year now. Same thing! I've found tons of clad...only a few rings and only about 5 silvers. I too am searching old properties. I had a similar post some time ago and the replies were similar.(I'm not passing my coil over the silver). I don't know what the right answer is, but if I'm simply not passing my coil over silver is the answer, then I may as well give up, because I've been to many....many different properties and the findings are always the same....plenty of clad....just no silvers. If even once I went to a property and found 2 or 3 silvers then I'd say it where I'm searcing. I wish I had an experienced MXT user with me so I'd know if the iffy signals I get are silver. Heck...anytime I've gotten a 90's reading I've dug it and have yet to have it yield anything other than rusted metal. Strange? I just find it hard to believe that I'm now seeing others experiencing the same frustration as I posted some time ago when this was happening to me.

 

[Rocky!]

rk and other users of our MXT's. I have been at this for a while now and have learned everything you have learned, plus what I read on the internet, books and other sites. I love my MXT, but it really takes a lot of patience to get the better finds. I've been to a lot of schools here in Michigan and a couple that have been hunted to death, prior to me and my mxt and even on one occasion I had two other hunters join me, saying they have been hitting this school for over three years, and it's not a very big area. In three different visits to this school, I found silver dimes, Wheaties, silver rings, a non-silver dollar coin, bracelets, and in one hole I found a fistful of older coins, (non silver), a 14 k Italian gold necklace, with a 14 K Italian gold/diamond ring around it.......believe me it's not that the unit is not performing for you. I use the Eclipse 5.3, my settings on coin/jewelry, crank the Gain as far as I can, (depending on what the ground is doing), and set the threshold to sound like faint Bee's, using the Koss 1000 head phones... it all works for me. I have a thousand stories exactly like that one, with wonderful gold/silver and valuables included from places that I know have been slammed. Just feeling confident about my equipment and using a grid system everywhere, every time I hunt, only helps me get to the items described above. I always see hunters moving quickly over areas, in no particular fashion, finding not too much in the way of good finds..................Slow down, grid an area to go over every inch completely, and you'll see amazing changes in your finds. I also have filled trash cans full of trash, but I know one thing for sure.....that trash won't be there the next time I stop by with my mxt and it only gets better the more I hear those wonderful sounds in my ears!!

Just my 2 cents worth,

Rocky!

P.s. I use an excal ll in the water, with the most remarkable successes also.......I love this hobby and have the trash to prove it!! lol )

 

[rkennedy66]

Thanks

 

[mntnflyr4fun]

The deeper targets don't show up with a solid ring tone and VDI, you have to listen to your threshold. One of the reasons you want it to be barely audible is that when you pass over a target to deep to get a VDI on you will get a "slight" increase in the threshold, if its iron, the threshold will breakup, if its non-ferrous, you will hear a "bump" in the threshold....In Jeff Fishers book on the MXT he called it hunting the "whisper", I have found lots of deep targets using this method....slow down your sweep speed, don't "sweep" the ground, approach it more as if you are "scanning" the ground....a little different than just going out there and swinging away, but thats how you're gonna get to the deeper targets which is where the silver is......I would agree with other posters that if you have seen others hunting that the "gravy" is gone, so now you have to work harder and smarter to find the good stuff, its still there, nobody gets it all.......The MXT is a great machine...another thing to consider is to run in locktrac instead of ground and just rebalance from time to time. If you have lots of trash, it can pull your ground balance off in autotrak (ground) mode and if you don't have a good ground balance, you can forget about the deep stuff..Good Luck

PS headphones mandatory....

 

[plidn1]

Do you have your coil flat to the ground surface? if your coil does not face the surface properly, you will have all kinds of problems.

 

[starvin]

There are some who offer very good advice. I never get my mxt pro out of all metal. Zero discrimination, maximized sensitivity and go very slow. It sounds like Beep and dig, but it sure does help.

 

[Old Virginia]

Relic mode will get you at least 2 more inches. I don't care what anybody else tells you. I've tested it. I've been using the MXT Pro for over a year now. Use relic mode, 2 tone and set the gain as high as possible while maintaining stability. Dig the high tones and pay attention to the VDI readings. It will hit coins if they're there. I've dug bullets at 8". I would agree that she's not ALWAYS as deep as other machines. I own 3 others. However, in a life and death situation where I absolutely had to find someting - the MXT would be my go to unit. She's a real work horse.