Hi, I am new to this and I need some help if somebody would be kind enough. About 4 years ago my children bought me a BH Time Ranger. I only now started using it. I have read and re-read the manual and understand most of it for the most part. I live on a 40 acre farm and have found some coin and a lot of scrap from farm equipment. My problem is I get a lot of chatter. I have ground balanced my unit which has tuned some of the noise down and I use the preset #3 most of the time. How do I tell when there is really something there. I seem to be digging more holes and coming up empty handed. Very discouraging I must say. Are there any books or mags out there that explain in detail how to understand the gauges on this machine. Also how does the "Target Detection Dial" work? What does it mean if the target is accepted or not. If it is not accepted why bother showing it??? I appreciate anyone wishing to share their knowledge with me....Thank you.
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BH TR help!
- Thread starter is2cu
- Start date
john barrale
New member
turn down your sensetivity a little bit and the chattering should somewhat go away. and as far as digging, you should dig everything as a signal,it just takes patience.and with that you will be rewarded someday.but also make sure you set your ground balance properly.
John,
Thank you so much for your input. I guess I just have to keep digging! I ground balance every time I feel the signal is drifting, maybe a bit too much. Do you by chance understand how the "Target Detection Dial" works? I am a little confused on this. Again a big Thanks for your response.
Thank you so much for your input. I guess I just have to keep digging! I ground balance every time I feel the signal is drifting, maybe a bit too much. Do you by chance understand how the "Target Detection Dial" works? I am a little confused on this. Again a big Thanks for your response.
john barrale
New member
no im not really familiar with the time ranger but your welcome all the same.
On many farm sites you have items that rust away. And leave only remnants in the ground. As you dig you break up all traces except sometimes ground is discolored a little. So you may be hitting a lot of those items ..
Another thing is..Are you sure your pinpointing exactly over the target. Maybe your just missing then actual target by an inch or two..
Another thing is..Are you sure your pinpointing exactly over the target. Maybe your just missing then actual target by an inch or two..
Thanks Elton! I have noticed discolored ground when I dig in spots. Mostly a red or brown color so I guess that makes sense. As the item deteriorates it would leave residue that would give a response. As for pinpointing, I do the "X" and then a circle and hone it in to what I figure is the bulls-eye. Because it is my own property I dig the hole bigger than you normally would. Looks like a mole has had a field day out there...lol. Thanks again!
According to the online manual please look at pages 17 and 18,
Discrimination/Target Mode and Target Programming Mode.
Read that over and it will explain the "target detection dial" you
have asked about. Once programmed you will see what targets
are accepted (able to be heard and detected) or rejected (detector
will not signal on that target).
Sometimes it may be good to know what targets are being rejected.
That way you will know when you are in an area with a lot of targets
so you can slow down and try to pick out the good signals from the bad
ones. Say you are over a bad target that is rejected and there is a good
target nearby.....it takes a little while for the detector to reset after the
bad target and if you move the coil too fast you may miss the good target
because the detector hasn't reset from the bad one yet.
You should be able to practice this with the coins you would like to find
along with the junk you want to reject. Just put these on top of the
ground so you can clearly see what is happening. Practice swinging the
coil at different speeds with the good and bad targets closer and further
apart and I think you will see what I am talking about. Just make sure the
ground you are practicing this on doesn't have any targets in the area.
Although I don't own a Time Ranger I know It's a very capable detector
that does a very good job of bringing home the goodies. I hope this
helps some to answer some of your questions. Wishing you the very best
of hunting ! Gene
Discrimination/Target Mode and Target Programming Mode.
Read that over and it will explain the "target detection dial" you
have asked about. Once programmed you will see what targets
are accepted (able to be heard and detected) or rejected (detector
will not signal on that target).
Sometimes it may be good to know what targets are being rejected.
That way you will know when you are in an area with a lot of targets
so you can slow down and try to pick out the good signals from the bad
ones. Say you are over a bad target that is rejected and there is a good
target nearby.....it takes a little while for the detector to reset after the
bad target and if you move the coil too fast you may miss the good target
because the detector hasn't reset from the bad one yet.
You should be able to practice this with the coins you would like to find
along with the junk you want to reject. Just put these on top of the
ground so you can clearly see what is happening. Practice swinging the
coil at different speeds with the good and bad targets closer and further
apart and I think you will see what I am talking about. Just make sure the
ground you are practicing this on doesn't have any targets in the area.
Although I don't own a Time Ranger I know It's a very capable detector
that does a very good job of bringing home the goodies. I hope this
helps some to answer some of your questions. Wishing you the very best
of hunting ! Gene
You say your digging holes an coming up empty handed.. I don't know whether or not you are using a pin-pointer, if not, then it is very very easy to miss small targets even when they are out of the hole. A pin-pointer is the most useful accessory you can have, i would highly recommend investing in one if you don't have one.
Thank you Gene, I will try your recommendations.
Thank you yowow#1. I don't have a pinpointer and am thinking of getting one tomorrow. I have spent way to much time and energy digging and coming up empty handed. I know there has to be stuff out there, I just need some help and obviously the pinpointer will provide that.
