Myers Depot Metal Detectors

The Official Whites MXT Information Thread

I guess it can be confusing to a newbie like myself with so many different opinions on accessories .

My MXT Pro came with a 950 Eclipse coil and I wanted another coil. After a lot of research and PMs to a lot of experienced people I settled on the 5.3 Eclipse because I will be doing a lot of searching in the woods and trashy areas. It amazes me how many have said that they use the 5.3 coil 95% of the time while others don't care for this coil at all.

I have recently spoken with an individual with many years of experience with the MXT/ MXT PRO that gives seminars all over the Northwest, and what some people find to be excellent coils he said that he feels are useless. It comes down to the individual and what works best for him/her, but does make it confusing for us rookies. Same can be said for headphones.

I bookmarked this thread....a lot of good, useful info, for those that take the time to read all of it.
 
I have an MXT Pro and it is one of my favorite detectors.I really like the multi tones and the backlight for evening/night hunting.I have put my Bigfoot coil on and cruised the soccer and football fields.It is a quarter and dime rake.I bought it with the 10"D2 coil on it.I have a 6X10,5.3,Bigfoot and the 950 coil from my DFX.I'm going to add a 3X6 DD coil for supper trashy areas.There is an area in front of an old fairgrounds grandstand that has a target signal about every 3 inches.I want to put the little shooter coil on and shift through this area this spring.
 
Coil selection again, etc.

Have a few weeks under my belt now with the 950 and the 4x6 dd shooter coils. Am considering either the 6x10 dd whites or the 8x6 exellerator dd butterfly.

Am a coinshooter primarily that has to deal with a lot of iron and aluminmum trash but I'd like a little more depth than the shooter.

Have some friends extolling the virtues of their new AT Pro's at finding deep coins....but dang that machine comes with a 8.5x14 coil. I can't see it having much, if any, advantage over the mxt with similar coils.

Appreciate any input.
 
Which Mode is Deeper on the MXT

The MXT has three operating modes plus an non-motion all metal mode for pin pointing.

Prospecting mode
The first and deepest operating mode is Prospecting mode. This is a motion all metal mode, requiring constant coil motion to detect targets. Unfortunately there is no discrimination (although you do get a probability of iron indication) so it is not commonly used by coin shooters and in the typical urban field the lack of discrimination will drive you crazy.

However, Prospecting mode has a feature whose function is worth understanding. That is SAT and it stands for self adjusting threshold. The Discrimination knob in the Relic and C&J modes functions as the SAT speed control in Prospecting mode.

When you are sweeping the coil, the instantaneous ground VDI undergoes some perturbations because the mineralization is not really constant, it has some fine grained variation to it. This will cause the threshold hum volume to change in loudness as the coil moves over the ground. Don't confuse this with Ground Balance or Ground Balancing the detector. Ground Balance operates over a much much longer time scale.

The SAT speed determines how fast the electronics will restore the threshold volume back to it's original setting. A slow SAT speed will take a long time to reassert the threshold volume, while a fast SAT speed will react very quickly.

For maximum performance (detection depth) you want the SAT speed set just right. Too slow a SAT speed for the ground conditions could cause the threshold to null for long periods and you could lose a small nugget as a result. At the other end, too fast a SAT setting results in somewhat noisy operation and it can also cut down on depth because of its effect on the audio response of the detector. For really really bad ground conditions, there is a "hyperSAT" setting but I don't have much first hand experience with it.

If you are a coin shooter, jewelry hunter or relic hunter, you will probably use one of the other two modes, but which is deeper? My personal belief is that C&J is a little deeper. The following explanation is why I think that is.

Although many MXT users believe that Relic mode goes deeper. I think they reach that conclusion because of several reasons, the most important being that the threshold is less noisy in Relic mode than in C&J mode so the whisper targets are more discernible to their ears.

An obvious question is why is the threshold smoother in Relic mode than in C&J mode? Well, White's engineers saw fit to not add programmable SAT speed to Relic and C&J. Instead, each mode has its own preset amount of SAT speed. The C&J SAT speed being much faster than the one in Relic mode. This makes the threshold in Relic mode "smoother" or less ratty whilst the threshold in C&J is much "busier".

