Minelab X-terra 705 General Tips, Advice, Questions

[Sa_bogan]

Not always, could mean there is more than one target. When there are a few coins it reads like a bottle top but doesn't go lower than 20

 

[Ozjono]

I never dig a target if the second swing doesn't produce a noise. As above its usually junk or random ground noise.
Also if you have a erratic hit on a target hit pinpoint and the detector will settle and give you a better reading.
I never dig 44-45 and usually ignore anything under 20.
A good way to tell if its a good quality target is swing over it a few times and if the number and sound are the same or very close to the same its usually worth digging.
Actually the best way is to dig everything. It doesn't take long to work out what your 705 is trying to say.

I would dig 44 that's what a 1896 florin comes up as on the 705

 

[Shane]

I never dig a target if the second swing doesn't produce a noise. As above its usually junk or random ground noise.
Also if you have a erratic hit on a target hit pinpoint and the detector will settle and give you a better reading.
I never dig 44-45 and usually ignore anything under 20.
A good way to tell if its a good quality target is swing over it a few times and if the number and sound are the same or very close to the same its usually worth digging.
Actually the best way is to dig everything. It doesn't take long to work out what your 705 is trying to say.

I would dig 44 that's what a 1896 florin comes up as on the 705

Hmm. Good point.
Ill dig if its in an area that may have old coins. But parks and playgrounds ....grey area.
Im going to detect an old township I discovered on some historic maps (just bush now).
I WILL dig everything there. Could be all sorts of relics that show as junk.

PS anyone know what a gold sovereign comes up as?

I was surprised to see a 1c coin comes up same as a dollar.

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi there,

Do you have auto tracking on when you go for the second sweep? They recommend turning it off once a target is found.

For me the target ID may not be stable and go up and down, but then again it could be a coin on it's side. I also detect through very very trashy areas and may get a high positive and a negative so will dig and find both old nails and coins/washer etc.

If I have the same issue I will turn on pinpointing and then turn it off and swipe the target again to see if it comes up then. I may also change to prospecting mode to see if it is detected that way and if so at what pitch.

Here's a list of target IDs for you -
Foil 4-6-8
5c 8
Gold 9ct 10-12
10c 12
Pull tabs 12-24
Halv Sov 18
20c 20-22
50c 24
Gold 18ct 24-26
Sovereign 26
Gold 22ct 28
Screw cap 28-32-34
$2 30
$1 32
Shilling 32-34
Half Penny 32-34 + 38
3p 34-36 (1945) 22-24
6p 34-38 (1945) 28
Silver High 30's-40s
Florin 44 (1945) 38-40

You did mention not digging in a park area but you never know what you could find, a friend of mine found a Chinese coin from the late 1700's in a local, very well used, park.

Sometimes it is interesting to dig up iron too. I have house sites that are from the 1800's and have dug up belt buckles, an old horse shoe and a cutting grass tool that I know are from around 1860 - 1939 as the houses burnt down in a fire then.

Good luck!

Merry

 

[merryeclipse]

Oh, also, if there is a bit of iron or other junk next to the target and it is larger it will pick that up more. Although you will get it jumping from nonferrous to ferrous so I dig and have a look

Merry

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi all,

I have an X-Terra 705 with the DD coil and am prospecting but need to know the best settings/advise as I have very highly mineralised ground and it is sounding off everything.

I set the auto noise cancel channel, auto ground it then set it to positive by minusing it to -3, set the Iron Mask Level to 1, threshold at about 6, sensitivity at 22 and volume at 30.

I have a gold earing I take with me and test it against the ground for more accurate detection but find that the deeper the earing goes the lighter the sound (naturally) but when digging similar/same target responses they disappear or sound like it was a conglomerate of something and then when the dirt/rocks are separated the signal decreases but is till there.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Merry

 

[Colmaca]

Hi all,

I have an X-Terra 705 with the DD coil and am prospecting but need to know the best settings/advise as I have very highly mineralised ground and it is sounding off everything.

I set the auto noise cancel channel, auto ground it then set it to positive by minusing it to -3, set the Iron Mask Level to 1, threshold at about 6, sensitivity at 22 and volume at 30.

I have a gold earing I take with me and test it against the ground for more accurate detection but find that the deeper the earing goes the lighter the sound (naturally) but when digging similar/same target responses they disappear or sound like it was a conglomerate of something and then when the dirt/rocks are separated the signal decreases but is till there.

