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EX2 and depth

C

Chezhinkle

New member
Greetings,
I have been using the EX2 since September. I am pretty comfortable with all the adjustments and settings, and do understand the theory behind them. I am pretty good at pinpointing by now, even with the 10.5" coil. I bought the EX2, as I was advised by more than one source that it was the best machine for 1) depth and 2) mineralized soil. My problem is that I have not been able to get depth with it. In the field, I have never found a coin deeper than 4". I have found iron that has falsed as a coin at lower depths. I took the EX2 to my test garden (basically ideal conditions) and found that with the 8" and 10.5" coils, I could detect coins to 6". It would not detect my 8" and 10" targets on any setting. With my 4"x7" Excelerator coil (awesome for pinpointing and in trash) I could not get deeper that 4". Although I did detect coins at 6" in the test garden, in live field conditions, I have not gotten below 4", and that was when the soil was wet. I have searched some virgin sites that are yielding old wheaties at 2 & 3". Deeper stuff should be there. What settings do I use? I have tried everything; IM -16 to full discrim, ferrous tones, conductivity tones, deep and fast on and off, auto and manual sensitivity. Nothing produces depth, even in the test garden, where I know the targets are there. Our soil in northern CO is considered highly mineralized. A sensitivity setting of even manual 15 can mean false reads in the swing; sometimes several. Please, if any of you have had this problem, and figured it out, help me. I will try any combination of settings! Also, the iron falsing as coins gets really old. I have spent a lot of time digging these and always come up empty. Any more, if the cursor is bouncing back and forth between the top two corners of the screen, I ignore it. I will only dig it if it is a pretty solid upper right corner target. Am I missing something here?

Thank you for your help,
Mathew
 
You didn't say how long the stuff has been in your test garden. I was able to pick up coins 1.5" to 2" deeper (7.5 to 8+) after the coins were buried for about 18 months.
 
Matthew - I feel your pain. My ground is also highly mineralized andI am getting depths similar to yours. If you find theanswer let me know.

AK in KY
 
John,
You could be very correct about Chezhinkle's test garden and that his coins might not have been in the ground long enough. I do not have a test garden and I really suppose I should have one. It sounds like Chezhinkle can't get depth in his test garden, but the bottom line is he can't get any depth out in the field which is the important thing and even more so if a person didn't have a test garden. He said he has tried all types of settings and maybe he is missing something and I might be as well, so if he doesn't have defective equipment then maybe some of you guys can help Chezhinkle out some more and maybe some of the rest of us also. HH.

Eddie
 
Getting coins past 6 inches depends on 3 things .
1 moisture of the soil.
2 Size of target and how long the target has been buried (bigger coins can be got much deeper than 6 inches & the copper coin buried several decades will develop a halo too -this further enhances depth.
Trash / mineralization make a big difference on depth too, I dont think silver coins develop a halo thats why so many small silver coins missed by others still wait to found. I have found hundreds of coins over the last 6 months with my explorer 2 and most if not all were no deeper than 6 - 7 inches max. with most been at around 4 -5 inches. I dont think they sink much deeper than 6 inches.
 
I really don't think you will find coins much deeper than 4" to 6" in your area. If the wheats are 2" to 3" older coins are not going to be more than 4" or 5" deeper because of the soil conditions of Northern Colorado, whether it's the Mtns, or the Plains.

Also try lowering your sensitivity a little more it might help.
 
of course I'm not in Colorado. I'm a huge fan of Whites detectors!! They clean up all the crap and clad down to 7" and allow us Minelabers to dig the good deep targets :D

Thank you whites!
 
Hey Chez,

I totally understand what you're saying and sympathize with your frustration. When I first started using an Explorer I had a lot of the same trouble and though that I'd been "had" in the purchase of an Explorer. I was really ticked and was considering putting it up for sale to get an XLT, DFX, CZ-70, or CZ-5 instead.

If you are digging what only appears in the upper right-hand corner then you are not, repeat NOT going to find any deeper, older coins, and you will definitely not be seeing any Indian Heads, Half Dimes, 3c Pieces, or Nickels. Don't worry about what the crosshairs are doing. Tape a piece of cardboard over the display if you can't resist the urge to rely on the display.

