Anyone use the X-Terra with 18kz coil primarily for searching for jewelry? My 10kz detectors are not very sensitive on some gold alloys. Looking for something that will sound off on ALL GOLD ALLOYS. Was thinking of a 305 with either a 5x10 DD or maybe the 6" or 9". Any experience?
X-Terra 18kz on JEWELRY
- Thread starter Diggler
- Start date
father/son/ohio
Elite Member
sorry im no help... i only used it once for about a half hour. do you have it? if i remember tomorrow i will throw it on and do some air testing.
BountyHunter
Elite Member
Take your chain and go to a store to try a Minelab X-705 (or 70) and a Fisher F70 (or F75).
This chain beeing your reference, work with it when shopping
This chain beeing your reference, work with it when shopping
hobbes_lives
Forum Supporter
Chains are hard to pick up with most machines. A higher frequency one will generally have a better advantage over a lower frequency one for gold and smaller items. When they are detected, they generally show up in the very low VDI range, so you have to have discrimination set very low. It'll be interesting to know what your test results are after you visit the dealer.
Rudy
Admin
Don't know about the X-Terra with 18KHz coil, but I know the MXT with a 6X9 DD coil is hard to beat.
I picked up this small fragment of very fine chain at 2 inches.
Attachments
Well I found the chain that I am having trouble with in wet soil. Just hard to get it to register on an air test. I have tried it with 4 coils on 3 machines. I have found MUCH smaller gold that will pick up with no problem. I think it is just certain alloys that I am having trouble with that leads me to wonder what I have passed over. With DISC at full low, I get a broke up trashy signal at best in the 1" depth range. That puts a damper on my cherry pickin!
Rudy
Admin
The problem with chains is that you get a very weak signal from each link. Most of the signal will come from an attached medal (if there is one), or from the clasp.
If you don't want to pass up gold chains, you can't discriminate out small foil.
Yah. Something about this chain in particular. Whether it is bunched up in a ball or extended, I can barely get my detector to respond with DISC ALL THE WAY DOWN. I don't really like all the noise of hunting in all metal and prefer to hunt with minimal or no DISC instead. I mean at least I found the thing.
Had the same problem on a BIG college ring. 14K is tough!
FXDiz
Forum Supporter
Why can chains be very hard to find?
Chains consist of many individual links. Unless chains are tangled, or have built up a halo effect, metal detectors can only pick up the individual links, not the complete mass. So if the individual links can be detected (or the largest bit, eg the clasp), the chain will be detected, fine chains with small catches are often impossible for metal detectors to detect.
Yah. Something about this chain in particular. Whether it is bunched up in a ball or extended, I can barely get my detector to respond with DISC ALL THE WAY DOWN. I don't really like all the noise of hunting in all metal and prefer to hunt with minimal or no DISC instead. I mean at least I found the thing.
Chains consist of many individual links. Unless chains are tangled, or have built up a halo effect, metal detectors can only pick up the individual links, not the complete mass. So if the individual links can be detected (or the largest bit, eg the clasp), the chain will be detected, fine chains with small catches are often impossible for metal detectors to detect.
Well I got the 305 with the 18.75 coil. It is definitely more sensitive to most gold than the 10Kz Tesoros. And the depth is better than I thought it would be. I got the feel for the Minelab pretty quick. Pinpointing is right on and depth gauge is ok. I only notched out iron and dug everything else. Got lots of nickels and even more pull tabs, shredded cans and foil. I think it is going to work out good for its intended use, a clean-up machine after the Tesoros have done their work. Also found a crappy chain whilst digging a crappy signal. Pretty easy machine to grasp so far...
