MINELAB XTERRA 30 FIELD TEST

I was given the opportunity to field test the new Minelab X-terra 30 and to evaluate it's performance on Canadian Coins. In 1999 the Canadian Mint started changing the composition of the coins less than the $1 coin (1, 5,10 and 25 cent pieces) to electro-plated steel cores (mint mark 'P'). This explains why many modern metal detectors have difficulty finding the modern coins as they are usually discriminated out. Older Canadian coins (pre-1969) have high enough silver content to be located and locked onto, however as the years have passed, the metal content has changed and with each change more difficult to discern between a coin and junk. Most metal detectors can readily locate pre-1999 coins easily enough with some practice by the user.

I received the DVD prior to the detector, which gave me a little insight on the newest model from Minelab. Upon receiving the detector and assembling it, various coin were air tested to check the response of the detector. A 1" (25.4mm) thick slab of wood (Canadian soft-wood pine) was placed on the floor with the various denominations of coins on top. This provided a sufficient barrier to any steel within the floor slab.

After a quick scan of my front yard that has been well worked by a bounty hunter tracker IV, Whites XLT, Garrett 450Ace, Sovereign XS2pro and Excalibur 1000, this little machine surprised the heck out of me by revealing a silver 1954 10cent piece, two pre-1999 cents and a pre-1999 25cent. WOW! I was sure there was nothing left in that ground.

Energized by these results I headed to a local park that is well worked by local detectorists, but well used in the summer hosting a variety of events. Seeing as how I was after modern coins, I set the sensitivity down to 5 and started swinging. Initially I dug any signal that read 8 and over. Due to the erratic results of the air test, I was not concerned too much with focusing on "solid" sounding signals, just taking note of the number reading on the meter.

It is difficult to tell if the snow on the ground and detector made any difference in the variability of the readings, but it did not take long to learn this detector. In no time I was ignoring the "junk" numbers and concentrating on anything that registered between 32 and 40, even it it jumped around a bit, and any "ring" sounding 16-20ish readings.

Other items were a piece of a decorative brass thing, a brass nut, a hunk of lead (possibly .22 bullet deformed), and half a dozen pop (soda) can tabs. All targets were within 4 inches of the surface with most of them just under the grass roots, making recovery a snap with my hand-held pinpointer. Speaking of pinpointing, this feature on the X-Terra is excellent. Every time the coin was found within the center of the coil, which is a great time saver.

As I have said, this park gets hit regularly by detectorists. I noticed many fresh dug holes and plugs during my time there, and this can account for the low numbers of 25c, $1, and $2 coins since many coin shooters "cherry pick" going for the bigger denominations.

Good morning fellow hobbyists and detectorists! It's 3:38 AM as I start this "part" of my time afield with this pair of new Minelabs. I know I won't finish it in time (thus the "Part #1" post) because my oldest son & I are headed out shortly to travel to some different sites and a day of detecting together.

I am one of those who got an early-release X-Terra 50 and have posted many times about my favorable experiences with it. I can assure you that the X-Terra 50 impressed me from the moment I opened the box, and I continued to be pleased with the overall package Minelab created as I assembled it, did a little in-field time with it, and read the operator's manual. The X-Terra 50 very quickly became a model that I knew was going to 'fit' into my personal detector battery!

After a few weeks with it now, and having the opportunity to take it along on our vacation to Utah & Nevada earlier this month, has given me even more reason to look forward to the release of the 18.75 frequency coils as well as a smaller coil or two for my X-Terra 50.

I was initially going to offer up a post on my field testing and review of the X-Terra 30 and simply respond to any discussion about it. After my first three or four hours with my X-Terra 30, and doing some quick comparisons with it's bigger brother, I came to the realization that in all fairness I had to put in an ample amount of time to really find fault with the X-Terra 30. I knew it was just not going to impress me all that much because, quite frankly, I don't have a "turn-on-and-go" detector in my functional battery because I prefer to have more manual control.

Since I had the few weeks in with the X-Terra 50 I was well aware of the appealing physical design, the solid rod lock-up without wobble, the comfortable handgrip and excellent grip angle, the performance with the 9" concentric coil, and I had almost instant-reflex actions to quickly access and adjust the well laid out control panel.

In short, I figured it would be quite easy to grab the X-Terra 30, assemble it, go use it a little and be able to report on it, and then have to try and decide what I was going to do in the end with a "turn-on-and-go" detector that was basically a simplified X-Terra 50 that lacked some of the features I like about my '50.' Let me tell you, I was wrong .. wrong .. wrong! This wasn't going to be an easy field test to whip through and be honest.

