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First week with the Explorer 2
Posted by IDXMonster
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First week with the Explorer 2 June 07, 2015 12:55AM |
Not to sound ridiculous(this is supposed to be the intelligent detecting forum) this might be similar to breaking up with a really sweet girlfriend. She is the best you've had but has some faults that are critically wounding to a happy relationship. You only go around once,or so I've heard,so you'd want it to be the best you can make it,right? Well,let's begin.
I got my IDXPro bone stock and spent some 3 years with it. It's my first machine. I learned about detecting with it,met some people with it and found more coins with it than I can count. Last year it got modified with external TH,GB,tweaked the gain,etc. THAT in and of itself,changed things. Now I could dial it in to whatever piece of ground I was on and I found more OLD coins in the same places.
A fellow detectorist has had an ATPro for awhile and one thing he had that I didn't were different tones. I could still look at my display constantly and when it beeped it would put up an indication of what it might be. I gotta say,the IDXPro has a really honest TID at 6-7" in clean ground. I wanted tone ID,but in a machine that could separate AND go deep AND,an accurate indication of the target in question. Geez,I wasn't asking too much,was I? But,being almost exclusively an old silver/copper coin hunter,I had to make a change....from digging change.
We all find ourselves frequenting a lot of the same places,whether it's convenience or lack of options,we all do it,or have done it. The quote"don't go looking for good things in bad places" always makes my ears burn when I find myself at a place that hasn't produced,but in reality,really should. 2 farms that have been around since the 1870s....the IDX found nothing worth mentioning in MANY hunts and hours of persistence with different settings,coils,swing speeds....the only thing I wasn't doing was standing on my head and rubbing my belly. Zilch!
I thought about the iron and the odds...this much history,this much garbage iron,this long a history of habitation....it just didn't compute that no matter how careful people were or how poor they were,something must have gotten lost in all that time. Was it me? I'm a relative newbie to this thing. Was it the sun? Moon tides? Bad batteries? It's pretty obvious to ME....read,not necessarily YOU...that I needed to get a 30/30 for deer hunting and leave that .410 at home. Maybe then I'd have a shot....corny pun intended.
Farmer...it's time for the breakup
I drove with my friend ATPro Wayne 2 hours one way to check out this EX2. I brought my secondary IDXPro to partial trade,I also gave 200 cash,so it's around a 425.00 deal,depending on how my machine was valued. To me,it was great because I didn't have to lay out the entire amount in cash,and...I still have my old girlfriend. She understands our relationship is only for fun,so it's all good. I saw it,the accessories and original box. The deal was done.
It was later in the afternoon last Saturday so I went to my regular hunting park,I hunt it every morning for an hour before work,and have done that for a long time. I also hunt it whenever I don't have access to other places where people are just too....present. Within 20 minutes the EX2 barfed out a silver Washington at 8" with a rusty nail head and piece of wire in the hole. I thought,"it's gotta be beginners luck,I PURPOSELY scanned this area thoroughly with the IDXPro as a proving ground!" I poked around a bit more but it was late so no more was found.
To get to the point,here's a list of places I've ransacked to DEATH,with no appreciable results....followed by the results of the EX2 completely stock and presets...slight bump in Sens
1870s farm,iron nail laden BADLY. general issue Eagle button,pendant with green stone,locket of some kind,1919 wheat
1870s farm garbage metal everywhere,some cleaner ground around the house. (2) 1918,(2) 1919,(2) 1920,(1) 1914,(1) 1916,(1) 1940,(1) 1957wheats,1903 Barber dime,1906 Barber
quarter.
Late 1800s country church. 1899 IH
Regularly hunted 1930s park. 1964 Washington quarter
School yard in adjoining town hunted heavily by myself and Wayne. 1940 wheat,1893 IH
I hope I haven't forgotten anything...Kenny?
To the best of my recollection I have around 10-12 hours into those hunts total,I didn't get out as much as I wanted in the first week,especially after it went so well immediately. Most of those things were found with factory presets,I still have relatively no idea what I'm doing,but I'm getting better at it.
Personally,here's what I think make the difference,though it has only my tiny mind to back it up,plus the finds I doubt I would have otherwise had. The DD coil for separation,FBS for however it works(I don't CARE how it works,I care THAT it works),a slower recommended sweep speed(I've been going about 2 fps), the high "chirp" that makes you investigate a signal further, coupled with the Smart Find screen and the cursor movements. I have also noticed IMMEDIATELY that the depth of every hole is deeper than my blade which is 6", and some have been the depth or deeper than my PP which is 9". That was VERY rare with the IDXPro,though it was possible in very mild ground on a quarter. I've also noticed that signals that were deep with anything else around were tough for the IDXPro to contend with,
Another reason I took the FBS leap,and possibly the biggest,was that I felt I needed a machine that had a reputation of going deep with accurate ID to avoid digging all kinds of UNNECESSARY holes. I don't mind digging holes,but I don't want to do it without the intended outcome most of the time. My IDXPro COULD be deep,but conditions had to be really right. I feel with the EX2,once I get to know it I could go to ANY site of mine and make it produce something I'm looking for,which is the whole point. When I go out and dig 5 coins,and not ONE is clad....well,that's almost worth the price of admission by itself.
Farmer,Bryanna,others...it's only one guys experience for a week. If you have a machine that YOU feel works for YOU,and you've taken the time to learn it well,then there's nothing wrong with staying the course. I feel I've taken the time to learn my IDXPro VERY well,only to have it IMMEDIATELY trumped by something else. But,if I never had that "something else" I'd never know the difference. Kinda like meeting that perfect new girl but keeping the old one's number.....
