X-Terra on TV

[lytle78]

I recently served as "metal detecting expert" in an episode of one of these adventure-hunt type TV programs. The task was to find the right key to unlock a big padlock in a 40 X 40 meter patch of desert sand. There were several "right" keys and a hundred or so "wrong" ones. They needed a simple but hi-tech looking detector so I sourced 4 ea. X-Terra 50's for them and set them up to detect all metal on Program 1. I also dialed back the sensitivity to eliminate falsing and cranked the volume up to the max for the best audio. It went well and the producers were pleased.

The most interesting thing for me was that all 4 machines were - as near as I could tell - identical in performance. Well done ML!

Sorry, can't tell more about the production, but it took place in Oman and the air temp was 45C (120F) and the sand temp was 65C (150F) - the contestants really sweated! My fee (if I ever see it) will buy me a new X-Terra 70.

Rick K

 

[sport.pilot]

So Rick,

When will it air and on what station/network?

Darryl

 

[lytle78]

It's a Asian Production. Will not air in the U.S. or Europe - so much for my 5 minutes of fame! Airing in Asia this fall/winter sometime. These guys are really big on secrecy. I was not even (officially) told the name of the program and can't divulge it.

I wanted a really simple detector and my first choice was Tesoro Compadre - one knob. I couldn't get 4 compadre's here in time so I got the X-Terra's from the distributor in Dubai (who have great prices by the way). The contestants had about 1 minute of instruction from me (outside the marked off area) and off they went. I was not allowed to help them except to answer questions about the machines themselves - not about the targets. Most teams didn't remember my instructions to swing in nicely parallel sweeps and used the "pendulum" motion instead. I wasn't allowed to "correct" their technique unless they asked. They all did remember to hit the "pinpoint" button after pinpointing - in order to return to search mode. Since I had eliminated all the discrimination in Pattern 1, I told them to disregard the tones and the numbers. The targets were mostly ferrous keys with a few that might have been brass - there were also stray bits of iron and aluminum in the sand from Bedouin camel and goat herders and from "dune bashing" in 4WD vehicles.