By "be honest" I am not just referring to being honest with you, my fellow hobbyists, nor being honest with the folks at Minelab, either. No, what I am referring to here is being able to reach some conclusions about the X-Terra 30's true in-field performance and what it offers for the dollar compared with the competition, and in the end be honest with myself!

Often it is easy to take a little bit of pre-conceived notion, add a little nit-picking, a dash or two of ego or personal preference, put a few hours drain on the batteries and cook up some batch if ideas why we don't like, don't want, or don't need a particular make or model. This time, it wasn't easy to do. Matter of fact, it was an impossible mission! So, realizing that I wanted to get serious with these two models I have devoted the past five days detecting when I could during daylight, and doing some bench-testing after dark.

I could offer up positive-only impressions but that would seem like some of those screened magazine 'field tests' and I prefer to be able to voice my opinions about a product's weaknesses as well as its strengths. So, while I ask you to forgive me bringing up one or two topics again, I have to because I am posting results of my field tests of a new product. Field tests that have included: visiting a variety of sites, hunting in varying ground conditions, comparing some competitive models, and .. my favorite .. including others in the field work because I value hand-on impressions of others in order to make sure there isn't something (good or bad) that I might overlook or just take for granted.

Searchcoil/Rod mounting: No major problems, but one annoyance for me is that the rubber grommet should be more 'rubbery' to provide a more snug fit. This would help retain coil position and eliminate coil 'flop.' Minor? Yes, but I do not care for loose, floppy coils.

Lower Rod/Middle Rod/Upper Rod: Finish is appealing and appears to be very durable. Rod colors are pleasingly 'different' from the norm these days. Alignment is excellent (I detest a detector that has a canted coil or housing, etc.), and the rod locks help keep everything snugged up quite well. Gripe? My only issue with the new rod design is that they do not provide ample adjustment for shorter people.

I stand about 5' 11½" now (old age shrinkage) and need to use the X-Terra's with the rod at it shortest length. I prefer to hunt with the rod at a comfortable distance yet close to my feet. maybe 12"-18" in front. This provides me with better operator control, a better balance, less fatigue, and makes it much easier to hunt in and around brushy sites. Rods that are extended out too far can be fatiguing and two problems can arise. One is a tendency to sweep too fast which impairs performance of slower-motion models, and it can induce poor sweep technique w/o good overlapping.

My 5' 8+" older son found them to be just a wee bit too long for comfort. My 5' 0" to 5'4½" female hunting companions all enjoyed using the X-Terra's (especially the 30), but were not comfortable with the rod length and lack of ability to shorten them. Also, most felt the upper rod could have about 1"-2" removed. Those in the 6'± range liked the arm cup in the third (from the handgrip) arm cup position, but when shortened up for the gals they did not care for the extra length of rod sticking out the back.

They ALL stated that none of this affected the detector's very good performance, and it was the only real drawback they could find to call to my attention. So, I would personally prefer a shorter lower rod be available. In my case, I will simply shorten the lower rod on the X-Terra 30.

Control Housing: No complaints about this well conceived design. Many positive compliments regarding Minelab's choice to use AA batteries in a drop-in compartment, and only 4 of them! Everyone who I have had use these with me generally hunt with models using 8-AA or 12-AA batteries, so using only four and getting obviously long battery life is impressive!

Large easy-to-see display complimented by handy-to-reach and adjust controls added to the pleasant appearance. Gripe? Most folks I hunt with use headphones. I didn't see a real need for the rubber headphone door cover and, while my X-Terra 50's cover is more 'pliable' than initially and noticeably less rigid than the newer X-Terra 30, it is a feature that I see possibly wearing quickly and separating.

Arm Cup: Other than the rod length maybe being a little too long for some people, the design of the arm cup is very good. Easy to position and the single screw attachment is very quick. The incorporated stand works fine for me, but I never set a detector down while hunting during recovery. I am a bit picky and pamper my detectors. As such, the detector stays in my right, operating hand which usually stays clean. My left hand does all the dirty work of recovery and I just squat/bend down and hold my detector during the recovery process.

I like the flexible arm cup to fit bare arms, shirt-sleeved arms, sweater-covered arms or accommodate a coat in this colder weather we're having. I also like the arm strap. Gripe? I know this might seem minor to some, and is in the overall picture, but as I said, this is a product report. An honest offering of personal opinions. I would like to see a longer arm cup strap.

