Bought an Explorer II in Jan. and gave it my all for a couple of months. In Feb. i found the site of a lifetime, 6 large cents and one indian all less than 3 inches deep. Since, I have hunted this site dozens of times with no luck. I have found no signals beyond 3 inches. It may be there is nothing deeper but i cant believe it. In some areas of the site you can't hear a dime laying right on the surface. Have tried 8 in and 10 in coils with the same results. Iron everwhere! The field was in soybeans last year , corn this year. Deer hunted a fence row Saturday next to the site and all i could think of was metal detecting. The farmer told me the corn would be shelled by Saturday next and i'm ready to go. Have ran with low to high disc. and low to high sens. with same results. Does anyone have any insight to hunting this type of place? When i first got the machine i tried hunting all my old favorites and found nothing but new shallow coins so i dont have to much faith in it. Surley there's something I've missed about this machine. Would the 5 in loop help? Any advice would be appreciated. Jim
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Depth?
- Thread starter Jim-IN
- Start date
When you mention not finding a dime on the surface it reminded me of a site I did. Now I try something every time I get a lot of nulling as i will put a dime where there is a null and try different settings.
My site i was talking about was where a old side walk was taken out and I know I got old coins beside it. There was a lot of nulling so I ran auto sensitivity set at 30 and ran smooth. I threw a dime on the ground and couldn't pick it up unless I touched it which I thought was odd. I went back to manual sensitivity and it was just too erratic, so I dropped the sensitivity to around 16 and it nulled a lot, but could pick up the dime with the coil about 4 inches above it. I then ran iron mask at a -14 and ferrous tones and went slow and heard a lot of low pitches tones of all the iron, but could hear the coins. Since then when I run a disc pattern and get a lot of nulling I will try my dime over one of the nulls and try lowering my sensitivity in manual or switch to my iron mask at a -14 and see where it seems to work the best.
Rick
My site i was talking about was where a old side walk was taken out and I know I got old coins beside it. There was a lot of nulling so I ran auto sensitivity set at 30 and ran smooth. I threw a dime on the ground and couldn't pick it up unless I touched it which I thought was odd. I went back to manual sensitivity and it was just too erratic, so I dropped the sensitivity to around 16 and it nulled a lot, but could pick up the dime with the coil about 4 inches above it. I then ran iron mask at a -14 and ferrous tones and went slow and heard a lot of low pitches tones of all the iron, but could hear the coins. Since then when I run a disc pattern and get a lot of nulling I will try my dime over one of the nulls and try lowering my sensitivity in manual or switch to my iron mask at a -14 and see where it seems to work the best.
Rick
This problem is why I open up a few pixels in the Nails zone, upper left of the display and use ferrous sounds. Even if we hear all hits we don't miss targets due to nulls. Most all nulls are caused by the upper left of the display, the corner of the display being blank, which is where the most conductive ferrous iron nulls. Open this up and make the other adjustments to Audio and Sensitivity I posted and these problems will go away. I battled this problem for many moons before finding how to get away from the nulls and still keep max depth.
Your unit is faulty and if I couldn't get 8 inches plus out of my explorer it would get thrown out a window or at least contact Minelab at best..Cody and Rick made some good posts and I really feel your problem may be sensitivity whether it be manual or auto..Seems like in some areas high is not good. When I first tried an Explorer XS I used quickstart and of course sens. was auto -16 (half max.)and got 10 targets 6-10 inches deep 8 wheaties and
merc and a waking half..Make sure you have an audible threshold and experiment with manual and auto settings as the jury is still out if auto overcompensates for depth. Believe me you are not the first that has come to my attention as getting poor depth and would feel its the operator not the unit..As far as depth goes silver and older coins are usually 5-6 inches deep and have got a few that measured a foot so I really believe there are coins more than 3 inches deep unless you have some ground that won't let the coins sink..In addendum find a mentor that is experienced in an Explorer and your learning period will be greatly reduced..Explorer is a fine unit, but not set up for your area can cause all kinds of problems. Seems like some take to an Explorer and excell while others simply flounder. I shouldn;t talk as I live in Explorer country and one local Guru really helped me lest I may still be flounding..As far as the technical aspects, don't have a prayer but I do know improper settings of Sensitivty can cause major problem..
merc and a waking half..Make sure you have an audible threshold and experiment with manual and auto settings as the jury is still out if auto overcompensates for depth. Believe me you are not the first that has come to my attention as getting poor depth and would feel its the operator not the unit..As far as depth goes silver and older coins are usually 5-6 inches deep and have got a few that measured a foot so I really believe there are coins more than 3 inches deep unless you have some ground that won't let the coins sink..In addendum find a mentor that is experienced in an Explorer and your learning period will be greatly reduced..Explorer is a fine unit, but not set up for your area can cause all kinds of problems. Seems like some take to an Explorer and excell while others simply flounder. I shouldn;t talk as I live in Explorer country and one local Guru really helped me lest I may still be flounding..As far as the technical aspects, don't have a prayer but I do know improper settings of Sensitivty can cause major problem..
