first day out with the explorer se

hollowpointred

Gold Member
Mar 12, 2005
6,871
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Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer SE/Garrett GTI 2500/ Ace 250
well.........I'm impressed! i only had about an hour of daylight in which to hunt today, so i went to the old school that has been hunted to death by me and a lot of others. the first coin i dug was a 1919 wheatie at about 8 to 9 inches! i also found another 57 wheatie at about 7 to 8 inches. i was routinely getting hits at 10 to 11 inches with this thing! i have never gotten that kind of depth with my Garrett GTI 2500! this thing rocks! i don't even really know what I'm doing yet and i am already getting Superior depth with this thing in the factory settings! i also found a little clad at shallower depths. pinpointing is a little tricky, but not nearly as hard as some would have you believe. i just needed to concentrate a little harder and i did fine. i did miss not having the size feature that the 2500 has, but the depth of the explorer more than makes up for it. the weight was not an issue either. it weighs about the same as the 2500. i can only imagine what kind of depth this thing will get when i learn to tweak it and know what a deep target sounds like. it seems the stories you hear about hunted out spots coming back to life when you hit it with an explorer are true! Ive seen it with my own eyes now and I'm a believer! very very impressive! ;D
 

Upvote 0
Oh Geez, Red....Now I've got new detector envy! :-\

I read about the weight issue, too. I read that is wasn't balanced properly for swinging.....just what I've read. ::)
 

Mona Lisa said:
Oh Geez, Red....Now I've got new detector envy! :-\

I read about the weight issue, too. I read that is wasn't balanced properly for swinging.....just what I've read. ::)


dont get me wrong, it is heavy. just not any more heavy than the GTI 2500. as far as being balanced, i thought it was balanced rather well. from what i have seen, the SE is supposed to be a little lighter and better balanced than the explorer 2, so maybe what i am seeing is the result of the improvement. what surprised me was the depth! the 2500 doesnt even come close, and the explorer is still in its factory presets!
 

cheese said:
Hey Don in S. Jersey...you say the explorer goes deeper than your fisher? May I ask which fisher you've got? I run a CZ7, and haven't found any machine that got deeper than mine...even my friends DFX. If the explorer goes deeper, it might wind up on my list of "things to get". I have to deal with those "hunted out spots" a lot too.

LOL, when I said my Fisher I was talking about the much cheaper ID Excel, which I bought as a light backup detector for road walking. The XS goes much deeper than the Excel and my Garrett GTA1000. My son's primary detector is a CZ-70 and that is a good detector but the ML 8 inch coil is about equal to the CZ-70 with its stock coil, but if I put the stock ML coil on the XS goes deeper than the CZ70.

I know the DFX goes deep, but it is not a great beat the bush detector, so I never even considered it. Besides, don't need the bells and whistles......... :)

Don
 

I believe the depth you are finding those coins at! Why??? Cause I have seen it numerous times. I have a GTI 1500 and hunt with 3 other guys. One has a GTI 2500 as well. The others have a DFX and an Explorer. Most places we go we all find a decent amount at ranges up to 6 inches deep. The DFX and Explorer usually go an inch or two deeper.

However, we have been to a few so-called "hunted out" places this year. One is an old fairgrounds near our homes. None of us were finding much at all, only a few coins at 5 inches or else. Except one guy...the guy with the Explorer. He was finding numerous coins from 6-10" deep. And when I say numerous...I mean numerous. In 5 hunts there in the first half of last year. Jim (Explorer) found 122 wheat pennies, 22 Silver coins, an Indianhead Penny. Me and my GTI 1500 found 1 silver coin and maybe a dozen wheat pennies and Rick (DFX) found 3 wheats. And this is in 5 trips. Jim was averaging 25 wheats and 4-5 silver coins each time we went. Rick and I combined averaged 2 wheats a trip. It was a joke. Rick went out and bought an Explorer II and the first time we went there after he got (3 days after it arrived in the mail and his first time out with it)...he found 16 wheats, a buffalo nickel, and 3 silver coins. All were 6-10" deep.

It was amazing...Jim showed him the basic operation and he started hammering coins. And deep ones too!

At some places...the difference isn't as noticable. In really trashy areas...we all get about the same depth. But when we get to places that are "hunted out" where there is little trash or real good soil...those detectors go DEEEEEPPPPPPP!!!

I cannot explain it, but as soon as I rake up the money you better believe that I am getting an Explorer II or an SE. GuaranSHEED!!!

Good luck using it and I hope you share more stories with us.

Deerhunter24
 

Oh no... not another Minelab convert! ;)

Most people don't believe the depth that these machines can get and once you actually learn how to use it a bit more you will be able to go to the worst of spots and pull out some nice old coins.

My deepest coins have been in the 10-11" range and still been nice, clean, repeatable signals. In my first year (2006) I dug about 700+ old coins compared to fewer than 100 total from the other guys who use other machines.
 

I bet that Explorer SE is excellent machine and goes deep deep...I would love that machine but here in FInland it cost 1345 EUROS :o :'(

That is out my range, I think its too much. I dont believe that technoly inside any machine would cost so much. Im buying a new detector and thinkink about c-scope 1120 R or newforce R1, really need a non motion machine. 1220 cost 590 euros and newforce 980 euros. Expensive hobby :(.

Nice finds and keep that minelab busy.
 

Good deal!

HH
 

bscofield6 said:
Oh no... not another Minelab convert! ;)

Most people don't believe the depth that these machines can get and once you actually learn how to use it a bit more you will be able to go to the worst of spots and pull out some nice old coins.

My deepest coins have been in the 10-11" range and still been nice, clean, repeatable signals. In my first year (2006) I dug about 700+ old coins compared to fewer than 100 total from the other guys who use other machines.


yeah buddy! I'm sold!! ;D went out with it today and got two more Wheaties and a silver dime in an area that i had stopped hunting a year ago because it was "hunted out"! ;) now i just really need to concentrate on learning the different sounds and how to interpret the id screen. it is a very different detector that both of my Garrett's. i couldn't be more happy with the machine so far! it really is pretty amazing!
 

HP RED, Looks like that SE is a keeper. I am not an X-terra fan, but I do like all the multi-frequency, DD coil units. Any time you want me to school you on (or just compare) the EXP II let me know. ;)

Ed D.
 

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