X-Terra 30?

[SkiWhiz]

Hi folks, I have a question for you's and want to get some honest answers. I bought a Tesoro Cibola for Christmas and I like it very much, it is a great little machine. I thought that I would never miss the TID on a detector but I do. So I was thinking about the Xterra 30. Where I live there is no one that detects or any dealers. So this is where you's come in.
I have never had or even seen a Minelab detector, only on the internet, I do alot of reviewing and was wondering your thoughts on the Minelab X-Terra 30. Would it be a step up from my Cibola, or a step backwards. I am strictly a coin and jewelry hunter in the school grounds,parks,tot lots,etc. & never do any beach hunting. Is the Xterra 30 a pretty deep seeking machine, is the TID fairly accurate,are they made well and hold up,will it find the goodies and not the iron. Sorry for so many questions but this is the only way for me to find out for sure. Thanks for your time! Steve (upstate New York).

 

[Digger]

I've owned both the Cibola and the X-30. Based on your brief description, let me tell you how I see the differences. The Cibola has a factory preset GB. As well, the X-30 has a factory preset GB. So, if ground balancing is not an issue with you, it won't be much different. The Cibola can hunt a bit deeper if "super tuned". But, if you have super tuned your Cibola, you know how noisy they can be and how much iron you will dig. Besides, if you are hunting parks, school grounds and tot lots, depth with the X-30 isn't really an issue as it will pull coins from 7-8". The notch discrimination Patterns on the X-30 provide MUCH better target ID than the variable discrimination of the Cibola. The X-30 notches allow you to tune out segments of trash and still accept targets both above and below the conductive values of those rejected. (e.g. accept nickels and reject pulltabs). For the type of hunting you suggested, you will find yourself digging far fewer pieces of trash with a TID detector than with a "beep and dig" detector. I suggest you take a search through this forum, look at the reviews posted on here and various dealer's sites. That will not only tell you more about the machine itself. But you can also get information on some of the dealers who sell them. If you have any specific questions, don't hesitate to ask. HH Randy

 

[BarnacleBill]

Have a gander at this: http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,496344,496344#msg-496344

And funny you should mention TID/VDI preference, yesterday I was using a knob based machine and kept looking at the controls every time I hit a target, they didn't tell me much.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[SkiWhiz]

Thanks for the replies. I did forget to mention that ground mineralization is not an issue. If the Xterra 30 can get 7-8 inches on a coin that is good with me, any deeper and that would make work instead of fun. Keep the comments comming! Thanks! Steve.
P.S. Is there anywhere to get a list what the VID readings are (for example 20 = nickel/30 = dime/40 = quarter/etc.) I know that those numbers are not right just used as an example.

 

[robocoin]

B bill did a field test that you can find on the search index. It is a very quiet machine compare to my whites. the Vdi/tid is exactly how I hunt with it. Locks on the target nicely. For speed i still prefer my M6 with the bigfoot and excel coils. For slow hunting I do like the x30 and notching features. HH

 

[Digger]

has been posted several times, and a link in the response Barnacle Bill made to your initial post will take you right to them. HH Randy