x terra 70

I am after a good all round detector etc. Goldfields,Beaches,Parks,Ruins. any suggestions as i have heard the xterra 70 was good.

Butterbox, In my opinion, I think the X-Terra 70 is probably the best "all purpose" detector out there at the moment as there's nothing that you can easily compare it to. The X-Terra 70 is a detector I personally use (and own). It's designed to perform well on the Goldfields (with an optional High Frequency Elliptical coil) and performs extremely well on both beaches and parks for coins, relics and jewellery. If you've ever seen the Time Team program on television from the UK, you'll see a lot of X-Terras being used there for relics. It's a fairly easy to use too but it's lightweight nature makes it easy to break down and put into a small backpack or leave in the car if you're traveling.

As a Gold detector it has a lot of features that make it useful and was designed for difficult Australian soils. You won't get the depth that a GP detector can reach and highly mineralized areas may be a little harder to ground-balance on because this is a VLF detector. But it's more stable than other VLFs in the same conditions. The only models above the X-Terra 70 for use on the Goldfields (other than say, the Sovereign) tend to be more geared to Prospecting and not so effective for Beaches and Relic detecting.

But in terms of price Vs features Vs weight it's a favourite.

G'day,
I don't know if the new Whites PI is generally available yet, but it seems to be doing quite well as a beach, gold, and relic machine, even though it's pretty much a dig it all. That said there is a measure of iron disc available for beach and relic hunting when you become proficient with its use. Could be worth considering. < Whites TDI Forum >

Cheers
Grey

Hi Butterbox,
To be honest, all 'multi-purpose' detectors are compromises. If you want goldfields prowess, you need at least a Minelab GP....NO VLF detector 'cuts the mustard' these days. Depending on where you want to detect, both the XT70 and the Whites MXT have some promise. If you want to look for gold most places in Victoria, SA or WA, forget the XT70. Way too noisy and it will drive you crazy. Whites MXT is a bit better noise wise, better range of coils, less breakdowns, FAR easier to learn to use too. However....both the XT70 and the MXT are terrific coin and beach detectors. I know guys who have owned their XT70's for only a month and paid for them just off their finds in $1&2 coins alone! The long and the short of it is....if you aren't going to detect for gold that much, or not in any Hot mineralised Vic, SA or WA terrain, go for an XT70 or MXT (my pick). If you think you will be more serious in gold hunting, save up for a GP or GPX! Cheers, Dwt

The X terra 70 is an excellent machine if you use it with an open mind, that means do not expect it to perform like a PI in high mineralisation because it is totally different technology. The X terra is only a VLF machine which means it will suffer in ground that has a high mineral or iron content, however with the correct coils (high frequency) and targeting the right areas (gold field areas with low mineralisation) it can be an effective gold getter with the added benefit of reasonably good relic and coin hunting ability.

I like the X terras because they are VERY light in weight, don't need earphones (if you don't want), are simple to use and can cross the divide from relic/coin to goldfields all in the one package. Once you realise what they are capable of you soon start to test the boundaries and find they have a lot more to offer if used correctly. Just don't expect them to detect a nugget at 12" in heavily mineralised ground like its BIG brother the GPX-4500.

JP

It's hard to find faults with this detector because it's a handy, light, powerful VLF unit that is just so versatile on a variety of targets. I make no secret that I like this detector. But if you want much deeper ground penetration or more stability, you'll be paying accordingly to move up to the high-end SD/GPX detectors. The X-Terra 70 was designed to be a cross-over Coin/Relic & Gold Detector and it can certainly hold it's own. It's also a fairly modern detector and it uses new(ish) VFLEX signal processing to try to stabilize the information that the coil receives and transmits to the control box. I like it a lot and it's certainly a big seller around the world. A few GPX owners I know of keep one for sniping when working on Quartz Reefs for small specimen Gold. I use my own as a stud-finder when hanging pictures at home although that's probably not something I should mention here. Of the two biggest selling detectors and of those with the best resale-value, the X-Terra 70 is currently one of them. Even on the rare occasions when they appear on eBay, they tend to sell for close to full retail value... minus the Warranty of course.

A friend of mine used to come out to the Goldfields with me and whenever he couldn't identify a target, or wondered if he was just picking up Ground Mineralization, he'd call me over and ask to borrow the X-Terra 70 since it always did much better on the hot soils than his no-name detector. But even he admitted a number of times that he was genuinely impressed how well the X-Terra handled the ground types we were on. Of course, a Pulse Induction detector like the SD or GPZ goes MUCH deeper (as JP has already pointed out), but not everyone wants to, or can afford to, invest as much into their detector. And the GPX won't allow you the same sort of versatility when coin & relic hunting either. If you just want to hunt quite seriously for Gold, it is worth saving a few more dollars and moving onto PI detectors to enable you more depth and stability.


My wife Rena with the X-Terra 70 & optional HF Elliptical Coil

The X-Terra 70 is quite a little powerhouse for such a lightweight detector. It also fits into a day pack without too much poking out. 4 x AA batteries give you between 30 to 40 hours of on-time. Whilst ANY detector can detect Gold nuggets on or near the surface, most other multi-use-detectors are completely incapable on the Goldfields... probably with the exception of the X-Terra 70 and the older style Sovereign GT. It can still have the odd issue but usually only on REALLY bad ground. I'll never sell mine... and it still comes out with me whenever I visit the Goldfields... especially if I'm exploring creek beds where nuggets might be concealed. For people wanting an "All In One" metal detector that handles the beach & parks (for coins and jewellery) and then want to take it with them should they venture out to the Goldfields, this is certainly a hard detector to beat. There are a number of High Frequency coils available for this detector as an optional accessory and these are also in the more stable Double-D formation... meaning they can handle the mineralized soil much better than the standard Concentric Coil which comes with the detector. If you want to use the X-Terra 70 to hunt for Gold, you MUST try to obtain the Elliptical DD HF Coil (see below). I also find that the discrimination of this detector is very effective in identifying iron if you switch briefly to Coin& Relic Mode before digging. It's not flawless but it's been right 99% of the time for me in the past when I dug 'everything'. The deepest target I dug with the X-Terra 70 was a LARGE iron pick axe head embedded in the ground at the entrance to an old Goldmine in Portland, NSW. Now this was a large target - literally two feet down... It took half an hour to get to. You wouldn't find a penny that deep with the X-Terra 70. But when it was removed, a much more attractive Gold target was found nearby. It had been masked by the signal from the iron pick until I removed it from the ground.


Three of the coils I keep for use with my own X-Terra 70

The main 'optional' coil to consider is the Elliptical 10x5" Double-D coil. It's quite smooth on most soils and in tough ground you can always drop the sensitivity a little to quieten down the detector if the ground noise/balance is a problem. It has a Tracking feature which will allow the X-Terra 70 to sample the soil as you walk... and adjust itself for mineralization. Since the X-Terra 70 has a "Prospecting Mode" which is more sensitive than normal Coin/Relic Mode, it has become an affordable alternative to the higher priced PI detectors. It's easy to use and that's often an attractive feature. I've found a few ounces with it where other people had missed - but I've also spent days finding nothing of value with it at all (unless bullets and nails takes your fancy). On the beaches, it's a really good coin and jewellery detector but it's really the best all-purpose detector out there for this weight and at this price. There's a depth-indicator on the graphic display but I find those things to be very inaccurate on all detectors.

One of the other really useful coils available is the mini 6" DD HF coil which is incredibly sensitive to small Gold in creeks as it is waterproof - and also tiny specimen gold in quartz etc or on old Mulloch heaps. The downside of this coil is that it's unsuitable for general detecting since it's going to be susceptible to a lot of ground noise if you pick a nasty spot... but that's not what it was designed to be used for. This is a coil for creeks and submerged nuggets. More than a handful of articles have been posted in Gold Gem & Treasure magazine of the X-Terra and it's abilities on the Goldfields. The most recent was just before Christmas.

When a user is familiar with the X-Terra 70, they can usually identify junk prior to digging it as well as identify any hotrocks which would otherwise be a problem. Sometimes though, Ground Mineralization and even the occasional Hotrock will annoy you. Alongside any other VLF detector, the X-Terra 70 really stands out. The X-Terra 70 is lighter than these units but does not compare with the PI detectors when it comes to deeper targets (as noted above by Jonathan). If you ONLY want to hunt for Gold and nothing else, it may be worth considering a higher end detector that specializes in nothing but Gold. But if your budget or general detecting interests only allows you so much leeway, I'd happily suggest the X-Terra 70 as a serious entry-level Gold detector. I also like the sensitivity of the Eureka Gold (another VLF Gold Detector) but feel more comfortable with the X-Terra.

The combination most commonly used at the moment with the X-Terra 70 for the Goldfields is as follows:
1/ X-Terra 70 ($1150)
2/ 10x5" DD HF coil (elliptical) ($195)
3/ X-Terra Environmental Cover ($20)
4/ Walco Pick ($41) - or similar


Cheers,


Marco


My own X-Terra 70 with a half-ounce slug found near Orange, NSW
This was sitting right near the rim of this shallow test hole dug originally in the 1870s.
Nugget is resting on the arm-rest. This was a couple of years ago and recently another
user found quite a few ounces nearby with the same detector. You don't really need a fancy
pick axe with this detector since it's depth is usually between 6"-9" with larger targets up to 22"

Have no experiance with the x-terra myself but a freind uses one quite successfully for small bits around old mullock heaps and it has more than paid for itself on the beaches with coins and jewellery.

Nero wrote:
"You don't really need a fancy pick axe with this detector since it's depth is usually between 6"-9" with larger targets up to 22". "

I would semi dissagree with this statement though, 2 inches in rock hard quartz and iron stone gold fields ground is a long way with a small bunnings type pick as pictured.
The cast iron ones soon come to grief and the last thing you want to do is wear yourself out before you even start.
While your pick doesn't need to be fancy, it does need to be of sturdy quality up to the task.

A tip for the x-terra 70 on the goldfields, is try using it in prospecting mode and beach mode
at the same time, seems to help with warmer ground.
cheers fencejumper

madtuna wrote:
While your pick doesn't need to be fancy, it does need to be of sturdy quality up to the task.

That's true. I use a $220 pick with an SD/GPX because of the depth involved. The one shown is great because it easily breaks down to fit in a pack and a LOT of X-Terra 70 users tend to grab this one. Granted, a small Walco No. 3 Pick would do a better job in many instances. But at over 4 times the price of the small pick, the Walco is not always the best choice if digging in hard ground (breaking stone etc) and needing to resharpen your pick upon your return. Those small picks are sold at many Australian Prospecting outlets and whilst they're inexpensive, they beat those entrenching tools we keep seeing hands down.

The more money you spend, the better the pick and the better the digging results (both speed and depth). The best results are obtained from the hardened steel picks over the cast iron heads.

Madtuna, I'd disagree more with the other aspect of his statement, that an X-Terra's depth is usually between 6"-9" with larger targets up to 22". What a joke. Try "within 3 inches of the surface with larger targets up to 10 inches"