Garys
Detecting.co.uk
Minelab Explorer metal detector review and field test
Minelab Explorer XS Field test
My thoughts and progress 10/10/03
I had my original minelab Explorer in 2001 and
had some really bad experiences with it, why I decided to get
another Minelab Explorer ? I have no idea, perhaps it's having seen
some of the really nice finds made by other users made me think, was I doing something wrong last time ? did I have another faulty machine? did I take enough time to learn it?...last of all I dont
like to be beaten.
I agreed with Barry to stick with this new machine for a month and use it between us for a couple of hours each then swap, if it wasn't up to our expectations it was be sold on, so a
month it was, the first 4 or 5 outings I used the machine but the
long silences between signals left me picking the Lobo up and
handing the Explorer to Baz (who owned an Explorer for quite some
time).
2 weeks had past and the Lobo thrashed it every time
of a finds rate of 10 /1, what could I be doing wrong, I am not
stupid and always willing to take advice from other Minelab Explorer
users. I tried several programs including all metal with the tones,
nail reject, ferrous, constant, conductive. Audio 1, 2 & 3 sounded
crazy. "Normal" appeared to be the cleanest sound (which the manual
advises you not to use or you may loose small targets)
The best program for me was the stock coin & jewellery program, it
was very stable and my finds rate started to improve. However this
set up was going to miss so many targets because of the discrim
pattern, something had to be done, time and patience was running out
fast.
On Tuesday we decided to go to a field we have not
visited for quite some time, it was pasture and very dry, digging
was a nightmare, our other fields had been stubble and easy to dig.
Barry was using his DFX unbelievably his second signal was a
Sceat, which really put me in the mood for
using the Lobo. However I stuck with the Explorer, Iron mask
15,ferrous, audio normal, I cranked it up on the sensitivity to 25.
The threshold was constantly blanking out, so I turned it down to silent. I could hear the iron spitting in the background, eventually I got a lovely"whoop whoop" sound, I tried pin pointing, but it
just gave an occasional click.
I called Baz over to locate the signal for me..."nothing not even
in pin point" he said, I unplugged my headphones and passed over the
signal again,"yep that's a guddun" he said...so I started to dig in
the location of the signal, the hole became bigger, in fact so big
the DFX 10' search coil could fit into it allowing us to pin point.
In the bottom of the hole the probe sounded off at 10-11 inches, it
was a farthing, all that for a farthing I said, Barry was laughing
commenting on the size of the hole and was I planning on burying a
cow in it. We covered up our excavation and moved on.
The Explorer was performing very well finding some real deep
targets. I said to Barry I've cracked it, no more messing around,
this is the program to use. One thing worried me, with holes that
size I we would soon loose our detecting permission.
Week 4 I went to
the wanderers dig with Steve in Oxfordshire a stubble field which
has been good in the past, this was like a blank canvass to me with
my new found program, off we went, alas 1 hour for 2 targets, it was
up to its old tricks again, I got the Lobo out and started finding
odds and ends but I did notice there was a lot of iron
contamination. So how could I make the Explorer work on a site like
this, could the iron content be the reason why my finds rate is so
poor on my other sites?.
Over the next 2 days I worked on every setting one at a time to see
exactly what differences were made, and why was the default coin and
jewellery better for me on stubble?
This is getting a little long winded now so I will cut to the chase,
I did possibly find an answer but may possibly be wrong...I think the stock search coil is not a good match for the machine this may answer the poor pin point problems.
Programme wise : I started with the coin & jewellery
program, then I selected nail reject and that's it, if the Explorer don't like the soil conditions you are wasting your time, if it suits then be prepared to dig.
Likes
A lovely background sound
Target ID quite accurate (when sensitivity is low)
Screen information good
Some good set up features
Battery pod good
After sales service, (Minelab Ireland) not to be confused with other Minelab distributors
Dislikes
Price
Pinpoint not good
do not attempt to use this machine without a pin point probe
Heavy with 10 inch coil
I know I am missing good targets next to Iron.
On 10 fields the Explorer worked very well on 2 pasture
sites
Summing up
The Explorer works well if the ground is not to
contaminated with Iron, I found it struggled on most of my sites.
Unlike the Minelab Sovereign the Explorer has not enough settings that actually enhance performance,
One would have hoped by the time the Minelab Explorer 11 was
released it would have undergone some much needed improvements such
as a vco pin point, but sadly not.
Perhaps when the Minelab Explorer SE or x terra 90 is released we
will be in for a treat, rest assured when that day arrives it will
be very popular and if it's good I will be the first to
shout it from the roof tops.
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