X-Terra 70 users

[Casull]

Anybody in Northern Illinois using an X-Terra 70 (or 30 or 50)? I've been MDing on and off for about 25 years (started in college), and I've used White's and Garrett's, but the X-Terra's tones are giving me fits. Hoping I can tag along with someone that knows these machines for a little education. Anybody willing to teach an old dog new tricks?

 

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[twistidd]

Casull,

I don't own an X-Terra, nor do I know anyone who does (that I can recall). However, I wouldn't be surprised to see a few responses to your post from individuals who do in fact use it. There's definitely a good variety of detectors being used in the group, though Minelabs are quickly becoming the number one pick by many.

Where is Northern Illinois are you located? We do group hunts a lot, maybe some time you can swing with us. We are in/near Chicago.

Joe

 

[Casull]

Joe, appreciate the response. I live near Rockford, and have read some about the group hunts you guys go on. I may try to tag along one of those trips this year. What I would really like is to hunt with/observe someone who is proficient with the X 70, so that I could actually hear what they are hearing (and hopefully what I seem to be missing). Based on the iron tones I am hearing, it would seem that the whole north central portion of Illinois is made up of nails and slag.

 

[twistidd]

Casull,

Where are you doing your detecting? Woods, parks, etc? I find that the woods have their share of trash, but in general less trash than the parks. It's also where I get most of my older finds. I do have troubles with iron at times, iron edge effect is a b!tch to deal with, especially when you get all pumped thinking you're going to dig a dime and you end up with a rusty nail. Part of the fun, I suppose.

Joe

 

[Casull]

Joe,

I had been doing mostly parks, but I got out last Friday in the woods, specifically an old ball field (now gone except for the backstop) that is a grown over field in the woods. I found it searching aerial photos from the '30's. Well, anyway, my first signal was a 1967 Roosevelt. Not silver, but perhaps close. I then dug nothing but screw caps and cans. A fellow hiking the trail nearby told that the place was a hippie hangout back in the sixties, and that was why the road had been closed back then. Even though he said he regularly hiked back there, he was not aware of the old ball diamond (if not for the photo and seeing the backstop, I would have never known it either). Ok, so I understand the screw caps and the cans, but I was getting a ton of iron signals. I guess I just need to spend more time with the machine, but it's certainly not like my good old Garrett's.

 

[Lowbatts]

Hey Casull, know a few minelab users out your way, but they don't show up online too often. Do you use the park sticker in Rockford? What's the cost these days? Been to Cherry Valley hunting yet? Gonna be working it this summer for a couple weeks. Been to Winnebago or the Pec fairgrounds?

 

[Monty]

I've converted to Minelab after much cussing and discussing. Learning the tones is a chore but I am slowly coming along. They are so different than any other detector and so many different ones it is difficult to learn. Everyone tells me to just stick with it and it will slowly come to me. I sure hope so. Monty

 

[Casull]

Joe,

Yeah, I had the Rockford Park District Sticker last year, and I'll probably get it again this year (it's $10 a year). I've hunted Bauman Park in Cherry Valley a few times (fair amount of clad, but no silver or jewelry). Somebody picked up an Indian there last year (according to a guy I was talking to). If you hunt Bauman, no sticker required, but just make sure you don't hunt the baseball diamond (the fenced off one), as it is off limits. Haven't been to either of the fairgrounds yet (to tell the truth, I'm not sure if MDing is allowed). I've seen what other guys are doing with the X 70 (which is why I purchased one), and I'm just trying to understand the thing so I can do the same.

 

[Lowbatts]

Fairgrounds at Pec are okay, at Boone County, no go.
Boone County states no metal detectors/detecting allowed. Too bad too, had found one cache and some very nice old pieces in one of those sites prior to them going off the deep end.

Winnebago County has permit process for their parks. Worked more than a few of them, some good ol' places there to crawl/climb and hike in the hunt.

Would like to work some of Rockford's older, less hospitable areas one of these days when sidewalk work is on-going.

 

[AmericanCoinHunting]

I have had my X-Terra 70 for 3 years now,and its a fun machine.....Last year I only hunted a few times,and noticed it started acting wierd.....On advice of a new hunting buddies ,I ordered an Etrac,and finnished 2008 finding some nice silvers with it...............I sent my Xterra 70 in to Minelab in January for some warranty repairs,and got it back in early February with a new board ,and new faceplate,,,,looks like they did a fine repair job,but I will have to give it a test spin for a while today..........I think of the 7 machines I still have.......The only two I will not sell will be my Main squeeze (E-Trac)
& my back up (X-Terra 70) The 70 is killer on Gold,and Silver, is MUCH better on small gold (Nuggets) than the E-Trac.
That is the reason it's my #2...
........................................................But You MUST order one of the DD coils for best opperation for here in the Midwest....DD will go much deeper than the standard 7.5 Khz or other standard coils.....I have the standard 3 Khz, the standard 7.5 khz,and the dd HF coil (my Fav)...If you use pattern #1,and tweak it by accepting the 4th and last bar...(Only blocking out the 1st three bars on the left -8,-6,-4---which are Iron) And do not dig the last bar...which is bottle caps or large Iron..........and only dig that 4th accepted bar, -2 if it is a faint [shallow signal] {likey to be small gold}( if it is deeper or loader it is most certainly a small nail).........also +2 is likely foil,unless it is a faint and shallow signal.......................................................................................
................................If you loose your target...........switch to the prospecting mode to find it...........................................
.............................................If you have been having trouble adjusting to multi (99) tones....Quit using them...(they are not nearly as good or dependable as the Explorers,or E-Tracs multi tones......................Just choose from 1,2,3, or 4 tones......
I use 3 tones,,,,,,,,,,and if there are alot of zinkolns around I go to the 4 tones....................
ALSO..................I seldom dig # 30 (zinc cent) or #28,& #32 unless 6" or deeper (unless you are at an OLD sidewalk tear out where Indians can be found.............# 12 is dependably a possible nickle,#36,#38,over 6" is a possible dime,and I dig some #38,and all #40,#42,#44,#46,,,,,,and a few #48,,,,only on an OLD Sidewalk tear out when the #48 is less than 6",and doesn't bounce more than one #.................If a Target bounces from #38-#42-#40.......It is still OK to dig....But in my experience,if it bounces more than 2 spaces.....It's almost always junk..........................................
Good Luck ..........Hope that helped some., Dave

 

[Digger]

I don't live in your area, but I've used the X-Terra 70 quite a bit.

If you're getting overwhelmed by the tones, chance are you're going too fast. The X-Terra 70 needs to have a slower sweep speed than single frequency detectors.

 

[Casull]

Sorry, haven't checked back here in a while. Digger, the X70 is a a single frequency detector (at least it only operates in a single frequency at any given time). I've read many others that say the nice thing about the X70 is that it does not have to be run very slow (I tend to swing about two seconds or so - back and forth on about a 4 to 5 foot swath).

 

[makton]

Casull,
I use the X70 but only for a couple of months now. If you hunt a lot of parks or trash heavy areas I would recommend the 6" HF coil. That little coil is excellent at seperating in trashy areas. It also gets really good depth. I pulled a token out of the woods at over 9" with the 6" HF coil.
I hunt in AM which can be annoying but the response time seems better at finding the coins next to iron or trash since it's not nulling over the rejected stuff.
I'll shoot you a PM with a link to a site that has tons of info on the X70.

Happy Hunting,
Makton

 

[Digger]

Digger, the X70 is a a single frequency detector (at least it only operates in a single frequency at any given time).

Sorry. Was thinking of my Sovereign GT and SE.