I have no business being in this discussion...
because I'm still in the "giving it my all" state with
the Explorer.. this is like the first grader talking to
the college kids.. but.. something I missed for the
longest time with the explorer was.. when I first
turn on the machine.. NOW I find a
spot clear of any signals and hit the noise cancel
and let the machine balance itself out.. from what I
understand if this is not done you will not be at
optimum?!
You are probably way past this.. but.. decided to put my
two cents in... since it is something that was not clear to me
at first... I'm also still trying to figure out
"exactly" what adjusting sensitivity until it is "stable"...
whatever stable is..
because I'm still in the "giving it my all" state with
the Explorer.. this is like the first grader talking to
the college kids.. but.. something I missed for the
longest time with the explorer was.. when I first
turn on the machine.. NOW I find a
spot clear of any signals and hit the noise cancel
and let the machine balance itself out.. from what I
understand if this is not done you will not be at
optimum?!
You are probably way past this.. but.. decided to put my
two cents in... since it is something that was not clear to me
at first... I'm also still trying to figure out
"exactly" what adjusting sensitivity until it is "stable"...
whatever stable is..
Basically reading the manual and using the method recommended works for most. Am sure may or may not be some out there that set it manually as it can be done both ways.
Stability refers to having a threshold that is steady and you are free of too many erratic noises if you run with sensitivity too high...or try to get too fancy with settings not knowing what they actually do..Do run at basic settings until you get some experience as even at quickstart its an excellent machine that can be made better by knowlegable individuals.
Stability refers to having a threshold that is steady and you are free of too many erratic noises if you run with sensitivity too high...or try to get too fancy with settings not knowing what they actually do..Do run at basic settings until you get some experience as even at quickstart its an excellent machine that can be made better by knowlegable individuals.
Yes... I did read the manual before going out and using the
Explorer for the first time...
I guess that was my point.. I had
missed the point..I believe in the beginning I was punching and holding the
noise cancel button for a while and thought I was "noise cancelled".
It was not until later that I realized that I should punch and release
the button and let it run through the cycles.. and really didn't realize
the importance of running the noise cancellation even at that..
Just curious.. if I powered up... adjusted sensitivity to some level...
detected for a while and then say..bumped sensitivity up/down/sideways..
without first running the noise cancel.. how would/could that affect my
sensitivity settings/depth, etc.? would I be getting the sensitivity and stability I should?
Yes.. I'm guilty of going off on a tangent at one point and doing all these
fancy-schmancy settings.. but... went back to the basics...
when you say "noise" do you mean like the noise/static you hear on some
channels during noise cancellation.. or noise like too many and erratic
responses from the unit?
Thanks for the info and encouragement... Lawd knows I need it.. this pinpointing
with the double D coil is whuppin' my behinny... hopefully.. I'm not the only one
out there?! I guess I should be in the kindergarten forum... but.. I didn't see one
of those...
Explorer for the first time...
I guess that was my point.. I hadmissed the point..I believe in the beginning I was punching and holding the
noise cancel button for a while and thought I was "noise cancelled".
It was not until later that I realized that I should punch and release
the button and let it run through the cycles.. and really didn't realize
the importance of running the noise cancellation even at that..
Just curious.. if I powered up... adjusted sensitivity to some level...
detected for a while and then say..bumped sensitivity up/down/sideways..
without first running the noise cancel.. how would/could that affect my
sensitivity settings/depth, etc.? would I be getting the sensitivity and stability I should?
Yes.. I'm guilty of going off on a tangent at one point and doing all these
fancy-schmancy settings.. but... went back to the basics...
when you say "noise" do you mean like the noise/static you hear on some
channels during noise cancellation.. or noise like too many and erratic
responses from the unit?
Thanks for the info and encouragement... Lawd knows I need it.. this pinpointing
with the double D coil is whuppin' my behinny... hopefully.. I'm not the only one
out there?! I guess I should be in the kindergarten forum... but.. I didn't see one
of those...
kaintuckman
New member
I went out yesterday and today with my new Exp II and I have some questions. It behaved very erratically in one yard, beeping and booping like crazy. I was in the factory default setting and had done the auto noise cancellation after start-up and then again in a different location. There were some power lines nearby, but just the house feed....? Today I was getting alot of false targets and using the 8" coil I had trouble detecting a silver 50c piece I buried at 6-8". Also I noticed that with the digital display, I would get a high conductivity signal that would not repeat consistantly so I would move away and as I searched on, the display would still have the same numbers on it from the prievious signal. How often does it refresh? Also does the pinpiont mode relate depth and conductivity info, or does it just give out the audio signal for locating? Finally, I had problems with it shutting down if I moved it too quickly or jarred it. Once it shut off when I turned it on it's side. Is there any way to take up the slop in the battery pack? Is it because it came with the alkaline battery pack instead of the rechargable one? I hate it that the headphone cord plugs into the end of the handle. Any advice would be appreciated.
