Minelab Explorer II
Mike Edwards
The performance and depth capabilities of the Explorer XS are now almost legendary and the new Explorer II is advertised as being, “Deeper, Easier, Faster”. I will endeavour to analyse the changes and describe its performance compared to that of the XS.
What’s In The Box?
The Explorer II is supplied with an above average bundle of accessories and inside the box you will find, as standard: the main body which houses the advanced electronics; a 10.5in Double D widescan coil (now coloured black) with a free coil cover; a lower stem made of a new carbon fibre mat-erial; a metal top stem; a pair of Koss UR 30 headphones custom made for Minelab; a rechargeable NiMH 1600 mAH battery and mains charger; an alkaline battery holder; an Instruction Manual; a pocket size Field Guide; and other paperwork.
The detector is very easy to assemble. Merely fit the top shaft into the new carbon fibre lower shaft, and then push all of that into the recess of the main body of the unit. Certain precautions should be taken here as the new top shaft, now cut at a 45-degree angle, has to be fitted with the cam lock positioned facing the ground.
Adjustment of the stem length is just a matter of either pushing or pulling and then locking the cam lock mechanisms for a tight grip. After that install either alkalines (if you can’t wait to try the detector out) or the supplied NiMH cell. Before using the latter don’t forget to charge it for the required time of about 20 hours. Open the new more solid rubber battery cover and slot in the battery.
Then close the rubber seal by pushing firmly with the fingertips, especially around the headphone socket area, and ensure this is good and tight. The detector is now ready to go - it’s simple as that.
Despite its reputation for being a complicated detector, to start using the detector is purely a matter of turning the unit on to a Factory Preset level and all the adjustments are made automatically. This is one of the beauties of the Explorer II - it is not hard to use. In Factory Preset, you will have the unit itself making all necessary adjustments for you. You won’t have to worry about whether you adjusted ground balance correctly or selected the right frequency as it is performing at an automatic setting. On the other hand, once experienced with the machine you can then program its advanced features to customise its performance to your own sites and desired targets.
The Handbook
The Instruction Manual is really not much different from the first Explorer XS apart from where it shows the new digital ferrous/conductive display on page 47. If you are familiar with the XS then this will be very straightforward.
Controls & Functions
I won’t go into all of the controls here as they have been well documented in other reports on the Explorer XS. Suffice it to say that the new front panel now has a much better feel to the buttons. They connect more quickly, making mode changes a breeze. All functions operate via the touch pads on the newly coloured front panel. The “Power On” button is marked in red and for beginners this is all they would need to do - just turn the detector on. The screen shows all the functions operating at any given time including either factory or advanced settings. Threshold and sensitivity can be seen either by numbers or the bar type graphs on the left and right sides of the display. Battery level can also be seen on screen: full black shows a full charge, while nearly all clear would mean that the batteries are nearing depletion. Bear in mind that batteries can semi-recover in the short term after a machine is turned off. When you turn it back on the next day, battery condition might appear to be better than it actually is - so always have spares in your bag and don’t get caught out.
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Fig 1 -Comparing the Explorer XS (l) and Explorer II (r) front panels
Assuming that you are now experienced with the detector at your chosen search location, turn the detector on, lower the coil to the ground, and wait a few seconds until a threshold is heard. Keep the coil flat and motionless on the ground. Press the “Noise Cancel” button and the detector will decide on which of the 11 channels available to the Explorer II it thinks will work best at that location. This takes about 15 seconds or so. Don’t be impatient here and want to run off straight away. This exercise is important, and assists in setting the detector’s ability to counteract electrical interference from unseen influences. Once a threshold tone is again heard, begin searching in reasonably slow, smooth sweeps keeping the coil about an inch above the surface.
When targets are located in your “Disc” (search) mode you can then engage the “Pin Point” facility and reduce what can be a fairly large broad signal down to a sharp and narrow sound. Pinpointing is very exact with the Explorer II. It self-adjusts to react to the depth of each individual target by changing its in-ground sensitivity. The coil should first be moved off to the side of the target in a smooth motion. You then engage “Pin Point” and bring the coil back at a steady and even level. The target should be found directly under the middle raised part of the coil. This is consistent with all coin-size items.
If you ever experience an unsteady threshold tone on one of your regular sites it might be due to the extra power of the Explorer II over that of the XS and you may have to lower sensitivity slightly. Another reason could be that your sensitivity is set too high in “Semi Auto” on what you think is normal soil. Here’s what should be done. Disengage “Semi Auto” and work in “Manual Sensitivity”. Lower the coil to the ground and gently sweep from side to side while gradually reducing sensitivity. When a steady threshold returns you are balanced to that site. This is a benefit of Explorer II’s technology allowing you to “ground sample” and analyse your search site conditions.
