Questions for you MXT guys

[Daniel Tn]

I had an MXT back when they first came out and didn't really like the thing to be honest with you. But I think a big part of that, was that I hadn't yet learned what my dirt was doing to signals in the ground. I had been setting up all my previous detectors in disc mode, with it set high enough to knock out most iron.

Come to find out, that is a big "NO NO" here. I hunt Civil War relics and as it turns out I have some pretty high iron content dirt. What that does is cause non iron objects to be discriminated out at levels they normally wouldn't be...such as bullets being knocked out with disc set to knock out nails. They actually read as iron in the ground. I found this out, well to be honest, by accident. And since then, it's been a major eye opener.

Now what has me interested in the MXT is seeing them do pretty good on the DIV hunts. That dirt up there is real close to what I have down here. What I'm curious about, is the "alternate" search mode in relic mode....with the trigger pushed forward. If I turn the disc all the way to minimum, would this be close to an "all metal" setting on other machines, and by doing so, would I be able to hear a distinct audio difference between nails and other objects? Or could I possibly "size up" objects too...such as if there is no double blip style sound on nails, could I tell a difference in size between a cannonball frag and nail?

I recently got to try out a V3 and I eventually got that thing "hooked up" on relics...by dumping the preset relic mode and hunting in a revved up all metal setting. If I could do a similar thing with the MXT, that would save me quite a bit on $$. There has to be something going on with it, or there wouldn't be so many folks using them at the DIVs.

 

[BarberBill]

Haven't had quite the experiences you've described as to ground mineralization etc., nor have I hunted a great deal in the relic mode. However, that said the prospecting mode is a very sensitive all metal mode which should be usable where the trash is light.
HH
BB

 

[Daniel A.]

I hunted England last Sept. in relic mode, the iron would drive anyone crazy hunted Disc. 2 Sens. 11 dug all high tones including bomb fragments came in clear high tone.
Big iron seems to fool the machine reading high tone, when I say big I'm talking pieces that weigh several ounces. Never bothered touching low grunt iron sounds,was able to dig tiny lead. Dan

 

[Keith Southern]

I had an MXT back when they first came out and didn't really like the thing to be honest with you. But I think a big part of that, was that I hadn't yet learned what my dirt was doing to signals in the ground. I had been setting up all my previous detectors in disc mode, with it set high enough to knock out most iron.Sounds like you have just figured out the biggest problem a relic hunter in the southeast. face Ground minerals!.

Come to find out, that is a big "NO NO" here. I hunt Civil War relics and as it turns out I have some pretty high iron content dirt. What that does is cause non iron objects to be discriminated out at levels they normally wouldn't be...such as bullets being knocked out with disc set to knock out nails. They actually read as iron in the ground. I found this out, well to be honest, by accident. And since then, it's been a major eye opener.Yes it can be quite startling to see what is being disced out at low settings.

Now what has me interested in the MXT is seeing them do pretty good on the DIV hunts. That dirt up there is real close to what I have down here. What I'm curious about, is the "alternate" search mode in relic mode....with the trigger pushed forward. If I turn the disc all the way to minimum, would this be close to an "all metal" setting on other machines, and by doing so, would I be able to hear a distinct audio difference between nails and other objects? Or could I possibly "size up" objects too...such as if there is no double blip style sound on nails, could I tell a difference in size between a cannonball frag and nail?Well that's your big No-No Daniel.You need to hunt relic mode center position on the switch in bad dirt and I will tell you why......If you flip the switch forward and set the disc on zero you are allowing the machine to set the low tone high tone break point and that wont cut it.You have to have the center position chosen and find the spot while hunting where the nails break from low to high.I dig lots of gun parts by utilizing this awesome ability.I just dont want to dig nails but love gun parts like hammers, lockplates, barrels, and butt plates,trigger guards. ETC.ETC.
Choose the trigger forward and you might as well use a F-75 because that's all they do is set the tone for you which stinks in bad ground.

