Bryce (or others) -- on a good-sounding "one-way" target...

[sgoss66]

Bryce --

This is in reference to what you wrote in Elton's "6x8 SEF hunt" thread.

I know I drive you nuts by using the digital screen. But, I am getting much closer to being able to hunt by "sound." So, I'm with you on that.

Here's a specific question in that regard. You hit a target, sounds real good; you think "dig." You turn 90 degrees, and you lose the good sound -- it either nulls, or it sounds MUCH lower in pitch, not the nice high sound. Do you dig?

I get these alot, and have "learned" that they are usually nails. However, I am aware in the back of my mind they could be coins near a nail (or other trash piece). My question is, do you dig alot of these one-way "sound real good" hits? I don't usually dig those, but on occasion one sounds particularly good so I do dig it. Still, it's virtually always trash (nail). More often, the kind that produce for me are four-ways, but maybe the ID is all over the place. Still a decent-sounding four-way, though. THOSE are often goodies, I'm learning. BUT, those "good-sounding-in-one-direction" targets are almost ALWAYS nails. Any thoughts you can offer there? Do you dig these pretty good-sounding, but ONE-WAY targets, and do they produce for you?

I have come a long way in terms of understanding the machine, in that I used to try to focus on repeatable VDI before I'd dig. However, I'm in the process of learning to "branch out" from that, and dig bouncy ID-ing stuff -- whenever it sounds pretty good and is a 4-way (or at LEAST a 3-way). And, I am being rewarded for it. BUT, from your experience, am I missing alot by assuming those "sound good from ONE direction, turn 90 degrees and get either a bad-sounding tone or a null" targets are nails, and thus not digging them?

Steve

 

[teleman2525]

it kind of sounds like you answerd your own question and your results tell alot good one way null other out comes a nail good three or four out comes the good but like you i still dig lots of the one ways just cause they sound so good and hopr is high i find lots of nails i should build somthing lol

 

[Southwind]

Just last night I had the exact signal you speak of. I got a good high signal but from most other directions I either got a null or crappy broken signal. My key to recover was that I pinpointed it from the good signal direction then turned 90

 

[sgoss66]

teleman -- sounds like your experience is similar to mine.

Meanwhile, Southwind, you dug a good target that was a one-way...interesting that you used pinpoint to help you make your dig/no-dig decision. I know what you are saying about pinpointing off to the side, as you are getting the high tone off of the end, and yet the machine will pinpoint a different part of the nail.

Did you find a nail or something in that hole with the wheatie?

Steve

 

[Steve(MS)]

Steve, you are getting close to getting good with your Explorer.
Southwind's response is excellent.
Are you using the smartfind screen yet?
If so then you will see the cursor bounces.
The cursor will generally have patterns to the bounces which can give you
a clue to whether it is a nail or coin.
Those that could be coin hits have a little better tone to them than the falsing nails.
Are you running conduct sounds? If so then the marginal coin signal should sound a little different.
Some refer to a gobbling sound which a coin will make.
Some refer to nail falses as either monotone super high tones and/or tones that give off a series of musically "off key" tones.
The depth meter can come in handy when to determine a dig or not, if it shows deep, is the audio strong or weak?
If you are in an area full of nails, go for the "better" sounding ones, see what they turn out to be...if they are nails,
goe for the little better signals next time.
If the nails you dig during this process are bent....you have arrived to the level of the iffies you need to be going for.
If you find yourself in an area full of bent nails then you have to once again modify your methods and go for a little better sounding
audio hits and cursor readouts.
Also day by day there are variables, such as moisture content so if you detect the same place and one day it is dry, then the next time
it is after a rain, you will need to check out a few signals to get an idea of how your machine is responding on that given day.
Also, I don't know about your part of the country but here it is bone dry so the ground is extremely hard to dig so you might need
to take it easy on yourself if it is hot....wait for cooler wetter ground to go for those ultra-deep signals.
Slow down to a crawl over some of those iffies you are getting, make mental notes about how it turns out when you dig.
These are just general guidelines so modify as needed and find out what works best for you.
HH

 

[Dan-Pa.]

All depends on the circunstance...if things are quiet might go for the iffies but your time might be better spent swinging as unless extremely deep or coin next to junk turned coin just might be a good target but 9 out of 10 times its junk. In time cursor movement will help once you get the feeling for the good versus the bad or at least help you decide. With any detector if it don't sound off in at least two directions or target seems to pinpoint off to the side once you remove the plug its time to move on...as usually its that darn rusty nail of many years ago....

 

[sgoss66]

Dan and Steve --

Thanks for the excellent responses. I really appreciate those.

Yes, I'm using conductive, and no, not usually using smart screen -- still mostly digital. I love numbers!

I did learn something new, to help figure these things out. On some of these iffies, I started switching to an open screen and re-interrogating. If the high tone, when switching to open screen, becomes "good" -- i.e. I get a repeatable, consistent tone each pass -- then the target is iron (and by the way, it IDs as such). However, if when switching to the open screen, I get the same, non-repeatable, occasional high tone, and it's deep, I dig. More often than not, it's something good (often a wheat).

By the way, Dan, I had a hard time at all the "public" spots I hunted while on my recent trip to Southwestern PA. I did OK at a few home sites I hunted, but most of the public sites (parks, schools, churches) were CLEANED OUT, big time. Someone told me that YOU did it!

Steve