Alternative to tones

[Fortunehunter]

Seems to me that one of the problems a lot of people have with their Minelab detectors is the ability to recognize the sometimes slight differences in tones their machines produce on different targets. I have been thinking wouldn't it be great if we could download different sounds onto our detectors much like you can with a mobil phone.

For example: Instead of the high pitch sound you would normally receive on say a piece of silver, what if it was a bell like sound, something slightly less conductive could be a whistle and a piece of iron could be something silly like a woof (dog bark).

What do others think, would this be workable? Would this make it easier for you to identify a target under the coil?

Look forward to your response.

 

[wizard]

i could think that some type of alternative sound would be of an advantage, as for dogs barking , cats screaming and bells ringing, it would sure sound like a bloody good fight going on ..i am sure good for a laufgh and would love to try it..on the sreious side now.if it was specific targets you where hunting , i could well see an advantage for this, other wise no..

 

[Brett]

Wizard is onto something because discrete audio samples like that would turn your flutey machine into a beep-beep detector. For different sized targets it would have to cut the audio samples short as well, or loop them over and over. I think the best bet are these pure tones we currently have, although a multitone like the kind your telephone produces when you dial numbers would work as well.

If people are having trouble detecting the differences on tones, they could opt to use less of them (variability) and limit the high end (limits). 2 or 4 tones could help as well, but I understand your point... you want all of the audio differentiation available and audible. Garrett makes a nice talking detector "QUARTER!!!" ... "dime dime dime dime" "pull tab" "dime dime penn... dime" LOL. There was a time that I thought that would be cool, now I just can't imagine using it.

 

[TonyHunt UK]

Whatever next, whistles, dogs barking, detectors that scream "Quarter !!!" ... "dime, dime, dime, "pull tab" Minelab have brought you guys out the best programmable, discriminating, multi toned detector money can buy and you want to listen to all that crap just to make things easy.

Here in the UK the most successful E Trac & Explorer owners are setting their machines up with the maximum tonal variability possible. We use our ears instead of the screens, theyre for secondary checking if needed, we're running with screens either wide open or with the minimum of discrim 33 - 35 FE, using mostly conduct sounds & smooth or pitch hold response. I know nothing of what US coins sound like run across the coil. Starting from the left hand side of the CO scale we know that the very deepest low tones will sound on foil from 1-3, then our small medieval silver hammered coins start coming in from around 4 up into the 20s depending on silver content and maybe the way they are laying in the soil. In between we have to watch for Gold coins of varying types and thicknesses, 2000 yr old Bronze Roman coins rising through all the old copper pennies & halfpennies and the relatively modern coinage from the 17-1800s like the old silver shillings, sixpenses etc then we get the modern one pound & two pound coins. Then we have to listen for all the Artefacts, brooches etc that can hit anywheres.

From what i read it seems that detecting is a lot different for you guys over the pond. Minelab added Exchange to the E Trac primarily I think for you guys to make up lots of discrim patterns and give you the ability to swap them with your detecting mates which seems ideal if your hunting particular types of coins in somewhere like a public park or fairground site or on the beach looking for pocket money. Most of our detecting is done on farm fields because thats perhaps where the old Celtic and Roman camps and settlements were.

Exchange was a novelty maybe when the E Trac first came out, I dont see many people using it here in the UK now with the exception of the new owners maybe just to get started. We definately dont do Patterns because theres too much of our History to miss. If we try and block shotgun caps or ring pulls we run the risk of losing real treasure. Most of the small iron like nails gets caught on the bottom couple of bars on the screen. I run usually with 33-35 FE and a small home made nails reject pattern in the bottom right hand corner, the minelab nails pattern is way too big for us. The only Iron I might dig is the large circular stuff like chains & horseshoes & possibly the occasional plough point that will always give you a good signal. If any Iron is trying to trick me then a quick look at the screen to see where the cross hair is hitting or an iffy sounding tone usually takes care of it.

For anybody wanting to check out our setups Andy S has printed several in his excellent new E Trac & Explorer book. They are also listed word for word on the Minelabowners forum for everybody to see.

 

[Fortunehunter]

Thanks for the replies.

I wasn't thinking of replacing tones altogether but just giving people another option. Like most things in life, if you do it often enough then you can become very familiar with the operation of something. But in the case of detecting if you can only do it on a occasional basis then something like multi tones can be a little difficult for the novice to master.

Yes, Wizard, I was thinking along the lines of hunting for specific targets, like coin hunting on a beach for example. As for dogs barking in your ear well that was a bit of a joke, but having very different sounds for different targets instead of a steadily increasing tone makes some sense to me.

There will always be the purists out there who aren't prepared to look outside the circle, but if something can be improved, and as a result, makes our hobby easier and more rewarding then I say give it a go.

 

[thedeserttortoise]

I like it. Assign a specific sound byte to a specific fe/co... I do use multi tones most...but I've switched from conductive to ferous...just my ears and what they like. But most importantly, and I think this is true accross the board, I use the VID to verify my finds. Even tone hunting purists I've seen still glance at their screens (except Neil..jeez, I don't know how he does it). This feature by itself is what has helped propel the Minelabs to the front of the competition. You know Fortunehunter, your idea could very well be the next great feature offered on a machine that already shines. It would relegate the VID to a setup function mainly, but assigning specific sound to specific target numbers is really interesting. I could night hunt with a blindfold....