Discrimination Question

[muconium]

I've owned a Tesoro since February. First the Compadre and now the Vaquero.

In trashy areas, I've developed the habit (might be a bad habit, might be a good habit) of maxing the discrimination to get away from all the trash. In less trashy areas where there might be old, deep coins, I turn down to just below nickel. Totlots, I set the disc to iron.

I know that lots of people hunt at between iron and nickel, then thumb UP the disc to ID the target. I, in certain situations, have gotten into the habit of doing the reverse: I keep the disc maxed and if I get a half signal or something not quite full-sounding, I thumb DOWN the disc to see what it is. I only do this in two situations: extreme trash, such as gravel parking lots where people stand around and drink beer after softball games, and when I am in the mood to cover a lot of area, like an entire sports playing field.

I just want to post this, so I can compare notes with people and to see if the Tesoro community thinks I'm crazy or not. Has any one done this? I just kind of naturally fell into this practice. It seemed more natural to do this than to ponder every junk signal

 

[MarkCZ]

Remember that high discrimination will lose some depth.
Mark

 

[tvr]

It is always the detectorist's choice in how to hunt. Do what you determine works for you.

Personally, I hunt with the discriminator set low (iron to between iron and foil) and then explore what the detector tells me about a target to decide whether or not to dig it. My thoughts are that I will never find gold if I am hunting with the discriminator set much above iron. If I dig all the hits with the discriminator set to iron, I will dig a lot of trash. I use the discriminator to tell me about where the target discriminates out to get an idea of what it might be. I use the pin pointer to determine target size. I use the sound and will raise the detector up until a target goes away to determine how deep and how smooth the target sounds. Deep means it will get lost sooner as the discriminator is turned higher. Put all that information together and then decide to dig or not dig.

Oh, and when it is nearing dark or is nearing time I need to head out, I do sometimes turn up the discriminator and just go for a few more dimes and quarters and sometimes a copper penny.

The choice is always yours.
tvr

PS Just read the post titled "Why run the disc below foil?" that thread is very pertinent to what you are asking.

 

[hatpin]

I experimented running it high and thumbing it down , like you. In my experience , depth is effected a lot at max disc. Some people have posted that not depth is lost . If i want to avoid trash ill run it at just above tab but thats only after I have dug a bunch of them and need a break.

 

[muconium]

Yeah, it depends on the location. If there is the chance for old coins, I dig it all. I hunt in iron, but thumb up. If covering a huge area, I dedicate myself to the maximum amount of surface-clad and hope for whatever chunky ring might be out there. I used this method and still had no trouble finding a cheap gold-plated ring at 3 inches with the Compadre... It rang loud like a quarter.

Today, I hunted a curb strip with the Vaquero in Iron and found a solid signal that I thumbed up to Max. It crackled a little bit but I dug it and found a '65 quarter at 8 inches.... No silver, sigh...........

 

[REVIER]

I always go past the target and thumb down to see where it comes in on every signal.
I found it is much more accurate that way then thumbing up till the signal disappears.
This is true on both my Vaq and my Compadre.

Nowadays since I bought my Compadre, I hunt with both of them about the same.
Disc is down at the i in iron on the Vaq to have a shot at chains and small gold, thumb up and down to figure out the targets.
I hunt with the disc down to all metal on the Compadre to get the clearest signals and the best depth, then again thumb up and down to figure out the target.

In trashy areas, I can't bring myself to raise the disc knob any higher than a shade below the 3:00 position...zinc.
The reason why is the 4 large gold rings I have found that all disc out past this position, but came in fine, there.

 

[WV62]

I am running the Tejon and I know that disc knob will go all the way from min to max, but I set the disc just above iron and I don't use the second disc at all right now. I don't thumb up or down I just dig. For me the Tesoro is my gold machine and that is what I am looking for.

Ron in WV

 

[Ism]

Thumbing the disc is fine for shallow targets. If you are digging deep, it can and will cut out good high conductor targets.
It also depends on how you swing. Go at a snails pace and you lose up to 2 inches in high disc.
Swing at about 2ft/sec and you close the gap between high and low discrimination.

Do some of your own testing and see if it isn't so. Watch the videos on utube, anybody swinging the coin in front of the coil slow?
The only thing that might complicate this observation is highly mineralized soil. In that case a brisk sweep speed may actually reduce depth.
Set your disc high, find a target in the ground, then change your sweep speed from real slow to a reasonable sweep speed.
See what happens.

 

[muconium]

Thumbing the disc is fine for shallow targets. If you are digging deep, it can and will cut out good high conductor targets.
It also depends on how you swing. Go at a snails pace and you lose up to 2 inches in high disc.
Swing at about 2ft/sec and you close the gap between high and low discrimination.

Do some of your own testing and see if it isn't so. Watch the videos on utube, anybody swinging the coin in front of the coil slow?
The only thing that might complicate this observation is highly mineralized soil. In that case a brisk sweep speed may actually reduce depth.
Set your disc high, find a target in the ground, then change your sweep speed from real slow to a reasonable sweep speed.
See what happens.

I will try this.