Out with the old (fisher) in with the new (minelab)

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Fisher leaves tomorrow after completing ebay sale. Worked OK in midwest but not to my preferences in Montana. Too many beeps to decipher. Easy to hold. Can't imagine a better ergonomic detector.

Tomorrow an Xterra 30 arrives. Hoping its an improvement. Would have liked a step up to the 50 but am using Cabelas points on this.

I am hoping for a fast and accurate detector.

I have liked my Whites 4900. Not terribly deep but when it says there is a coin there is a coin. Pinpoint lets me pop my knife right on top of it most of the time. Use it in the dark a lot. Ergonomically, it wears out my arm though.

If the Xterra works as advertised, , then I can set it and start picking up a few more nickels and maybe a ring that I often discriminate out currently.

Will let you know! I'm heading east for graduation next week and will try to squeeze it in out there as well.

 

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Re: with the new (minelab)...First impressions xterra 30

New detector arrived on same ups truck the fisher left on. Thanks for those that tried to help with the Fisher, but its gone.

I don't see many reviews of the Xterra 30. Mostly the 50's.

Here are my Impressions.

Small Box. Some easy assembly required.
Thought the removable control box idea was good. I like to take it on vacation and they are always at risk of getting banged in the trunk. The rod is in 3 pieces. Also makes it small to pack. I might be able to pack it on my motorcycle. Surprise...Coil is 9". Expected an 8". Thats nice.

Ergonimics...If I extend the rod out the coil weighs enough so I don't need to use the elbow strap. They bug me when I set it down to dig and repinpoint. Length didn't bother me. I'm 6'2". It takes 2 hands to operate unless I had double jointed thumbs. Much prefer Fishers trigger. My finger kept reaching for air trying to find it. I generally used the other hand to hit the pinpoint button. Seemed a little 'dumb' I've seen this on other detectors and it was as bad as it looked. It is quite light.

Operation...(Only 30 minutes!) Very little falsing at all and could run sensitivity all the way up. There were some targets that weren't good that wouldn't lock or would sound scratchy. Target ID was fun to use. Unfortunately, the pennies would often read the same as a dime. So much for high grading. An arcade token was found...they are brassy looking and read as a 32. Good targets had a good solid clipped sound. 3 tone ID is really cool. Depth indicator was a joke. Read most at 4-6 inches but our soil is rocky type fill or original so targets are rarely below 2 inches. Nickels and pulltabs shared the same reading.

Pinpointing was really weird. Both the pitch and volume change according to the targets depth. Sounds like some intro to an alien TV show. OOOOoooAAAAaaaaoooOOO? Doesn't detune terribly well so I didn't do terribly well pinpointing with it. A round signal strength indicator is somewhat helpful at the same time. I was missing the pinpoint rather badly. One of the quarters the signal was so strong I kept lifting the coil to get a weaker signal. I was a foot off the ground and still had a strong signal. I don't pinpoint well a foot off the ground.

The detecting sound is generally pretty good. There is no threshhold hum and the beeps are not loud, caustic or annoying to those around like both my 4900 or the Fisher. Pinpointing might send the dogs running.

It was very easy to figure out. Reminded me of a Classic IDX I owned for a short time, only better.

We found .86 cents including nickel and a token in our testing and breaking ourselves in.

I bought & am modifying 2 of the GB 'something or other' electrical voltage and metal detectors I saw plans for. They will work well as pinpointers to aid that deficiency (maybe I'll get better)

VERDICT....'I LIKE IT!'