Xterra 705 question

[AugustMoose87]

Anything new while back I picked up a Minelab Xterra 705 cheap, and was kind of excited about the prospecting mode, but never really knew where to start (both literally and metaphorically). I've used it a lot hunting old homes, beaches, play grounds, camp grounds, etc. and am very comfortable with it in that mode. I still don't think I have a GOOD spot to try prospecting, but there is at least a history of nuggets there, and it is close to work, so I could easily do some before/after/lunch hunts.

I've read the manual, as well as Digger's book on the Xterras, but since Digger doesn't have much gold, he didn't have much on prospecting. I plan to use the 18.75kHz DD coil, and am really just wondering what I would lose if I just used the coin/relic mode instead of prospecting mode. The two reasons I'm leaning that way are A)I'm more familiar and B ) I'm sure there is going to be a lot of other junk - the area flooded a few years back, and entire homes were washed down stream.

Am I basically trading sensitivity in prospecting mode for target differentiation in coin/relic? Other thoughts or suggestions are certainly welcome.

 

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[meMiner]

Here is a quick answer. I don't use the Xterra, but what I will say likely applies to most VLF detectors. You will be trading depth and sensitivity to small gold, offset of course by digging less junk. If the area only has small gold and you are not detecting on bedrock, then you will likely get skunked. If you do find a small area with gold while in coin mode, you will probably want to switch to prospector mode to see what you missed. Another strategy is to find a target in prospector mode and then switch on discrimination to see if it is any good. It is surprising (to me) how much discrimination affects the ability of a detector. When I have detected over test samples in mineralized areas, I have been shocked to see how difficult it is to find small stuff with any discrimination turned on, even a few inches from the coil. In all metal prospector mode, I have had repeatable signals on small nuggets at 3-4 inches with a Gold Bug that were silent at more than 2 inches with discrimination turned on.

 

[Stealth 914]

Gold detecting is also proximity hunting so take a rake with you n rake the leaves and debree away before detecting for better results as gold is heavier than dirt all the dust n dirt is on top so raking will get you to the hard surface where the gold starts to sit. First you have to know there's gold where you are about to swing so that's where I use a pan and few buckets to test the area first , none in pan can equal none in the ground even if there's heaps of other signs like quartz. Main thing is to try different things and have fun. But this could always end up hard work to get the goods.

 

[Lanny in AB]

I've found lots of nuggets with my little X-Terra. It has a fantastic all metal mode, superb really. Minelab put all kinds of technology in the 705 that you usually see on machines that are much more expensive. That elliptical DD is very sensitive, and you'll be amazed at the tiny stuff you can find with it if you scrub the ground with that coil.

Steve Herschbach over at Detector Prospector has done write-ups on the 705, and you can google his name to get his detector reviews. He's very fair in his appraisals of detectors. So, search what he's written. There's a guy in Australia that loves the 705 that's found lots of gold with it as well.

Hunting with the 705 in all metal mode is all about the learning curve, ground balancing, using auto-track or not, masking or not masking iron, etc. But at the end of the day, that little machine really excels in the all metal mode at sniffing out gold, and I've only ever used the elliptical, but the 7.5khz concentric coil is supposed to be a heck of a coil as well for areas where the mineralization is not as hot, as the machine is designed around that Khz configuration (7.5) even though they sell other coils at different Khz. In other words, the processor is optimized for the 7.5.

So, wander over and read what the Australian and Steve have written, and I think you'll pick up a lot of tips.

For me, I just kept reading the manual, watched Youtube videos, and put lots of hours in the gold fields until I finally started finding gold with it. Then I fine-tuned what I learned to go after much smaller gold.

You will lose in the coin/relic mode as you're going to lose depth and a lot of sensitivity. That's a definite tradeoff. In my tests, the small gold I found in all metal wouldn't make a peep in coin/relic, and that was after I had it out of the ground! But in all metal, you could sure hear it. So, yes you'll lose more than one thing by using the coin mode.

I did detect some very trashy bedrock last year where the metal was driving me crazy, so I switched to coin/discrimination mode and found nuggets that way, but I know I left a lot of gold behind because I went back with a super-magnet on a telescoping wand, swept the bedrock, and when I went back over it in all metal, the place was lousy with small gold nuggets that I could not hear in discrimination mode: too small for the machine to pick up in discrimination mode, masked by the discrimination too?, but they popped right up in the headphones loud and clear in all metal.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[AugustMoose87]

Thanks for the info Lanny. I only went out once so far, but hot rocks were driving me nuts... Seems like every third rock had iron in it, so I'm interested to see how much the auto tracking helps with that.

