Bought a 705 Gold.

[mikeraydj]

I thought I would come to the Minelab thread and ask If I got a good deal. I traded my Fisher F5 and $160 for a Minelab Exterra gold with a hard carrycase and headphones. I have always wanted a Minelab. My ultimate would be an E-trac. Not in the budget yet.

 

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[Longhair]

You got a good machine. Whether or not it was a good deal is something that only you can determine.
Be sure to go to the Minelab website and sign up. Then go to the "MEMBERS" area and download Randy Horton's FREE e-book "Understanding Your Xterra". Nothing will help cut the learning curve as much as Randy's book.

 

[Loco-Digger]

Are you still looking for a newer F75 LTD with DST?

 

[GFBurke]

Just got mine yesterday too man!
There was a video from Minelab on youtube that I wanted to watch again before this weekend.. they just killed their youtube account (why..) and it was just there last week!! ug. All comments on Getting Started with the Minelab X-TERRA 705 Gold Pack Metal Detector - YouTube

 

[mikeraydj]

I am excited I got the Minelab. But now that winter has moved into Montana, I probably won't get to use it till spring.

 

[GFBurke]

ikr.. here in Idaho same thing. BUT.. we are camping this weekend! Just can't, not.

 

[mikeraydj]

Believe me I am looking at every piece of ground that don't have snow on it.

 

[RobRieman]

Believe me I am looking at every piece of ground that don't have snow on it.

Don't let the snow bother you, it just makes gridding easier. I hunt until the snows too deep to swing the coil. It actually makes a nice insulating blanket on the ground and helps those real cold nights from freezing the dirt solid.

 

[GMD]

Very nice machine. Had one for two years and regret to have sold it.
Be aware that some deep good targets tend to sound like rusty Iron. But if the Terra says "Iron", there is no doubt it is iron.

 

[StiV]

And also for the bottle caps says "non-ferrous"
For me, this machine is not so good. Discrimination for some complex signals is poor.

 

[Longhair]

And also for the bottle caps says "non-ferrous"
For me, this machine is not so good. Discrimination for some complex signals is poor.

There are ways to discern crown caps. And actually there are some very distinct nuances in the audio, but they take time and technique to learn.

 

[foiler]

I hunt all winter long. Wooded areas take longer to freeze and deep wooded areas, if you have them, that have heavy leaf or pine needle cover often stay frost free. I was in South Dakota in January a few years ago in dense pine wood and the ground was frozen less then 2" deep. Easily dug through with a Sampson digger.

 

[Pointman]

Those 705s are great machines and they are going for a steal right now used. If I didn't swing the CTX, I would definitely be using the 705. I had one but traded it and kind of regret it, although I didn't use it cause of my CTX.

 

[dirtscratcher]

I hunt with a guy that has had a 705 since they first came out. When I read people saying that if the 705 says iron it's iron I know for a fact they are missing good targets,as in deep coins. After hunting with my buddy and comparing 100s of signals with my explorer the 705 struggled with I'd on coins after about 7 inches it would Id with negative numbers and occasionally flash a positive number. I recently bought one myself and it did the same thing. I'm not picking on the 705 just saying it will id deep coins as iron. After comparing signals and learning this my buddies old coin count went up dramatically. Through this process he was calling minelab and they would tell him that the 705 wouldn't do what we were experiencing but after finding a good deep target and the 705 calling it iron and still digging a coin his old coin count grew.

 

[HighPlainsHunter]

I hunt with a guy that has had a 705 since they first came out. When I read people saying that if the 705 says iron it's iron I know for a fact they are missing good targets,as in deep coins. After hunting with my buddy and comparing 100s of signals with my explorer the 705 struggled with I'd on coins after about 7 inches it would Id with negative numbers and occasionally flash a positive number. I recently bought one myself and it did the same thing. I'm not picking on the 705 just saying it will id deep coins as iron. After comparing signals and learning this my buddies old coin count went up dramatically. Through this process he was calling minelab and they would tell him that the 705 wouldn't do what we were experiencing but after finding a good deep target and the 705 calling it iron and still digging a coin his old coin count grew.

So, is the moral of the story to pay special attention to deep iron targets below ___? deep, and use our other id methods (size, tone quality, etc.) to determine to dig, or not? If I'm not mistaken, I believe that I've read about most VLF detectors loosing correct id at about that same depth, and then reporting iron.

Thanks for the info on your testing. I'm sure that will help other users in identifying those deep coins, myself included...

 

[Longhair]

I hunt with a guy that has had a 705 since they first came out. When I read people saying that if the 705 says iron it's iron I know for a fact they are missing good targets,as in deep coins. After hunting with my buddy and comparing 100s of signals with my explorer the 705 struggled with I'd on coins after about 7 inches it would Id with negative numbers and occasionally flash a positive number. I recently bought one myself and it did the same thing. I'm not picking on the 705 just saying it will id deep coins as iron. After comparing signals and learning this my buddies old coin count went up dramatically. Through this process he was calling minelab and they would tell him that the 705 wouldn't do what we were experiencing but after finding a good deep target and the 705 calling it iron and still digging a coin his old coin count grew.

To clarify, are you referencing a stock configured machine? In C/T Mode only?

 

[dirtscratcher]

So, is the moral of the story to pay special attention to deep iron targets below ___? deep, and use our other id methods (size, tone quality, etc.) to determine to dig, or not? If I'm not mistaken, I believe that I've read about most VLF detectors loosing correct id at about that same depth, and then reporting iron.

Thanks for the info on your testing. I'm sure that will help other users in identifying those deep coins, myself included...

Yes sir. I was referring to early post claiming if the 705 says iron it's iron. My friend made magical claims and insisted the same. Around here fbs is deeper than anything I've found. When I try to learn a new detector I take the explorer and find deep targets and compare others to learn how they sound. Seems all single frequency detector struggle with I'd after 7 or 8 inches so it's about learning how signs bounce good numbers to bad.

 

[goldseeker4000]

It's true that at depth the 705 will read as some neg tids mixed with positive tids. I always dig these as always I find old coins. Just last week I had a target read a couple neg numbers mixed with a 42. I dug a nail about 6-7" down and about 2"-3" away from nail and 8"-9" down was a 1939 silver Washington quarter. What is happening I feel is every detector has a limit as to how deep it's discrimination will lock onto a target accurately then it gives a probable id. An iffy signal. Never pass these signals up with any detector.

 

[dirtscratcher]

To clarify, are you referencing a stock configured machine? In C/T Mode only?

Here's used had 3. Low frequency 9 in then the 2 that come with gold pack. And I believe he ran all metal.

 

[goldseeker4000]

I'm the guy dirtscratcher is talking about. To set the record straight, I hunt mainly in program mode with every positive rid opened up including 48. I only wipe out the neg tid's. If I am wondering about a signal I will switch to all metal. Dirtscratcher had a 705 but he seemed to have something against it and failed to use it enough to properly get to know it's cababilities. I use the 9.5" of concentric coil at times but mostly I use the 6"hf dd coil. I also have the 5-10 hf dd and the 15" hf dd. Dirtscratcher did not use the 705 enough to learn it and instead sold it because he felt it was inferior to his explorer or T2.There I no magic ability with the 705. Only learning the truth of what the detector you hunt with can and cannot do. This is sound, even the explorer will miss coins because it cannot lock on effectively at times and will miss good targets.