nittany1
Elite Member
Minelab Explorer XS and White's DFX
I'm a big fan of the tv shows American Pickers and Pawn Stars. So today I sort of combined those two interests along with my interest in metal detecting and I went picking for metal detectors. After some haggling I purchased a Minelab Explorer XS for $450 and a White's DFX for $179! I may have paid a little too much for the Explorer XS but I got a really good deal on the DFX. It took about 3 hrs of driving around to see what people had in stock, I went to about 8 pawn shops and found these at two different shops.
Minelab Explorer XS
The Minelab Explorer XS is basically in mint condition. Whomever owned it before barely ever used it. After a little bit of window cleaner and some elbow grease all the dirt and smudges cleaned up real nice and it's basically in mint condition. The package included two battery packs: 1) the Ni-MH rechargeable and 2) the AA alkaline holder, one 12v car charger for the Ni-MH in poor condition, the rubber phone cord is deteriorating, but I can get those online, also included is a nice plastic scoop and a White's Bullseye II pinpointer, which I already have, but a second one is good too.
For those unfamiliar with it, the Explorer XS uses 28 frequencies ranging from 1 kHz to 70 kHz. They call it Full Band Spectrum (FBS). The reason I wanted this machine is so I can compare to my White's machines. Minelab are made in Australia and to behold a Minelab, it's pretty solid. It's built really sturdy. I know it's not as fancy as the well renowned as the E-Trac, but neither I did I pay the price of an E-Trac. Time will tell how well I like this machine.
White's DFX
The White's DFX is more of a known quantity to me. I'm a huge White's fan, I own three White's machines already: VX3, M6 and GMT. The DFX I purchased for a good friend of mine I've known since 1993 who is a member of our forum too. He will remain anonymous unless he wants to be known. The DFX is one of the first Spectrum models, it uses two frequencies: 3 kHz and 15 kHz. It's well regarded and very solidly built, it will last many years. You can use it right off the bat with the factory included programs, but it's also very programmable. There are many settings and adjustments to get the most out of it. It's basically the same as the current DFX300, but it doesn't include the 12" coil (where the 300 part of the DFX300 came from, 300mm is 12").
White's Eclipse 5.3
The DFX came with the Eclipse 5.3 coil, it's well regarded. I'm tempted to keep the coil myself since it's an Eclipse but I already have the 4x6DD. To those who don't know, the Eclipse is useable by all the higher end White's VLF detectors: M6, MXT, MXT Pro, DFX, DFX300, VX3, V3i.
The Eclipse 5.3 will serve my friend well in parks in trashy areas and in the gold fields of the midwest, his two areas of interest.
Summary
If you can't afford a brand new detector but you want something more high end, check our Classified section, or you can do what I did today, go pawn shop picking. You never know what you may find.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my finds as much as I liked getting a deal on them. Anything you can add about the Explorer XS will be helpful, as I'm brand new to Minelab.
Neither of these machines are for sale. One is for me, another is for a good friend.