Minelab X-terra 705 General Tips, Advice, Questions

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Its not the best round Hill End on the gold due to some of the ground there. But on the relics its fine.
Saying that, iv seen them find gold in the Central West, luck or not, it was gold. They lend themselves better in that location being used in the coin/relic modes more so than the prospecting mode, again due to some of the ground there being a tad noisy. The use of the 10X5 DD prospecting coil still represents the better coil choice tho.

If its gold your after and your on a budget, research some of the other makes and models dedicated more for finding gold round the same price.
 
I've had the 705 for a few months now and have been using it in the whipstick/Bendigo.
Im ready to throw it in a dam.

It's the gold pack 705 and it has a hard time with ground here.....very frustrating.
For coins though it seems good.

It could be operator error but i have read everything i can get my hands on watch as many youtube videos as i can find and put into practice all that advice and tutorials.
But still nothing.

They say to listen for the soft mellow tones ect.
But the damn thing even on the lowest sensitivity and ground balanced still "whoo whoos" 4-5 times per sweep.

For gold you can do better imo.
 
kuskus said:
Hey everyone. :)

Looking at getting the 705 at anaconda while the sales on.

Just wondering if anyone's used it in the gold fields around hill end and wattle flat? And how did it go with the ground out there? And Has anyone found gold nuggets with it, anywhere?

Cheers.

Hi kuskus,
Here in Brazil I had good results with the 705 gold pack
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8393
 
Don't get one for Gold. I have used my 705 Gold Pack a lot in parks and a few times around beaches, its is quiet as a mouse and has good iron discrimination and target identification.

But take it to NSW goldfields, Tuena, Hill End, Hargraves, Windeyer, Nundle and it will drive you nuts with all the false sounds and chirping.

I bought the SDC for the gold and its rock solid most of the time compared to the 705 and so it should be for the price difference.

I am still keeping the 705 for parks, coins etc because its great at that and the SDC has no iron discrimination or target ID so its one beep dig all. I don't want to do that at the local park or beach, where its a case of disturb the ground as little as possible.

Hope this helps
 
Don't get one for gold! Will find it very well but will find EVERYTHING ELSE as well so you wont be able to hear anything. It is not suitable in Aussie conditions in goldfields, the ground would have to not be trashy and not mineralised.....something most our areas are both. Ill be bringing my 70 to Oallen if you wanna try it.
 
BTW, the reasons I have a 705 are threefold;

  • Whilst using my 5000, my wife has a detector she can handle.[/*]
  • Might try it on mullock heaps with the gold coils.[/*]
  • When not in the goldfields. I can play on the beach or in the parks.[/*]

It was not my choice as a primary gold detector, but as a cheap option the 5000 was an overkill for.
 
kuskus said:
Thanks twapster having a look at 1 might sway me one way or another.

Top relic machine, ive got the 6 inchdd waterproof coil on her. Obviously also a specimen finder in host rock. Just not a practical general gold field machine in my opinion as way to sensitive on Aussie goldfield soil. No way bagging the machine, but would never recommend as a general gold finder.
 
Hello Nenad,

How does the Iron Mask in the X-Terra 705 Prospect Mode differ from rejecting iron in a discriminate mode? Is ferrous discriminate being run in parallel with all metal - a sort of "mixed mode"? Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on the subject.
 
When in prospecting mode, the Iron Mask value is relative to how much ferrous material is discriminated. The higher the value the more iron is rejected.

The electronics may differ (PI vs VLF) but the context is the same as the GPX 5000.

Have a look at the first paragraph of page 19 of your manual.
 
In prospecting mode, the Iron Rejection works relative to the strength of the signal, which you adjust with the rejection level.
This is why you can't reject very small and/or deeply buried iron, but because of this it is somewhat safer. What I mean by this is that you are less likely to reject a nugget with a bit of ironstone on it in Prospecting/Iron Reject than you would in Discriminate. Discriminate is a bit more aggressive.

I guess you could call it a mixed mode. Des Dunne did a good video on using the Iron Reject in a plowed field. Not sure if it's still around.
 
Thanks Nenad. As you know, in normal disc modes the entire signal is filtered and then a target id offered, either via a visual indication, and audio tone, or both. Depth is almost always seriously affected. One only need switch between Coin Mode and Prospect Mode to observe this.

In Prospect Mode the Iron Mask does not affect the depth. It is similar to the ferrous settings in the White's Goldmaster series and Garrett AT Gold in that regard. They are all using a different methodology than that used in a standard disc system. Raises the question of how all three would do for accuracy identifying ferrous items in mineralized ground, one against the other. I have used all three and of course know that all three can identify gold as a ferrous target in mineralized ground. The problem is I have used them independently and never taken the time to do an exhaustive comparison in the field on found targets. Something else to learn if I ever get the chance. Right now if asked I could not tell you which might do the better job in that regard.
 
I really wouldn't reject the iron targets if I were you.

1418989446_jamtingold.png


The old timers used to bury their gold in Jam tins to hide it from the bushrangers and the like. :D
 
I took the 705 down the beach earlier today, and getting all these 42 signals. When I dig, I run the coil back over and the signal is gone after about a foot, and nothing to be found. It must have happened at 8/9 times. can't figure it out. I have mucked around with the sensitivity, but still the 42s...
 
Hey Frogger, the 705 can false badly in the wet sand, SA Bogan posted up some settings for wet sand and the 705, hopefully someone can remember where the post is or remember settings. Dry sand it should run sweet.
 
Heya Frogger.
I have a 705 myself.
Did you activate beach mode?

Also...as far as beaches go...the 705 is a good park detector.
I have no problem at all with my 705, but take it to the beach...and it is a different creature entirely.
To really have a good crack at the beach....I would recommend a Pulse Induction (PI) machine
 

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