tinfoilhat
New member
While researching the MXT, one of things I noticed was that while there is a ton of information available, it is often written by experienced detectorists with thousands of hours under headphones. Many of them address learning curve, or the length of time it allegedly takes a person to learn the machine and accurately understand what it's trying to tell you. An experienced detectorist extolling the virtues and ease of use for any machine is akin to a surgeon telling everyone that perfect sutures can be accomplished by a trained monkey with their eyes closed.
My deep seated paranoia stems from two previous attempts to get in to detecting. Both ended miserably in failure with me selling my machines quickly. My first machine was an early TID Garrets. It binged and it bonged. No matter what sound it made, it usually ended with me digging a bottle cap or can tab. I sold it after a mere 10 hours of use.
On my second attempt, I was chasing nuggets in Arizona and purchased Minelab's top end machine. Every review I read stated that it was so easy to operate that I would surely find the Lost Dutchman's Mine within 30 minutes of swinging. While I did find one small nugget, I never got comfortable with the Minelab. Ground balancing gave me fits. Setting aside that fact the detector weighed as much a small baby grand piano, I could never work through the learning curve. In the end, the machine never inspired confidence, in spite of physically witnessing my mentor dig a HUGE nugget at Potato Patch in the Bradshaws with an identical detector.
I took a chance yet again and made one final run on detecting. After carefully reviewing my past attempts, I believe that I failed to truly focus on the basics. I was impatient and refused to take a semi-structured approach, electing instead to run around swinging like a madman, hence my misery.
I decided to purchase from local store. The store had competitive pricing with the Internet and I would be able to obtain some solid instruction. I would purchase a simple machine to avoid spending a small fortune. If I really enjoyed detecting, I would then invest in a high-end machine.
I located my local dealer and gave him a call. While I am attempting to keep my commentary objective I feel indebted to the store so I feel an obligation to mention their name. Snake at S & P Treasure Finders spent 30 minutes on the phone the phone with me. While I had already settled on a Tesoro Vaquero, he asked me a ton of questions. He asked about budget. He asked about my experience level. He asked what type of detecting I thought I would enjoy most. He asked me what my expectations were. He asked a lot of questions which I hadn't thought about. In the end, he told me to come on down. He would happily sell me whatever I wanted; however, would like to have me look at a couple of different machines and swing them personally.
I arrived at the store and he showed me a number of models. I had originally written off the MXT as being too heavy. Further, I was gun shy about any any detector with a TID as I was afraid it would allow me to use it as a crutch, avoiding iffy targets versus digging everything and comparing your finds to the signal of the detector. He agreed that TID's can hinder learning ability. He said that this can be avoided if I dug every signal until I had a sound understanding of TID versus what physically came out of the ground. In the end, I bought the MXT E. With it's well documented success rate, I reasoned that I could avoid the expense of having to trade up in the future.
I had my first detecting spot all picked out. I park along the river with a ton of pre-1800 activity. After reading the book, off I went. After 2 hours of searching, I had done a ton of trash and a mere 3 clad coins. There were just too many signals for the stock coil. I returned home, again feeling a bit challenged. I re-read the instruction manual, then sat down and watched the dvd. After the dvd, I decided that I was going about this all wrong.
I needed a simple relatively trash free area in which to learn. I needed to focus on signals and not potential treasure. As I was walking my gun dog, I spied a micro tot lot in our apartment complex. It consisted on a mere 2 swings. It was wood-chips over sand. While it was really small, I reasoned that it could potentially be a great place to learn.
I arrived early the next morning. The total area couldn't have been any larger than 10x15. I surmised that I would be in and out 10 minutes.
I had decided to work in coin/Jewelry mode, and set the controls to their respective pre-sets. I was hoping to pop a few nickels. This would confirm that the discrim setting was low enough to pick up gold jewelry.
On a my third swing I received a solid repeatable signal for 1 cent or dime. I went into pinpoint mode and it showed a depth of 5 inches. At 5 inches in depth there was no coin. At 5.5 inches, out popped a clad dime. I filled my hole and swung 2 times, when I received a VDI 27 for nickel or pull tab. Pinpointed at 4 inches. Sure enough, at 4 inches, I located the evil pull tab and filled in the hole. 2 more swings and I got a VDI 20 signal for nickel/pull-tab. Pinpointed at 6 inches. Out came a nickel !
Needless to say, my 10 minutes turned in to a little over an hour. And I only worked half the area ! There were so many signals, that, with the exception of a quarter I dug at 10 inches, I elected to avoid everything over 6 inches deep. I have a great training facility within walking distance and I didn't want to wipe it out in a single day. My total booty was 22 pennies, 2 nickels, 5 dimes, a quarter, a spoon, and a rockin army truck ! Woohoo 1.07. 30 coins in an hour.
I have included pics below. One is of coins and one is of trash. While there is nothing to see, it may help a new person to get a feel for reasonable expectation of the detectors capability in a greenhorn's hands.
To summarize,here is my recommendation for any new detectorist to get you up and running quickly.
1) Go to local dealer if you're buying new. The training will offset any money saved from buying off the Internet.
2) Read the manual cover to cover with the detector in your lap.
3) Go swing the detector anywhere. Stay in coin/jewelry mode and stick with the preset levels.
4) Return home, read the manual again and watch the dvd. It will make far more sense after swinging a bit.
5) Find a couple of sand boxes/tot lots and pay close attention to the signal you here versus the TID, versus what you physically dig.
I love the MXT. I finally found a detector that inspires confidence. It has a short learning curve (4 hours for me and I'm an idiot) and is extremely easy to use with preset control suggestions that actually work !
