Traded Quattro for an X-70

[howlow666]

Hey hey fellow treasure seakers. Well I parted with my Quattro at the end of last season, and have got a new x-terra 70 for this one. Was wondering if anyone has used both and what you think of the x-terra vs the quattro ? Also wonder what the depth increase is with the 3 khz over the stock 7.5 khz coil ? As many know the recovery speed on the Quattro was a bit slow to say the least, whats it like on the x-terra 70 ? Thanks for reading and any other helpful info would be great, Thanks

Jay

 

[howlow666]

Nobody huh, well will let you all know how I do with it.

Jay

 

[Goes4ever]

I think the recovery is pretty fast on the x-70, let us know how you like it

 

[Trackerman]

QUATRO IS ONE HELL OF A MACHINE THOUGH A BIT SLOWER THAN THE XTERRAS.I HEAR DEEP ON SILVER THE QUATRO IS. Have xterra 305 love it had xterra 70 wasnt impresed 305s better

 

[SteveP(NH)]

I am curious about what you makes you think the 305 is better than a 70. I recently won a 705 at a paid hunt and so am curious about what features or abilities that the 305 has that the 70x series doesn't or doesn't do as well?

 

[SteveP(NH)]

Hi Jay,

I have a XS which isn't the same as a quattro but is at least a FBS machine and I recently won a 705 at a paid hunt. Compared to the XS the first two things that really jumped out at me with the 705 is that is has a much, much faster recovery time and the other thing is that is is much much lighter. In fact I think the recovery speed is pretty much the same as it is with my Teknetics T2 which is a very fast machine. You really get great target separation - I mostly relic hunt and a lot of the sites I hunt have a lot of iron in them (and I usually hunt in AM mode and decide what target to dig based on sound, target ID and the shape I get from pinpoint.) and having a fast recovery time is very important to me.

As far as you question goes about the 3 Khz coil. I've only had the machine out for about 20 hours in the field so far so might not be the best one to answer this, but my understanding is that it really depends on your soil conditions and what kind of targets are under the coil. If your ground has low mineralization then the 3 Khz will get a couple of inches deeper on some targets. The 3 Khz coil is more responsive to copper and silver and so you get better response on targets which contain those types of metal. If you are searching for gold than the 18.75 Khz coils will do better, for instance. Also the more mineralization the higher frequencies will do better.

I was fortunate to win several accessory coils with the machine and so have coils from all 3 frequencies plus a sniper coil at the 7.75 Khz frequency to go along with the stock coil so I feel like I can switch frequencies depending on where and what I am hunting.

 

[Trackerman]

Well i was talking about the xterra 70 not the xterra 705. I owned the xterra 70 and simply like the 305 better. It seems to id better more stable than the xterra 70 was. Also volume is a bit louder on the box. It is a newer machine than the 70.Sure the xterra 70 had a few more bells and whistles but that doesnt mean its any better than the Xterra 305.Ive had better finds with the 305.And i bet the 705 and 70 are not the same.Im sure the 705s a bit better. For 399.00 the Xterra 305s a way better deal than the xterra 70 wich i got rid of and kept the 305.

 

[howlow666]

Well I have had the x-70 a little while now ( few weeks ) and have run into my second problem and the season just started here. My first has been an eratic ground balance problem, and now at times flashes CE ( coil error ) at me. I may have been better of with my Quattro since I never had a problem with it. Im not sure I will have much trust in the machine at this pointe. I cant believe with the short hunt season up here in NY I have to send it in for repair, who knows how long that could take. Hope the rest of you have better luck than I...........HH L8R


Jay

 

[David]

I had no erratic GB problem and no CE coming up at any time on my X-70. Try switching coils and also try running it in "Tracking" all of the time when hunting, then switch it off when you have IDed the target then ready to pinpoint and dig.

Did you buy it second hand or new??

SteveP(NH) wrote, "Also the more mineralization the higher frequencies will do better."

(The Minelab Eureka Gold has a switch for three frequencies, 6.4, 20, and 60 Khz.)
".....and the latest variant which is still sold the Eureka Gold which have even higher frequencies up around 60 Khz which should make them even more sensitive to small gold. If contemplating one of these machines try to target areas with less mineralisation with a history of small gold and don't be afraid to run a lower frequency(6.4 Khz or 20 Khz) especially if the mineralisation is extreme as sometimes less noise from the detector equals better depth and sensitivity to targets."

