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X-Terra 70 Help Please

T

Treasured Chest

New member
Hello everyone,
I'm kind of new to medal detecting I have only been doing it for a couple of months. The first machine I used was a Garret Ace 250,it worked great, but I have recently got the X-Terra 70 and I am completely lost.....I have only taken it out a few times and it seems like every time I only find junk or I get a read on a target then after I start digging and go back over where the target was I seem to lose the target. I have only been digging positive numbers. If anyone can help or has any advice I could really use the help.
Thank You in advance
Ella
 
Welcome to the site. Congrats on the X-Terra. Make sure to read thr FAQFAQ at the top of the site. A wealth of information can be foud there. Also make sure to check out the ID chart for coins. It is a great help.

What program are you running? I would suggest #1 with at least 3 tone if not four. Do a noise cancel, a auto GB and hunt, Beale.
 
Hi Ella,

We'll see if we can get the wind to your back on using the X70. On first blush the X70 may look overwhelming compared to the ACE250. But we can to some extent turn it into an ACE250 with a few very simple steps. We don't know if the X70 you have was new or used and what changes you have made to the settings. Therefore we need to get it back to a starting point with the detector so that we know what the settings are. Please don't use headphones so your ears don't get a blast of sound till you get things worked out.

To get back to a known starting point you should do a Factory Preset. This tells the computer to adjust the settings back to where they were when the X70 was taken out of the box new. Follow the procedure in the second line of this table.

[attachment 153555 ResetX-Terra.gif]

Make sure you see the letters "FP" to make sure you did it correctly, if not try again you won't hurt anything. The following are what the settings will be once "FP" appears.

[attachment 153556 resetsteeingsx70.gif]

These are pretty mild settings that allow you to get used to the X70 while you still have your training wheels on.


With the detector on and coil held in the air you should be hearing a constant tone from the speaker, this is the threshold sound. It is a feature available on some detectors and not on others. If it is annoying to you, or you think it is simply going to confuse you as you get used to the X70 it can be adjusted to the point of silence. At this point in time it's not going to have any influence on whether you find good targets or not.

To adjust the threshold push the Menu Select Button repeatedly till "Threshold" appears on the screen and use the minus(-) button to turn it down to Zero(0). Then momentarily touch the Pinpoint Button to exit the menu system.

As far as adjustments, really only one more to make to get you on your way. One of the big performance advantages the X70 has over the ACE250 is the ability to adjust the detector to ignore the noise created by minerals in the ground. Here is a post I made about understanding Ground Balance in simpler practical terms: http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,1061757,1062360#msg-1062360

But Ground Balancing is an acquired skill and now is not the time to make your bones trying to learn it. The X70 has probably one of the most versatile Ground Balancing Systems of any detector made. You can do it manually(which you are not going to do now), you can have the detector make the adjustments automatically with some work from you(which you are not going to do now), or the insanely easy, have the X70 Track the ground for you and adjust itself automatically as you walk. I've been ground balancing detectors for 35 years and can do it in my sleep, but the method I use with the X70 is the insanely easy one, let it Track the ground for me.

On the control panel is the Track Button which is a Toggle On/Off type:

[attachment 153559 ControlPanelT.gif]

Push it so that the Squiggly line appears in the upper right corner of the Display:

[attachment 153560 ControlPanelT2.gif]

Now you don't have to worry about Ground Balancing.

Ok, so now you have a detector with very tame settings like an ACE250. If you have your ACE250 it would be good to bring along for some field experimenting. You want to find a location with little trash in the ground where you can lay out some targets and experiment. Look at this chart from the FAQ at the top of the page that Randy(Digger) made and print it out to take with you. http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,1130228,1130230#msg-1130230

It shows the numerical ID of various coins. Since the X-Terras are sold Internationally they use a number system so that the ID's can be understood for different coins of different countries.

Once you lay out some coins over clean ground you can experiment with swinging the X70 and seeing and hearing it's reaction. If you still have the ACE250 you can also swing it over the same targets for comparison. But remember, only have one detector at a time turned on as they can interfere with one another. Once you become comfortable with how the X70 is working(coil swing speed, sounds, ID etc) you can venture off to find coins that are in the ground. But don't change the settings until you can get a little more experience. With the stock coil you should be getting coins in the 6 inch deep range with the current settings.

Once you are feeling that you are getting the hang of it, then you can start increasing the Sensitivity to gain more depth. Also do not use Prospecting Mode, it's for advanced users and will just confuse the heck out of you. Stick with the mild settings in Coin & Treasure for a while.

After you've mucked around a bit and have any more questions check the FAQ at the top of the page, it's a resource for newbies & advanced users.

There's also some really nice people here(I'm not one of them :)) to help you along the path to detecting Nirvana.

Good Luck,
BarnacleBill
 
Hi Ella.
Bill gave you some terrific advice, and I'll add a bit more.
It sounds like when you try to recover a target, you have probably only made a pass or 2 over it. Unfortunately, junk can sound real good when you do that. The best way to work out whether you have a good target or not, is to make repeated passes over the target. Most of the time a good target like coins and rings will generally either lock into a certain number, or bounce between between 2 numbers, mostly locking into 1 number though. Pass some coins over your coil listening and looking at the screen.
Junk targets that can sound good on a first pass like crumpled coke cans and pull tabs, will generally cause the numbers to jump around all over the place. They can mimic good targets, but that is something that is part of the hobby; so don't be too discouraged when you dig up junk, it's just part of the hobby. We all dig it, but don't normally put photos of them with our finds. This can give an unrealistic impression that we leave all the junk in the ground. The bottom line is, that the more experienced you become, the better you are at telling good from bad targets. Screw caps and beer bottle twist tops are 2 other major types of targets that you'll come across when detecting. If you can find a few samples of these targets and play around with them at home, then this will help you understand what your detector is telling you.
If you play around with the pinpoint feature, listening for the intensity of the sound for both a given number and the depth meter (arrows on the right side of the screen) then you can get more clues as to what a target is. Also lifting the coil off the ground can help to tell if you have a big target like a coke can under it (it hangs onto the signal from a far greater distance).When you lift the coil above the ground, a coin will only hang onto the signal for a max of only about 6inches.
Have fun with the X-Terra. I've had several hundred hours on both the Ace and X-Terra's and find both machines to be excellent detectors. They have their own little tricks that help you to figure out targets, which with experience (and reading the forum) you'll come to know about. The key is to be curious. the more curious you become, the more you'll learn about your detector. It may be a little frustrating sometimes, but that will reduce and pass with experience.
Mick Evans.
 
Thank you guys so much, I really appreciate you guys taking the time to help me. I was a little less fustrated when I went out this past weekend. YIPPY! I actually found about five targets nothing to special but atleast I didn't feel like I was clearing out the ground of all the trash lol. Ill def keep in touch and let you guys know how's its going.
Thanks again
Ella
 
Great post Bill! Ella, the two moderators on this forum could write volumes on the X Terras and detecting (in fact, one of them has) and not repeat themselves, such is their knowledge and willingness to share. HH
 
Hi Ella,I know how you feel but believe me between the advice here and the faq's I am slowly learning to use this great little detector so dont get disheartened.
take one step at a time, the goodies will pop up when you least expect......
 
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