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Whites MX5

kennyb

New member
My wife bought me a new MX5. I live on the Gulf Coast so i will be doing a lot of beach hunting. Any advice on settings for dry sand and wet sand?
 
Not sure of your area but you may have to bring the sensitivity down 2 to 3 bars down from max, even 1 or 2 more in wet sand. Personally I like a larger DD coil like a 10x12, or a 5x10, but the stock coil should do just as well. Remember to try and overlap your swings. Switch up between discriminate with little to nothing rejected and all metal mode, see what works for you. If you do not have a lot of trash and few singles, you may find all metal mode gives you the best depth. Usually the only thing I notch out is the first 3 segments in discriminate, and sometimes I accept everything. I run my threshold fairly low compared to some of the other MX5 owners I have met on this forum, usually between 3 and 6. Some say they run it around the low 20s where the manual suggest also, but I turn it up until I just start to hear it in the head phones. I wear head phones all the time to block out the sound of the surf, discourage people from stopping me all the time to talk, and to hear the faint responses. Take a few coins, pull tab, beer bottle cap, gold and silver rings with you and try different settings at different depths, like a test garden You should not need to go into beach mode until you reach the wet sand. In wet sand with anything much about 5 or 6 bars on the sensitivity and I get a lot of false signals, that is when I switch to beach mode. You will be able to tell as you move toward the wet sand. Mine will false when I touch the wet sand, I try to keep my coil as close as possible to the sand. I think 2 tones or 8 tones is just a matter of preference, although I personally use 2 tones at the beach and 8 all other places. Hope this helps and best of luck.
HH
Matt Bullock
 
The MX5 is a very underrated performer. I put the Ultimate 13 coil on mine and it will outperform the MXT and most other machines on the market. And it has a lot of great features that's well balanced, sturdy and compact. The best White's machine I've used, and I bought my first White's in the 80's.
 
Agreed Shenandoah, MX5 is an overlooked machine for sure. I have both the MXT and MX5, the MX5 is a hotter and deeper detector. Almost like a supped up MXT. MXT has a smoother threshold, mixed mode, and prospecting mode. I don't get to go gold prospecting much so I'll trade off the weight difference, back light, notch discriminating, and suspend feature for the prospecting mode any day. If I sell either of the detectors it will be the MXT, although not in any hurry to let it go since they are very similar and all my coils can go on either machine. I have found more small jewelry with the MX5 and the 4x6 Shooter coil than any other detector I have. Have wondered many time if the MX5 would work for nugget detecting.
 
I did not get to go to the beach this weekend but i did try it out in my yard that has been thoroughly been detected. Found a quarter, dime and several pennies. Just trying to learn the settings and tones. Looks like learning the tones is going to be key to finding the good stuff and not wasting too much time digging junk. So far i really like the mx5. Hope to get to the beach next weekend.
 
Has anyone used this detector relic hunting? I know it is made more in line for coins, but if can match the MXT in depth, why no reports on any one finding relics with it? I am looking for light weight relic detector.
 
garys relics said:
Has anyone used this detector relic hunting? I know it is made more in line for coins, but if can match the MXT in depth, why no reports on any one finding relics with it? I am looking for light weight relic detector.[/quote
Well, it's such a joy to use in coin hunting, but I see no reason, if the default disc. setting were lowered, why it would't be.
 
Hi Gary, I'm not a relic hunter but depth wise my MX5 is as strong and in my opinion deeper than the MXT stock coil to stock coil. Now the MXT Pro may be about the same as the MX5, as mine is MXT Tracker E series. The MXT has mixed mode which is nice for relics, but the MX5 can be used in all metal mode which I do use sometimes. We have some relic hunters in my local metal detecting club, I'll try to make a point of going out with some of them and report back.
Matt
 
Thanks Matt, I look forward to your report. This is the first I have heard about the depth of the MX -5 against the MXT. Some relic friends have the MXT and done well with it, but I wanted a lighter detector than the MXT. The MX-5 fits that bill, but just not heard anyone using it for Civil War relic hunting. I have had a Whites detector for 40 years and wanted to stay with them!
 
When at the beach, I would ground balance the MX5 for wet sand, when finished with the wet sand, re balance for dry sand. I wouldn't go wet to dry sand back and forth. do one, then the other :)
 
Thanks for the advice Zip. I have been detecting around 1 year and I still feel like a rookie. I have a lot to learn about detecting and my MX5.
 
kennyb said:
Thanks for the advice Zip. I have been detecting around 1 year and I still feel like a rookie. I have a lot to learn about detecting and my MX5.
Don't worry- I've been there 30+ years and am still learning the MX 5. For one, 16-20 ID is where nickels have been falling for me- NOT always 20. I even found an old one with patina at 14. That's a good thing, as I find some small jewelry at 14-15. I go a lot by strength of the signal.
 
You are correct Slingshot, nickles do come in lower than 20 on my MX5 as well sometimes, 18 is not uncommon. I have had small jewlery come in at 8 to 10 as well. Found a small 10k gold ring, 1.5 grams with a 8 reading using the 4x6 Shooter coil at about 4 to 5 inches deep.
 
MattBullSummerville said:
You are correct Slingshot, nickles do come in lower than 20 on my MX5 as well sometimes, 18 is not uncommon. I have had small jewlery come in at 8 to 10 as well. Found a small 10k gold ring, 1.5 grams with a 8 reading using the 4x6 Shooter coil at about 4 to 5 inches deep.
Gotta get that coil! Oh, wait! It's Christmas! Perfect excuse!!!!!
 
I'm exclusively a relic hunter, living in Virginia, and the MX5 does very well. I just run it in two tone with nothing discriminated, and it's similar to an MXT in mixed mode. With the 13 inch Ultimate coil, it hears targets that my buddy's MXT misses. Now if he also ran the 13 he probably would hear everything the MX5 does, but the weight and balance of the MX5 would get the nod. And while the MX5 might look like everyone else's plastic detector, it's not. If you pick up an MX5 and a newer Fisher machine, you can immediately feel the difference. And I'm not knocking the Fishers, as I love my F19, but the MX5 is just built better.
 
Shenandoah Digger said:
I'm exclusively a relic hunter, living in Virginia, and the MX5 does very well. I just run it in two tone with nothing discriminated, and it's similar to an MXT in mixed mode. With the 13 inch Ultimate coil, it hears targets that my buddy's MXT misses. Now if he also ran the 13 he probably would hear everything the MX5 does, but the weight and balance of the MX5 would get the nod. And while the MX5 might look like everyone else's plastic detector, it's not. If you pick up an MX5 and a newer Fisher machine, you can immediately feel the difference. And I'm not knocking the Fishers, as I love my F19, but the MX5 is just built better.
It's the best detector I've ever owned- so much fun- and I feel like I saved a couple hundred bucks! I was satisfied with lesser 2 filter machines, but when I retired I decided to slightly upgrade and got more than I expected.
 
I live in North Central Pa, Potter County. Anyone know what the soil type is here? I mean mineral etc. I just ordered an mx5 waiting for it to come so I can try it out. I have a eagle Spectruma nd it does great.
 
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