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DeepTech

XLT Going/Which one is coming?

A

Anonymous

Guest
Well I made the decision to sell my XLT in favor of a Tesoro due to the weight...afterall I never use it when my wife's Banditto umax is available <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=":D">
Still not sure what to get. Cortes, Deleon, Tejon, and the Shadow are in the lineup currently.
 
I've owned Tesoros (and still do own one that I really love) and I currently also own an X5, and I love both brands but for wildly different reasons. And truth be told, IMO there are times when one's wildly "better" than the other. They're 100% night and day, and depending on where you hunt the most and what exactly you're hunting for, your expriences will differ significantly one way or another depending on which one you're using.
Perhaps if you give us a little more info on what kinds of places you like to hunt and what you hunt for most time, we (OK, I) can maybe help you out a little better.
Scott
 
Well today I went to a football field with the family. Found $5.36 in clad mainly with the XLT. I hunt parks, house sites, and relic sites in open farm fields.
Basicly all around hunter. I guess while I enjoyed the hunt today I prefer to hunt sites where I find interesting objects so relic and old site hunting is probably my favorite.
Today my wife said she wants to give up on her Banditto umax and find something with pinpointing capabilities with a preset groundbalance...a turn on and go machine for her. I switched with her and she liked the xlt but the weight was too much for her. I would say a Deleon would work for her.
I am guesing a Tejon or X5 in a relic situation and a Cortes in a park situation... Sound about right?
 
<body background="http://www.wiredcafe.net/jbms/tesorobg.jpg">I've tried most of the Tesoros except a Deleon and Tejon, actually I made a few swings with a Tejon and hunted alongside one a couple of times, and prefer the Golden
 
Sorry of this wasn't the answer you were after, but I'm just being me <img src="/metal/html/wink.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=";)">
Now we get into what I consider to be the quirks of what may make one machine a better choice for you -- or anyone else in this hobby -- over maybe another once you put the coil to the soil. And believe me, I don't give a darn what ANYONE says about bench testing a detector in thin air, how it reacts IN THE DIRT can -- and often is -- a different story altogether. How it reacts IN YOUR DIRT is all that matters. Period. And really, how Detector X works in your dirt vs. air tests and someone else's dirt will be entirely different. Which is why everyone on any forum will tell you that the ONLY way to make an 100% informed decision is by testing out for yourself whatever detector(s) you're looking at, and anything else of buying off the Web sight unseen is always a crapshoot so you're pretty much stuck with what you buy. But I digress, as usual <img src="/metal/html/wink.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=";)"> ...
I hate to be a complete pisher here, but hunting "parks, house sites, and relic sites in open farm fields" simply ISN'T good enough for anyone who has been doing this for a few years to suggest with any authority whatsoever which one of those (if even any of those) detectors you mentioned would serve you better than another. And the reason for this is 100% because no park, old-house site or woods is exactly like the next, and while any of those detectors might excel at the last site, it will pretty much suck at the next site. Guaranteed. Which is why anyone who's REALLY serious about this hobby as 2, 3, 4 or more detectors hanging around the house.
Plain and simple, just like a woodworking dude has more than one tool to do more than one job simply because one tool does more than one thing, those who have been doing this for any amount of time knows the limitations and exceptions of his detectors, and there will never be one single detector that'll do it all no matter where you'd stick him.
The X5 is a GREAT detector that's easy to fall totally in love with, but in my own experience, unless you're hunting 100% relics, its coil and circuitry works TOO ##### GOOD-- which is a very good thing indeed -- except it makes plain ol' coinshooting, quite frankly, a pain in the ass. I could go on enlightening you on this subject here, but far be it from me to set myself up for having one man accuse me any further of trying to single-handedly "ruin" his business by posting such insights.
And really, all in all, you can't compare metered machines to unmetered ones in the same breath. So for your shopping purposes, compare the features and performance of the X5 with the Tejon and the Cortes with the DeLeon, and then when you've come up with whatever detector wins the metered competition and the metered competition, just basically figure out whether you still want a metered or unmetered detector and choose accordingly.
As for your wife, I really don't think anyone out here in forum-land would argue about Tesoro's pinpointing capabilities, regardless of model. Tesoro's $150 Compadre pinpoints and discrminates ever bit as well as its $800 or so LST or Cortes or DeLeon. Present ground balance? Stick a $250 preset-GB Silver uMax in her hands and watch her go in just about any dirt you can throw at it, IMO.
Scott
 
