New Guy (long post, sorry)

[CactusKid]

Hello all,

My name is Ryan..... I am brand new, I mean BRAND NEW to the game of beeping. I just purchased a Minelab X-terra 70 with the DD coil from Russ Ford at his Prescott Valley, Arizona shop. Great guy and great shop by the way.

I have been reading everything I can get my hands on regarding metal detectors, I have also been reading tons of threads on this forum. I have used the xterra 70 once, today. I live on two acres in Dewey, Arizona with the Aqua Fria river as my back yard. So I headed down there and beeped around for a few hours. Pushed all the buttons, pulled all the levers, listened to the beeps and even dug a few holes in mother earth. Found a pop top and other misc. metal and aluminum objects. It was a blast, but now its time to talk with the pros and figure out how to really use this detector.

So without further ado... I bring you a long post with 21 questions.......

From what I have read and heard, the earth around Arizona and the Bradshaw mountains has a ton of hot rocks. Is that the case?

What makes a hot rock, a hot rock?

What other metals would sound like a hot rock to the Xterra?

I think I heard Lead sounds like Gold to the detectors, is that true?

IF so, would d a lead ball from a cap and ball rifle work to test the detector?

I use 12 on the sensitivity setting as per the New User recommendation from the manual, is that a decent setting?

Can you give me some pointers on what I am looking or listening for when it comes to the sensitivity settings?

I just used Auto for the Noise cancel feature, is that OK for now?

Any info on what that does would be great?

Threshold, I am lost with so I just left it factory stock. Any info there would be great.

Tones, again I am lost so any help would be awesome.

Ground Balance, I kinda understand but then again I just used the Auto feature and left it at that?

I thought about using the Tracking feature but am unsure of its use so far.

On the coin mode... What does the different numbers mean when you pan over a target. I have a 1945 quarter, 2005 quarter, pop top, nail and my lead ball. All of which produce a different number and the nail even produces a negative number. Is there any way to find out what type of metal corresponds with the numbers. Example... number 1-5 are usually __ Number 6-12 are usually ___?

Any sort of info there would be very useful.

I understand the Down facing arrows on the right of the screen to be a depth gauge, is that correct?

Does one arrow mean 2" and two arrows mean 4", so on and so forth or is it just a general idea of the depth?

Any other tips or tricks would be very helpful. I thank everyone for their time and look forward to talking with you guys soon. Thanks again, Ryan

PS, Sorry for the long post and tons of questions.

[nuggethunting]

Hello Ryan,

Welcome to the forums! The Minelab X-Terra 70 is a great machine for coin, relic and gold nuggets. Glad to hear you also got the 10-inch elliptical DD coil, which will increase performance while gold nugget hunting. I will try to answer most of your questions in general terms (not getting too technical).

From what I have read and heard, the earth around Arizona and the Bradshaw mountains has a ton of hot rocks. Is that the case?

Arizona does have hot rocks, but they are also scattered throughout the US.

What makes a hot rock, a hot rock?

A hot rock is a rock that has different mineralization from the surrounding soil or ground. Typical hot rocks are ironstones and basalts, but not just these two types.

What other metals would sound like a hot rock to the Xterra?

Humm ... That's a tough question to answer. A faint hot rock at depth can sound like any small shallow or deep faint metal target.

I think I heard Lead sounds like Gold to the detectors, is that true?

For most Yes, but when you master a detector you might be able to determine most lead from gold. However, for the most part they sound pretty damn close, same to most.

IF so, would d a lead ball from a cap and ball rifle work to test the detector?

Yes, any small target would work well as a test piece. Many use a small gold nugget attached to a poker chip to set up their detector. Practice listening to the faint targets as anyone can dig the loud screamers. Most unexperienced detectorist will miss the faint whisper type targets. Sometimes those faint targets might be nice gold nuggets at depth.

I use 12 on the sensitivity setting as per the New User recommendation from the manual, is that a decent setting?

That might be a "new user recommendation," but the higher the sensitivity the better if you can run it. Try to run the sensitivity as high as you're able to. If the detector is not balancing well, back the sensitivity down to a level that works well.

Have to run for a bit Ryan, an important phone call just came in. I will post some more information tomorrow on the rest of your questions. I'm sure others will jump in and help out also.

Thanks for joining the forums,

Rob Allison

[Miner_49'er]

Hello all,

I too am new to the forum and using a metal detecor. As I am currently awaiting Rob's catalog, I thought I'd look into some of the topics. Ryan's questions seem to be some of the basics I would end up asking.

So I thought I'd just say, "Hi" and I'm looking forward to any other follow up info from the Pro's out there.

Thanks,

David

[eodseal2000]

Whatever you guys decide, BUY FROM ROB!

He is great at answering questions and will give you his honist opinion, no B.S. ing

He is honist and will get you what you want when you want it.

Believe me, if anyone has asked some bizar questions, it would be me and he answered them to the best of his knowledge.

Good luck!

[CactusKid]

Thanks for the replies guys, it has answered quite a few of my questions. I am sure I will come up with more though. I plan on just swinging that thing until it becomes second nature. Thanks again. Ryan

[russfordAZ]

Rob,

Thanks for referring your friend up this way for a dredge. We'll try and fix him up.

Eodseal,

The Arizona dealers network are all honest, good guys. We work together and are all friends.

Ryan,

I made quite a bit of progress with the X-70 today. The more I work with it the more I'm impressed. I think the biggest advantage of this machine is the fact that you can hunt in the prospecting mode with extra depth and sensitivity and when you come to a target just click a button and you're in the coin mode with increased descrimination. Check the target out and if it's trash, just click a button and you're back prospecting again. It's like having two machines in one hand. And the whole thing only weighs 2.9 lbs. Digital technology is tops! I predict this will be the top selling detector in the nation this year!

.......... russ