New Digital Display
If you look at page 47 of the Explorer II’s Instruction Manual, or turn the machine on and select “Digital”, you will see the main difference between it and the older XS model. (There are other differences and changes that I will cover later). However, this is the biggest improvement for the operator. For the first time you can now see a numeric representation for the “Ferrous” or magnetic content of all targets.
The conductive properties were always there to be seen but the actual inductance of targets could not be seen as a number. Thus the ferrous content of targets had previously been represented on screen by the horizontal movement of the crosshair.
So what do the two numbers represent? “Fer” shows two numbers ranging from 0-31. If a target shows “Fer 07 it may mean it has few ferrous characteristics. If “Fer 31” is seen the target might have a high ferrous content.
Similarly, if “Cond” shows a low number then the target is probably low conductive, and a high number could mean highly conductive. For example a current UK 20p coin displays readings of “Fer 8” and “Cond 10”.
The 0-31 scale is common to both displays. This new two-number display is probably the biggest change over the older XS model.
Field Appraisal
Rather than look for new sites, I decided instead to search my older, established sites to get a direct comparison of the new Explorer II over the XS. As it turned out, this proved a good thing for not only did I make some decent finds, but also the experiences I had were first rate. A tiny downside was that it involved driving long distances to different search areas, as conditions were not the best at some of them.
There are a few behavioural changes, which become apparent after awhile. On Day one, when I was getting started, the first thing I noticed was the brilliant headphones. The sounds coming from the Koss UR 30 headphones included with the machine were just outstanding.
More importantly, I noticed the superb stability the new Explorer II showed during the testing which lasted for about five solid hours. With the new enhanced “Threshold” I was able to work at a quieter than normal threshold setting, due to it being a calm day. Signals came through with great clarity and somewhat bass type sounds that I found quite pleasant. I heard many that first afternoon, although some were ferrous sounding. On looking at the Digital Display I saw “Fer 28 Cond 21” for many of them so dug the first few to check. They were indeed large iron pieces, and were heavily encrusted.
Screen changes were quicker than before and I found myself making good time in my chosen field that had had its beet crop removed but still retained the furrows from when it was set. It was very wet and my Wellingtons, digger and later my jacket were covered in mud. The non-ferrous finds from this field can be seen in Figs.2&3. (Note the small toy cannon - my very first one. It produced a low tone and displayed “Fer 09 Cond 09” in Advanced Digital.)
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| Fig 2 - Ammunition & other non-ferrous objects | Fig 3 - Small toy cannon | Fig 4 - Georgian half-pennies | Fig 5 - Unusual button |
On setting up I noticed ground conditions were neutral as the threshold was stable at 28 in “Manual Sensitivity”. Soil conditions were good, as the soil consisted of soft clay that made for easy digging. (This was the opposite of what I had experienced on the other site). The detector purred along nicely alerting me to many signals during the first few hours. Many of these were Georgian halfpennies, which showed on the display as various numbers due to their different make-up and condition.
I then had an unexpected surprise. From a deep sounding soft signal a gold coloured item was recovered. It registered with a medium tone and displayed “Fer 08 Cond 14”. My satisfaction was short lived, for five seconds later I saw it was a counterfeit piece known as a spade guinea.
Some time later, a small, medium tone, showing “Fer 08 Cond 07” on the display produced the very nice and unusual button shown as Fig.5. from almost 13in.
After awhile I decided to drop tools and walk over to Phil and discuss the progress to date on this site. In between puffs on a cigarette, he told me his immediate research on the site showed it as being late medieval but used heavily in the 18th century. His thoughts were leaning to it perhaps having been a market site and possibly later, a race course; however, this was pure conjecture.
I resumed my search and after another short while recovered two nice finds in the form of silver hammered coins (but both in worn condition). The first looks like an Elizabeth I shilling although the date is illegible and it has three holes in it. The coin produced an unusually high signal tone and the depth indicator showed it to be at least 12in down. It was exactly that. The crosshair was fairly to the top right side, and the display showed “Fer 07 Cond 25”. The second was a similar looking coin but was worn very badly. It, too, produced a high tone and was almost at the exact depth as the previous coin. However, it displayed a different conductivity, as “Fer 07 Cond 24”.
My last find before we reluctantly decided to head home gave a high pitched, shrill whistle and I knew I had found silver! The depth meter showed a tiny black portion at the bottom and digging into the soft clay to about 11in produced what I believe is a William III sixpence in a worn but decent condition. The display showed “Fer 06 Cond 26”.
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| Fig 6 - Hammered shilling, 157? | Fig 7 - Hammered shilling | Fig 8 - William III sixpence, 1690 |
Over the next few weeks I took the Explorer II to a variety of sites and one-off locations. By that I mean if I passed as much as a pile of dirt on the road I stopped and scanned it. I will describe a few of these in more detail.