Here are my thoughts and impressions on the X-Terra 30 which I received from Minelab this week to field test. I was able to spend a number of hours in the same park setting that I detected in with the X-Terra 50. Unfortunately due to terrible LA traffic and my son's championship soccer game today (he won!) I was not able to get to the beach at low tide, so the saltwater beach test will have to wait until the Thanksgiving weekend

The X-Terra 30 has a number of different characteristics that bear mentioning. First, the audio tone ID is three tones (low, medium and high). There are no adjustments for ground balance and noise cancel. It has two hunting patterns: one discrimination that can be customized and one all metal. Target ID works in both patterns.

Target Type	Display Reading	Tone
14K band	12	Medium
Clad dime/Copper penny	36	High
Round Pull Tab	16	Medium
Zinc	32	High
Nickel	12	Medium
Silver quarter	40	High
2004 Dollar coin	40	High
Silver Roosevelt dime	36	High
Silver Mercury dime	36	High
Bent pull tab	12/16/20 (wouldn’t lock)	Medium
14K Ladies wedding ring	8	Medium
14K Charm/fine chain	8 (with Sensitivity at 10)	Medium
10k ring	6	Medium

The X-Terra performed very well in the park with excellent stability. The combination of visual & audio target was very effective in determining the probable identity of targets. Good targets locked on; trash targets "bounced" between numbers. The depth indicator worked very well, with each arrow roughly equaling 1 - 2 inches. Coins were recovered at very acceptable depths with my deepest find being a 1959D Memorial cent at a measured 10".

Throughout my field test I would get readings on the meter that bounced between 32 and 28. The audio tone would go from high to medium to high to medium with each sweep of the coil. Initially this made me nuts because of the tone change but then I realized why: in every case the X-Terra was identifying a corroded zinc penny. I surmised that the machine must have been getting a different signal depending on which side of the zinc cent the coil passed over first. Once I got used to this I was able to correctly identify corroded zinc pennies every time just by the medium to high tonal change, which is a real plus for the X-Terra 30.

The section of that park that I hunted was very trashy, so it was not practical to run in all metal. I did experiment with running the sensitivity up to the maximum and found very little change in the stability of the machine at the higher setting. The Memorial cent was located with the sensitivity set at the factory preset of 6.

Some testers have mentioned that the Explorer meter cover would work well with the X-Terra's. I tried mine on the X-Terra and didn't like the fit, plus my headphone jack wouldn't fit without cutting a hole in the Explorer cover. However, I came up with a cheap fix that will suffice until Minelab comes out with their environmental cover-ups: plastic sandwich bags. They fit perfectly and you just cut a little slit over the headphone door to accommodate the headphone jack. Plus they are disposable.

Performance-wise I noticed little, if any, discernable difference between the 30 and the 50. I have yet to encounter a situation where I would be required to adjust either the ground balance or noise cancel, so I can't comment on how vital these features would be to a user. For my hunting they didn't come into play.

So the obvious question is, given the similar performance characteristics of the X-Terra 30 and the X-Terra 50, which one should you choose if you decide purchase one? Got me. I would be happy with either. For turn-on-and-go they both fill the bill. Factors like budget, versatility (are you a coil switcher or not?), hunting environment (hot ground a problem?) are things that you should consider if you are torn between the two. Frankly I am very impressed that Minelab gave us a choice depending upon our hunting and financial requirements while not sacrificing performance. For that they deserve a lot of credit.

I finally got some time in with the X-Terra 30 today as the weather was nice and no work. The site I chose was the local University campus as it dates back to the 1800's. I knew there would be plenty of new "stuff" and the possibility of finding something old. This area is an area of heavy mineralization and creates havoc with a lot of machines. The Minelabs I own have all handled it very well compared to other brands I have. I don't know how Minelab set the pre-set ground balance but they sure did it right for my hot soil.

I won't bore you with writing the X-Terra's manual here but will tell you the 30 surprised me and handled the soil great for not having a ground balance. This was a major concern for me but proved to be no concern once I started detecting. I made the usual finds of clad and junk but dug a lot of the junk signals just to see what would pop out. The 32's were the ones that I decided to stop digging unless they were deep. They would always end up being a screw cap or a zinc penny if they were shallow. All my dimes ended up coming in at a solid 36 along with the 3 wheat pennies I found. The quarters were a solid 40. The medallion was only 3 inches deep and also read 40. Unfortunately, this trip out would prove to be a no silver hunt. I did have a couple finds of 8 inches deep. One was a copper cap about the size of a quarter which read a healthy signal of 32 and the other was a part of something that read a strong 36 and was also 8 inches deep. The mineralization didn't seem to affect this machine which as I said earlier, was surprising to me. I could only run the sensitivity at 6 to maintain a quiet machine. When I bumped it up to 7 and 8 I would get falsing and some chatter. I would guess this to be, because of the mineralization, as I was able to run the 50 at 18 sensitivity in this same area.

