Was on the wrong end of a butt kicking....

[goldencoin]

Hello

Went to the local fair grounds with two other MD'ers from the south. They welcomed me in and we all set about MD'ing. I had a DFX against their Explorers. They started coming up with silver and wheats my dfx ws skipping over. They even had me run my MD over their holes and it didn't make a sound. By the time i left, they had about 10-12 silvers between them, most mercs, and a walker. I ended up with 2 bucks in clad, an earring that i can only hope is silver or gold, a clown token, and a medalion i'm pretty sure is silver


Right now i'm thinking about getting a bigger coil or tweaking a program...

Any ideas?

HH
-GC

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[Stormtrooper154]

No comparison here where I hunt. Minelab will shoot deeper on coin size targets. Being an exDFX user, I can say this for a fact. The DFX was a fine machine, but it does not find coins as deep as an Explorer. Other parts of the country (or world) may be different, but in Illinois, the Explorer is the way to go. Stock vs Stock, Explorer wins

Agreed. I have owned both, so I can comment.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Family Maps of Hinds County, Mississippi, Deluxe Edition - Grab it through Amazon!

[Captn SE]

If you shift over to the Whites forum you will see a very intresting thread from Greg at Trans Bay ,a Whites dealer in Ca. about a hunt in Golden Gate Park where the only detectors to clean up wih old silver was the Explorer.As a note ,I got no dog in this hunt as I use a M6 and fisher ID Excel.But I Will think about an Explorer,despite of the price and weight issues.There seems to be no equal for old,deep coins.

I was at this hunt in May at Golden Gate Park. There were 30 or so md'ers out there swinging. Almost everyone, except a few, were swinging Minelabs. I think the # of Explorers out there speaks for itself. If you want to find the deep (6-9") coins, the explorer is the detector of choice. I think the FBS 28 frequency technology of the Explorers/Quattro is way ahead of the DFX technology. I hunted for three days in one of the most challenging places to find deep silver coins - Big Rec. Many great finds were dug out of this area of the park. I finished my trip with 18 silver coins and over 25 wheats. One of the md'ers out there owned a detector store and was very proficient with a wide range of detectors. He went out there with his DFX and could not find anything beyond 6". The ground was too mineralized and loaded with clumps of iron. The explorers were better adept in this environment than the DFX was at GGP that day.

Here in CA, there are no DFX users I've seen pulling deep silver (6-8") out of heavily hunted parks. The Explorer is king of the deepies in my neck of the woods. I'm pretty sure there have been more former DFX users that have traded their detectors in for a minelab, because they wanted to find the deep silver/oldie coins, than there have been former minelab owners who have traded their machines in for a DFX. When you can break through the learning curve of the explorer machine, you will out hunt any other detector out there. I know there are quite a few of you who own a minelab and can't figure out how to interpret their machines. It takes a little time, but once you figure it out, you will start pulling the deepies from many "hunted out areas".

You buy an explorer not to find clad; you buy it to find the deep silver/oldie coins. That's what it will do the best. In fact, why buy a $1000 detector to find clad? I could find all the clad I want to from 1-5" with a detector that's half the price. People who consistently find clad with their DFX's, and are getting a few oldies while doing so, are really saying, "I've tried to find oldies with that machine, but I'm not having the results I expected, so instead of buying a more appropriate detector to target those oldies, I will keep my DFX and dig the easy to find clad instead."

Sorry, didn't want to offend anyone that finds clad. But to do it with a machine costing over $1000, one has to question their original intent for purchasing the machine.

HH,
CAPTN SE
Dan

 

[Skrimpy]

If your running a stock Dfx program your gonna get out hunted.
This machine takes a long time to master. I have 6 yrs experience with it and know it front to back.
It is extremely rare if I get out hunted by anyone with any type of detector. I can find old coins still in the hardest hit parks and area's.
If your new to this unit it's gonna be a yr or 2 before you start to understand it. I've seen people use the dfx for 10 hrs and say it's the worst detector they ever used.
It's not for everyone. But if you can learn it and master it. The possibilities are endless. It is a super machine. You have to take a ton of time to learn it.
Use it alot and good luck with everything. If your not a member already on dfxonly.com go there you'll learn a ton.
HH Jer

He's right. I've been using it for a year in my free time and I'm just learning the slight tweaking of each setting you need to do to get it to respond to deeper coins. This weekend I finallyl found my first indian. 1897. It came up a little junky with some high 70s VDI numbers a little more consistent than the junky numbers.

 

[ModernMiner]

I must say this has been an interesting, and informative post. I myself have been wanting to upgrade to an additional detector, just because I'm sure I'm passing over deep targets using my basic Tesoro. After reading these replies, I don't know which would be my best choice now? Minelab Explorer SE? DFX? White's Pro-XL?
I agree with Silver Zeuss and KirkPA on this one. I do not want a detector that has so many gadgets, programs, and settings on it that I need to read manual after manual to try to figure out. Even then, you're still out searching for info & help on how to use your machines. No thanks.
I know it boils down to practice, practice, practice, but isn't there a simpler machine out there?
I'm am new to the higher $ machines, so am looking for help.

1) Is the White's Pro-XL a good machine, easier to figure out, and able to find the deeper targets?

2) Any Tesoro higher $ machine users out there? Analog - vs- Digital is what I'm interested in finding out about.