That is a good choice in my opinion. I have the "T" and the "C" and that is pretty much how I use them. You can dig as deep as you want to go with the Tejon. Not real pretty but it does perform well on relics. It is a proven "this place is not hunted out" detector. The Cortez is really nice in the parks, good ID on coins down to 6"-8". There has been very few places that I could not adjust for trash or minerals. I use an X2 7" coil on the Cortez and it runs quiet and is very light. Also have an X3 that is really sweet. (1-9v battery) Really light, smooth, well made. Tesoros have the edge on coil options and price. You might consider a Conquistador also if you are going side by side. It has a frequency shifter so you can eliminate cross talk. Can't go wrong with the Tesoro warranty. They back up what they sell. Good luck and HH.
 
I'm not suggesting in any way that what you say is incorrect, but personally, I hold pretty much any "I went to a hunted-out spot and found all this stuff" statement from anyone in this hobby, no matter who they may be.
That's because regardless of whether we're holding a prototype or evaluation detector owner, we inherently WANT that detector to find a whole mess of new stuff, and consequently hunt those pounded sites slower and more carefully. So no surprise there that we'd find stuff at pounded sites. The question becomes eveb more severe if we've actually BOUGHT a new detector, in which case we HAVE to find new and more stuff to justify our spendng several hundred dollars.
Gosh, when does this madness ever stop? <img src="/metal/html/wink.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=";)">
Scott
 
And as has been stated,only you can make the final decision as to which machine is best for you and your wife.
I can say that after 1 yr with the Eldorado it has proven to be a great detector and remains in my arsenal. I have had a Cortes since Jan. 1,2004 and my only regret is that I did not get one a year ago.
The question of Deleon VS Cortes is a bit more complicated. It really comes down to how much information do you want in the TID range?
There is a lot more information availabe on the Cortes.I like that. However for some it might be too much information.Is it needed? For most no, and will be seen as to how much I will use it.
As far as depth, Disc, TID, there is very little difference between the Deleon & Cortes.
Truth is value for performance dollar probably goes in favor of the Deleon.
 
Hard to decide with no dealer close to me where I can test out the machines.
I think the Deleon for the wife. I assume it is easy to get going as no ground balance is required. that is her complaint.
For me a Tejon or Shadow for the relic hunting aspects. Later the Cortes for Coin shooting in parks where the TID will come more innto play.
 
Yes, the DeLeon is a turn on and go, but if you or anyone else thinks that a TID in trashy areas will solve the "problem" of hunting those kinds of spots, you're in for a disappointment. In fact, for some people, using a TID machine may end up being *more* frustrating in high-trash areas. Because instead of just having one single source of info (your ears, with a tone-only machine), you've got two -- and often more, depending on what the maufacturer has its TID doing -- sources of info competing against the very one thing you're competing for in the first place, and that's the basic decision over whether to dig what may or may not be trash. Sometimes TOO MUCH information can be worse than not having "enough" of it. Again, it's that old give and take that plagues just about every question in this hobby.
Hunting any sort of high-trash area -- regardless of whether it's iron trash or aluminum trash -- can and certainly does present a whole crow's nest of problems for TIDs either due to target masking, the coil trying to read too many targets at one time and bouncing around all over the place, etc. and etc. There are certainly manufacturers who try to minimize this one way or another, but the owners of any $1,000 TID machine will tell you a TID itself is not a solution. It's certainly a help and some TIDs do it better than others, but not a solution -- and in a lot of cases, unless you know your TID very, very well from using it really hard for more than one hunting season to get a good idea of what it is and isn't capable of, you can be WORSE off with a TID than if you stuck with a plain beeper. IMO, TIDs are best off for those who have been hunting a few years and understand the limitations that go along with their advantages in relation to what they've discovered from using a plain beeper.
And IMO, the X5 is not a really "great" relic hunter. I have an X5 and I'm a casual relic hunter (meaning my "relics" only go back to the late 1800s/early 1900s and are household/farm in nature rather than Cvil/Rev War) who hunts the woods almost exclusively, and I happen to know from going on two seasons with it and know it has its own pluses and minuses just like any other detector ever made. Personally, I've found that it LOVES iron and a lot of zinc-coated crapola that I'd sooner leave in the ground. Die-hard war relic hunters might see this as an advantage because they tend to dig anything and everything more than anyone else in this hobby, but for most regular people, it's not. And there's always the ever-important question of whether the X5 gets the same sort of depth "relic" detectors get, especially when working in Disc mode, which is where a lot of regular guys run their machines. It has its place in a LOT of applications that regular people will find EXTREMELY helpful, but for those who have been around a good while and have higher aspirations for relic hunting (even casually), IMO there are better choices out there for about the same amount of money.
Again, just one guy's opinion.
Scott
 