Explorer is only as easy or hard as you want it to be...do use quickstart for a while until you get the hang of it as even in quickstart its an excellent machine..
Noise cancel...find an area free of large targets iron etc..Lay the coil on the ground, press the noise cancel button and keep depressed while keeping the coil still for approx. 30 seconds and will give you the best setting for your area..Personally if I changed any settings would redo the noise cancel as it only takes 30 seconds...some set it manually, but only for the experts that are familiar with the unit and the ground they are hunting and also used for competition hunts to avoid crosstalk.
Stable machine is when your threshold is not erratic and you are not getting to many false signals, noises and the like( stable) do expect a few but that is normal.
Perhaps a clubmember , dealer can help you out and sort of be a mentor...Above all hang in there as all will fall into place with time....
Noise cancel...find an area free of large targets iron etc..Lay the coil on the ground, press the noise cancel button and keep depressed while keeping the coil still for approx. 30 seconds and will give you the best setting for your area..Personally if I changed any settings would redo the noise cancel as it only takes 30 seconds...some set it manually, but only for the experts that are familiar with the unit and the ground they are hunting and also used for competition hunts to avoid crosstalk.
Stable machine is when your threshold is not erratic and you are not getting to many false signals, noises and the like( stable) do expect a few but that is normal.
Perhaps a clubmember , dealer can help you out and sort of be a mentor...Above all hang in there as all will fall into place with time....
Yes I will keep it simple for now.. I appreciate the advise..
one thing about the noise cancel procedure.. just after
power-up I find a signal free area..lay the coil on the ground
then depress and RELEASE the noise cancel button.. the unit
will go into its noise cancellation process and you can hear
it as it goes through each channel listening for a clear one..
it will play a little tune and go back to detect mode once it has completed..
when I depress and HOLD the noise cancel button.. my unit
does nothing... even though in the beginning I thought I had noise cancelled?!
BTW.. I went back to my manual last night just to see how I might
have missed this.. and.. it wasn't mentioned?! and I found nowhere
that made me think that this may be part of startup or inititalization?!
So, it wasn't that I missed it.. it wasn't there?!
Yes, I wish I had a mentor around. My dealer at one point had a club
going, but, disbanded due to no help from the members.. and I find it
hard to find time to spend time with my dealer for mentoring.. In about
four months I will be retiring.. I will continue my "learning" process and
then will have more time to devote to the Explorer.
Thanks for your attention.. I didn't mean to get off on this tangent.. but
I do appreciate the info. I, as I'm sure is true for many, many others will
be following all of the info that you guys share here.. even though you may
not hear from us. .we are following... and once in a while.. some dumb-dumb
like me might just ask the same question I have.. and I will find an answer.
Thanks again.
one thing about the noise cancel procedure.. just after
power-up I find a signal free area..lay the coil on the ground
then depress and RELEASE the noise cancel button.. the unit
will go into its noise cancellation process and you can hear
it as it goes through each channel listening for a clear one..
it will play a little tune and go back to detect mode once it has completed..
when I depress and HOLD the noise cancel button.. my unit
does nothing... even though in the beginning I thought I had noise cancelled?!
BTW.. I went back to my manual last night just to see how I might
have missed this.. and.. it wasn't mentioned?! and I found nowhere
that made me think that this may be part of startup or inititalization?!
So, it wasn't that I missed it.. it wasn't there?!
Yes, I wish I had a mentor around. My dealer at one point had a club
going, but, disbanded due to no help from the members.. and I find it
hard to find time to spend time with my dealer for mentoring.. In about
four months I will be retiring.. I will continue my "learning" process and
then will have more time to devote to the Explorer.
Thanks for your attention.. I didn't mean to get off on this tangent.. but
I do appreciate the info. I, as I'm sure is true for many, many others will
be following all of the info that you guys share here.. even though you may
not hear from us. .we are following... and once in a while.. some dumb-dumb
like me might just ask the same question I have.. and I will find an answer.
Thanks again.
Used a lots of units over the years and my brain gets crosswired at times. In retrospect Explorer sure has the best guts of any I have ever used. I guess most of us are 2 finger typists and the new forum setup does indeed help.I really feel trying them all has made me a beter detectorist and even my 2 finger approach has improved over the years.Indeed your comments and help are appreciated by the forum...