Rapid speed hunting.

[David]

>>I heard from someone below about the X-70,<< that the Prospecting Mode searches slower than the Coin & Treasure Mode if it is true. So for searching large homesteads and relic fields the Coin & Treasure Mode may cover more ground in a day? But I know it is not as deep. Most would probably use the 10.5 MF DD for these fields.

About the X-70:
>>"the secret to using the Exterra is to have a very slow swing, they recommend an eight second sweep, Try it youself it is a real pain having to go so slow, but it works well.

When you use the exterra for prospecting especially in mineralised ground use the very slow swing speed. Use in tracking this will adjust to the mineralised ground conditions. The slow swing speed gives the machine time to read the ground better and will highlight tiny nuggets.Try it yourself swing over a tiny nugget at normal speed and the machine will miss it, swing very slowly and it wont. When using for coins you can use at normal speed. the standard coil that comes with the exterra I believe is no good. the concentric coil doesnt cover enough ground, the best coil for coins is the 11inch round dd. for prospecting the 6 inch good hunting"<<

This is written on Page 15 in the X-70 Instruction Manual: "!Try sweeping the coil faster in the Coin & Treasure Mode for improved target detection and identification.

Try sweeping the coil slower in the Prospecting Mode for improved target detection and separation from ground mineralisation signals."

I bought a Musketeer Advantage(getting the 15" DD WOT) as well for speed detecting and very fast coverage in large fields to cover as much ground as possible in a day.

This is written on Page 2 in the Musketeer Advantage Instruction Manual: "The Advantage detector has been designed to serve the needs of both the speed hunter and the slow motion hunter. Units may be moved at a "rapid hunt" pace or at a much more "leisurely" pace while enjoying the sharp target response in either mode--without sacrificing depth capabilities. You will be surprised at how well the depth cababilities of the Advantage will challenge units currently on the market!"

Totally forget about the slow FBS and BBS machines for this particular task but I wonder how the Vaquero(with the 10x12" DD) would work for speed detecting? How about the MXT and F75 for speed detecting in large fields?

Does our X-70 serve the needs of a speed hunter or not??

P.S. Before you blast back at me, yes I know speed hunting is not for every task and not for everyone and is a specialty area used only for certain situations but it has its place and may be only used part of the time depending on the circumstances.

 

[David]

I also wonder if the MXT--GMT and/or the Tesoro Lobo Super Traq can hunt faster while prospecting for gold nuggets with a faster sweep speed than the X-70 or not?

 

[Digger]

8 seconds per sweep would be way too slow for me. Keep in mind my soil is not heavily mineralized. So the electronics of my X-Terra (where I hunt) are not dealing with that. My sweep speed in C/T is about 2 seconds per sweep. In Prospecting, it is about 4 seconds, or half as fast. I don't sweep slower in Prospecting for the sake of hitting targets. But with the Prospecting mode, you can size up a target much easier (the reason I use it instead of pinpoint), thus allowing you to pass up a lot of big iron.

I disagree with your analysis that the 9-inch concentric at 7.5 is "no good". It is an excellent "all around" coil, that is fully capable of finding both ferrous and non-ferrous targets. That is why Minelab chose to make it the stock coil on all three models. Granted, DD coils are designed to provide better results in heavily mineralized soil conditions. But in sites where you can GB your X-70 at a 28 or higher, the concentrics will get more depth. Sure, you have to overlap the swaths with concentrics. But those who believe a DD coil "shoots a signal straight down" from the center spoke of the coil are being mislead. At the front tip, and the rear tip, a DD coil is not a lot different than a concentric in that the eddy currents are not infinitely vertical.

As to the Advantage, I find it hunts as deep (or deeper) in Disc mode. And the faster you sweep the coil, the more distinct the response tone. I don't think I've met anyone who could "outsweep" an Advantage for any given period of time.

The Vaquero is pretty fast. But the problem I have with it (and the Cibola) is that they tend to false whenever you bump the coil on the ground or bump into a weed. I'm not saying all the time. But if you supertune them (max on Sens and Thresh), it does become erratic when swept fast and break the rhythm of your swing.

The MXT is a two filter detector and is designed to hunt slow, comparitively speaking. If you want a fast White's go with the XLPro (four filter) or set up an XLT or DFX accordingly. From my experience, however, neither can match the depth/speed combination of the Advantage or the X-Terra.

F-75??? From my experience with the F-75, I believe the processor and electronics can handle the processing. But the build of the detector itself just isn't designed for sweeping fast and changing directions abruptly. Just as with most of the other current FT detectors, the armcups and collar rings just don't have the strength I need in a detector. I suppose I could mount them to a Minelab or White's rod. But what is the point when the Minelabs and White's I own do everything I demand in a detector?

So to answer your question, yes I would not hesitate to use the X-Terra for speed hunting, when TID or nothces are important. If I am willing to hunt without TID, and use variable discrimination, I pull out the Advantage.

JMHO

HH Randy

 

[Jackpine Savage]

on the Vaquero Randy. It is not "pretty fast"... It is way to slow for me. Too bad as it would make a decent fresh water beach machine for jewelry if it could be swung fast without losing depth and sensitivity. Gotta be one of the slowest single frequency "2 filter" type detectors I have ever used. Perfect with a small coil for hunting low conductors in moderate iron but not for fast ground coverage. The C & V will pick nickels out of iron with the best of them.

As to the Advantage .. I agree all the way.

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,327193,327193#msg-327193]speed hunt with the X70

Tom

 

[Steve(MS)]

Mmmm, even though the Explorer is not known to be a fast sweeper, you can select the audio 1 setting and sweep as fast as you want and it will signal.
The Advantage does well with a fast or slow sweep speed and I agree with Randy too about the XL-Pro.
Now that is a cruiser if what you are looking for is speed.
The Advantage will serve that purpose well also.
I haven't had the Vaq but one of my friends says sweep speed with it is critical and not fast.

 

[David]

From someone else: "Actually, the Minelab Musketeer Advantage is a very decent detector. It gets great depth. If you go over a target which could be a bottle cap, move the coil over the target real fast. A bottle cap audio kind of disappears, a coin doesn't. In case you didn't know, Minelab raised the price of the machine a couple of hundred bucks recently because it finally realized how good it really is. Good luck! You made a great choice!"

Sorry for the late reply Randy and all. I DO appreciate your very valuable inputs that did help me with my newly acquired Advantage (and X-70). I am now even more glad that I bought the Advantage thanks to you all. A solid deep simple no frills machine with lots of power. It hunts deeper in Disc than All Metal it says in the Instruction Manual, also on page 2 said can used for rapid speed hunting without loss of depth. Also when the discrimination is turned up higher it does not lose depth either. These are very rare things and it maybe the only unit on the market that can do all three of these things at the same time or in any combination with super depth capabilities on top of that make it the most underrated unit on the market IMHO.

One fellow I know of bought an Advantage instead of and over a Sovereign. Also Randy did a field test(in an actual field I think) with these 2 machines and the Advantage(Musky) covered the ground many times faster and picked up things the Sov missed but the Sov did not pick up anything the Musky missed.

Thanks again!