Thank you yowow#1. I don't have a pinpointer and am thinking of getting one tomorrow. I have spent way to much time and energy digging and coming up empty handed. I know there has to be stuff out there, I just need some help and obviously the pinpointer will provide that.
john barrale
New member
Go online at e-bay and look up garretts propinpointers you can't go wrong their the best out there i just got one and i would'nt have anyone elses.
Ed in SoDak
Member
There is no need to ground balance when using modes P1, P2 or P3.
It helps to ground balance in the All Metal Smart Trac mode and the P4 mode must be ground balanced. Note that a brief press of the Smart Trac button does not do a full GB. You need to press and hold the button for several seconds until the continuous warble tone sounds, then release with coil on the ground in a metal-free spot.
Any press of Smart Trac put the machine into All Metal No-Motion mode. You need to press Program Select afterwards if you wished to use the P4 mode. The screen shows P1-P4 to tell you which Program mode you are using.
I use the All Metal mode a lot, and it will help tell you when you are centered or if there are multiple targets. There is no ID or discrimination in this mode. It is "No Motion," meaning it will sound continuously when metal is present. Home in on the loudest tone. There is only one tone in this mode.
If you hunt in a Pgrogram mode with rejection set, a rejected target can still sound off randomly if it is near the edge of the coil. You hear the tone, stop and recheck, but it is hard to make the tone repeat. Turn off the rejection or switch to All Metal, and you'll find the off-center item more easily.
I recheck my digs often to make sure the target is still in the center of my hole. Quite often, it's off to one side in the edge where I haven't dug yet.
Good advice in this thread. The current Time Ranger version has some interesting features, but one must learn how to properly set them up first. I can have three different modes going with just one button press (a different button for each) to select from All Metal, Program or Disc Target modes.
Gene has good advice to place your own group of test targets around on the ground to help learn the detector. I also do a lot of indoor air testing.
-Ed
It helps to ground balance in the All Metal Smart Trac mode and the P4 mode must be ground balanced. Note that a brief press of the Smart Trac button does not do a full GB. You need to press and hold the button for several seconds until the continuous warble tone sounds, then release with coil on the ground in a metal-free spot.
Any press of Smart Trac put the machine into All Metal No-Motion mode. You need to press Program Select afterwards if you wished to use the P4 mode. The screen shows P1-P4 to tell you which Program mode you are using.
I use the All Metal mode a lot, and it will help tell you when you are centered or if there are multiple targets. There is no ID or discrimination in this mode. It is "No Motion," meaning it will sound continuously when metal is present. Home in on the loudest tone. There is only one tone in this mode.
If you hunt in a Pgrogram mode with rejection set, a rejected target can still sound off randomly if it is near the edge of the coil. You hear the tone, stop and recheck, but it is hard to make the tone repeat. Turn off the rejection or switch to All Metal, and you'll find the off-center item more easily.
I recheck my digs often to make sure the target is still in the center of my hole. Quite often, it's off to one side in the edge where I haven't dug yet.
Good advice in this thread. The current Time Ranger version has some interesting features, but one must learn how to properly set them up first. I can have three different modes going with just one button press (a different button for each) to select from All Metal, Program or Disc Target modes.
Gene has good advice to place your own group of test targets around on the ground to help learn the detector. I also do a lot of indoor air testing.
-Ed
Ed in SoDak
Member
Yup, proud TR owner! I'm not on this forum too often, but ask away. I or someone else will try to help.
Click on my member name and then Show all posts by me. Scan through or do a search, I usually reply to most threads that mention the Time Ranger. Maybe your Qs have already been covered in earlier posts by me or other members.
-Ed
Click on my member name and then Show all posts by me. Scan through or do a search, I usually reply to most threads that mention the Time Ranger. Maybe your Qs have already been covered in earlier posts by me or other members.
-Ed
Ed in SoDak
Member
Hi Ray,
I'll copy my reply to your PM below, since it's just some good general info that may help others learn their Time Ranger. If I missed anything feel free to reply here so others can share in the conversation.
Happy Hunting!
-Ed
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hi Ray,
We'll take a stab at your concerns and try to give you the lowdown.
BH is a little ignorant of their own early models. They told me they send people with questions about the old machines to me. That's faith or trust in action! Actually, they are all really great people and one-on-one, amazingly personal for the biggest detector manufacturer going. The CEO has emailed me personally and been very supportive and generous. I'm unpaid, but they've sent me multiple detectors for review which I got to keep afterwards, plus a Time Ranger like yours as a gift from Tom, the CEO.
They do some outsourcing to Mexico, I don't know of any TR clones. That has changed over the years. If you see the pics of my boards for V2 and V4, they have dates silkscreened as part of the manufacturing process, which dates the particular revision. Nowadays, they do have a sticker inside the battery door.
