Comments on the Explorer SE?

[Deerhunter24]

Hey all,

I got my new Explorer SE in the mail on Monday. Ordered it from Ralph at SunRay. Very pleased with its prompt delivery. Also, ordered the X-1 probe with it as well.

Anyway, I'm hoping to take it out after work tonight for a few hours. Any advice from experienced users would be much appreciated. This is a serious upgrade from my Garrett GTI 1500.

Hoping to go to an old homestead about a mile from my house tonight. Its was built in the Mid-1870's. I searched it 4 times with my GTI 1500. Probably searched a total of 6 hours there. Not much time there, but looking back at my records, I've found 22 Coins there. I got 18 Wheat Pennies, 2 King George Cents, and 2 Clad dimes. So, there are definately coins there. Just hoping the SE will be a little better at depth and discrimination. Hoping by the end of summer I've accumulated a few nice finds with it.

Anyway, any advice pertaining to the operation of the detector would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Chuck

 

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[hollowpointred]

read the manual, read the manual and read the manual!.......oh yeah i almost forgot, when your done that read the manual! the SE is sooo different from the garrett machines it can be overwhelming at first. stay in the factory presets for now and start to learn the sounds. after that tweak one setting at a time until you understand what that tweak is doing to the operation of the machine. if you tweak everything at once you will get confused. the manual is well written and is full of good info. read the manual! some guys figure "we dont need no stinkin manuals" in this case you do. (especially the part on pinpointing)

 

[hollowpointred]

also check out this minelab site. very knowledgeable folks there. not that there aren't smart folks here but these guys are experts at Minelabs in particular. they can walk you through any situation you may run into.

http://www.minelabowners.com/forum/index.php

 

[Iron Patch]

Those are actually the two detectors I have spent all my time on, first the GTI then the Explorer XS/II. The first thing I would tell you is to drop the GTI cold turkey because what goes for it isn't how you want to use the Explorer. (working a broken signal vs understanding the null) It is probably a good thing you got the probe because pinpointing is much different with a DD coil so you should be quite a bit better off then I was. The Explorer isn't a miracle machine and you wan't clean up at a site you hit hard with a detector you knew, but it won't take long for you to see the advantages over the GTI... Depth, targets in trash & targets on edge. The GTI is a good detector but the Explorer does everything just a little bit better.

 

[Deerhunter24]

Well, I went to the old house for awhile. It was kinda sprinkling rain on & off for awhile.

Kinda crappy weather, but I'm too geeked to try out this new machine. I didn't manage to find any coins in the 2 hours I was there, but I made a couple interesting finds.

First, I found a Spoon with a nice design on it. It says "Sterling Plating" on the back. Half of the spoon has a "Silver" look to it (Handle), but the other half has a greeninsh-purple tint to it like most old spoons that I have found.

The 2nd find was a token. It says "Good For One School Fare" on one side. On the other side it says "Pontiac Lines." My guess is that its from Pontiac, Michigan, which is located about 35-40 miles away from my area.

The last cool item I found was a "Silver" looking pocketwatch. Not sure if its silver or not. It came up: COND 31, FER 0.

So it rang pretty high and was recovered at a depth of about 6."

Has a very cool design on it. Tha scan looks like crap but it has a Zeppelin on it.

At the top...it says "TRAIL BLAZERS." Just below that it reads "1929 TIME 21 Days."

Then is the picture of the Zeppelin and on the balloon are the words..."GRAF ZEPPELIN."



Below that is pic of a ship and the words "Around The World." This followed by "Magellan."

Then is says "1519-1522 Time About 3 Years"


Around the rim on the clock side it has 4 cities listed...

At the top is "Friedrichshafen"

On the right is says "TOKIO" I'm guessing this TOKYO but is mispelled.

Bottom says "Los Angeles." Left side says "Lakehurst"



If you look close, you should be able to pick out the Zeppelin on the watch.

 

[Nuttdriver]

WOW! Nice find!

 

[49r Relics]

That watch is incrediable! Of course being a Led Zeppelin fan, that would be one of my finest treasures. Would be interesting to find out more about it. Any comments on what you thought of the sounds you were hearing compared to your GTI days? I am buying an Explorer SE as well.

 

[Deerhunter24]

Sounds are definately quite a bit different. I haven't found a coin with it yet, but I only have a few hours in the field (last night). Its different, but I can tell you that the things I am finding at just 4-6" deep are coming across the machine with far more solid readings. I found a .22 Short shell at about 5" deep. And it gave me a very solid reading as well. Thats a pretty small target.

I'm planning a trip this Saturday with 2 of the guys I detect with. They will show me how to find the deep stuff. Or at least that is the plan. We're going to an old fairgrounds where these guys tear it up with their Explorers. One has an XS, the other has an Explorer II. So hopefully they can give me some good advice and tune my machine a little. Its gonna be great having 3 of us who basically have the same machine (or some variance of it). With 3 people using similar machines (Of course, they have had theirs for a few years already), there is a lot of info that can be passed back and forth.

I'll get back and let you know how I do this Weekend.


Deerhunter24 (Chuck)

 

[Deerhunter24]

BTW...according the information that I have found, the watch seems to have been made by Westclox back in 1930 to commemorate the 1929 launching of the Graf Zeppelin.

Found one for sale that is in near-mint condition. The guy wants $500.00 dollars for it. Dammit...Too bad I didn't have a DeLorean so that I could travel back and find that watch right after it had been lost.

DH24