Question about MXT and wet salt sand

[VaTom617]

I live in Virginia and recently traded for a MXT. I will mainly be using it for relic hunting, but I go to Virginia Beach and the Outer Banks +6 times a year. I wondered how the MXT handled the wet salt sand. Also, at this time I only have the standard coil. Curious if using a DD coil would be more effective. What settings to use, etc. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tommy

 

[slapshot]

I have used the MXT on the local beaches here in MA for 3 years with great success. The biggest thing to remember in wet sand is to adjust your gain until the chattering diminishes. Here is what I generally do.....
I use a 6x10 dd eclipse coil.
Set the ground to salt.
Set the gain to 7.
Set the disc to 0.
Ground balance over wet sand by pumping the coil up and down until it quiets down.
Slowly sweep the area staying in the wet sand only.
If while hunting it gets noisy I re-balance or cut down the gain. If it stays relatively quiet I increase the gain.
This method works great for me I have found numerous rings, jewelry and hundreds worth of clad coins. Be careful near the edge of the water you don't want to drop the MXT into it or it is toast.
I recently purchased a water proof PI unit so I can wade into the water and not worry about it getting wet. It works great too but I am still partial to the MXT in the wet sand. Mostly all my hunting is down on the beaches because I live on the shore.

Hope I helped a bit

Happy Hunting

 

[Rob (IL)]

I've used my MXT in Texas when I'm there in the winter. I too used the 6 x 10, salt, relic with trigger in the center postion, disc zero,and the gain higher than slapshot. The sand must be mild in Texas. It overloads if the water runs over the coil. If I was at the beach all year I would get a water detector because of the way they clean the beaches there. I know there are more finds in the water. Rob

 

[VaTom617]

Thanks so much for the information. I guess I'll need to get me a 6x10 DD coil. I can't wait to try it out. Maybe I'll get a chance before it get too cold.

 

[Bill D. (VA)]

I use an MXT here at Va Beach without problem. I have used the 6x10 coil, but have also used both the stock and even the new S12 coil with success. I can also run the sensitivity at max most of the time down in the wet sand. The most important thing is to ground balance properly. Just pump the coil up and down over the area you want to hunt until it quiets down. If you tend to wander away from that type of sand, it may get chattery and you'll need to rebalance. Also, if the water comes up and laps over the coil it will likely give you false chatter. Its just not meant to hunt in the water. You'll have to get another machine more suited for that environment if that's the case. I also hunt in salt mode with disc set to "3" or a little below. I have no problem picking up low conductivity targets (foil, etc) with that setting. Hope this helps, and good luck to you ..... Bill

 

[VaTom617]

Thanks Bill. That info helps alot. I'm gonna try to give it a whirl hopefully in a week or so.

Tommy