Blue Circle?

[SteveB]

Group,

This is one event I haven't seen mentioned here on the forum. If I've just missed finding what I'm about to describe, please direct me to the correct thread.

I was hunting my yard yesterday afternoon with the 6-inch coil and the stock coin program when I got a solid 12/13-42 signal from two directions. pinpoint gave me a place to start digging and the depth reading was 7 inches.

Nice red circle in the silver part of the screen, and it was really filling in solid with color on my screen. At one point, there was the trashy red diamond directly underneath the good circle but at the bottom of the screen. After removing another inch of soil I noticed that the red diamond had turned into a blue circle that was filled with color (blue) just like my good signal indicator. I was still getting the 12/13-42 reading.

Bottom line, I ended up digging a 10 inch deep hole, only to find a square-sided nail, an iron washer and a bread tie that were in the side of the hole and 5 inches from where my pinpoint reading was.

I may have a total of 10 hours on my CTX. I've found mainly clad coins, but nearly everything good has rang out in the 12-40 to 12-44 range (pennies included),

Am I doing something wrong, do I just need more time on the machine, or does it need to go in for service? Oh yeah, what about that blue circle in the lower right of the screen?

Thanks,

SteveB

 

[sube]

Bottom line, I ended up digging a 10 inch deep hole, only to find a square-sided nail, an iron washer and a bread tie that were in the side of the hole and 5 inches from where my pinpoint reading was.
If it's not where you pinpoint it's likely a false , some coins on edge will pinpoint a little off but not 5 inches.So if the pinpoint is off you have a classic false,more time on the detector and you will know what to dig and what to leave.sube

 

[Larry (IL)]

The owners manual doesn't go into much detail about the colors other than it stated that the color in target trace mode represents signal strength.

So a red diamond filled with a blue color is a fairly strong rejected target. I don't dig the signals that have both a good target and a rejected target cursor when the pinpointing is NOT directly under where I get the best signal audio. Those are almost always a square nail or rusty wire and the eddy currents are concentrated off of the pointed end. That is why you bet a good signal in one place and a pinpoint in another. Most of the time if you check your target again at 90 degrees, the iron target will break up or disappear altogether.

When a target pinpoints directly over the best audio location and I have a good target and a rejected target cursor on the screen............ those I will dig as they are often iron with a good target.

 

[SteveB]

Everyone,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll modify my search style accordingly (for awhile at least )

Larry, the red diamond never filled with color. It was replaced with a blue circle that over a few swings filled up with blue.

Thanks again!

SteveB

 

[Digger]

I don't dig the signals that have both a good target and a rejected target cursor when the pinpointing is NOT directly under where I get the best signal audio. Those are almost always a square nail or rusty wire and the eddy currents are concentrated off of the pointed end. That is why you bet a good signal in one place and a pinpoint in another. Most of the time if you check your target again at 90 degrees, the iron target will break up or disappear altogether.

When a target pinpoints directly over the best audio location and I have a good target and a rejected target cursor on the screen............ those I will dig as they are often iron with a good target.

 

[Rich3030]

I don't pay much attention whether its shows red or blue but rather the location on the screen. iron will be near the bottom of the screen (mostly to the right side, but can be anywhere on the bottom half depending on its size, composition and shape). Blue is iron from what I've learned. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong here.

To make the best of narrowing down your target and confirming good targets on the screen (which will allow your holes to be a lot smaller...you still want to leave enough room that you don't scratch a nice target), you will need to find where the BEST signal is located amongst any trash that is surrounding the good target.
The best way when your pinpointing is not centering on the good target is to do a couple things before you dig.
Firstly you need to verify it is not surface iron, as any washer..nail or bolt etc... that hits under the outer edge of the DD coil will show as a deeper good target (mostly in the 12-44 range in my experiences).
To verify this, pinpoint where you think the target is from both directions, then raise the coil 4 or 5 inches then pinpoint it again. If its iron under the outer edge of coil...the pinpoint location will move.
You'll have to practice this, as any deep-weaker targets will obviously loose enough signal that the machine will simply latch onto the next suitable target.
Another thing to watch for is when you are pinpointing, make your 90 degree turn and find the center. Then turn 45 degrees and check it again. If the pinpoint spot moves, then you are usually on the end or point of a longer nail, bolt or other iron.
Pay attention to the depth reading in both detecting AND pinpointing modes...they will be different in a lot of cases. I find the pinpoint depth to be the most accurate of the two AFTER you've centered the target.
When you are checking the good find in pinpoint mode, pay attention to the target trace buildup. Most good targets that are centered correctly after pinpointing will have a nice tight pattern.
One thing I should mention also... when you are using pinpoint in normal swing the coil fairly fast to narrow the width down, then turn to do your 90 degree check while still in pinpoint mode. If you leave too much time in between turning...the machine will widen the width again. I can usually get the width down to about an inch with a faster swing, scrubbing the ground. Anyone else find that?
Oh yah, lol... when you are pinpointing making sure you are scrubbing the ground and get a narrow width on your first direction, follow the center bar of the DD coil for your 90 deg swing. When you are over the sweet spot, and before the width has a chance to widen...turn 90 degree again on that spot...if the sound and target disappear...100 per cent your on a nail.


Sorry to get a little verbose....hope that helps
A bad days fishin' is always better than a good days work

 

[Neil in West Jersey]

When you get into the deeeep range on those signals, it's best to dig. I've had some nice surprises that were showing at the bottom of the screen, but like the others have said, if the target appears to be moving when you change your sweep direction, it's (almost) always iron.

A lot depends on the type of site. If I am detecting at a colonial site, I'll dig it. I find some nice iron relics that way.