old_mikee
Jr. Member
- May 26, 2007
- 22
- 5
- Detector(s) used
- Whites MXT; Minelab XTerra 70
- Primary Interest:
- Metal Detecting
Hello Everyone
I am fairly new to metal detecting and to this forum and have a request or two. I have prospected for years with a gold pan and sluice box and finally purchased a metal detector, an MXT, a little less than a year ago. My wife and I are fortunate enough to live within 50 minutes of the coast and both of us like prospecting, coin and jewelry hunting on the beach and just being outdoors. Being the good husband I am I purchased her a brand new XTerra 70 from someone who bought it two months ago and never took it out of the package.
I saved a few dollars on it but unfortunately, Minelab will not extend me the warranty, which I would really like to have. They are pretty adamat about it and I am not sure I understand their thinking there, but was told that if they did it for me they would have to do it for everyone. I'm a little confused and not sure why that would be so bad. After all two years is two years regardless of who owns it. Are all second owners bad people and going to abuse the unit more than the first owner? Again,I really do not understand the philospphy, and I almost did not buy a Minelab because of it, but liked the previous owner and took a chance on it, hoping it would work well for us.
I chose the X Terra instead of another MXT because the XTerra's reviews praise it as a good "all-around detector" which is of primary importance in my decision making, but also because it is is one of the lightest detectors offering the same features with 2/3 the weight of the MXT (my wife is only 5' 2" tall, 115 pounds and is somewhat frail due to arthritic joint issues) She can not swing the MXT, even with the smallest oval coil made, for any period of time as it is too heavy for her.
Back to my request, I started to assemble the detector and while attempting to adjust it to fit her body we immediately came upon a problem of it being way too long, with no possible way to make it anywhere near short enough, as the coil was about six feet in front of her. At that point, I asked her if she thought it possible that she could learn to walk on stilts, or maybe she could somehow grow another 10" in height, add another couple of inches to her arms, and perhaps her chest while she was at it, because there is no way she is going to be able to work this stock detector until something changes. Anyway, words flew from her mouth and those repeatable said something to the effect that, "both of us are well past the point in our lives where we are going to see growth on any part of our body other than our stomach", and at that point I had no counter argument and put the detector away.
I'm just wondering here, did I miss something. Was there a height requirement somewhere on the box? I know they have age requirements on games and toys. You've seen them, they are usually somewhere on the bottoms or the sides of the box. "For ages 8-12 years old". If somewhere I missed reading, " X-Terra 70," "For people 6' 10" and up", I'll apologize and shut up now.
But think about it for a minute. What a great money making product that would be for Minelab. They could offer a set of stilts as a useful accessory to go along with their detectors. Minelab Stilts, a $250 accessory which allows normal, and those less fortunate "height challenged" customers to swing the Minelab Xterra 70, all while offering an elevated field of vision. Forum posts could read, "Small woman on stilts, finds gold ring at local beach, but unable to pick it up." Then vendors selling sand scoops can market "Extended Sand Scoops", for those that bought Minelab detectors with Stilts..... and an entire cottage industry is born......
Seriously, where do I go to purchase a shorter tube without paying a fortune for it, or do they even make one? And, will a short tube be all that is needed to make it comfortable for her? (I'm hoping someone around 5'2" has already gone through this and can share their experience) Also, is there a really good store to purchase Minelab extras without paying full retail? (if we get it to fit her, where she is comfortable with it and we like it, I plan on buying a small gold prospecting coil and would need some advice there as well)
One further request..... If anyone reading this lives near the Burbank area of Southern California, and would like to spend a few hours going over the basic operation of the XTerra 70 with us, I would love the opportunity to learn from you experience and perhaps share some food and stories.
I am retired, and can make time pretty much as needed. If anyone is interested, I can be reached at [email protected]
Thanks in advance,
mikee
I am fairly new to metal detecting and to this forum and have a request or two. I have prospected for years with a gold pan and sluice box and finally purchased a metal detector, an MXT, a little less than a year ago. My wife and I are fortunate enough to live within 50 minutes of the coast and both of us like prospecting, coin and jewelry hunting on the beach and just being outdoors. Being the good husband I am I purchased her a brand new XTerra 70 from someone who bought it two months ago and never took it out of the package.
I saved a few dollars on it but unfortunately, Minelab will not extend me the warranty, which I would really like to have. They are pretty adamat about it and I am not sure I understand their thinking there, but was told that if they did it for me they would have to do it for everyone. I'm a little confused and not sure why that would be so bad. After all two years is two years regardless of who owns it. Are all second owners bad people and going to abuse the unit more than the first owner? Again,I really do not understand the philospphy, and I almost did not buy a Minelab because of it, but liked the previous owner and took a chance on it, hoping it would work well for us.
I chose the X Terra instead of another MXT because the XTerra's reviews praise it as a good "all-around detector" which is of primary importance in my decision making, but also because it is is one of the lightest detectors offering the same features with 2/3 the weight of the MXT (my wife is only 5' 2" tall, 115 pounds and is somewhat frail due to arthritic joint issues) She can not swing the MXT, even with the smallest oval coil made, for any period of time as it is too heavy for her.
Back to my request, I started to assemble the detector and while attempting to adjust it to fit her body we immediately came upon a problem of it being way too long, with no possible way to make it anywhere near short enough, as the coil was about six feet in front of her. At that point, I asked her if she thought it possible that she could learn to walk on stilts, or maybe she could somehow grow another 10" in height, add another couple of inches to her arms, and perhaps her chest while she was at it, because there is no way she is going to be able to work this stock detector until something changes. Anyway, words flew from her mouth and those repeatable said something to the effect that, "both of us are well past the point in our lives where we are going to see growth on any part of our body other than our stomach", and at that point I had no counter argument and put the detector away.
I'm just wondering here, did I miss something. Was there a height requirement somewhere on the box? I know they have age requirements on games and toys. You've seen them, they are usually somewhere on the bottoms or the sides of the box. "For ages 8-12 years old". If somewhere I missed reading, " X-Terra 70," "For people 6' 10" and up", I'll apologize and shut up now.
But think about it for a minute. What a great money making product that would be for Minelab. They could offer a set of stilts as a useful accessory to go along with their detectors. Minelab Stilts, a $250 accessory which allows normal, and those less fortunate "height challenged" customers to swing the Minelab Xterra 70, all while offering an elevated field of vision. Forum posts could read, "Small woman on stilts, finds gold ring at local beach, but unable to pick it up." Then vendors selling sand scoops can market "Extended Sand Scoops", for those that bought Minelab detectors with Stilts..... and an entire cottage industry is born......
Seriously, where do I go to purchase a shorter tube without paying a fortune for it, or do they even make one? And, will a short tube be all that is needed to make it comfortable for her? (I'm hoping someone around 5'2" has already gone through this and can share their experience) Also, is there a really good store to purchase Minelab extras without paying full retail? (if we get it to fit her, where she is comfortable with it and we like it, I plan on buying a small gold prospecting coil and would need some advice there as well)
One further request..... If anyone reading this lives near the Burbank area of Southern California, and would like to spend a few hours going over the basic operation of the XTerra 70 with us, I would love the opportunity to learn from you experience and perhaps share some food and stories.
I am retired, and can make time pretty much as needed. If anyone is interested, I can be reached at [email protected]
Thanks in advance,
mikee
