X-30/Discrimination

[RLTW175]

Been hunting with my first and only detector (ML X-30) rather heavily now for the better part of a year and must say it has been a great entry level machine. It works well as a coin shooter, at-least modern clad. My oldest finds so far are a 1928 wheat penny along with 10 other wheat's and a 1943 Mercury dime. Recently I was at a site in East TX. that had been settled around 1870 - I was only able to get a few hours of hunting in but only found some old farm equipment, can tops etc.. with more time I feel sure I could find some old coins. Yes I know digging junk comes with the territory of this awesome hobby of ours but with many of old cans registering (36 & 40) the same as a dime or quarter would, and with them sounding off with a sold repeatable sound it just made me wounder if a detector like the SOV GT, E-Trac and any of the other top end machines would do a significant better job at discriminating between the digs and the dig-nots? I've been thinking of up grading for a while and just wanted to see what you guyz thought. Thanks and good luck.

 

[TheH0ward]

i also satrted with a 30, but upgraded to a 705 last year. I thought the 30 was wonderful, but the 705 blew me away! As for dig-nots... i dig everything! The better you pinpoint, the quicker the recovery and the more i dig the more acustomed to the 705 i get. Anyway, its what i call 'exercise', lol.

Drinking cans here in aussie are as annoying as yours in USA. But even if i know its going to be a drinking can, i still dig it and bin it.

 

[RLTW175]

Thanks for the reply HO, yeah you can never really go wrong by digging them all. How does ur 705 stack-up with some of the other high end detectors? Or have you had the chance to hunt along side any?

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I had a lot of fun with my X-Terra 30. A dead give away for a can, is to lift the coil when over the target. If you are still getting a strong signal when your coil is still giving a strong signal, then it's not a coin. Also, a can will give a stronger pinpoint on the VCO.
Mick Evans.

 

[RLTW175]

Great advice there Mick, I'll be sure a give that tip a try on my next outing. I do plan on keeping my X-30 once I upgrade. Of course I would love to go out and spend $1200 - $1500 smackers on one of the "best" machines going, but would be just as satisfied with one of the mid-range options as long as it's a true improvement and up grade from my 30. And as expected a new detector has caught my attention. More times than not when looking for an up-grade the Minelab brand has been my first choice but recently the Technics G2 and Omega 8000 have sparked my interest. For a guy that's more into coin shooting/jewelry at parks and old home sites, while stills trying to make it to the SE TX Gulf 6 or so times a year - what would you say about the 8000 - which I'm looking the hardest at?
Thanks again,

 

[TheH0ward]

For coin and relic hunting the only other detector its been along side is another 705. But in the goldfields it was along side a GPX4000, GPX4500 and GPX5000... need i say anymore? Of course ive never found gold with my 705 because i just cant get it to run smooth. The ammount of targets ive probably missed due to the constant ground noise, well, i dont really want to think about it.
But having a good machine wont make a good detectorist either. 2 days on the beach here after massive sand movements from storms and huge seas.... my 705 took me home 2 rings and over $100 in coins plus some predecimal coin, earlings, pendants (you get the idea)....
The other 705 working the same beach at the same time barely managed $5 of coin. And to think we were almost walking up and down that beach side by side.
As a relic machine, i love it. As a gold machine, well i need help and lots of it, lol.

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

I'm not personally not that fussed on the Omega. I currently own one, but it's back at the shop I bought it from and for sale, on consignment. I found that the overload signal was too touchy for my liking.
I've pretty much gone full circle now. The first detector that I really tuned into, was the 30. I'm now finding myself using the 70 more and more. If you want to hunt deep stuff then you can't go past any of the multi frequency Minelabs. I do have a GTI 1500 which I like to use, but for day to day hunting, an X-Terra with a high frequency coil on it is all I really need.
Oh yeah. Got an SE Explorer as well which a also enjoy, but just as happy with the X-Terra.
Mick Evans.

 

[Willy46]

Hey guys. Another Aussie & another 30 user. I love this machine. It's simple & easy. Recently I've been using it with a mate who uses a 705. I think this may be due to the fact that I've had more practice, but the 30 was running smoother & picking out more coins. I'm sure once he get's the 705 humming he will clean up with it.
I've had mine since April last year & have found nearly 200 coins with it. ranging from pennies, Half pennies, florins & current spendables. It's a ripper and for those that are looking at entering into the fine hobby this is an excellent start.

Happy hunting guys

Brad

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Brad.
I think that purely because the 30 has wider notches that it hits the gold coins much better. Having owned both the 70 and the 30, I think that the 30 is better for this reason alone.
Mick Evans.