Just curious. And those choices for relic hunting would be IYO?
FYI, My wife and I have been hunting since the mid 1990's. A coinmaster III initialy then the XLT and the Original Banditto UMAX which IMO is a very hot machine and great for relic hunting. Course maybe I have one of the hot ones.
The Benefit of the TID IMO is knowing the depth ragther than the ID of the item especially if you do not have a hand pinpointer available to hlep you in the hole.
As for the XLT it is pretty much useless in a trashy area due to the signal overload making it hard to pinpoint. The smaller coil helps though.
 
Just curious. And those choices for relic hunting would be IYO?
FYI, My wife and I have been hunting since the mid 1990's. A coinmaster III initialy then the XLT and the Original Banditto UMAX which IMO is a very hot machine and great for relic hunting. Course maybe I have one of the hot ones.
The Benefit of the TID IMO is knowing the depth ragther than the ID of the item especially if you do not have a hand pinpointer available to hlep you in the hole.
As for the XLT it is pretty much useless in a trashy area due to the signal overload making it hard to pinpoint. The smaller coil helps though.
 
Sorry if I seem to be belaboring the point with my follow-ups, but I really don't get a sense that you have any clear-cut goals or demands from a new detector that would make your new one stand kinda head and shoulders over what you're using now. In fact, iunless you live in really terrible dirt, I get the sense that a good Silver uMax (or an older Silver Sabre) would be a really good choice for your wife instead of a DeLeon. Only because I get the sense from your post(s) that her wants seem to be a lot different than what you think would "probably" be good for her.
The "best" relic hunting machine pretty much depends on the kinds of conditions -- both in terms of ground mineralization and the sort of "trash" -- you *regularly* encounter wherever it is you go hunting whatever constitutes "relic hunting to you. This is exactly why what makes for a great relic-hunting machine for one guy a total dog for another guy somewhere else or with different goals in mind. And IMO understanding this more than anything else (and having specific goals and knowing what you do and don't like about the detector you're using NOW -- and what you'd like a new detector to do BETTER for you) in that respect is what makes shopping for the best *whatever* machine (relic hunter, coin hunter, coin/relic hunter, trash hunter, water hunter etc.) a lot easier in terms of what actually WILL have the best chance of working out for you in the long run. (Whew. I think that's the longest single sentence I've ever written in a post.)
A TID will give you the same EXACT system overload in ANY incredibly trashy area that a plain beeper will. Except with TID, you get the pleasure of seeing the overload as well as hearing it. Mteal detectors are all metal detectors. They detect metal, and metallic targets are metallic targets period. ANY detector will (or more exactly, SHOULD) hit on them -- and yes, be overwhelmed by a massive ton of the same exact trash exactly the same. TIDs don't magically make the overload (or the targets) disappear simply because they're TIDs. Things like using a significantly smaller coil and cleaning out the surface trash is the ONLY way around this. Which works equally well whether you're using a TID or a beeper.
Here's another thing I'll toss into the mix: Simply having a TID in and of itself will not give you as an accurate idea of depth perhaps in ways you're thinking of, simply because different manufacturers present that info in different ways on the display. One mfr might give you actual inches while another gives you a relative numeric value that has nothing to do with inches. But "best" all comes down to how the TID software woks *on the whole.* If a TID that gives actual inches isn't able to easily lock onto a target and give you a reliable reading on a consistent basis, is it a "bad" detector? And by the same token, if a mfr gives you some strange depth numbering system not in inches -- yet gives you the most reliably consistent display on what the target most probably is -- does having to learn a small part of a new language make it a bad detector? Depends on what's most important to you, which is why people buy $80 detectors from Wal-Mart and seem to be perfectly happy with them.
When looking for an upgrade detector, always think in terms of the things your current detector DOESN'T do that you'd rather have it doing, and find one that does what you want it to do and go from there, regardless of brand. But if I know one thing about metal detectors, if know this: No matter what brand new detector you buy, it WON'T do everything you want it to do, and you'll eventually find quite a few things that annoy you about it. Which, like I've said before, is why a lot of us have 3 or 4 different detectors sitting against the basement wall. They all do different things different, and successful hunting always depends on picking the right tool for the right job. It's pretty much up to you to figure that out for yourself based on the detector(s) you've been using.
Scott
 