Thanks all,
MM

 

[9volt]

the only head ache i get from using my explorer is listening to all the whites guys complain about not getting as much silver as the minelab guys...i hunt with 2 other mine lab guys and also 2 guys with the dfx and i can tell you that the dfx will not even make a sound on most of the deep targets that the explorer has no problem with and even ids correctly on as well...and as far as pinpointing i guess you just have to know how to deal with the dd coil..because myself and the other 2 explorer users dont have any trouble at all... as for programing...the se is FAR FAR easier to program than the dfx ...the only learning curve is for the sounds the explorer makes over other detectors and learning how to tell whats good and whats not..as for the falsing that is such an easy fix that a 5 year old could figure it out... either the sens is to high or there is crap inside the coil cover ....keep the sens at the correct level for the conditions and keep the coil cover free of debris..altho it fits tight it still allows dirt and sand into it and causes falsing other than that no probs

If you shift over to the Whites forum you will see a very intresting thread from Greg at Trans Bay ,a Whites dealer in Ca. about a hunt in Golden Gate Park where the only detectors to clean up wih old silver was the Explorer.As a note ,I got no dog in this hunt as I use a M6 and fisher ID Excel.But I Will think about an Explorer,despite of the price and weight issues.There seems to be no equal for old,deep coins.

No equal for headaches either Go into some explorer sites and read about pinpointing issues, inaccurate depth readings and falsing issues. I see some posting their problems on one forum then pretending not to have problems on this forum. I have seem people bragging about their explorer finds and maybe forgetting what they said And saying something different on another forum. Is the explorer a deep machine....from everything I have read from those I find believable >yes! But there seems to be a few who have gotten the right idea and a lot who are very confused with their explorers. Up to now I have decided to hold tight and not embarass anyone!

 

[Fish-Gate]

I hesitate to get involved in a hot discussion like this, especially when it has happened before, and will happen again, and there will never be total agreement from everyone. But I did feel like throwing my two cents in.

I have found small cents at 12" - 14" deep with my Minelab Explorer II. I have hunted with people using different high-price detectors, that couldn't even hear coins that my detector was crystal clear on. Granted, I have had trouble getting false signals from time to time - I swing a few times at various angles and the signal goes away - I know from expericence to move on. Pinpointing takes a few hours to master - then it is a no brainer. Some of my oldest coins are the deepest (10+ inches in the soft, dark Indiana soil).

That's all I have to say about that (in a forrest-gump like voice).

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

I think the explorer users may have not read this post correctly....he was not asking anyone to start bragging or asking to sell his dfx! He said he was thinking about changing coils or tweaking a program....so not sure unless you have a dfx he actually wanted the negativity! I think him asking about a change of coil or modifying a program is what he wanted. Seems pretty clear, he owns a dfx and never mentioned selling it!

 

[Colonial Zoyboy]

Minelab, Garrett, White's, Tesoro, Troy, etc. all make great detectors, and neither brand is better than the other. I guarantee that each brand has users who have made outstanding recoveries at all kinds of depths, and would swear on its capabilitites.

 

[DFX-SE Gregg]

Very well said....thank you I think this what i was trying to say. I post on 3-4 forums and go back and forth with users of all brands in private messages quote a bit. As you stated there are some using all the brands mentioned that could on any given day be the best i am sure of that! Also I will not mention any names but...also know of a couple people using the lower/middle end detectors different brands then whites or minelabs that are really running up some high total coin numbers and also getting some very nice finds!

Minelab, Garrett, White's, Tesoro, Troy, etc. all make great detectors, and neither brand is better than the other. I guarantee that each brand has users who have made outstanding recoveries at all kinds of depths, and would swear on its capabilitites.

 

[Colonial KirkPA]

Well expatiated upon, brother zoy! Now, since this discussion is only a moot topic, may we all go out find that elusive Flowing Hair silver half dime.... .

 

[Jack(IN)]

I think you should keep your DFX and just keep practicing. Every top of the line detector no matter who makes them are only going to find what your willing to dig. A good program will allow you more depth as well. As far as Explorers go, in my opinion they are (FOR ME) the best detector on the market today and I've read posts here about pin pointing from those who have not owned them and I have no problem pin pointing. Usually you hear more bad from people who have never owned a Minelab than from those who have. I have owned a DFX and sold it, just didn't like it and to be honest didn't give it a chance! I have seen great finds from the DFX and know if you keep working your detector you should have great days. I can go to a DFX forum and find all kinds of problems as well or any other forum discussing detectors. New people starting out have problems and even users with little experience post a problem and get great answers, thats why they post asking for help. If you own a Minelab or top of the line and have experience with it you have dealt with many problems and usually its the person swinging and not the detector. I can't understand why so many bash a Minelab, especially those who have not owned one?? I'm sure I will see posts from those who don't like what I said but I'll live. Getting back to the original post. Give your detector more time and ask for some good programs that are working for others. The DFX is a great detector and don't see you experiencing this problem much longer. Good Luck!!

 

[Colonial Copper Zeus]

Everyone worth their salt in this hobby has a favorite detector. When someone takes the time to actually understand their machine than they will do outstanding no matter what they own. I remember actually doing pretty well with my first detector which was a cheap Radioshack model. The answer to finding stuff in abundance is practice practice practice. It wouldn't hurt if these companies would make the owners manual alittle more user friendly. I know that if i could have a little time with each and every machine out there I would make sure that I would master its functions otherwise you are wasting valuable time settling for less. READ THE MANUALS AND TRY TO UNDERSTAND YOUR DETECTOR. Enough said. Chris