I can say this machine was a pleasure to use as the 50 was too. A very simple turn on and go machine for sure. I should also mention that I hunted in the discrimination pattern. I normally prefer all metal when using the X-Terra 50, but thought it best to use discrimination for this report as that's what a higher percentage of people use.

I know some people have mentioned this already and I will give my views also. Minelab needs to make the arm strap about 3 inches longer. On my bare arm it works fine, but add a coat sleeve and its too short. The stand could also use some modification as I would like to see a wider spread. This was not a problem today as I hunted on park type lawns and the machine didn't tip once. However, hunting fields or in the woods, I'm sure it would tip over. As far as the lower rod, thank you Minelab for thinking of us tall guys on this one. Maybe the engineer was tall who designed these two machines? I'm 6'3" and every machine I've ever used posed a problem of having too short of a rod. I was really grateful to see Minelab come out with a longer rod for the Explorer. I really think all companies should include a short man's rod and a tall man's rod with all detectors, problem would be solved. As far as the headphone jack cover, I have experienced no problem as of yet.

I received my X-Terra 30 this morning and, like many of you, couldn't wait to see how it would compare to the 50. Figuring it is the same technology and same coil, and my ground is moderately mineralized, I didn't expect much, (if any) difference in depth of detection or overall performance. Short answer......I was right.

Today is not the best day, weather-wise, as it is 35 degrees and sprinkling at the moment but, I wrapped up the control box and headed outside for some tests in my old coin garden. The first house on my lot was built in 1855. The site of my test plot has not had a structure on it. The test garden has been buried for many years, and consists of modern coins, older coins, modern trash and some old square nails. As I mentioned, the soil at this site is moderately mineralized, reading high 40's to low 50's on my MXT VDI.

I have to admit that I was initially a bit apprehensive about using a detector with a preset ground balance. I believe, for many sites, ground balancing is a critical element in maximizing the performance of the detector. I have proven that to myself with another brand of detector offering similar models, with the primary difference being preset vs. manually adjusted ground balance. With that in the back of my mind, I turned on the detector and adjusted the volume. Same procedure as with the X-50, except the scale only goes from 0-10 on the X-30 instead of 0-20 as on the X-50. That doesn't mean the X-30 doesn't go as "loud". It merely means that there are only 10 settings to chose from (to get you from minimum to maximum) instead of 20. And, I will add the X-30 also utilizes 1-10 on the sensitivity scale instead of the 1-20 scale used on the X-50. Again, the X-30 has as much "gain". It just don't have the intermediate settings between each of the ten as the X-50 has. (making 20)

The first thing I did was to try to push the ground balance button. Oooops! Not there! Guess I had already gotten use to the X-50 and forgot that this X-30 has a factory preset ground balance level. So, I set the sensitivity to the maximum of 10 and started swinging the coil. I immediately found it to be "chattery" and falsing on each sweep. Common sense took over, and I lowered the sensitivity to 8. I usually hunt with the X-Terra 50 set at a sensitivity of 15 or 16, so I figured half of that would be 7-8. I noticed a huge improvement and was able to sweep the yard with minimal falsing.

I have found in some sites with the X-50, switching noise cancel channels will provide more stable sounds. That is not an option with the X-30, as it only has one channel. Something I will mention is that I am not able to scrub the coin on either of the VFLEX units as I have done with many detectors over the past 33 years. As the manual indicates, they seem to work quieter and more stable if I keep the coil about an inch off the ground. Old habits die hard and this is something that I have too keep reminding myself as I hunt.

The past few weeks, I have been using the X-50 in all-metal mode quite a bit. I believe that I can learn as much about a target by what the audio don't say as what it does. In other words, in all metal, I can see if the tone is from a specific target or feeding off the "back side" of an adjoining piece of trash. So, with preset ground balance, fixed operational channel, all metal mode, sensitivity at 8 and volume at 10, I started hunting the garden.

One of the first coins I located is an old silver dime, laying at an angle, about 4 inches deep. 6 inches to the south is a pull tab. 6 inches to the north is a wad of foil. As I passed the concentric coil over the target area, I got a loud, distinct, high tone. Switching to discrimination Pattern One, I still got the solid hit moving perpendicular to the trash. I found that I had to slow down my sweep to separate the targets by tone in discriminate mode. Those of you who have used the Sovereign will find your "wiggling skills" come in handy!