Thanks Steve, but this person above said the opposite of what you said. He said for extreme mineralization run a lower frequency. As his opinion is in more mineralization a lower frequency has less noise, better depth, and better sensitivity according to him.

Does anyone else know which theory above is right??

 

[Digger]

You are on the right track with your analysis of using lower frequencies on higher conductive targets such as silver and copper. And using higher frequency coils on lower conductive targets such as gold. But there seems to be a bit of confusion in regard to frequency choice as opposed to coil design. Granted, the 3 kHz coil we have available may not perform as well in highly mineralized sites as the higher frequency DD coils. But that is not due to the frequency. It is due to the DD design. The 3 kHz coil only comes in a concentric design. As such, it will not perform as well in highly mineralized soil as a 18.75 DD coil. Nor will it perform as well in highly mineralized soil as a 7.5 kHz coil And if Minelab offered a 3 kHz DD, it would perform better than a 3 kHz concentric coil in highly mineralized soil too. Generally speaking, any DD coil will perform better than a comparable concentric, in highly mineralized soil. But DD vs concentric is what you need to consider when "compensating" for mineralization. Not necessarily the coil frequency. JMHO HH Randy

 

[thedeserttortoise]

Hey Howlow. You probably just have a bad unit. It can happen. If you saw how I threw mine around here in the desert you would cringe. I do keep a cover on it but it sure dosent get babied at all. I'm sorry to see your having problems right at the beginning of the season though. I really like my Xterra 70. If I didnt have the Etrac, and I had to have the 70 repaired, I'd buy a used one for a back up. I actually use my 70 more than my Etrac because of the weight. My Goldquest is a chest mount the way I have it and I would rather swing it all day than either the 70 or the Etrac. Someone mentioned though that you dont notice it when your finding treasure....so true. Good luck on getting that thing running right and happy digging...Tortoise

 

[David]

Randy is right. For a VLF, a DD over and rather than Concentric(Mono) for higher mineralization IS more important than frequency. But that said a lower frequency will handle mineralization better than higher frequencies.

Inhere wrote, "Out here the high freq setting on the (Minelab XT) 18000 is just about a passenger, useless in the hot ground, did you try this setting with the eureka?"

Steve Herschbach, "But the Eureka Gold cannot handle the hot rocks at Moore Creek. The only way I could get it to shut up was to go to the 6.4 kHz mode, but the gold sensitivity in that mode sucks."

http://www.nuggethunting.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6087


Also Tortoise, I know this is not a PI forum but look below. I always thought the Goldquest is a beach machine and not meant for nugget hunting, as it is made by the same company as the Goldscan 5B. I also thought I would rather buy a Infinium instead of a Goldquest but maybe the Goldquest is good for gold nuggets too??

"It is equally at home on a wet or dry beach or in mineralized areas where gold nuggets are to be found." and "GOLDQUEST SS V.3 is the most sensitive treasure hunting PI on the market today . It easily detects low conductivity jewelry, thin gold and platinum rings and nuggets of less than 1gm in weight."
http://www.surfscanner.com/Surfscan3/Qoldquest1.html

 

[thedeserttortoise]

Hi David. I'm still almost nuggetless. I have one good little keeper ala the goldquest thats surrounded by some really clear quartz. My problem around here is most of the gold I have found (and its only been in the last 2 months that I have found any), is really fine. I mean practicaly powder. A few flakes and to small to be called pickers, but nothing really bigger. As far as the Goldquest goes, I'll never part with it. It handles the ground around here like nothing. Very easy to adjust and run. And heck, I did find my first nugget with it. Gives me some confidence. I have a feeling that a new area I'll be looking at soon might have a bit bigger color. And by the way, I think for sure the V3 Goldquest if your going to stay dry. Its probably way better than the Infinium on small gold (and believe me, thats mostly whats out there), but if your going to use one both wet and dry... hard to beat the Infinium I've heard. I don't have a wet machine yet, probably will be awhile before I even get to consider any new detectors. Soooo...... nice hearing from you. I hope all is well and you and yours are doing good. Tortoise

 

[David]

THANK YOU FOR THAT TORTOISE!! Goldquest is made by the same company that designed both the Goldscanner 5B and also the Whites Pulse Scan TDI so it must be good.

"Soooo...... nice hearing from you. I hope all is well and you and yours are doing good." Thanks! I just have to move south as I cannot take the north anymore, the long winters are very bad and the summers way to short.