X-Terra 50

[scottee]

Hi everyone . can an x-terra 50 detect gold with the right coil or would i be wasting my time? thanks

 

[rifleman]

It will find gold with the 18.75 DD coils. The 5 X 10 would most likely be the best. The 50 does not have the prospecting mode that the 70 has and therefore would not be a sensitive to the smaller or deeper nuggets. It will do a good job of finding gold jewelry and coins. If you are looking to do a fair amount of prospecting for gold nuggets, it might be better to get either the 70 or a dedicated gold machine. If it's just occasional searches for nuggets, the 50 will do an OK job. It just depends on if you want to spend the money to upgrade. Use the 50 with the DD coil and work slow and methodical and you just might find some nuggets. I will tell you that even with a gold detector such as the GPX-4000, gold is still hard to find. The 4000 will find it if it's there, but you have to get your coil over the gold first. Finding a good patch is the hard part. 5% of the guys find 90% of the gold due to their experience with their machine and knowledge of where the gold is. I've been out looking for gold with a detector about 10 times. I found 1 small nugget with my 70. I had a SD2100 V-2. I sold it because I have a bad back and it was too heavy for me to swing for any amount of time. I didn't find any gold with it. I think the reason I found nothing comes down to two points. First, I never really got to know the machine well enough to know what it was telling me and second, I did not have the time to find a really good patch. Finding gold comes down to experience and research. I find placer gold every time I go out using my highbanker. I'm going to work at finding more nuggets with my 70. It will just take time and experience. I hunt in the Arizona desert. I don't know where you are. If you in the California gold streams and rivers, the 50 might do a decent job as the nuggets tend to be bigger. If your going to hunt in water, get the 6" DD coil. It's waterproof. The 5 X 10 DD is not waterproof. I hope this helps answering some of your questions.

Good hunting, John K

 

[BarnacleBill]

What kind of gold? Size, shape etc. What kind of ground/soil?

The HF elliptical & 6 inch DD are very capable on the X50. Is it going to be as sensitive as the X70 in Prospecting mode with sensitivity near full tilt? No way, but C & T mode versus C & T mode in milder slowly changing ground, it can be close.

But the Prospecting on the X70 is just a different animal when it comes to handling more difficult ground.
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,468567,469229#msg-469229

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[scottee]

Thanks for the info . I just bought the detector last fall and had only one chance to use it. Its the first detector I ever owned so I don't know anything really about detecting . I bought it originally to search an old farm stead back in the woods that has long been forgotten about.The first time that I turned it on it started to make noises and would not stop so I thought it was not working right until I realized that the ground is full of stuff. I dug a bag full of things in a very short time. Hoping to find Gold in them hills.I am in Nova Scotia Canada and im not sure what kind of ground im in only that it is located on a hardwood ridge and so far it is fairly loomy. I spoke to a lady at Kellyco and she had told me at the time that there was another coil that i could get for it but it would be back ordered for quite a while.

 

[scottee]

I was thinking gold jewelry or coins

 

[BarnacleBill]

As a newbie, and everybody starts off as one so don't take it with any negative meaning, you need to start off slowly. Prospecting for gold is probably the most difficult and challenging aspect of the hobby, so for now set that goal aside.

Also starting off on an old homestead can be very challenging, not really a good place as they are usually filled with iron trash of all sorts. But if that's what you have access to then approaching it carefully may keep you from becoming frustrated.

The areas surrounding the residence, barn, sheds etc can be pretty nasty with iron, so stay away from the center of the homestead until you learn more about the detector and detecting in general. The heavy trash area can extend out in a radius of several hundred feet, including possibly the "family dump", which will drive you insane with all the rotted tin cans. Starting out at the perimeter where you find a target every four to six feet will give you a much better chance of getting to know the detector and how it responds to targets. As your confidence and skill builds work your way inward towards the center of the site.

You ARE going to dig iron, and lots of it. If you start becoming frustrated, stop, take a breather, or quit for the day, and go home thinking about how you and the machine have interacted. If you're really feeling you've hit a brick wall of sorts, bury some coins in a trash free area and practice. One bit of warning though, some your Canadian coins have a steel core, don't practice on those! Use all copper, or silver coins to practice with. This advice is just that, advice.

Feel free to come on back and ask questions, there's some guys on here older than the dirt you're diggin' in.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[scottee]

n/t

 

[scottee]

Thanks .If I didnt know better I would have thought you were at the site already.That is exactly what was happening in the beggining and I did go( after 20 lbs of iron)out a bit farther from where I started and found more copper and brass,silver items along with old glass bottles and lots of broken dishes and glass, one china bowl from 1839 made in England , a lot of clay pipe bowls and stems from the 1700s. even a pair of soles from childrens shoes. It seems strange to me that there is so much stuff left behind .Has anyone ever encountered anything like this before.? I plan on taking my time and documenting where i find items to try and piece together where buildings were located, all that is there are two shallow sink holes where foundations were.

 

[robert roy]

Hi Bill:

Here in my opinion is another good reason why companies need a good DVD to acompany
their metal detectors. Its questions like this that seem so common that they need to be addressed
right up front, without having to dig through the manual to figure out whats wrong with the machine. Probably NOTHING wrong
at all with the machine. The MineLabs are good machines and technical, but I would never assume that just because
someone says "Oh, these are easy to operate machines...just turn on and go " that everyone is going to have that experience.
Just my opinion.

RR

 

[robert roy]

Post some photos.
We'd like to see what your finding.
RR

 

[scottee]

Yes . soon as I figure out how to send photo's I'll post some. Me and technology don't get along that well.

 

[scottee]

Hi everyone
I did post some photos on The Canadian Metal Detecting site if your interested