I switched back to all metal and X'ed over the high tone. High tone on a dime is different than with the X-Terra 50. With the X-Terra 50, you have 18 target "notches", each represented by one of 4 audio tones for specific targets. Low tone for the first three (ferrous) target ranges, medium low tone for the next 8 target ranges, medium high tone for the next 5 target ranges and high tone on the 2 upper target ranges. That means on the X-Terra 50, dimes come in at a medium high tone and quarters come in at a high tone. With the X-Terra 30, there are 12 target "notches" represented by one of 3 audio tones. Low tone represents the (ferrous targets) lowest notch, medium tone represents the next 7 target ranges and the last 4 target ranges get the high tone. So, on the X-Terra 30, cents, dimes, quarters, halves and silver dollars all come in with the high tone. Nickels and most of the gold jewelry I tested came in at the medium tone. Iron, low tone.

With the X-Terra 50, all "notch groups" are in multiples of 3. With the X-Terra 30, there are 12 target ranges and each "notch" is a multiple of 4. I suppose that this could be looked at as the X-30 having wider notches and not able to discriminate out as "tightly" as the X-50. But, remember that the target ID numbers read out in all metal and in the discriminate modes. So, with either detector, you can adjust the "accept / reject" notches to fit your hunting style. The X-Terra 30 only has one discriminate mode, or Pattern. The X-Terra 50 has two. With both detectors, you can adjust the preference modes to accept or reject any "notches" you want. I look at it as the X-Terra 30 having all-metal and an adjustable notch discrimination mode. The X-Terra 50 has an all-metal mode and two adjustable discrimination modes. Frankly, I don't use but one of them when I coin hunt, but I guess there are those who use two. (Tejon for example).

Back to the test plot. As I worked my way around the yard, I was able to quickly detect every coin in the plot. Indian cents rang in with a high audio tone and registered 28 on the LCD. Some of my V-nickels came in at 8 and one at a 12. As well, the shield nickels came in at a 12 too. I forgot the date of the V-nickel that read a higher numeric value. But I would have to guess it is an older one and has a metallic content similar to the shield nickels. The silver quarters all came in at 40. Some of these are 7-8 inches deep. (I say 7 - 8 because when I buried them years ago, they were buried at 7. With the nearby trees and annual leaf drop, there has been additional soil build up over this area.) Even at 7 - 8 inches, I was able to raise my coil a couple inches over them and still get a solid tone. The Barber and Mercs came in at 36 with one exception coming in at 32. Just as with the X-50, I can't explain that one. Apparently the metallic content varies. A 14K gold band came in at 16 and rang a solid medium tone.

All in all, I was impressed with the performance of the X-Terra 30. In the soil of my old coin garden, it hunted as deeply as the X-Terra 50. Once I lowered the sensitivity to 8, it was very stable and gave solid "locked on" target ID and audio tones. Having all the coins hit a high tone made it very easy to "hunt by ear". I made one adjustment to Pattern 1 in that I accepted the target range 4. I found that one small gold chain registered at 4 and wanted to make sure my discrimination program allowed me to detect it. Again, I found the preset ground balance worked well for me at this site. Without any RFI, electrical interference of nearby detectors turned on, the noise channel adjust was not an issue.

All in all, I am finding the X-Terra 30 offers the same great depth of detection, target separation, sensitivity to small targets and stability as the X-Terra 50. The notches are a little wider. There is no manual ground balance. There is no option to change operational channels. But, as I said, none of these presented an obstacle for me today. I don't know if the folks at Minelab preset the "fixed" ground balance so it just happens to coincide with what my type of soil requires, or if this is just a much more stable detector than those others I referred to earlier in my post. It is definitely a stable detector. I don't believe the lack of manual ground balance had any adverse effect at my site today. I was able to adjust the sensitivity to maximize the depth of detection. And, at the same time, maintain excellent stability with the X-Terra 30.

Let me sort of pick up where I left off with Part #1. In my earlier post I stated that one thing I wanted to do was be honest with myself with regard to the differences in features and the field performance of these new X-Terra models. Well, I made sure I included about five or six models from other manufacturers which I like a good deal in order to pick-apart both of the new Minelabs, especially the X-Terra 30. I mean, why would I want to have a "turn-on-and-go" X-Terra 30 when I already have the more-featured X-Terra 50? I was able to reach that conclusion rather easily by simply comparing it with a few of the low-to-mid priced models that are also quick to get into action. These are the Garrett Ace 250, and White's Classic ID, Classic 5-ID, and my favorite, the IDX Pro.

