MX5 question(s)

[WhoDey]

I recently received an MX5 from my grandpa in exchange for his old garrett gta500. This is my first VDI machine so I'm kind of struggling to get used to the numbers right now. It seems like it chirps a lot even tho I have the iron discriminated. My question is, what are your setting put on? I usually hunt in parks and fields. Any advice would be great!!!

 

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[G.A.P.metal]

Try lowering the Sensitive a bit... to help with the "chirps " till you get used to your new machine.
Gary

 

[TrinityBigfoot]

I agree on the sensitivity. Make sure that the sensitivity is about midway and get a good ground balance. It has 'automatic' ground balancing but it couldn't hurt to help it along. The manual suggests finding a spot free of targets and bobbing the coil up and down. I have never used an MX5 and currently have the V3i. When I balance I bob the coil until it's I get a quite ground responds. And VDI is awesome... But also bad. It's bad because when I'm digging I sometime start looking for specific signals and forget that good objects can have VDI's of trash. I found a lost ring for a lady and the VDI was 13 (foil).

 

[randyalbin]

WhoDey,

You have the right metal detector to find all kinds of good stuff, I have had mine for 4 months. I have owned a lot of different White's metal detectors over the years like the XLT...DFX...6000 Pro XL...IDX Pro modified by Mr. Bill, Classic lll SL and the MX5. The MX5 is so much different than any White's I have ever owned, it is supposed to be like a MXT in the light weight plastic body of the CoinMaster GT except all digital.
It is so easy to navigate the simple menu options unlike my XLT and DFX. It is just fun to do some experimentation with the tone selection and discrimination. I tried them all and found that in heavy trash locations, the 8 tones were too busy sounding in my opinion. I like the 2 tone with everything accepted with no disc. this way all the iron produces Low Tones and any target above Zero produces a High Tone. If the iron noise is too much, I will notch out the first 3 iron segments.
I will use 8 out of 10 bars of Sensitivity unless I am under some overhead power lines. The MX5 is just a different kind of metal detector and it is little nervous and chatty with the raspy sputtering threshold much like the MXT heritage it is derived from.

 

[SHoward]

Trinity is right about the manual ground balance. I've had the MX5 for about 8 months now and found that manual ground balancing frequently helps out a lot. I normally go with the sensitivity at 1/2 to 3/4.

 

[randyalbin]

Trinity is right about the manual ground balance. I've had the MX5 for about 8 months now and found that manual ground balancing frequently helps out a lot. I normally go with the sensitivity at 1/2 to 3/4.

SHOWARD........You must have a different MX5 than the one I have, mine has AutoTrac ground balance. It makes no difference if you pump the coil or just start sweeping the coil. The AutoTrac ground balance system is constantly updating the ground balance as you sweep the coil When I think of manual ground balanced metal detectors, I think of the White's 5900 series with a 10 turn knob adjustment. The MX5 is so simple to use that my grandkids use mine. I also run the sensitivity as high as I can get it and still remain stable. Just my opinion.

 

[WhoDey]

Awesome! Thanks for all the feedback guys. I recently went out with my buddy (in freezing Indiana lol) and scored a sweet old lock in a field. It was screaming 86 and didn't move so I figured it was a decent target. Here's another question, if you get a signal that jumps around from 50-20-66-34 for example, is it 9/10 trash?

 

[randyalbin]

MX5 and jumpy VDI numbers

WhoDey, Nice find on the lock, looks old by the shape, any brass on it?

What settings are you using? Are you using the stock 9" coil? This info is always important, I listed my preferred settings in my above post. I usually run 2 Tone but will use 1 tone with first three iron segments notched out when I want to clear up a signal. I also use the 5.3 Eclipse coil in the trashy sections I run into, which is almost all the time. Jumping VDI numbers can be cleared up by doing a short sweep wiggle over the target center. The sweet spot on your stock coil is dead center as is the 5.3 coil, numbers will trend better if coil sweeps are centered over exact center of the target. I will use the pinpoint to find dead center and make a tight 3" sweep, sort of wiggle over the target.

...In my soil, 18 to 20 is a nickel, I dug up a man's 10Kt gold ring that gave VDI#s jumping from 25 down to 20. Wheat pennies in the mid 70's, Silver dimes in the high 70's to 80, 81 numbers, Silver Quarters in the 83,84, number range. I dug a deep wheat cent that was surrounded by nails and the VDI #s jumped from the 70's to the 50's with an occasional jump to the 40's. Adjacent trash Will alter VDI #'s too. Just dig and learn.

 

[williamsingr]

IN high trash ares like parks n beaches use your smallest coil or your machine can possibly read too much in the ground and confuse it making it hard to pin point good targets, once youve cleared an area of all trash with a small coil then use your larger coil to go back over the area and hit deeper targets

 

[WhoDey]

Randyalbin, thanks for the great advice. I use the coins mode and discriminate all iron. Ive had better luck lately figuring it out. Once it's not not -30 with wind chill I'm going to make a coin garden lol. I've been all over the internet and it seems like I can't find anyone else that used the mx5. Anyways, thanks again for the feedback I really appreciate it.

 

[clv]

Have any user had a chance to use the beach mode?
I am thinking of retiring my old fisher CZ 7a-pro after 15 years of use. Don't get me wrong it's a great machine, but MX5 has a much larger selection of coils, and a better discriminate selection. From the depth demonstration on u-tube i have seen it will go deeper than my fisher too.

 

[luvsdux]

Jumpy numbers, especially if they favor coin id's often mean a coil spill. Always dig to be sure.
luvsdux

 

[markkeele]

I just bought an mx5, haven't had a chance to use it yet, due to heavy snow and below 0 temps can't wait to try it out, will let everyone know what I think

 

[clv]

I bought a MX5 about two weeks or so ago. I have taken it to the beach three times and out to the desert for a four day trip.
On the wet sand it worked find except on one beach that had big bands of black sands. It was having a problem on that ground, I turned the sen. down two steps from the presets then it handled it just find. In the desert I had no problem finding small BB size lead shot with the standard coil. I plan on getting a DD coil for it soon.
Overall I really like the machine. It has a nice balance. I have around 30 hours on the first set of batteries, the meter says 1/2 used up/ left.

 

[markkeele]

I run the stock coil and have found that nickles run between 18 and 20 I found a Morgan that rang 95-96, I have found the vdi and depth to be dead on, and recovery is lightning fast. All in all I am very pleased with this machine

 

[Dirty Money]

I find with mine, wild swings in vdi numbers (31-62-40-84) indicate junk or trash. However, if a vdi number repeats (4-20-4-36), I will dig it. Above all, if I get a clean, repeatable tone, I dig. As to coin spills, I haven't swung my coil across one, since I got my MX5, but, if the vdi's all come up in the coin ranges, I'll be digging like a terrier after a rat.