Just purchased a New Whites MXT. This is my first detector and am completely new to this hobby. I am from Los Angeles CA and am looking forward to doing some metal detecting B) ( coin, jewlery, relic, and prospecting).

Welcome SgtMel,

You picked an excellent detector. I am in the Bay area, but I am sure that one of our southerly brothers will be by shortly. In the meantime, if you got any questions on the MXT, ask away. A few of us have MXTs and will gladly answer any questions you may have.

Welcome to a fun time.
You have a good detector. Set yourself up a test garden in your yard.
Plant a few coins around and test your MXT. The more you use it the better you will understand what it is telling you.


Jerry

Welcome to the forum. Where in Calif. do you hail from?

Thanks everyone, Im from Whittier Ca. located in Los Angeles County. Well Rudy I think I may have some questions for you. I am planning on purchasing an additional coil for my MXT and was wondering which coil would be a good addition for someone who wanted to try some prospecting? And is there any other coils that you would recommend?

The 6X9DD is my favorite coil and it is on my MXT 90% of the time. I am not a prospector, but it works great on gold jewelry and separates the trash pretty good.

Great, Thanks. Will look into that coil. What do you mainly hunt for and where? Also what exactly are hot rocks?

Hey Sgt. The best place to start is at your local park and schoolyards, most are open to the public, some you need permission, but try what's closest to you first, even the grass strips along the road are considered good places.

Hot Rocks are basically really mineralized rocks that will sound off as really good targets, a VDI of +95 in your case with the MXT. They are rare, and far between, commonly found in the desert, or such.

Tell me, what equipment do you have so far? (Shovel, trowel, etc.?).

For your detector you'll need a smaller coil like Rudy suggested, this is due to the vast amounts of trash that will mask good targets. Also remember to have your discrimination a tad BELOW the Five-cent/pull tab mark or you will not find some Gold pieces.

Welcome. I'm a newbie too and it is a pretty cool hobby for sure.
It amazes me sometimes how much stuff people have lost over time.
I guess it's up to us to find it;>) Enjoy!

Thanks ACE, as of now I haven't purchased my shovel or any other digging tools. I have watched a couple of videos on the proper digging techniques so I guess the small trowel and shovel will do right. Please let me know if there is anything else you would recommend. Thanks again and happy digging to all.

Hey Sgt. You're welcome. Here are my recommendations:

First and most important of all tools is the Lesche Digging Tool:



It will cut easily through grass and roots because of it's serrated blade and sharpened non-serrated edge. It's great for precisely cutting neat plugs.


Next is the 'Treasure Scoop':



I love this tool because you can't scratch a coin with it unless you try for a very long time and repeatedly, it's great for taking large amounts of dirt in one scoop, and because its made of very tough ABS plastic it won't break or bend with ease, it will take a LOT of force to even begin to break it, to tell you the truth it's as tough as steel :) , another neat feature is that it doesn't react like metal when waved in front of your detector loop, so you can pass it in front of your loop to check if your target's there.

Besides those two items, get a pouch where you can carry your tools, good finds and trash all at once, a carpenters pouch will be fine (the ones with two bags), just make sure it's tough and the holes are deep enough, or you can buy a pouch from any place that sells detectors, there are a lot to choose from, choose one that's to your liking.

You'll need a big square piece of plastic or cloth to put the dirt in, I use plastic because the dirt just slides off and it doesn't get damp if the ground's wet.

A pack of fresh batteries never hurts to carry around in case your batteries run out on you.

And you're good to go!

Hi Sarge,

There are plenty of clubs in the area to join. The PCSC is one south of you about 8 miles or so. One I'm in has our chapter meeting every 2nd Sunday of the month in the city of Brea, CA. In fact we're having a chapter beach hunt next month some time. We're a gold prospecting club but alot of us do just as much metal detecting parks, beaches and anwwhere we can swing a coil. If you read this message in time, our chapter meeting is today @ 4pm. We run it at Dennys Resturaunt 1623 Imperial Hwy in Brea. It's located off the 57 Frwy & Imperial Hwy. The resturaunt in in the norteast corner of that intersect! I know its late but maybe next time!

Special note in regards to the city of Whittier. Apparently if you hunt in Whittier you'll need a permit to hunt anywhere in that city. About $35 or there abouts is the cost.

Good Luck Hunting!

Max

Thanks Ace & Big Mac, I just recieved my MXT today, did a little test run with four different coins and were all detected. I will go ahead and purchase those digging tools that you recommended, as for as the pouches I have plenty of old carpenter bags. (IM A CARPENTER)

Big Mac, sorry I missed your post. But thats good to hear about the club being located close to home. Ive heard of the meeting thats coming up on the 18th in Simi Vally @ 7pm was actually thinking about taking a drive after work. Question about the club in Brea. Are all there meeting held @ 4pm?

NP Sgt. I bought my tools at: http://www.jimmysierra.com/

They have the treasure scoop and Lesche as well as many other accessories, all whites BTW. Jimmy Sierra's the best! :D

Yup! They're all at 4pm! But we usually have our outings during the following weekend! Although most of us will be at the gold show at Primm,NV this weekend!

HH-Max

I recommend a plugger they are awesome

Thanks Matt, I did see some of those pluggers online. Will have to look into that.