Now, imagine a small coin very near the limit of detection. The signal is too small for it to get through the discriminator and beep at you. In other words, you are operating deep in the MXT's mixed mode detection range, as deep as it gets.

If you are in C&J mode, as you pass over the target, you will hear the threshold volume rise momentarily and the SAT speed will bring it back down fairly quickly. A definite blip in the threshold. Unfortunately there are plenty of other blips going on because of the instantaneous changes in the ground VDI, but the target blip is distinguishable if your ears are trained to it.

If you are in Relic mode, as you pass over the target, you will hear the threshold volume rise but the slow SAT speed won't pull the volume back down anywhere as fast as C&J mode. This results in a very broad rise in threshold and is usually missed because of its broadness.

Note that in both modes the detector reacted to the target but produced a different threshold volume response. I personally find C&J goes a little deeper for me than Relic because I can distinguish the sound response better.
 
I've had my mxt pro now for almost 3 years now. I can't believe how fast that time flew by. It is by far the best detector I have ever used. Its a deep seeker. I also like the auto trac feature. I have been running it with the 6x10 DD- its the only coil I use on it.
 
I just thought I would wake this thread up again due to all the info within this thread and it is a shame to have it lost in the back pages, Well done everyone.

I have done well over 5000 hours using and Testing the last 3 MXT's and I am under the impression that these latest machines have had the software polished up a bit, Because with the best coil on them when they are running flat out they can hit targets weighing less than 0.09 grains and they Air test like crazy, way further than anything I have heard lately,

I think they are as good or better than anything else out there at present,

J
 
Another Bump

All....

Even though Whites is out of business and it is unclear what Garrett is planning for the MXT, there are a LOT of used units out there representing good value.

I've had an original E-series with the 950, 6x9 and 5.3 coils since 2005 and am looking forward to using it more in my later years, I'm sure there are others like me as well as those new to the hobby.

Based in Southern Nevada; meteorites, nuggets, parks, local permissions and occasional beach trips are on the agenda!

How 'bout it? Are any of you still using this classic? How is it working for you?

.....OneAcre
 
OneAcre said:
All....

Even though Whites is out of business and it is unclear what Garrett is planning for the MXT, there are a LOT of used units out there representing good value.

I've had an original E-series with the 950, 6x9 and 5.3 coils since 2005 and am looking forward to using it more in my later years, I'm sure there are others like me as well as those new to the hobby.

Based in Southern Nevada; meteorites, nuggets, parks, local permissions and occasional beach trips are on the agenda!

How 'bout it? Are any of you still using this classic? How is it working for you?

.....OneAcre
Click to expand...

Thanks for bringing this thread back up again.
 
My pleasure. I've been brushing up on my MXT skills and just found this thread. Running an MXT is worth it just for the shear volume of information available online.... much of it in this thread, which I just finished reading! Is there a link to a digital copy of the MXT Diary here somewhere? I have a paper copy but find digital media easier to read.

.....OneAcre
 
One Acre, I often get annoyed with some old posts and topics being Resurrected because they're not very interesting or in short kind of boring. However, this one was worth bringing back to life because one of the few models whites made in the last 20 or 25 years that was really good was the MXT series. I was invited up to check out an early prototype well it was in design and I could tell it was likely to be a detector I would like. When the MXT was first introduced, I was given a new MXT and the two coils I got with it where the 950 standard coil and the small elliptical Double-D coil.

At the time I received the MXT I had several different brands and models of detectors on hand, but my two most used models where a Tesoro Bandido II microMAX and the excellent White's XLT. The Tesoro was mainly for hunting dense brush and heavy debris sites, while the XLT handled the more open territory and moderately littered areas. I used the original MXT a lot during the first six to nine months that I had it, and I put it up against those two models as well as several others in my detector outfit that were also proven performers. There were a lot of things I liked about the original MXT, however I felt it needed a few changes to improve it. And those I saw coming when I had a prototype model for a couple of weeks, then I returned to White's and gave it back to them insured my thoughts.