For her a Umax with pinpoint and no ground balance was my first suggestion to her. She has problems pinpointing with the Banditto and has problems ground balancing.
Then she switched with me (Bandito umax to my XLT) and she said she could pinpoint more accurately and liked the depth indicatin and ID. The weight is the only negative or I would just give the spectrum XLT to her to use. That is when I thought of the Deleon since she really enjoyed the XLT. I do not think she would want the added capabilities of the Cortes but the weight issue points me to the umax line.
 
Reasons I am considering selling my XLT:
1- I prefer the Banditto UMax for relic hunting. It is a much hotter machine and I have had much more sucess with it compared to the XLT in relic hunting.
2- I prefer the weight of the UMAX line compared to the XLT and thus get more time in the field before fatigue starts in.
3- My XLT is a Spectrum XLT (albeit in perfect closet shape) so now is the time to cash in on its value since the DFX came out and the machine is depreciating in price quickly. I would keep it but need the cash to upgrade.
4- The smaller coil made my XLT more efective but I am able to get the BandittoUMAX to produce better in trashy areas.
5- Sometimes I just plain appear to have problems with the xlt. It appears to be working fine but in trashy areas it just plain goes eratic.
6- The XLT is a good capable machine but I beleive I do not have the time to commit to special custom settings to tweak the machine to perform at its best.
7- Maybe most importantly, sucess is directly related to confidence and I just do not trust the XLT at times to perform well for me. I guess I "Trust" the Tesoro more because I have had more sucess with it. But Hunting is 99% a head game.
 
My last post was getting way long on the subject, so I thought I'd break it up.
The exact same things that have you looking toward a TID is exactly the same thing that got me looking at one myself, except probably for different ends to our "problems." Since I can only speak for myself, IMO the one major thing I think we all should keep in mind to keep a healthy outlook on the whole issue is that a TID is not the mystical magical answer to knowing what's in the hole. It's *more* of a mystical magical answer, but with that magic comes a whole new set of problems.
Personally, in your case, I'd spend the 70 or so bucks and buy an electronic pinpointer. Fits better in the hole. Especially if you're digging a plug right and not having it end up wide enough to fit a basketball.
First off, there's no detector, detector mfr or Detecting Yoda who knows for 100% sure (a bit better than 50/50 seems to be the best even the old-timers who built their own Healthkit BFOs or whatnot in 1960) what's laying in the hole. Period. Most time's they're right because they've got a bazillion hours on that particular machine and understand what it's telling them because they've been there done that a bazillion times before, but stick a brand new detector in their hands (TID or plain beeper) and they're the same babes in the woods as anyone else.
TID users will tell you that even on their finest machines money can buy, they're still plagued with TID numbers bouncing all around God's creation making them wonder whether they ought to dig. A lot. Which is pretty much the same as us with plain beepers listing to a whole assorted variety of crackles, half-beeps, pops, and snaps wondering if we should dig. Like I said in my other post, some mfrs do things to help us narrow the question down based on what's showing up on the TID, but a silver dime laying next to or on top of a piece of iron is going to make a TID's numbers show up wacky same as the audio signal on the same TID -- and the same as the audio on a beep-only machine -- is going to show up wacky.
And now comes ruminations in forumland that someone(s) somewhere out there is working on/testing a Pulse Induction (PI) machine for land hunting, which throws an entirely different light on the argument(s) over what constitutes a "best" relic hunting machine.
Like the bumper sticker says, "So many pedestrians, so little time."
Scott
 
Actually while I like a TID at times I find that a BEEPING machine is just as satasfactory. Given the choice I take the wifes Banditto umax if I am hunting alone.
A friend of mine bought a Shadow 2 and eventaully an X5. He eventually sold his XLT perfering to go the way of the beeper. After all He , and I, generally dig all signals as that is where the treasure really is.
Thus I think I wold be just as happy with a non TID machine....unless I am feeling overly lazy that day.
 
My wife already has one and I built one following th eplans on the web...it works fine.
Oh and the ID of the XLT is definatly not 100% but the depth is fairly accurate.
 
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