X-terra 705

[Jesse beck]

Hi all just after some opinions and would really appreciate any help , I just purchased a as second hand xterra 705 with the standard 7.5khz coil I am wanting to chase gold nuggets in the Batavia goldfields in far north Qld and realise I need a dd coil but am wanting to do a trip this week with it and the standard 7.5khz coil that is normally used for treasure hunting , the ground is very mineralized up there would I be just wasting my time with this coil or may it work just not as good as the dd coil or will I have too much interference, any help would be greatly appreciated Thank you.

 

[savage bitter]

wont work you really need the dd coil and the 705 will do your head in on the gold fields yes they have found gold but they are not really a gold machine and in high mineral ground you are just wasting your time on the other hand a very good coin machine that will serve you well

 

[Jesse beck]

Ok thanks for the input what would be a reasonable costing but good detector for that area would you think

 

[Jesse beck]

Would a fisher gold bug pro be better at this job

 

[savage bitter]

never used one some one here will comment soon but you are better off putting the extra dollars in and getting something like a sdc or qed

 

[Smoky bandit]

wont work you really need the dd coil and the 705 will do your head in on the gold fields yes they have found gold but they are not really a gold machine and in high mineral ground you are just wasting your time on the other hand a very good coin machine that will serve you well

X2 :Y:

 

[panther]

I have had a lot of detectors over the years and the XTerra 705 was the worst of the lot. The Gold Bug Pro was much better but did not have good depth due to the high frequency. However on saying that it did find dozens of tiny nuggets in heaps but I got sick of digging 'tiny' nuggets.

 

[Ded Driver]

Jesse, as mentioned above, the XTerra isn't any good in mineralised ground, but if its the only machine you have then maybe look at getting a higher freq DD coil such as a NEL Hunter 18.75kHz (12.5x8.5"). They also do a range of other sizes.
http://nel-coils.com/index.php/en/production/nel-hunter?id=521
that said, the suggestion in post #5 by SavageBitter is very relevant, in saving up to get a better machine.
Whites TDI & the QED are cheaper Pulse Induction machines (or a 2nd hand SD/GP/GPX) that will work far better.

 

[Moneybox]

If you have the chance of getting onto ground where you know there is a history of alluvial surface gold then the SDC2300 won't seen so expensive after the first trip out. With a little research you'd be very unlucky to not strike gold and once you're started this little machine will continue to find the little fragments. Perhaps you'll end up like panther and get sick of digging the little ones (I don't think I've heard that before) but then you can move up to a GPX4500 or better and get their mummies an daddies

 

[isolation]

The way we used the 705 in the goldfields was to leave it in coin mode, and block the ferrous TID's. This helped to blank out mineralized hot spots and make it more useable. It's not perfect but it helps.

As Moneybox has already suggested, I'd be leaning towards an SDC or 4500. Maybe keep an eye out for a 2nd hand unit? You have a better chance of finding gold and keeping your sanity with these machines

 

[Jesse beck]

Great thanks a lot for all your input greatly appreciated gunna do some saving and get myself a better machine thanks again

 

[SteveG]

Hi Jesse, can you please post on these forums about the results of your trip? As a fellow FNQ resident I'm interested to hear what Wenlock/Batavia is like

 

[Masooo]

The sdc, and gpx 4500 if you buy them second hand you can generally resell at a very minimal loss, so the upfront expense is more like a savings stash ?