your best mxt setting and why you use then

[vetmonitor]

Hi all i have been hunting on and off and found lots of clad penneys and dines and quarters best find is a chinese
medallion im learninging to experment with diferent setting just
curious what would work with relic coins and different soil
ground out here in nevada almost eat penneys in 1/2 very alklie:rage : soil

other wise happy hunting

james foreever

 

[Hunt4Fun]

Hi vetmonitor,

I have used an MXT with an 8" DD coil for about a year. I am in Southern California and hunt local school grounds and parks. And, I do not claim to be an expert.

This is the way I set up for a hunt. First I find an area that has no targets. I hunt in the C/J mode, and set discrimination to just reject surface nails .... yes I carry 2 nails in my vest. I then pump the coil up and down a few times till the detector settles down. And, I turn the Sensitivity up as high as I can and still have the detector operate smoothly.

While hunting, if the MXT starts behaving erratically, I first pump the coil up and down to see if re-setting the ground balance will cause it to operate smoothly. If not, I start turning down the sensitivity until it smoothes out.

You mentioned pennies being eaten up by the soil in your area. That also happens here to "zinc pennies". All pennies made since mid-year 1982 are minted from copper coated zinc slugs. In the ground, these zinc pennies have very little resistance to corrosion. Older pennies, made before mid-year 1982, were made of solid bronze and resist corrosion far better than the zinc pennies.

Sounds like you are doing well since you are finding "lots of clad penneys and dines and quarters". However, you did not mention nickels .... they read 18 in my area. You may have your discrimination set too high to hear them. The range that nickels are in is also the pull tab range, but it is also the small gold ring range. To get a better understanding of the readings on your MXT, I strongly suggest you get a copy of "Taking A Closer Look At Metal Detector Discrimination" by Robert C. Brockett.

Good Luck
Hunt4Fun

 

[DPW]

Howdy!

I usually start in relic mode, disc set at just under 3, trigger centered, gain at just over preset, ground locked, threshold barely audible. Any deep "iffy" signals I check with gain turned up. In parks and schools and ballfields and such I use the 5.3 coil.

 

[Rob (IL)]

For general hunting I'm using an 8" excelerator(I like the size over the stock 9.5) and in trash I use the 5" excelerator. With these coils I run in the plus sensitivity range, usually 2 or 3(best depth). These are DD coils and sound like what you need if you have to keep your sensitivity low now.
I usually run the discrimination just above nails, 2 or 3.(I don't want to miss anything. My MXT kills nickels and usually read 18 but can be 18 to 20. I just found 12 today in 2 hours.
I run in relic mode with the trigger centered for the smoother threshold and two tones.

 

[Richard@BackwoodsDetectors]

Relic Mode, Sensitivity FCW, Zero Disc.... Watch the VDI....
Check this out.... Tnx RichardnTn ...http://www.whiteselectronics.com/octoberstories04w.php

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi,

Relic Mode, Gain maxed out, disc knob set precisely at "2", run tracking enough to get ground balance, then set to "Fixed". Bare buzz on the threshold.

Why? I like the high chirp on non-ferrous and low tone on ferrous. Some non-ferrous will tone low set at "2" and so a hair lower will bring them up to a high chirp but also some tiny ferrous trash. I prefer setting of "2".

I use this for coins, gold nuggets, and jewelry. Netted a couple pounds of gold nuggets with this setting.

Steve Herschbach
Steve's Mining Journal

 

[Jackpine Savage]

James,

How does the alkali affect a detectors performance? I have read that kind of ground is tough to hunt in but most of what you see posted is in regards to nugget shoooting rather than general coin/jewelry hunting.

Tom

 

[corkie]

Steve is it trigger forward or centre in relic mode?

 

[Monte]

You are probably referring to the newer, more modern zinc cents made from 1983 to the present (and some of the 1982), am I correct? If you're mainly hunting in clad-producting sites my guess is those are the ones you refer to. If so, that's nothing beyond very common due to the junk metal they use to make them. It happens in most places with lost zinc cents.

I get to Nevada 2-3 times a year on some of my ghost town jaunts (might be there by this time next weekend ???) to Utah, and I have hunted the alkaline desert sites for over 40 years now. Taking a good share of copper and/or bronze coins ((and $ilver coins, too )) that have been in realively decent condition I know that the coins most radically affected by those soils are the newer zinc cents, so if you get into a good 'old coin' site I wouldn't be too concerned.

When in Nevada are you located, if you don't mind me asking?

Happy Hunting!

Monte
MonteVB@comcast.net

 

[Gadget]

My guess would be center unless cherry picking, but will see what Steve says.

I personally don't like the tone you get with trigger forward. I only use it when cherry picking on the way back to the car. Or when in a trashy area where the low tones are driving me nuts.

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi corkie,

Trigger centered. Nice and smooth. For some reason the threshold is raspier with trigger forward. The only time I'll trigger forward is if I am getting multiple iron signals per swing.

Steve Herschbach
Steve's Mining Journal