Today I'm off to hunt an area littered with civil war relics. This is my first opportunity to run Relic Mode so I am excited to improve my understanding of the MXT.
And yes, I will be watching the DVD yet again to maximize the possibility of success.
Good hunting !
My deep seated paranoia stems from two previous attempts to get in to detecting. Both ended miserably in failure with me selling my machines quickly. My first machine was an early TID Garrets. It binged and it bonged. No matter what sound it made, it usually ended with me digging a bottle cap or can tab. I sold it after a mere 10 hours of use.
On my second attempt, I was chasing nuggets in Arizona and purchased Minelab's top end machine. Every review I read stated that it was so easy to operate that I would surely find the Lost Dutchman's Mine within 30 minutes of swinging. While I did find one small nugget, I never got comfortable with the Minelab. Ground balancing gave me fits. Setting aside that fact the detector weighed as much a small baby grand piano, I could never work through the learning curve. In the end, the machine never inspired confidence, in spite of physically witnessing my mentor dig a HUGE nugget at Potato Patch in the Bradshaws with an identical detector.
I took a chance yet again and made one final run on detecting. After carefully reviewing my past attempts, I believe that I failed to truly focus on the basics. I was impatient and refused to take a semi-structured approach, electing instead to run around swinging like a madman, hence my misery.
I decided to purchase from local store. The store had competitive pricing with the Internet and I would be able to obtain some solid instruction. I would purchase a simple machine to avoid spending a small fortune. If I really enjoyed detecting, I would then invest in a high-end machine.
I located my local dealer and gave him a call. While I am attempting to keep my commentary objective I feel indebted to the store so I feel an obligation to mention their name. Snake at S & P Treasure Finders spent 30 minutes on the phone the phone with me. While I had already settled on a Tesoro Vaquero, he asked me a ton of questions. He asked about budget. He asked about my experience level. He asked what type of detecting I thought I would enjoy most. He asked me what my expectations were. He asked a lot of questions which I hadn't thought about. In the end, he told me to come on down. He would happily sell me whatever I wanted; however, would like to have me look at a couple of different machines and swing them personally.
I arrived at the store and he showed me a number of models. I had originally written off the MXT as being too heavy. Further, I was gun shy about any any detector with a TID as I was afraid it would allow me to use it as a crutch, avoiding iffy targets versus digging everything and comparing your finds to the signal of the detector. He agreed that TID's can hinder learning ability. He said that this can be avoided if I dug every signal until I had a sound understanding of TID versus what physically came out of the ground. In the end, I bought the MXT E. With it's well documented success rate, I reasoned that I could avoid the expense of having to trade up in the future.
I had my first detecting spot all picked out. I park along the river with a ton of pre-1800 activity. After reading the book, off I went. After 2 hours of searching, I had done a ton of trash and a mere 3 clad coins. There were just too many signals for the stock coil. I returned home, again feeling a bit challenged. I re-read the instruction manual, then sat down and watched the dvd. After the dvd, I decided that I was going about this all wrong.
I needed a simple relatively trash free area in which to learn. I needed to focus on signals and not potential treasure. As I was walking my gun dog, I spied a micro tot lot in our apartment complex. It consisted on a mere 2 swings. It was wood-chips over sand. While it was really small, I reasoned that it could potentially be a great place to learn.
I arrived early the next morning. The total area couldn't have been any larger than 10x15. I surmised that I would be in and out 10 minutes.
I had decided to work in coin/Jewelry mode, and set the controls to their respective pre-sets. I was hoping to pop a few nickels. This would confirm that the discrim setting was low enough to pick up gold jewelry.
On a my third swing I received a solid repeatable signal for 1 cent or dime. I went into pinpoint mode and it showed a depth of 5 inches. At 5 inches in depth there was no coin. At 5.5 inches, out popped a clad dime. I filled my hole and swung 2 times, when I received a VDI 27 for nickel or pull tab. Pinpointed at 4 inches. Sure enough, at 4 inches, I located the evil pull tab and filled in the hole. 2 more swings and I got a VDI 20 signal for nickel/pull-tab. Pinpointed at 6 inches. Out came a nickel !
Needless to say, my 10 minutes turned in to a little over an hour. And I only worked half the area ! There were so many signals, that, with the exception of a quarter I dug at 10 inches, I elected to avoid everything over 6 inches deep. I have a great training facility within walking distance and I didn't want to wipe it out in a single day. My total booty was 22 pennies, 2 nickels, 5 dimes, a quarter, a spoon, and a rockin army truck ! Woohoo 1.07. 30 coins in an hour.
I have included pics below. One is of coins and one is of trash. While there is nothing to see, it may help a new person to get a feel for reasonable expectation of the detectors capability in a greenhorn's hands.
To summarize,here is my recommendation for any new detectorist to get you up and running quickly.
1) Go to local dealer if you're buying new. The training will offset any money saved from buying off the Internet.
2) Read the manual cover to cover with the detector in your lap.
3) Go swing the detector anywhere. Stay in coin/jewelry mode and stick with the preset levels.
4) Return home, read the manual again and watch the dvd. It will make far more sense after swinging a bit.
5) Find a couple of sand boxes/tot lots and pay close attention to the signal you here versus the TID, versus what you physically dig.
I love the MXT. I finally found a detector that inspires confidence. It has a short learning curve (4 hours for me and I'm an idiot) and is extremely easy to use with preset control suggestions that actually work !
Today I'm off to hunt an area littered with civil war relics. This is my first opportunity to run Relic Mode so I am excited to improve my understanding of the MXT.
And yes, I will be watching the DVD yet again to maximize the possibility of success.
Good hunting !