BH never gave out any info on which version of TR was being produced at any given time. They might annouce an upgrade or just do it. June 2008 is close enough. I'm the one who more or less arbitrarliy gave them the V1-V4 designations since nobody else had a clue as to the differences. All those people from those days have retired or moved on, that's why the current crew really doesn't know about them. Too busy with the new stuff to read the dusty archives, lol. And much of the early stuff was lost in a bankruptcy that went sour prior to the current ownership. An investment group picked up the pieces and is the owner today of all those brands BH, Fisher, Tek and a couple other low-cost brands like Techna.
So far as it goes, revision really doesn't matter for our coil choices. Any "plug-in" style connector coil will work. It has male pins on the cable and a female socket on the unit. I think there is one Fisher DD coil that will work.
If the coil has a screw-on threaded connector, that is for the newer style. It has sockets on the coil wire, meaning holes for the pins to fit into. The unit has the pins, so it's opposite to the old-style BH coil like we have. The info is somewhere in the back pages of Findmall. I have to be honest that I've never tried the DD coil for BH, so all I really know is what I've read. I have tried the newer DD coil and it's great. They are different internally, but should perform similarly. And yes, many people are confused because BH itself hasn't made it clear and doesn't label the coils for compatibility. Things such as my Tek T2 coil has the "new" style plug, but is not compatible with any of the other coils.
I like a DD coil, but the concentric like we have is no slouch either. They have different pickup patterns and each has their strong points and weaknesses.
A DD coil may be deeper. Depth is hardly the most important feature. Mine goes deeper than I care to dig in our soil, I pass on many 10"+ signals that seem larger than a coin-size object. It's takes a prybar and rock hammer to probe that deep here.
I believe the 10" Magnum coil is for our machines. Verify the plug style to be certain. It'll be about 2 inches deeper than the 8", but harder to pinpoint with. Also more likely to have junk under the coil or hot rocks, salt sand along with the item you're seeking. I like the 4" and use it handheld like a pinpointer.
The 0-200 ID range is broader than most any other machine, that allows a bigger spread on different targets for better numeric ID. You'll learn to love it!
Hope this info clears up some of your questions!
I'll copy my reply to your PM below, since it's just some good general info that may help others learn their Time Ranger. If I missed anything feel free to reply here so others can share in the conversation.
Happy Hunting!
-Ed
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hi Ray,
We'll take a stab at your concerns and try to give you the lowdown.
BH is a little ignorant of their own early models. They told me they send people with questions about the old machines to me. That's faith or trust in action! Actually, they are all really great people and one-on-one, amazingly personal for the biggest detector manufacturer going. The CEO has emailed me personally and been very supportive and generous. I'm unpaid, but they've sent me multiple detectors for review which I got to keep afterwards, plus a Time Ranger like yours as a gift from Tom, the CEO.
They do some outsourcing to Mexico, I don't know of any TR clones. That has changed over the years. If you see the pics of my boards for V2 and V4, they have dates silkscreened as part of the manufacturing process, which dates the particular revision. Nowadays, they do have a sticker inside the battery door.
BH never gave out any info on which version of TR was being produced at any given time. They might annouce an upgrade or just do it. June 2008 is close enough. I'm the one who more or less arbitrarliy gave them the V1-V4 designations since nobody else had a clue as to the differences. All those people from those days have retired or moved on, that's why the current crew really doesn't know about them. Too busy with the new stuff to read the dusty archives, lol. And much of the early stuff was lost in a bankruptcy that went sour prior to the current ownership. An investment group picked up the pieces and is the owner today of all those brands BH, Fisher, Tek and a couple other low-cost brands like Techna.
So far as it goes, revision really doesn't matter for our coil choices. Any "plug-in" style connector coil will work. It has male pins on the cable and a female socket on the unit. I think there is one Fisher DD coil that will work.
If the coil has a screw-on threaded connector, that is for the newer style. It has sockets on the coil wire, meaning holes for the pins to fit into. The unit has the pins, so it's opposite to the old-style BH coil like we have. The info is somewhere in the back pages of Findmall. I have to be honest that I've never tried the DD coil for BH, so all I really know is what I've read. I have tried the newer DD coil and it's great. They are different internally, but should perform similarly. And yes, many people are confused because BH itself hasn't made it clear and doesn't label the coils for compatibility. Things such as my Tek T2 coil has the "new" style plug, but is not compatible with any of the other coils.
I like a DD coil, but the concentric like we have is no slouch either. They have different pickup patterns and each has their strong points and weaknesses.
A DD coil may be deeper. Depth is hardly the most important feature. Mine goes deeper than I care to dig in our soil, I pass on many 10"+ signals that seem larger than a coin-size object. It's takes a prybar and rock hammer to probe that deep here.
I believe the 10" Magnum coil is for our machines. Verify the plug style to be certain. It'll be about 2 inches deeper than the 8", but harder to pinpoint with. Also more likely to have junk under the coil or hot rocks, salt sand along with the item you're seeking. I like the 4" and use it handheld like a pinpointer.
The 0-200 ID range is broader than most any other machine, that allows a bigger spread on different targets for better numeric ID. You'll learn to love it!
Hope this info clears up some of your questions!
is2cu said: