Minelab X-terra 705 General Tips, Advice, Questions

[Bad-Habits]

Hi all. Is there something wrong with the xterra series of detectors? Its just that the forums and other discussions i get involved with about starter detectors and what not never seem to mention the xterra's or the 705 more particularly. As im fairly new to detecting and bought a xterra 705 it has me second guessing my choice of machine. So far i love it and has preformed well enough for me which is the main thing i guess i was just curious as to why i never hear much about them or anything about them really unless on a xterra site. Just interested is it a quality,price or effectiveness thing or i just miss or the posts. Any thoughts? Cheers.

 

[Aussie Detecting]

It depends on where you and what you are using it for. To totally trash a detector is wrong in its own merit. However, if you are using it in highly mineralised soil you may change your view. Quite a few experienced operators have said it's near impossible to get it to ground balance. But on the plus side, as a coin detector the same operators say it's just awesome.

 

[Bad-Habits]

Thanks mate, I mainly search beaches and parks but got the gold pack just incase i go else where. I scored a gold and ghosts book in mint condition for $50 which had sum spots in north qld kind of inspired me to go for gold but with time being short i just stick to my local parks n beaches. So i guess its great for what im using it for, i can always upgrade oneday with the bosses permission. cant wait for the new garret edge digger n pick by the way, should be here soon.

 

[Bad-Habits]

Its no $5000 machine but im still very happy with it might i add. Money well spent in my opinion . If it ever pays itself off il be stoked. Thats my goal

 

[Aussie Detecting]

If you're focussing on coins it won't take long at all.

 

[dave14110]

Hi Bad-habits.
I have the Xterra 70 which is just an older machine of yours, my brother seen me give demo on lawn he decided to get one. So I seached Ebay & brought one (paid $650) for him in Dec 2010. Then in March 2011 he found a 36.19 Gram nugget with that machine in pipe clay. These machines will struggle in hot ground but so do a lot of other machines. The Ground they struggle in is a deep red in color & sometimes can be all over an area other times only in small patches. when we hit hot gound we just moved away or persivered. Believe me there is nothing wrong with your machine & the only draw back of Oliptical DD is that it's not water proof so be careful at the beach. I do use that coil myself even on beach but not on wet tidal sand. If I go on wet sand I do change the coil to the concentric which is water proof, the machine isn't water proof so still need to be careful.
Wedderburn in Victoria has the reputation of been the worst ground in the world & even here we were able to find things with persistance. Hope this helps & keep hunting it's addictive.
I still use my xterra alot & so does my brother but we also now have machines that can handle the mineralized ground better.
As soon as I can afford to I will be buy a third machine, but every machine can find metal they all have a different use.
Hope this has been helpful.

 

[Bad-Habits]

Yeah thanks mate. Like everything, cars, fishing lures, firearms and such each have there own uses and or categorys. I went with the goldpack cause it seemed to be well rounded ,itworks great on wet and dry sand like u said the dd coil isnt water proof but the other nice thing is the vflex technology which allows the changing of coils. Thanks for everyones input, cant wait to hit the parks n beaches over my holidays..

 

[dave14110]

Even though it has target id I still dug everything at first as even digging the rubbish you will learn heaps.

 

[RottenRon]

G'day all.

Bingo, I picked a X Terra 705 gold pack, so that's with both the 7.5khs and 18.75khs coils as well as a Coiltek 15" all terrain coil.

The guy only bought it all new back in June 2012, and he hasn't even used the 15" coil at all yet. The rest he said was lucky to see 10 hrs use and is in excellent condition.

I think the package, even allowing for the special on the Gold pack ($990) available at the moment from Brisbane Gold, is worth about $1,280.
I paid $700, plus postage, $30. Gee I'm nervous but. Lets hope it is as it was described. If so, I reckon I did pretty well.

Now all I gotta do, is learn how to get the best out of it.

Wish me luck.

Cheers, Ron.

 

[Nugget]

Well done Ron, that's a great deal. I hope the goods arrive as described.

 

[dave14110]

Bargain and good machine.

 

[Dogmatic]

Nice price, well done. There are definitely bargains out there to be had.

 

[rompii]

hi guys/gals i'm a total newbie to the hobby and am wanting opinions on the ease of use for the minelab x terra 705 for someone who hasnt even held a metal detector before -keeping in mind that this would probably be my one and only detector purchase.so far i have only done some panning in and around the gympie area and want to widen my horizons (and areas )

 

[Nugget]

[Moved to Metal Detectors / Minelab]

 

[Scoopa]

Hi Rompii. I don't believe you will go wrong starting with the X-terra 705. Good Quality. Simple to use. Good Depth and you can buy a variety of coils from coin and treasure to prospecting. I started on the X-terra 70 and upgraded to the 705. Even after I purchased a Minelab E-trac, I still went back to the 705 for the ease of operation. A good all round detector for everyone. I hope this helps.

 

[rompii]

thanks nugget for moving post to the right sub catagory told you i was new lol and thanks to scoopa for your input i've done some research and the 705 is the detector i came up with and now i'm gratified that someone else thinks it's a decent detector for a beginer like me

 

[rompii]

now...if i could find a deal like that i wont need to go new

 

[justine]

I've just recently purchased a xterra 705 Gold pack and was wondering if anyone has one and how it goes for gold. I know it's not the top of the range gold detector so please no comments about which detectors would be better. I'm really just interested in knowing if anyone has one and how they find it/any usage tips.

Ta Newby

 

[ivanll]

I got one, it has worked well anywhere I've used it.

 

[Scoopa]

Hi Justine. I've had both the early Minelab Xterra 70 and 705 and they are both great machines. With the variety of coils you can search for anything. There's plenty of videos on youtube showing you how to prospect for gold with one. Just don't expect it to be as powerful as the dedicated gold machines which cost thousands.