The work Carl Moreland did on finishing up that unit, which was introduced as the MXT Pro, had a couple of added improvements over the prototype I evaluated. The MXT-Pro quickly replaced my original MXT, and by then I had the search coils that served my needs. The 950 on occasion in open areas, but the 6.5" Conentric stayed mounted most of the time due to the dense brush and debris I encountered at most sites I searched.

I prefer to go by actual measured diameters, and at the time White's labeled that as a 5.3 Eclipse. It's in the same housing of the coil they used to refer to as a 6" Concentric, and and in their last couple of years they also called it a 6" Concentric for the MX-7 and MX Sport all using the same housing, if you measure it the coil measures about 6.5". About 2012 or 2013,, White's introduced a round open-frame or spoked 9" Concentric. That coil, and the 6.5", are my two preferred coils for the MXT Pro.

That was my primary-use detector until early 2015. Since then I have owned one a couple of times, but I have had to trim my detector outfit to a smaller number of models that are lightweight, well-balanced, making it easier on my old and achy body with impaired mobility, and I have settled on just a few models that serve my needs better. That is they handle the really tough densely iron contaminated sites I hunt the most better than most other detectors. But I'm not saying anything negative about the MX T-Pro because it is one of the models I feel is still a very reliable and competitive performing model. One of the problems White's had near their dying days was that it was still overpriced compared to the competition and even some of what they still offered.

If you own and use the original MXT, and if you like it and it's working well for you, and just enjoy it, just use it. With the right coil for the site conditions they can be very good performers. If you have any specific questions about the models or the coils, or their application, ask away.

Monte
 
Good Old MXT

Hi There
Just recently picked up this great hobby again. I tend to only play at one hobby at a time and ignore others while doing so.
Anyway thought I better charge my equinox batteries as well as my V3i batts and started thinking of my other old detectors and the dust they're collecting. Maybe it's time to sell a couple.
I'm torn when it comes to my first detector the good old MXT E series.
I found a lot of cool stuff with that unit!
Have the Jeff Foster The MXT Edge book I'm looking at right now. Great guide!
Will be selling for sure the GMT and Beach Hunter but it'll be tough the sell the MXT.
 
Island Guy.....
I can't imagine giving up the MXT! (Or any of them for that matter)


Monte...
Thanks for your generous offer. Regarding coil sizes, I got what was then the 6x9dd eclipse coil in 2002 with the detector. It actually measures 5-1/2x10. Many posts refer to a 6x10dd eclipse. Is there any difference between the two?


......OneAcre
 
OneAcre: said:
Monte...

Thanks for your generous offer. Regarding coil sizes, I got what was then the 6x9dd eclipse coil in 2002 with the detector. It actually measures 5-1/2x10. Many posts refer to a 6x10dd eclipse. Is there any difference between the two?

......OneAcre
Click to expand...
It's just another example of how White's, like some others, didn't seem to figure out how to use a ruler to measure coils. 'Common logic' suggests a person wanats to know that actual physical diameter or cross-diameter of an outside measurement. Just like figuring out the size of a door to fit in the hole in the wall.

The called the Blue Max 600 a 6" coil and it measures closer to 6½". The they made a new decal for different modls cand call it a 5.3 Blac Max then 5.3 BullsEye, and for the MXT, DFX, V3i they named it a 5.3 Eclipse. It isn't a 5.3 diameter at all and a lot of people didn't order one because they thought it was too small. It uses the same 6½" housing. Then they made one for the MX Sport and MX-7 and, once again, named it a 6".

After White's did that, and there was a reason for it but really nutty, Tesoro did the same thing with their 6" coil, calling it a 5.75.

So the 5½X10 is actually closer to that measurement, but they over-sized it and called it a 6X10. I will give White's credit, however, because they properly list the width first and then the length, and that is fine with me. I have a 5X9½ on one Relic and a 5X8 on one Apex, so I know how they might work in a trashier environment.

Monte
 
Monte.....
When I first started searching for information on my 6x9dd eclipse coil, not much came up. A lot came up for the 6x10dd eclipse. Now I know why.


OneAcre
 
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