Control Housing: Perhaps the first place to start this out would be with the control housing's design. When the thin and light Minelab box arrives in your hands it might be puzzling to figure how such a thin box could hold the large-view display housing. Simple. It is not attached to the rod like many models are, making them wide left-to-right, nor is the display in a cumbersome and big box or housing that take up a lot of room. Instead, the control housing is unattached from the handgrip and laying flat in the box making this a very compact 'packaged' detector.

During assembly the owner has the option of just inserting the control housing's shaft into the handgrip until is snaps into place and leaving it that way. If they prefer, Minelab includes a small screw that can be used to anchor the housing's shaft in the foam grip.

To accomplish this in a neat fashion, Minelab has a circular pre-cut spot on the right side of the foam grip aligned with a hole. There's also a small hole in the housing's shaft. If you want to secure the housing, just gently pry the pre-cut foam piece out and insert the small screw. You're done!

When I first received my X-Terra 50 I wondered about how secure the housing will stay if the owner doesn't secure it with the screw. Now, I am not one for flying, and I am not too partial to bags and such to break-down my detectors. Instead, they travel on the back seat of our vehicles covered with a lightweight white blanket. The white blank keeps them out of eyesight, and also keeps the summer sun off of them. I don't have that worry right now. Anyway, I always have my detectors assembled and ready to grab and get into action.

Since I don't usually break my detectors down I knew that I wouldn't be putting a lot of wear-and-tear on the plastic snap-in parts of the housing's shaft and in the handgrip. Then it dawned on me that I knew when the X-Terra 30 came out I would want to give it a try, and the best way to try it might be to just use my X-Terra 50's rod & coil and just switch out the control pods!

So, for the first 2½ days of my field work I was hunting with the X-Terra 50 or 30, then popping out the housing and switching to the other model 'pod' to rework and check marked targets. Back and forth quite a few times and I discovered that there was absolutely no looseness at all! I liked that. But, because I have been doing a lot of intense detecting and comparisons, I was getting worn out from the time it took out of my detecting and I assembled the X-Terra 30's rod and coil before I continued.

Home-made accessory time!.. While I usually do not travel with a detector broken down nor fly, we did take a flight on part of our vacation. The Minelab's thin-profile box got me to thinking of my Coleman stove. You see, I keep my Coleman stove in a zippered bag that has a handle on top and I have now given a request to my wife to make me a simple, durable bag with a handle for easy carry. Due to the fast break-down of the X-Terra I can easily fit the parts back in the box for easy carry should that need arise!

Okay, back to getting to know the X-Terra's better. Forgive me if I sometimes repeat a thing or two but I learned in grammar school (for those of us who recall that term before they started using elementary) that repetition is good because it helps us learn and remember. I bring this up because I will make it very clear here and now that I am not saying that the X-Terra 30 or the X-Terra 50 is 'perfect' because such a detector just doesn't exist.

Nor do I want to say that one of the X-Terra's is 'better' than the other because we all have preferences that will influence such a decision. What I am saying that I have concluded that the X-Terra 30, while lacking any Ground Balance capability and frequency change potential, is one heck of a detector! I think it is actually going to appeal to many people who might, like me, often prefer more manual control because there is no real loss of performance. In some ways, it does some things for some people (or people's wants) better than the X-Terra 50!

A few models I compared them with: Let me refer to the Garrett Ace 250, of which I have personally owned two, and the Classic ID (owned 5), Classic 5-ID (1) and IDX Pro (at least on my 6th). While I am at it I will include the Tesoro DeLeón and White's four current Prizm models. This makes a good assortment of "turn-on-and-go" models featuring Target ID to compare features and performance with, and all not too far apart in 'suggested' retail price.

Ground Balance: All of these models, unless modified after-market, rely on a factory preset Ground Balance for best performance. In low, non-challenging mineralization there might not be any GB issues to discern, but in the very mineralized ground I most often hunt in, it is VERY important! I having owned and/or used all of these models and it took very little time to reach an obvious conclusion. Most of them had a terrible factory preset Ground Balance which either caused falsing in the motion Discriminate mode and/or falsing in the threshold-based All Metal Pinpoint mode.

I had the greatest problems with the Ace 250's, the DeLeón's, and the Prizm's. While some might work fairly well in the motion mode in the better ground around here, they didn't fair well in the 'worse' ground nor in the pinpoint mode. Too often you might get a rough PP location, then cut a plug and, upon rescanning the spot that is now a hole, you get a false response caused by the hole or mineralization void. That's because the GB for that mode was too negative to work properly.

The advantage of the Classic series is that you could/can access the single GB trimmer and make an adjustment that would control both the All Metal and GB modes. When an internal GB setting is 'adequate' to deal with most of the worst ground we might encounter, then the detector is good-to-go virtually anywhere.