I bought a 1 g placer nugget to do some testing with, and was REALLY disappointed with the initial results... I got a 15" 18.75 coiltek DD for Christmas, and was bummed when the nugget had to be with in an inch of the coil in an air test. Dropping the iron mask from 5 to 1 got me to about 4", and putting the 10x5" DD 18.75 on got me to about 6" in the air. Still need to do some in-ground testing though.

I was REALLY thinking/hoping that the 15" DD would do better with gold over a gram... More coverage/depth on larger nuggets, then when I find something, work the area with the smaller coil for the small stuff. I guess I was expecting a bit too much...

 

[Lanny in AB]

Ok, so here's the thing with air tests and gold. First of all, a one gram nugget does not have a lot of surface area. Compare the surface area of a dime or a penny to your nugget, and you'll get the idea. Moreover, I've had all kinds of nugget retrieval experience where as soon as the nugget was dislodged from its original resting place, the signal strength dropped off. And, if I've moved the piece of gold more that just a bit, it's far harder to find it again than when it was surrounded by its original minerals and dirt.

To clarify something else, a big coil is not designed to be as sensitive in the air or in the ground as a smaller coil: you use the coil as designed for its strengths and purpose--big coils for depth and size, smaller coils for smaller and shallower gold. And with your DD coil, it will find tiny gold close to the surface or gold lying on the surface. I was shocked at how small a piece the 705 with the elliptical DD (10X5) could find.

Never underestimate whatever is going on in the ground that enhances the nugget signal, and never get discouraged from the results of air tests: a test of gold resting in intact ground is nothing like an air test, and vice versa. You really need to file that information deep in your brain so you know the purposes for air or ground testing, and it will save you a lot of confusion in the future.

On a related note, read that manual nightly until you've absorbed every bit of advice on how to use your machine in all metal mode to detect gold. Read and reread to learn the way to meet your need. See if you can find any youtube videos or free ebooks on using the machine. Check out tips on the manufacturers home site. Read what Steve Herschbach has to say about the value of air tests vs. a true ground test for gold in undisturbed ground. It's revealing and necessary.

Learn your machine and it will find you the gold. With me, I was so busy learning my pulse machines that I wrote of my VLF! That was just wrong-headed thinking. I had to have surgery on my shoulder, and while it was healing, I could not use my heavy pulse machines. So, I was forced to learn the 705, and it did not disappoint at all. The simple fact was that I hadn't done the research and put in the time to learn the strengths or methodology of the all metal mode for detecting gold, nor the special optional features of the machine while in all metal mode. For me, necessity was the mother of motivation to drive me to swing something lighter. Now, I love that little machine when I want to swing a detector all day and don't want to feel worn out.

So, learn it and you'll earn it, the gold that is.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[AugustMoose87]

Short response - somewhere else I read someone suggesting to glue/attach a test nugget to a stick and push that in to the ground at a 45* Angle to prevent disturbing the soil/mineralization above the nugget, and then swing over that to get an idea of the depth. It sounds like in your experience, that may not be worth the effort?

Long response - forth coming...

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi there,
Pushing it into the soil will not, I believe, reproduce the exact effect of mineralization that's remained intact around a nugget for thousands ++ of years, no, nor around any natural piece of metal that's been in the ground for eons, but pushing the target into the ground would give you an idea of how well your detector will handle the mineralization it has to punch through to get to the target.

I watched a video set in Australia once where the producer of the video cored straight down to various depths and then lowered nuggets attached to a string down to those various depths to see how well his detector would read the nuggets with all of the surrounding mineralization.

I guess anyone can try to replicate natural conditions, and those attempts will somewhat reproduce some elements of the natural process, but there's nothing like the genuine conditions nature produces, and I'm not exactly sure why that is, but I've witnessed it enough times to know there's something that makes it so.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[AugustMoose87]

I knew the air test was not going to match an in-the-ground nugget, I was just hoping that when I could have it set to a very high sensitivity and low iron mask it would pick a nugget up further from the coil. I was hoping to use the larger coil giving me better depth and coverage, not to mention it is waterproof...

I think the real root of my problem may be my location rather than equipment. I'm still working on finding a mentor and a good place to go. Right now all I have is a public river bed. Gold and nuggets have been found in the area, but there are much better places near by. I have a two year old and opposing work schedules with my wife, so about the only free time I have to detect is my lunch break right now.

Anyways, my river recently flooded, so I'm hoping that redistributed some gold. I'm still working out my ground balance and iron mask, because almost all the cobbles/rocks have some amount of iron.

I read the manual as well as Digger's book regularly. They have helped TONS with my coin/relic/jewelry hunting. I just wish there was a book about the prospecting side of the machine like Digger's.