Newbie...which one for me??

[oziswinger]

Hi All,

I've been interested for a while in this hobby, and have decided to do something in the way of buying a detector.

I've enjoyed this forum, and even though I'm looking at an Australian product I love the way yanks just have to mod the hell out of everything (I'm into an old Polaris atv as well, and have enjoyed that forum as well).

I'm in central QLD (Australia), and there are some goldfields in the area including a small abandoned operation 10 minutes from my house.

I would imagine that I'd be looking at 50% beachcombing, 25% parks/demolision sites/etc and 25% gold hunting. Well....that's the plan anyway.

After much study, I'd come to the conclusion that a Sovereign GT might fit the bill. Hardly a bad word said on any of the forums.

The aussie dealers (and minelab themselves) have told me that an X Terra 705 with the 2 different coils would be better.

They have said that the GT won't pick up nuggets small than a gram.

Can someone please offer me some advice.

I'll put this in the X Terra section as well, so I get both sides.

Cheers,

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

They are correct about the Sovereign not being sensitive to small nuggets. The X-terra 705 would be better at those sub gram nuggets that are close to the surface, however, something that the Sovereign has all over the X-Terra, is depth, and a much better ability to handle the mineralised ground that you find on the gold fields. I live in Dubbo, and a couple of the chaps here in the local club have taken both the Quattro and E-trac onto the gold fields and had them run as quiet as. Very stable and the E-Trac found a 2.5 ounce nugget at 8 inches. An X-Terra wouldn't have been able to hear it because the ground would have been too mineralised to go that deep. The Quattro and E-Trac have similar technology to the Sovereign, that's why I mentioned it.
The X-Terra will be easier to learn, but it's going to come down to what appeals to you most. I have a 70, not the 705, but from what some have said here in the past, is that the 705 is more stable than the 70. Do you want a detector that will find small nuggets but is noisy on gold fields, or would you be happier using a detector that is much quieter and will go noticeably deeper, but will take longer to get good with?
Mick Evans.

 

[Snoopy36]

hello oziswinger

I'm in Townsville North Queensland.... where are you exactly? Although I have not tried the Xterra 705 on the goldfields, I'd vouch for its awesomeness in parks and dry sand. Wet sand - it's ok too but I think a Pulse Induction machine (e.g. garrett infinium or sea hunter) kicks the X-Terra's butt big time in the wet sand.

I don't think you'll find ONE metal detector that will be excellent at everything. This is why I recently bought the Garrett Sea Hunter, for when I do beaches and the X-Terra I use on parks (and hopefully on the goldfields one day). Maybe I can go over to your neck of the woods and we can look for gold together

Cheers
Snoopy36

 

[oziswinger]

Hi Snoopy36,

I am in Mackay.

Haven't made my choice/purchase yet, but will post when I do.

Cheers,

 

[Danno]

(Mick-in-Dubbo)

When I bought my X-Terra, I was interested in gold prospecting as well as coin/treasure hunting.

I was looking at the Safari & the E-trac but the guy in the store reckoned the 705 combined with the small 6" and the larger 9.5" DD 18.75 HF Coils was the way to go if I was at all
interested in nugget hunting. I was told the E-Trac and Safari were brilliant coin/treasure machines, but pretty useless on the goldfields. Certainly not as good as a 705 with the right coil fitted.

Maybe I was told a few fibs ?

Danno

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

No. Most folks just conclude that they would be useless on the gold fields. While they may not be the most sensitive detectors, both guys that have hunted with them have been impressed with how stable they are. I have used my 70 on the local gold fields and found it to be very noisy. It takes a lot of patients to use a VLF machine in these conditions. Mind you, if you want to do the best, then you really should use an SD or GPX detector. They both handle the conditions really well and hit the small nuggets well too. As most folk have to travel a fair distance and fork out a fair bit of money to get onto the gold fields, so having the best detector for the job makes a lot of sense.
I haven't personally used my Explorer on the gold fields, so I can't give you personal endorsement of just how good they are. to be honest, I'm not really interested in hunting for nuggets, so I hardly ever do it. I'm much happier finding goldies. Something to help you understand how stable Minelab's multi frequency are, just look at how well they cope with in wet sand conditions. No VLF detector can come even close to their performance in these conditions, and that is well known.
Mick Evans.

 

[Danno]

Thanks Mick,

It kinda runs totally at odds with Minelab's sales pitch then?

I bought my X-Terra 705 after watching Kevin Hoagland ranting on the X-terra DVD. He was explaining how quiet it runs and how fantastic it is on mineralized ground. He demonstrates this
with the magnet on the end of his pick.

I bought a dual pack that came with a 10.5 DD 18.75kHz Coil that the sales guy assured me was great for prospecting (and even better with the 6" DD).

Perhaps I should have spent the extra and got the Etrac instead?

I want a machine for 70% C/T and 30% Prospecting. I was certain the 705 was the right choice. It certainly is great as a coin/treasure machine, but sounds like it doesn't really live up to the manufacturers claims in the prospecting department.??

Danno

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I think you'll enjoy the 705.
Just a couple of things on it's stability. Some have said that the 705 runs smoother than the 70 (which is the one I've got). I do remember seeing a post here a while back, it may have been one of Diggers, but I'm not sure, that mentioned something about running the ground balance in an offset feature that is on the 705. The poster commented how much more stable it was when using that feature.
On the chap in the minelab video. He was prospecting in the States. from what I can gather, our ground is a lot more noisy over here, so that would have an impact. I don't think that Minelab is deliberately trying to deceive us, perhaps a bit over keen, but all the manufactures do that. Most of them claim to be the best. that said. Minelab are regarded almost unanimously to make the best gold hunting detectors on the market today (GPX series). It's good to see other manufactures trying to develop gold detectors, ie Whites with their new offerings.
You'll note that BT has some good posts in FAQFAQ about gold hunting. When he had his 70, he had some ripping good posts on this forum that are well worth the read. As he works for another manufacturer, now, naturally, his VLF detector choice changed to that manufacture, but not for a few months. He actually wrote a good article in the Australian Gold Gem and Treasure mag several years ago about using a GT Sovereign in gold country. One of the comments he made, was how impressed he was with how quiet it was on the ground in which he operated. He was hunting for coins though.
As a personal choice; these days,I'd reach for a Minelab mutli frequency detector over a VLF, simply because I don't like trying to use my ears to filter out the ground noise, It drives me nuts. I would much rather listen for the bigger nuggets (which there are less of) with the Sov eta than chase all those sub grammers that the Sov can't hear, as I think that although you may find less nuggets, or none at all, the value would probably be similar and I'd still have my sanity. The multi frequency detectors will go at least twice as deep, so in my books, more than compensates for the loss of sensitivity.
Mick Evans.

 

[Danno]

Thanks Mick,

All very interesting and informative

Cheers,

Danno