The third land site I chose had been very productive back in my early “coinshooting” days, and had produced many nice Victorian silver coins. It came to mind as a suitable test area as I had not been there for years. I arrived at about two in the afternoon right after some light showers, so the ground was wet. Fortunately, the rain stayed away for the remainder of the day.
I had a bit of a surprise here as I thought from past experiences that the ground was fairly neutral. It wasn’t, as the Explorer II let me know by its broken threshold tone. After reducing sensitivity to 18 in manual mode, I was off and running.
Half an hour later I had quite a few coins in my finds pouch. They included nothing significant, but were of interest as they were mostly pre-decimal and none was buried very deep - roughly between 6in to 8in.
I then had another unexpected surprise - interference - causing the detector began to warble and chirp. I checked the battery icon and saw nearly full black, so power wasn’t the problem. I stopped, laid the coil flat on the ground, and carried out a “Noise Cancel” procedure manually. I went through all the channels and finally, at “Channel 9” the detector stabilised. I thought this strange, as I never experienced any problems on the site years ago. The amount of metallic artefacts found - both good and bad - was amazing. How careless we have become! I cut my hand when removing a screw cap still attached to a piece of broken glass. I always carry disinfectant and bandages in my kit so I stopped to clean and cover the wound.
I considered changing to the small coil but did not have it in my bag, so I made some changes to my settings to reduce the many signal responses. I went into “Recovery” in the Menu and selected “Fast”. This helped the detector to re-set quicker while reacting to several targets close together. I thought it reacted a lot more quickly in the junk than the XS so it appears it is faster. I continued along and pulled up more coins. Many were pre-decimal, always welcome in my book.
One unusual find was a Canadian 5 cent piece with what looks like a hole made by a bullet (Fig.9.). On leaving the river walk and making my way back to the car, parked just off the main road, I had a startling revelation.
There, in front of me, was the possible cause of the interference I had experienced with the detector. TV satellite dishes! Every house of the long terrace had one attached to its walls. There they were, all lined up facing the sky and possibly all receiving Sky Sports signals (it was a match day). This had to be it. “Hah”, I thought, another lesson learned!
Driving home I saw a huge mountain of loose earth bulldozed to one side on a building site. It was absolutely huge and invited inspection. Out came the Explorer II, which I initially left on its factory settings. The earth was so mineralised that it robbed the detector of its threshold completely, and I reduced sensitivity to 8 whereupon it came back. I trudged up and down and along the top of the spoil, but apart from filling my boots with dirt and “browning” my socks, nothing of interest was found apart from a button, some corroded pre-decimal coppers, and some other pieces of modern non-ferrous rubbish.
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| Fig 9 - Canadian 5 Cent piece with bullet hole? | Fig 10 - Some of the beach finds |
According to Minelab, the deepest operation of the Explorer II can be best achieved with “Manual Sensitivity” over salt wet sand (if conditions allow). Also, even greater depth can be achieved if “Deep” is selected from the Menu. Then, very little discrimination is needed (so they say) to run at an “Iron Mask” setting of anywhere between minus 12 and minus 15. In addition, it helps to select “Jewellery Accept” from the “Select Menu” and to do a “Noise Cancel” after any settings are changed. This is exactly what I did, and can honestly say I cannot dispute their recommendations.
This was to be a more thorough test, going through the different settings and assessing the wet sand performance. Turning on and starting in “Quick-Start”, I began to search the wet sand. The unit hummed nicely, and I then heard a multi-tone signal that sounded as if it came from something fairly large. I switched to pinpoint and got a narrow loud sounding response. (The pinpoint sound is now much louder than the former XS model). I eventually had to put the machine down to dig up the target, which turned out to be a 2in piece of copper pipe, down at about 16in. A few more signals came quickly in succession but proved to result from modern junk.
It was time to do a “bury the coin test”, but searching my pockets I did not have one. I had left all my change in the car.
I walked back to the dry sand area to look for a coin and found a few. I went back down to the wet sand and buried the coins at mixed depths. The unit had no problem sounding off on these at depths of between 10in to 12in, even in pinpoint. Again, there was a solid and more defined response than given by the XS. The pinpoint mode was also much sharper sounding and always spot-on in the coil’s hot spot, located directly beneath where the shaft connects to the coil wings.
Moving off to an exposed rocky area, an ideal trap for coins and rings, I heard lots of high tone signals. These turned out to result from a few pre-decimal and current decimal coins, easy targets for the Explorer. Several toy cars were also found, all fairly deep.