I recently got to try out a V3 and I eventually got that thing "hooked up" on relics...by dumping the preset relic mode and hunting in a revved up all metal setting. If I could do a similar thing with the MXT, that would save me quite a bit on $$. There has to be something going on with it, or there wouldn't be so many folks using them at the DIVs.Well the MXT is the best relic machine made period you just have to learn to utilize the all metal side by modulation of signal the good ole round sound on relics at depth. the deepies wont hit on the disc side on any vlf machine at real depth only the single channeled threshold based all metal mode will accomplish real depth.Spending 1500.00 to hunt deep relics dont help . A relic hunter who is field hardened can hunt deep relics for a fraction of any high dollar detector with the right techniques .the MXT just makes it easier than other machines by not having to hunt all metal mode then check each and every target with the disc side. the mxt does it all in unison.The mxt with relic mode center toggle is as close to a nautilus as you will get for bad ground.Push the trigger forward and you loose some of the all metal nuance also.The v-3 dosent have a very good mixed mode like threlic mode on the MXT period!

Heres a question for you Daniel If you were hunting in all metal and was checking targets in disc mode without a meter or not even looking at the meter how would you go about it.

1-hear faint target in all metal flip to disc and with low nail reject disc setting if you dont hear the target.
2-Hear semi faint target in all metal check in disc with low nail reject disc setting you hear a scratch clicking sound.
3-Hear target all metal fairly shallow check in disc and it makes obvious clean rejection at low disc setting

I would answer
1-Bust the ground open till the disc side can read it.( I call this cutting the cake) sometimes hole might have to be fairly deep .If the target starts sounding sweet on disc side look out
2-Same as above but hole shouldnt have to be as deep to decide if its a nail.
3-Should be able to trust the disc on this one in all but the worst ground.

If you want to hunt deep relics you are going to have to learn to hunt all metal and thats something that takes time and years and years to become extremely proficient with it.Heck I have been hunting relics for 25+ years and I learn something new all the time. Bu I wouldnt use a detector for deep relics that doesnt utilize an all metal threshold based mode with ground balance option.

Till they get us a Discriminating P.I. detector????(I believe this is the future) If you want to relic hunt bad ground You need a machine with a super smooth threshold(MXT),Ability to ground balance in disc and all metal(MXT),And ability to have a full range Disc(MXT).

It also helps to be able to utilize ground canceling coils like DD's and especially the excellent S.E.F. Coils!!!quickness of a concentric and ability to handle bad ground like a DD.!!!!


Any questions fire away were all here to help!!

Keith Southern

 

[Daniel Tn]

I cleaned house around here and in VA with the F-75 in motion all metal mode. Running it in disc mode wasn't a good idea (you lost too much sizing capability and depth). I could hear more target info by the sound it was making in all metal without all the filters killing the sizing ability.

I don't really like the idea of the tone thing with the mixed mode I like having one tone and just being able to get an actual feel for the size of the target in the ground. If the detector is giving me a low tone for iron and a high tone for everything else, then there is some form of filter it is going through and I don't like that ESPECIALLY when the machines are already reading bullets/buttons in the ground AS iron, which means they would come through the filter with a low tone for iron anyway. Just give me a real time idea of the size and shape of the object and I'll do the rest. If you can find a machine to do that, you can tell 95% of the nails from anything else in the ground, just by the shortness of the signal and if you circle it just right, you'll hear the double blip. That's where the motion all metal mode on the F-75 came to play and where I could clean house. With the V3, you could set it up in a mixed mode too, and I didn't like it at all. I figured out how to set it up in an all metal mode with a good recovery time to match as close as I could to the F-75 and I really liked the V3 because of that.

Now here's the thing. Everybody is obsessed with all the relics being deep and having a machine to get down to them. What I've figured out here locally, is that the relics ain't really deep here. They are just masked by the dirt itself and everybody is walking over top of them and not hearing them. I've got several bullet sites that were firing ranges during the war. They are good for playing in, because they are in some really hot dirt. The average bullet depths are 4-8 inches deep. By all means...average depth. Yet 95% of every machine out there in disc mode will not give a signal or atleast a good signal on them. That's what the all metal mode opened my eyes to. I was coming into these places where you could spend an hour or two in them and do good to find a bullet or two...and then coming back in there running all metal and bringing out 20-30 at a time, in the same time frame. Nothing really deep....just without discrimination I was able to hear them.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with my YouTube vids or not. Here is the first one I ever did, and by far my most famous one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVb_OYhvXzA

Here's the deepest bullet I've dug or seen dug in my bad dirt site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQHyQL2W4Yo

And for kickers...this is my favorite and most recent video when I'm playing with the V3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx7qJ4K0sK0

How would the MXT compare to that? I'm still interested in one of 3 machines.

