In the last 20 years I went from digital to analog and now back to digital

...My first digital metal detector was the White's XLT that I bought new in 1994, my wife joined me in the hobby the next year with her new Tesoro Toltec ll. We had a friendly competition between us on who could make the best finds. Well a lot of times she would whip up on me in the iron nails found at the old house sites we hunted. Me and my new XLT would choke on the nails while my wife with her Toltec just found stuff in the very same spot. I was dumbfounded, how could this be ?, my XLT was supposed to be the best. Then I traded off my XLT for a DFX 7 years later, just trying to find that magic wand, what a nightmare that machine ended up being. I tried all the adjustments with the DFX, just could not get it to perform, even got the Jeff Foster book. It was the most adjustable with the most mediocre performance metal detector I had ever experienced. I sold it in 2007 and bought a like new 6000 Pro XL still in the original box it came in, I was happy with this machine after I learned how to tune it.

...This summer I joined the 21st century and bought the new digital White's MX5. This was after doing the research and PMing a couple of well respected detectorists on the forums that were using this detector. Several of the guys were MXT users and they said that the MX5 has a faster recovery in the iron trash, I had also experienced the use of a MXT for one day. I have to agree, the MX5 is one fast detector. It is a 3 filter machine, therefore the coil can be swept pretty fast when the trash is not too thick or the sweep speed can be slowed way down in the trash. My favorite way to hunt with it is in the Coin Mode with the 2 tone selection with all-metals accepted and using the excellent 5.3 Eclipse coil. It lets you hear all the iron in the ground with a low tone and the tone breaks at the Zero VDI number and higher ,,, to give a high tone, very cool. This technique will let you find the iron which is a good thing because this is usually where the most human activity has taken place in the past. Through experimentation in the field, when I have stumbled upon such a spot, I change to 1 tone with the first 3 iron segments notched out (-95 through and up to -10) this gives the MX5 a faster processing speed and it recovers in the iron much faster than any detector I have ever tried. I like that it is simple to set up with the excellent menu layout and the setting remains after shut down. It also has an 8 tone option for those who hunt in cleaner ground, it is not for me as I hunt the older sites with iron nails everywhere.



but I ain't giving up on my analogs just yet, I'll keep my preferred older model White's and older model Tesoros, LoL.

I know this sounds weird but 584 views and nobody replies??? Man. this place is a hangout for the tough crowd...Lol

Hombre Wrote:
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> I know this sounds weird but 584 views and nobody
> replies??? Man. this place is a hangout for the to
> ugh crowd...Lol


So Hombre, where are you now, 3 years later? Still swinging an MX-5? I've seen some of your posts on the older White's analog machines.

I've had a few Whites detectors over the years that I used; an original Eagle that I used with a creative lab Six-Shooter coil, a 5900 Di Pro SL, a spectrum XLT and most recently an MXT. Loved the Eagle/Six Shooter combo, 5900 was good, didn't care much for the Spectrum. Than last year I picked up a used Whites MXT All Pro last year specifically for some desert ghost town hunting with Monte. Used the 5.3 eclipse coil with it and have to admit that I liked the pairing and enjoyed my ghost towning.

I tried adapting the MXT to my old yard permissions hunting and was luke warm about it at first. Target ID was so so at depth compared to the explorers and etrac I've been using since 2000, but the pinpointing was great. Something I've missed with the DD coils. Got me to thinking about the visual TID systems and their advantages. I had a 5900 Di Pro SL back when and I have to say the meter was the best. I'd had an original Eagle and still think that TID was more stable than most of the digital TID's I see today. Is my memory failing? On the 5900, the needle never appeared to be all over the place like the numbers on today's digital displays even though the needle was often moving at least a little bit on the display. Perceptions.