On another day the test unit was taken to a different beach. This location was well known to me as it is one of my favourite search areas. I know the type of conditions to expect, and had a fair idea of how the Explorer would perform from my experiences with the XS version. Search conditions were not perfect for making finds as a recent gale had brought in a lot of extra sand. However, there was a single cut exposed and it was on here that I concentrated. As it turned out, I located a lot of targets in this small exposed area.
Lowering the coil to the wet sand produced no ill effects, just a stable threshold that I was able to bump up to 32 in “Manual Sensitivity”. Targets began to come up but were mainly coins and pull-tabs. I wasn’t using discrimination, as I mostly search here for gold rings.
A mid-week break after some favourable weather for beach hunting saw my mate Phil and myself driving to the coast. The original plan was to hit a few beaches, but as it turned out most of the day was spent on the first, as it was so productive. A great many coins and some pieces of jewellery were found. One signal in particular made for an interesting comparison between Phil’s older Explorer XS and my Explorer II. He had just walked up to compare finds and I asked him to check a signal with his detector. I marked the spot by tracing an “X” on the sand with my digger. “It’s a bit iffy, I wouldn’t dig it” he said. I pulled out my headphones jackplug to let him hear the clear signal I was getting, and after a few spades full of wet sand were dug at just over a 1ft a small rolled gold ring with diamonds was seen.
Another unusual signal with the crosshair moving to two locations had me digging again. I wasn’t going to dig it initially, but it was a test and I suspected I might have a non-ferrous target masked by a ferrous one. From about 1ft up came the black blob you can see at the bottom left of Fig.10. It was a decimal 2p attached to a rusty piece of iron. In fact, close examination of the coin itself showed it to be almost completely corroded away inside the by now two fragile walls of copper coating which remained. To signal such a coin in such a bad state while attached to a piece of iron was no mean feat.
I stood up and stretched for a few minutes and draped my headphones around my shoulders. It occurred to me I was able to stand up fully and walk about while still connected to my Explorer II without it moving about on the sand or the headphone jack pulling out. I couldn’t do that with the XS. This second generation machine was truly exceptional - I was really beginning to like it a lot.
What I Liked
1. Faster to use than the XS.
2. New two-number display a great advantage.
3. Louder response in pinpoint.
4. Very deep seeking and sensitive to small items.
5. New 1600 mAH battery allows longer search times.
What I Didn’t Care For
1. Instruction Manual largely the same as the XS - no tips included.
2. In Advanced you can only go forward through the screens. You cannot go from “Digital” to “Smart” without going through the “Learn” screens.
Conclusion
How do you improve an already fantastic machine? Before I tried the Explorer II I had asked myself that very question. But improved it Minelab have, not only in terms of build and appearance, but also in performance. This is achieved by way of faster processing of commands, and the settings changes are now accept faster as well. This translates in the field to greater stability and improved steady performance on sites that had proven to be difficult in the past. I was pleased I learned from the experience of the interference the TV satellite dishes gave out, as I know now to look out for this in future.
The now superbly stable software made a big improvement in easy running over junky ground. The biggest boon for me was the new two-number display. I soon found myself watching the numbers displayed and digging just the interesting readouts with low Ferrous numbers.
It was just so much faster to walk a field and be able to ignore the iffy signals that sometimes stop us in our tracks. The depth benefits were more noticeable on the beaches, at times going to well over 18in for a large silver bracelet and some ends of cans. The deepest coin recovered was an old 50p from well over 16in, heard loud and clear with the absolutely fantastic Koss headphones provided.
Battery life with the 1600 mAH is now much better, and I got several hours longer search times between charges over the XS model with the 1500 mAH battery.
Overall the detector behaved very well and appeared very capable and stable once matched to the conditions of the search location. I used the small 8in coil for just one session in a city park. It was super fast to operate and I was able to wheedle in and out of the junk that abounded. From in around some tree roots, which were bursting up through the ground, a few coins were recovered and were easily separated from the junk. There is a fair amount of junk in the park, especially foil and pull tabs that I could see liberally strewn around the sheltered area. But I was watching the digital screen and only dug what I thought were good readings. The 10.5in coil is the one to use on pasture and beaches, and on both these areas it produced very good results as expected.
I was a bit dubious at the beginning but can now see the efforts Minelab have made to improve both the quality and performance of their detectors. The Explorer II has dumped its flat shoes for some sexy heels and now everyone is taking notice. However, don’t take my word for it. Try one yourself, and you will be pleasantly surprised; even old XS hands will notice just how much better it is.
The Minelab Explorer II is available from Joan Allen Electronics Ltd, 190 Main Road, Biggin Hill, Kent TN16 3BB, UK. Telephone: +44 (0)1959 571255, Fax: +44 (0)1959 576014, E-mail: sales@joanallen.co.uk.
© Reproduced with kind permission of Treasure Hunting Magazine.