The V3 in it's preset relic mode, matched what I remembered about the MXT when I had one.

 

[JOE in MD]

Here's my set up for DIV's and I do pretty good. Relic Mode, trigger FORWARD, zero disc. and gain around +1. You just have to know what your machine is telling you. Everyone has their own opinions on settings, but this is what works for me. I've had other people say about using Prospecting mode and I've tried it but just can't get it. JMO
JOE in MD

 

[Keith Southern]

I have owned a t-2,t-2 ltd,f-75,played with a f-75 ltd and have owned the Omega 8000. they all nice machines.Deepest? no best seperation ? no but for one machine they come close to a good all rounder!!!

cleaned house around here and in VA with the F-75 in motion all metal mode. Running it in disc mode wasn't a good idea (you lost too much sizing capability and depth). I could hear more target info by the sound it was making in all metal without all the filters killing the sizing ability.I am glad you like your F-75 confidence is a big big part of being productive and yes all metal is deeper in bad ground than disc on just about every machine made.

I don't really like the idea of the tone thing with the mixed mode I like having one tone and just being able to get an actual feel for the size of the target in the ground. If the detector is giving me a low tone for iron and a high tone for everything else, then there is some form of filter it is going through and I don't like that ESPECIALLY when the machines are already reading bullets/buttons in the ground AS iron, which means they would come through the filter with a low tone for iron anyway. Just give me a real time idea of the size and shape of the object and I'll do the rest. If you can find a machine to do that, you can tell 95% of the nails from anything else in the ground, just by the shortness of the signal and if you circle it just right, you'll hear the double blip. That's where the motion all metal mode on the F-75 came to play and where I could clean house. With the V3, you could set it up in a mixed mode too, and I didn't like it at all. I figured out how to set it up in an all metal mode with a good recovery time to match as close as I could to the F-75 and I really liked the V3 because of that.I know where you are coming from on the tones and not trusting them sometimes .I believe if you would give the relic mode center postion a chance you would find it completely different from the v-3 mixed mode or relic mode I too did not like those modes on the V-3 I had.It is actually running in all metal at the same time and you can get a good feel for the target shape and size while at the same time getting some form of audio I.D..Its like the Nautilus which in my opinion is the perfect relic machine for good dirt.But we dont have good dirt so we get the next best thing MXT with DD coil's( man if a nautilus had a DD it would be over).....also the nail signal you are talking about are easy to discern(shaping and sizing) isolated but get into a bed of them and all metal mode is useless.You have to have a machine that has a full range discriminator like the mxt to barely knock out the nail's like the MXT does and sets the break tone at that point.this is very important!!

Now here's the thing. Everybody is obsessed with all the relics being deep and having a machine to get down to them. What I've figured out here locally, is that the relics ain't really deep here. They are just masked by the dirt itself and everybody is walking over top of them and not hearing them. I've got several bullet sites that were firing ranges during the war. They are good for playing in, because they are in some really hot dirt. The average bullet depths are 4-8 inches deep. By all means...average depth. Yet 95% of every machine out there in disc mode will not give a signal or atleast a good signal on them. That's what the all metal mode opened my eyes to. I was coming into these places where you could spend an hour or two in them and do good to find a bullet or two...and then coming back in there running all metal and bringing out 20-30 at a time, in the same time frame. Nothing really deep....just without discrimination I was able to hear them.I for one find alot of my relics in the first 6 inches of dirt but usually masked by iron targets.

I'm not sure if you are familiar with my YouTube vids or not. Here is the first one I ever did, and by far my most famous one Nice vids Daniel

How would the MXT compare to that? I'm still interested in one of 3 machines.It will get those Bullets Daniel I do it all the time you just need to know the machine!!Digging Isolated bullets out of fields is not a hard feat for alot of machines with a usable all metal mode. A classic 3 with mr bills mods would really open your eyes right there!

I cant tell you what's the best but I have had over 75 detectors and tried them all and hunt alot of iron holes and bad ground combines but the MXT gets it done for me.It my hunting styles and areas I hunt.

The V3 in it's preset relic mode, matched what I remembered about the MXT when I had one.Again dont confuse the MXT witht the V-3 the MXT is a better relic machine


Heres a picture of my MXT finds Daniel in North Georgia for 2009. as you can see theres lots of iron but good iron I cant do this with any other machine but the MXT on a regular basis

Keith Southern