Like I was saying, I was a little luke warm over the MXT for old yard hunting. However, on one specific yard, near an abandoned railway and loaded with iron, the MXT really cleaned up a bunch of coins that I missed on a few trips with my etrac and then a CZ-6a. The MXT impressed me finding a handful of coins that were in the 6"-8" range. [www.findmall.com] _ I have to admit I did like the way the detector talked to me. After a winter on the shelf, a decision to pick up a faster detector resulted in the sale of the MXT. I ended up with a Racer 2, a detector which I really like. But I do miss the ease and simplicity and audio of the MXT.

Rich -

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Just one more good target before I go.

My first detector was the BBS excalibur,... I hunt beaches most of the time.
Just knobs to turn and audio to learn, once I got the pinpoint mod done it was a joy to use.
Find a target in pinpoint, couple of sweeps in disc. And if it’s too your linking then dig.
This thing has got the most analog feel to it and a personality of it’s own.

Seeking out new adventures I tried my hand at relic, park, jewelry, micro jewelry, etc.
Tried a bit of everything detector wise.
Biggest let down was a machine everyone is just crazy about. V 3.2 XP Deus, can’t get more digital than that.
For a VLF this thing is programmable to the extreme with tones, tonebreaks, notches, frequency changes, reactivities, etc. etc.
And it found me some nice stuff, but it just didn’t hunt. You couldn’t hear the ground compared to my other machines.
It happily goes along till it gets a target and then sounds off.
That little cell-phone type controler with the small buttons is just plain akward.
Can you tell I didn’t get along with it :-)

So I decided to get myself an X-terra 705 for the parks and relics.
And allthough it doesn’t like big coils, ergonomics are way off. And the headphone is attached in the weirdest spot.
But with a few simple mods and the Pro-Sonic. It can fit in nicely just about anywhere.
I grew to love the tones, ease of set-up and the prospecting mode for deep targets.
Found everything from modern day coins, to mini jewelry, to roman relics, to roman coins with this thing.
Digital, but still lets you know when the signal is penetrating into the ground.

Fisher F75, F19, Goldbug came and went. We just didn’t hit it off. Can’t fault the units. But plain hated the covers on the F75.
And the F19 needs too fast a swing for my shoulder. Found some nice relics with them though, so performance is there when you need it.

Whites MXT All Pro for relics, well what can you say. This machine is a work of art, a stroke of genius. The frequency is spot on for lower conductors.
It finds coins from celtic staters to hammered silver. Will hunt in the tracks of the XP Deus/Garett At Pro crowd.
I don’t like to say anything much about this unit other than,... you need to buy one.
It has a very analog feel to it and it is that good.

HH
Johnb

Just part of hobby trying them all comes to mind. Different strokes for different folks..

scoopjohnb Wrote:

> Fisher F75, F19, Goldbug came and went. We just di
> dn’t hit it off.

I think scoop pretty much sums it up when it comes to detectors.

If the unit you are hunting with does not gel with you, it's time to move on no matter what the reviews or what others have to say.

I have a lot of units, but the one I connect with the most is my CZ6a. Old, beat up, analog...but it just always finds good stuff for me.

My 2 cents.

Hi Gonebeepin'

Your Question: "So Hombre, where are you now, 3 years later? Still swinging a MX5?

Yes, I'm still using the best metal detector for my intended purpose, which is Relic hunting old homesteads from the turn of the century. I run it in Coin mode, 2 tone Audio and Disc. set at minimum with all-metal accepted and the 5.3 Eclipse coil is mounted most of the time. This MX5 is an extraordinary machine if set up right, I have written a lot about it but it has not replaced my favored analog machines like my 5900 CB which is a great open park detector. My IDX Pro is another analog machine that is almost as good in the iron nails as my MX5. The only machines that beat out the MX5 in the iron is my beloved non metered Tesoros like the original Bandido & Bandido ll.

Randy

PS: When I set up the MX5 using 2 tone in heavy nails where I receive a dozen low tones per sweep, I revert to the 1 tone Audio with the first 3 segments of iron notched out. This makes it act like a good Tesoro single tone in the iron nails, it unmasks like crazy with the 6½" 5.3 Eclipse coil.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2017 04:05PM by Hombre.