Advise on x terra 705

[Confused]

I keep getting told the above detector is useless for finding gold , am getting confused as what to purchase as every time I find a detector I am told useless , useless . $ 800 to spend what the hell do I need to buy .i thought any minelab would be the bomb for looking .

 

[taylors3030]

What in particular are you going to be hunting for gold / coins etc???

 

[LC76]

Pretty sure he said gold.

I learnt the hard way.
The 705 is a great machine for coins but it cant handle heavy mineralisation.
You might be better of saving up a bit more money to maybe get a whites SPP?

 

[taylors3030]

Sorry my mistake, it makes things tricky with the ground mineralisation the PI detectors handle the conditions better maybe a 2nd hand SD2000 ? Great detector and should be able to pick one up in the approx price range..

 

[gcause]

If you can stretch it to $1000-$1200 then an SD2200D is the go for gold. Its a PI machine that has found good gold on the goldfields at depth.

Combine it with a DD coil and you will have no problems on the mineralised ground.

Its a good first machine to get.

 

[Goldtarget]

I have never used a 705, but by all accounts it still suffers the same drawbacks any other vlf would. Given the right conditions in the right hands is it possible yes. It's it easy no. Its reflected in its price, and honestly pre pi it would stack up. The reality is it's much more suited to general metal detecting as opposed to gold. Gold detecting is a specialized pursuit and having the best machine suited to the task will go a long way to helping out. I sometimes think the manufacturers pay on the idea is like fishing and any rod on a given day will do, sadly this is far from the truth. You're in with a chance putting a coil over the right spot but I'm not here to sell false hope.

 

[Coyote]

I have the Xterra 705 dual and a SDC2300. I'm sure the Xterra 705 will find gold in the right soil but in mineralised soils it is frustrating. When it cools off a bit I will head to Tibooburra. I have heard that the ground there is a little more kind for VLF machines. So I will try both over the same ground.
If you want to chase the gold then PI machines are better suited (and a lot less frustrating). Keep an eye out for a good second hand one.

My thoughts anyway

Cliff

 

[Digginholes]

I have the 705 and for me the versatility Is good since it's a few hours drive to the nearest gold area and I can still use it for beaches and parks, have tried it once at tuena and it was all over the place, so far my high banker is my best machine
Cheers

 

[Ronk]

we found some gold in WA with a FT1600 at the same time we found gold with our old SD 2100 so yes most detectors will find gold that is easy for it to see , but from my experience the bigger and better minelabs are the way to go i would think the minimum to get these days is a gt extreme my 2100 will probably be for sale soon as i am getting a sdc2300 in the new year
i would think SD2000 and SD2100 should be around $1000 SD2200 $1500 and gt extreme $2000 3000 and 3500 seem to range $2000 to $3500 , of course there is always the exception either very much higher or lower than my suggested prices

the better the machine the better chance at finding gold

 

[Jon]

I went to buy a 705 for the better half at a detector shop here in Vic and was told the 705 was useless for gold too. I knew it wasn't totally useless but the guy I spoke to lost me as a customer trying to sell me something I didn't want. I knew what I wanted and have seen them find gold but all he did was make it look stupid. Sorta glad he had such a crap attitude as a week later someone on this site gave the heads up that Anaconda was selling them for over $200 less than the shop I went to :lol: Got her one for just $637 and found the first bit with it today. Ok, just .4 of a g and I got it but for what it is, if you know what and how to do it, its not bad.