BTW,how does one change their username?....
Kevin
I got my IDXPro bone stock and spent some 3 years with it. It's my first machine. I learned about detecting with it,met some people with it and found more coins with it than I can count. Last year it got modified with external TH,GB,tweaked the gain,etc. THAT in and of itself,changed things. Now I could dial it in to whatever piece of ground I was on and I found more OLD coins in the same places.
A fellow detectorist has had an ATPro for awhile and one thing he had that I didn't were different tones. I could still look at my display constantly and when it beeped it would put up an indication of what it might be. I gotta say,the IDXPro has a really honest TID at 6-7" in clean ground. I wanted tone ID,but in a machine that could separate AND go deep AND,an accurate indication of the target in question. Geez,I wasn't asking too much,was I? But,being almost exclusively an old silver/copper coin hunter,I had to make a change....from digging change.
We all find ourselves frequenting a lot of the same places,whether it's convenience or lack of options,we all do it,or have done it. The quote"don't go looking for good things in bad places" always makes my ears burn when I find myself at a place that hasn't produced,but in reality,really should. 2 farms that have been around since the 1870s....the IDX found nothing worth mentioning in MANY hunts and hours of persistence with different settings,coils,swing speeds....the only thing I wasn't doing was standing on my head and rubbing my belly. Zilch!
I thought about the iron and the odds...this much history,this much garbage iron,this long a history of habitation....it just didn't compute that no matter how careful people were or how poor they were,something must have gotten lost in all that time. Was it me? I'm a relative newbie to this thing. Was it the sun? Moon tides? Bad batteries? It's pretty obvious to ME....read,not necessarily YOU...that I needed to get a 30/30 for deer hunting and leave that .410 at home. Maybe then I'd have a shot....corny pun intended.
Farmer...it's time for the breakup
I drove with my friend ATPro Wayne 2 hours one way to check out this EX2. I brought my secondary IDXPro to partial trade,I also gave 200 cash,so it's around a 425.00 deal,depending on how my machine was valued. To me,it was great because I didn't have to lay out the entire amount in cash,and...I still have my old girlfriend. She understands our relationship is only for fun,so it's all good. I saw it,the accessories and original box. The deal was done.
It was later in the afternoon last Saturday so I went to my regular hunting park,I hunt it every morning for an hour before work,and have done that for a long time. I also hunt it whenever I don't have access to other places where people are just too....present. Within 20 minutes the EX2 barfed out a silver Washington at 8" with a rusty nail head and piece of wire in the hole. I thought,"it's gotta be beginners luck,I PURPOSELY scanned this area thoroughly with the IDXPro as a proving ground!" I poked around a bit more but it was late so no more was found.
To get to the point,here's a list of places I've ransacked to DEATH,with no appreciable results....followed by the results of the EX2 completely stock and presets...slight bump in Sens
1870s farm,iron nail laden BADLY. general issue Eagle button,pendant with green stone,locket of some kind,1919 wheat
1870s farm garbage metal everywhere,some cleaner ground around the house. (2) 1918,(2) 1919,(2) 1920,(1) 1914,(1) 1916,(1) 1940,(1) 1957wheats,1903 Barber dime,1906 Barber
quarter.
Late 1800s country church. 1899 IH
Regularly hunted 1930s park. 1964 Washington quarter
School yard in adjoining town hunted heavily by myself and Wayne. 1940 wheat,1893 IH
I hope I haven't forgotten anything...Kenny?
To the best of my recollection I have around 10-12 hours into those hunts total,I didn't get out as much as I wanted in the first week,especially after it went so well immediately. Most of those things were found with factory presets,I still have relatively no idea what I'm doing,but I'm getting better at it.
Personally,here's what I think make the difference,though it has only my tiny mind to back it up,plus the finds I doubt I would have otherwise had. The DD coil for separation,FBS for however it works(I don't CARE how it works,I care THAT it works),a slower recommended sweep speed(I've been going about 2 fps), the high "chirp" that makes you investigate a signal further, coupled with the Smart Find screen and the cursor movements. I have also noticed IMMEDIATELY that the depth of every hole is deeper than my blade which is 6", and some have been the depth or deeper than my PP which is 9". That was VERY rare with the IDXPro,though it was possible in very mild ground on a quarter. I've also noticed that signals that were deep with anything else around were tough for the IDXPro to contend with,
Another reason I took the FBS leap,and possibly the biggest,was that I felt I needed a machine that had a reputation of going deep with accurate ID to avoid digging all kinds of UNNECESSARY holes. I don't mind digging holes,but I don't want to do it without the intended outcome most of the time. My IDXPro COULD be deep,but conditions had to be really right. I feel with the EX2,once I get to know it I could go to ANY site of mine and make it produce something I'm looking for,which is the whole point. When I go out and dig 5 coins,and not ONE is clad....well,that's almost worth the price of admission by itself.
Farmer,Bryanna,others...it's only one guys experience for a week. If you have a machine that YOU feel works for YOU,and you've taken the time to learn it well,then there's nothing wrong with staying the course. I feel I've taken the time to learn my IDXPro VERY well,only to have it IMMEDIATELY trumped by something else. But,if I never had that "something else" I'd never know the difference. Kinda like meeting that perfect new girl but keeping the old one's number.....
BTW,how does one change their username?....
Kevin