When I first received the X-Terra 30 I wanted to concentrate on several sites where I knew the GB would be put to the test and it functioned quite well! Maybe too well because for the first time in many years I found myself more than satisfied with the ground handling performance of a pre-set unit and questioned my own desire to have more manual control!

What do I mean by "less?" Humm, it looks like it's time to talk about the X-Terra 50 for a minute, specifically about Ground Balance adjustment. Thirty-one years ago the metal detecting world got a breakthrough when VLF or Ground Balance was first developed. The White's Coinmaster 5 Supreme gave us a lot to learn about new performance and depth, but only after we figured out how to adjust the blasted thing!

Shoot, a lot of people couldn't pronounce it let alone get the hang of making the adjustments, and while very low frequency, ground canceling models have taken over the bulk of the industry since then, there are solidly two camps of followers. Those who want manual GB control, and those who prefer to let the manufacturer set them up with a working preset setting, or maybe opt for a model that has an autotracking circuit to handle it for them. The "let me do it" camp following, of which I am definitely a part of, is the one with far fewer numbers which is evidenced by the vast majority of models by all manufacturers being factory preset or have a tracking type of circuit.

Even today, those of us who are very familiar and knowledgeable about the concept of GB and how to make proper adjustments will encounter many questions from a hoard of newcomers or others who just don't quite get it. So it is, and will be for a while, with some hobbyists who opt for the X-Terra 50 and try to set the GB. I find the X-Terra 50 easier to GB on occasion when the sensitivity is reduced from maximum, where I usually have it, to anywhere from 12 to 16, depending upon outside RF interference, not to mention the ground itself.

If you have an understanding of ground mineralization changes for the various sites you might hunt, you will know which was to adjust the GB control, + or -, in order to get 'balanced' as quick as possible. With the X-Terra 50, the '1' setting would be the most POSITIVE GB setting you could use, and as you adjust towards '10,' you would be reducing the GB to set it for less mineralized ground conditions. So, if someone understands how to set their X-Terra 50 for a 'spot on' GB and they tell you they have a setting of '8' then you know that they are in more favorable ground than you are if you need to use a setting of '3' for example.

Before I go back to the X-Terra 30 I should add that it was a good decision to provide it with a fixed operating frequency of 7.5 kHz because it is also relying on a fixed GB setting. The X-Terra 50 will see the most action with switching various coil types and sizes, I'm sure, so it is important for it to have the user-adjustable GB feature. The X-Terra 30 should do just fine the way it comes.

The X-Terra 30 offers TWO motion based modes that are selected by using the "Pattern" touch pad. One is labeled 'AM' for All Metal Accept operation. This is a motion discriminate model without any discrimination or rejection. It accepts all metals, ferrous and non-ferrous. It is NOT a 'conventional', threshold-based All Metal mode. In this motion mode you will accept all metal targets and cannot reject any of them.

The other operating 'Pattern' or Mode is labeled '1'. This mode has a factory preset rejection of the first two discrimination segments (-4 and +4) which will reject most smaller iron targets as well as some small aluminum foil and other lower-conductive non-ferrous targets. This mode IS able to be adjusted as the operator desires to accept or reject any of 12 different discrimination segments.

The X-Terra 50 differs a little because it offers two user-adjustable patterns rather than just one of the X-Terra 30. The factory preset Pattern '1' rejects -9, -6, -3 and +3 and accomplishes similar discrimination as the X-Terra 30's adjustable pattern. X-Terra 50's Pattern '2' is a preset notching pattern which also rejects +6 as well as +15 and +18. This second adjustable pattern option was designed for those coinshooters who often hunt modern-trash sites and it will reject most foil and pull tabs, but still respond to most US 5¢ coins ... considering all conditions to be favorable of course.

In addition to these two 'Pattern' modes, which are each totally adjustable by the operator's acceptance or rejection of 18 segments, the X-Terra 50 also has an All Metal mode. What makes the '50' different from the '30' is that the X-Terra 50 has an additional "shortcut" button to select the All Metal (zero discrimination) motion mode. Pressing this All Metal shortcut button will switch you to or from the All Metal motion mode or back to the Pattern mode (1 or 2) that you were using. This gives you two user adjustable pattern modes and one all metal, non-adjustable pattern mode.

