Pickin’ With PRuss — 2020

Thought I’d start a finds thread as a way to document my fumbling towards competency as a metal detectorist.

Tonight was a lovely 90 minutes spent on an East Auckland beach, as I tried to learn the ins and outs of my X-Terra 705. I took it back to factory resets and then went into all metal mode… before exploring the different preset discrimination settings on targets. I’m only just beginning to get a sense for targets and what, where and how they make themselves known to the machine and me.

I’m also hamstrung for not having a pinpointer or sand scoop yet. Doing this with a trowel and hands is tedious. Fun? Yes. But speedy it is not.

All said and done, though? I ran across my first coin spill midway between the high and low tide lines, and now have a started aluminum, steel and brass/copper recycling bins in earnest in my shed.

Love to hear folks thoughts, opinions and ideas as i journey on here. So pull up a pew and have yarn.

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Any hunt where you get enough for a pie on the way home is a good one :wink:

Look forward to watching your progress.

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I hear that. I’m actually just throwing all the spendies I find into a cookie jar. I’m one of those perverse people that likes to take stock at the end of a year and see what accumulated… without having to use a spreadsheet. :joy:

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That’s the one save up the spendies to buy upgrades and tools etc. Sandscoops are a little pricey but you can get cheap pinpointer of alliexpress for $20 or so. Not great but better than none.

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There appear to be some no name pinpointers for around $60 on TradeMe. What’s word around the campfire on those?

Orange ones with gp pointer on it?

Yep. Thems the ones.

They are the same ones of alliexpress they work but aren’t fantastic. They work best on soil but work in sand as well but limited.

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Good stuff PR, I’ve got an xterra 705 too, good little machine once you get your head around it. What coils did you get with it?

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Thanks for the note. Everyone I’ve spoken to who had/has one feels the same way.

I just have the factory coil. Understand that there are a whole bunch of others available. So I’m looking forward to adding to the Arsenal when I get my process sorted.

— Pat

Thats a good start you made with your new machine.! All recent drops except for one bottlecap thats floated around for a bit. Hope to see more of your ventures. The 705 is good in the dirt too. :grinning:

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It appears to be! I’m just waiting on some moisture before I go diggin’ in the dirt.

— Pat

You dont have to, although moisture makes the targets more conductive to the unit, therefore a bit more depth is had. Just put various type targets around your lawn, ground balance and get a feel for them. Forgot to say to turn your beach umbrella icon ON when you go onto the beach sand. Cheers!

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Hi…I’m in Chch also with XTerra 705. Ive only been out a handful of times and have found a ton of coins, three rings (junkers) and the usual aluminium rubbish. I struggle to understand the settings on my detector as well but basically leave it on 1 to eliminate some of the iron junk. I havent been to the beach yet even though Ive got a scoop. Will have to give it a go soon. Its a fab hobby…just wish Id started years ago as getting up there now. All the best!

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Those $60 ones on Trade Me are actually $21 on Wish. I got a cheapie Chinese one and my detector from a ChCh dealer a couple of years back and paid $90 for it. Found those same ones on Wish a few months later, just over $20…Aarrgghh!

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Hi Millie, if you haven’t read this already have a good read through, it helped me a lot to understand the machine. Goodluck!

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Will do, thanks for that. Ive watched a few ‘how to’ tutorials on YouTube but can’t keep up with which buttons to press… and each bloke seems to have a different way of going about it. Goes right over my head…lol

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Yep, the best thing to do is just get out there and use it and dig everything, soon learn what is what :slight_smile:

The fact you’ve already found coins and rings means you must be doing something right!

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Thanks Gerter, yes I’ve found the 22-30ish numbers usually produce the good stuff…I will keep plugging away👍

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I have one of these black numbers and it works just fine, though it eats 9v batteries due to it being easy to inadvertently leave switched on.