Hi Mike,
I am assuming you are concerned that you have not found silver coins and that you are not finding deep coins.
I have been an explorer user for 1.5 months. If you are curious about my performance so far, I have found silver coins and indian heads down to 8.0 inches. I don't know how deep you think is "DEEP", but 8.0 inches seems pretty deep to me. I carry a ruler and measure each coin's depth while it is still in place in the soil. You can ignore my info if you want.
I have not used gain=10 so I don't know about the associated machine behavior. I use Mike Moutray's settings which are posted on "Minelab Explorer XS Users" on msn groups. I also use a gain=7 and IRON MASK=12. I ignore ALL shallow signals no matter if it is a coin or what. I am going for the deep coins too. I do not use the target ID screen when sweeping over a coil. I never use the depth gauge. I like to listen for sounds that have the warbling fluty sound. I like gain=7 because deep targets sound quiet. Quiet sounds for me are deep targets (or tiny shallow ones). To me, warbling and fluttering means a deep target. If you sweep over a clad laying flat at 3 inches, you will hear a single tone with no fluttering. If a target does not flutter, or is super loud, or causes spontaneous constant buzz in PINPOINT mode, I automatically ignore it. I guess you could probably use gain=10 and stick with the fluttering rule. If it flutters, the signal is more likely to be a deep signal even though it is very loud. I don't know about gain=10 causing iron falsing, though. If it does cause more falsing, that means more nails, and that could be a real pain in the ass! As a test, look for a good example target that you think is a falsie while you are in the field. This target should be one that causes intermittant falsing broken by nulls. Then turn your gain up to 10 and see what happens. If the falsing increases intensity and becomes more repeatable, increase your IRON MASK to 10 or 12 and see if that cuts back down on the falsing and allows you to use gain=10. By the way, I only use my detector in pretty clean areas where I can use SENSITIVITY= 25 to 27 and still maintain threshold. I am not experienced enough to operate in trashy areas. So keep in mind that the information that I am giving you is info that I apply in relatively clean areas. As for the depth gauge, I ignore it because the sound and sound intensity is good enough for me. As for the target ID on the screen, I don't use it either. I don't trust it one bit because I have found barbers that register as iron. I rely on sound only. Actually the only time I use the target ID on the screen is when I have the X1 target probe in the hole so I can get real excited when it ID's the silver coin or penny. That is the only time I trust the target ID. Mike Moutray's settings are cool because they cause contrasts. They cause deep coins to sound deep, and shallow coins to sound shallow. They also cause contrast between some iron signals and silver signals. The variability=8 causes silver and copper to have a somewhat lower pitch than some high-pitched iron. And the Limits=10 causes high iron tones to sound even higher than silver or copper. This helps the user to differentiate silver and copper coins from iron (unless there is a repeatable falsie present). The settings also call for CONDUCT mode.
Later, Mike
"> I hunt about 90% audio and do look at the ID from time to time. I guess I'm just not digging them iffy signals! I have read your post and have printed if off for further reading =) I listen to everyone!! There is something that can be learned from everyone <IMG SRC="/forums/images/biggrin.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="