Any advise would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Merry

Lot false beeps on mine I tend to turn the sensitivity down to under 10-15 sometimes lots ironstone in my area . any higher and I'm digging holes everywhere and never find a target.

try turning that down and see how you go

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi Colmaca,

Thank you I will try that. That was mentioned to me by a friend and I thought it was lower, but then realised I had set it at 9 in coin and treasure mode and it was really high in prospecting mode, oops :8

Merry

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi Paul,

I have the same problem. I am using the DD coil in prospecting mode, a few .22 bullets and shells.

What settings are you using on it?

I am using the following -

Sensitivity - 9 (was much higher but kept going off on highly mineralised ground and I didn't realise. Also wanted to keep it louder as I didn't want to use headphones as I am in a very snake prone area. May need to lower the volume now I will use headphones.)
Threshold - 6
Volume - 30
Tones - 25 (personal preference. Any higher and I feel like I am going through a high beep checkout. )
Ground Balance - Set it at auto at each site many times then set it positively so it is set as -3 in the menu, use tracking as well until a target is found so it doesn't balance to the target.
Iron Mask Level set to 1 - so I can still detect small gold nuggets but it will bleep out iron eliminating nails etc (there is quite a few out here)

Goldpick is spot on, probably something I need to do I don't have any gold nuggets to test with it though, just a gold earing I carry around with me. I then lay the gold earing on each site at different depths to see what it sounds like in the ground conditions.

Merry

 

[Colmaca]

Btw I not found any gold but I'm digging up more targets like bullets

 

[Colmaca]

Anywhere where I can access that test?

I ran into a bloke in the bush who had one , he was gold-less also .
I buried a small bit of gold ( about .4 of a gram ) shallow telling him not to look then asked him to find it pointing to the rough spot .
He tried but could not find it ' so I said now try this GM2 , about 15 seconds later he found it !

I have a .3 gram and yes it pick it up 6 inches down very low single but if you know its there you can find it

 

[NavyBob]

Hi,
Can say I too had the same issue but I can also tell you if you are finding lead then you are on the edge of a gold find, keep at it, I got help with a rooster booster basically because of my hearing issues then I started to find gold, the tone is very subtle on the 705 the old BB lead shot give an almost identical signal to gold, just keep at it. Took my 6 months of swigging every weekend to pick the gold signal.

Bob.

 

[merryeclipse]

Hi Colmaca,

Here's a post on the 705 and gold I found. Someone has found gold with it, raises my hopes https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3721

Merry

 

[Colmaca]

I got gold but I paned it

I'll get more soon I made a better faster machine

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1115&p=14

 

[Goldpick]

You have to be reasonably skilled and experienced to find gold here in SA, so many hot rocks and very little gold, and what gold that does readily exist is miniscule, requiring a high frequency VLF detector of at least 50kHz upwards. I have learnt to pick out a majority of the hot rocks now, but you still get the odd weeny one that rings out close to a gold signal.

Unfortunately for some, they buy a VLF detector, head straight out to the goldfields and start getting signals left right and centre, only to find they are all hot rocks. It can be disallusioning, but you can actually tell the difference after a while after digging up many of the hot rocks, lead shot and iron targets. It can take literally months to get your ear in on targets, so patience is a virtue.

Wish I could get out and do more gold detecting, but between the hot weather and fire bans, beach and park detecting is the more attractive option, plus you are nearly always guaranteed of finding something, even if it is a couple of modern coins and a bucket full of sparklers and bottle caps! :lol:

 

[merryeclipse]

Nice machine I only have a garret pan and need some practise. Also it is so dry out here not much water for wet panning........

 

[Colmaca]

Water 8) mount isa it not rain for 6 months I bring my dirt home there 3 buckets in my car been there 3 weeks maybe a gram in it or so

 

[merryeclipse]

Wish we had spare water to do panning. Our creek only has a small amount of water left for us only had less than 5mm this year, it is so dry. Easier access to the creek bed though, although wish I was good at dry panning, or panning in general!

 

[rgmhot]

Im have trouble, I think, after reading sa bogan and goldpick . Im not getting anywere near the finds they are getting, junk included. I have found some things in dry sand, not so in the wet. I figure im doing something wrong.

Need help from some SA diggers. Im on the north side if anyone can help.

 

[Danmuss]

Did you ground balance again when moving onto wet sand ?