The X-Terra's 'Memory' Remembers Almost Everything, but Presumes One Thing: Some of the multi-segmented motion models on the market today lack the range of user adjustment of the X-Terra's. The Ace 250 has 12 segments and you can accept or reject any one of them. The Prizm II, III, IV and V only have 8 ID segments, but the operator can only select to accept or reject 5 of them. Rather limiting, I feel. The X-Terra has 12 segments and the X-Terra 50 has 18, that can be accepted or rejected to set up a rejection pattern.

There is one thing these two models do [i]NOT remember at 'turn-on' and that is to start in the All Metal pattern. I hunt in All Metal a LOT and all I can figure is that the design engineers must have presumed that most X-Terra users are going to be coinshooters or others who generally hunt with some rejection. Therefore, the X-Terra 30 will always turn-on in Pattern 1, and the X-Terra 50 will start up in either pattern 1 or Pattern 2, which ever you had in use last. neither will start up in All Metal. That might be good for a newcomer who wouldn't catch it and might hunt along with signals everywhere from everything and it could cause frustration.

Menu Adjustments and Comparisons: Both provide adjustment for Sensitivity, but the '30' goes from 0-10 and the '50 from 1-20. When I have been far from any electrical interference I can operate both of these units at full sensitivity without any appreciable noise or chatter. I will admit that the '50' is a little noisier at maximum in many city locations I've used them, but a setting of 18± will usually have me as stable as the X-Terra 30. No, I haven't found anything real deep that one would and the other would not find.

The Volume control on the X-Terra 30 adjusts from 0-10 and the X-Terra 50 from 0-20. This is to set the target volume, or how loud you want the target audio response to be. A unique feature Minelab incorporated in the X-Terra is that you can set the target volume for the speaker, and then when you plug in the headphones you can set it for a comfortable setting for the headphones in use. The X-Terra will remember the setting and use that setting based on the use of headphones or not.

A bonus feature of the X-Terra 50 is the Noise Cancel which is nothing more than a slight frequency shift. It is not like the Explorer's Noise Cancel. Before anyone asks, Yes, I did test the Noise Cancel feature with the X-Terra 30 and X-Terra 50 operating close to each other!

How did it work? Perfect, period! I hunted with my X-Terra 50 with a preset setting of '0' and worked close to the in-use X-Terra 30. The first thing I noted was that BOTH of the X-Terra's started to display a similar-sounding chatter noise at the same time and the same intensity. The options are a Noise Cancel setting of '+1' or "-1' and I tried them both. That was all it took. Either a + or - adjustment and they were both silent running again!

Discrimination Segments, Audio Tones, TID references, and the Complexity of Learning the X-Terra's: I was pleased to see that Minelab provided a large, easy to view display and big numeric readings. I was also glad they didn't use words and symbols to suggest coins and trash. It is always best if the detectorist hunts a site for 20-30 minutes with little or no discrimination and make mental note of the audio response and compare the TID numeric reading (or erratic reading) of targets at the site. Consider the ground conditions then proceed from there.

What I can attest to is the complexity involved in mastering the X-Terra's. NO, not the X-Terra 30 and NO, not the X-Terra 50. Each of them is easy to learn and enjoy. What I said was mastering X-Terras, plural! It is a self-induced complexity when you have each of them because you spend a lot of time trying to figure out which one of the two is 'The Best' or which one has too many weaknesses. Then, all of a sudden after several days afield it because less complex because I realized that they BOTH will do what I want them to do! I just have to make my own thinking less complex and appreciate what they are, what they can do, and how they convey their information. After I got the hang of the differences in the TID readout (numeric readings) it was just a matter of remembering if I was swinging "Old Blue" or "Big Red!".

In Conclusion ... Depth of Found Targets: Am guess I am fortunate in that I hunt a lot of sites with coins and period artifacts that date from about 1860 thru the Depression Era that are free of civilization sprawl or other activities which can result in a lot of very, very deep coins. Most of these sites hold coins, tokens and other small artifacts in the top 4" or so. Often from on top and in sight to no more than 2"!

But I also hunt sites where I do have to do some plugging or digging and that's especially true when I am after older silver coins in grassy sites. With either/both of the X-Terra's my deepest coins in the most mineralized locations I've hunted came from about 6½"-7". There might be some deeper, but my Explorer II swinging buddy wasn't getting them any deeper, either. In the best ground I have been able to hunt so far I have pulled pennies and dimes, and similar-sized buttons and copper rivets as deep as 8"-9". These are naturally buried and found depths, not planted or table-top 'air test' depths.

Now, however, I honestly feel Minelab needs to get a smaller concentric coil at 7.5 kHz into production ... quickly! I plan to get one as soon as possible and it will most likely spend "full time" duty affixed to the X-Terra 30 for use when hunting woodchip playgrounds and other trashy sites.