I'm in my 4th year with an Explorer (XS) and I've learned by hunting with others that what you hear in your cans is FAR more important than what is going on in the display. Since you've only had your machine since September it's very fair to say that there's a lot more learning curve for you to get past. It took me a good 2 years before I was pleased with the results of my hunting, and that included 2 trips to Illinois and St Louis to hunt with the "Gurus".

I hunt mainly with the stock minelab 10.5" coil augmented by the 8" Minelab coil. I also set my sensitivity as high as I can in manual so that the threshold tone just begins to break up as I swing my coil. If I'm at a relatively clean site I'll run in 28 auto. High sensitivity will hurt your depth bad in mineralized soil. I've dug coins past 8" with my sensitivity as low as 8 manual and I've got plenty of noisy dirt in my area.

Here are my setting which work for me just fine, These settings are for an XS but you can set up an EXII similarly or better.
AUDIO MENU
A. Volume
1. Volume: 10
2. Gain: 8

B.Tone
1. Threshold Tone: 3
2. Viariability: 10
3. Limits: 10

C. Sounds = Conductive

OPTIONS MENU (ADVANCED selected)
1. Reponse: Audio 1
2. Recover: FAST and DEEP selected ( Note: I know that a certain doorstop, er, I mean book says not to do this but it does work)

SELECT MENU:
NOTHING selected OR rejrected (clear screen)

Finally, Set up in Iron Mask -10 to -16, depending on how much you can withstand all the cool noises from opening up the Irom Mask this far.

OK......Now with these settings, mainly due to the variability set to 10 and being in Audio 1, You are going to hears lots and lots of sounds. what we're mainly going to concentrate on is the difference between what iron sounds like compared to silver. Iron is going to make a high sound and it will be HIGHER than silver and will have an annoying screech-like quality. Silver will produce a nice jingly sound slightly lower than the iron screech but not by much.

Now go hunting with these settings and be prepared to exercise PATIENCE and lots of it because you're gonna be digging some very rusty, crusty cut nails (square nails). If you're not digging any then you're not gonna be digging any silver either. Eventually you will able to differentiate between the Iron "screech" and the silver "jingle". When you hit a likely target, try bodily circling the traget while swinging across it and listen, listen, listen. Do NOT and I mean DO NOT rely on the crosshair box on the display. If the tone is repeatable and steady as you do this then DIG IT! And remember to swing slooooow. You can't whip an Explorer coil the way you can with a VLF or TR machine.

I routinely dig coins 8" to 10" using these settings and techniques. My absolute deepest coin has been a 1906 IH at 11". The coin was underneath a 3" root the top of which was 7" deep in my hole. It was a clean IH hit too.....and it hasn't happened since so I'm calling it a freak event.

On the subject of Indian Heads, and for these I DO refer to the display. A bronze Indian head will show up just like a zinc penny which is the crosshairs 1/2 to 2/3 right of center and down from the top by about 1/2 of the crosshair box. Zinc pennies, bottlecaps, and .22 casings read here too, more or less, so refer to the depth indicator. If it's showing 1/2 or deeper (6" or deeper), then chances are it's an Indian Head or pre 1920 Wheatie. I don't know how a Copper-Nickel Indian Head ("fatty") reads because I never dug one.

Anyway hope this helps and remember. With the Explorer ( S, XS, or EXII) Patience is PARAMOUNT!!!.

HH,
SgtSki

PS I also attached a pic of my Explorer coin finds from spring 2002 to summer 2004. I also have a lot of tokens, watch fobs, watch cases, and silver rings but they're in a case on the wall upstairs. I also have found approximately $450.00 in clad during this period. No finds for 2005 because I was in Iraq for a year detecting for things you DON'T want to find!
 
Fantastic results. I might suggest mounting the probe on the side of detector under the arm area. It will make it less nose heavy. Good Luck
 
I've been using the Explorer for 5 years and definitely have a few suggestions. The first is do NOT rely on the LCD for ID. The sound ID on the Explorer is very accurate. There are places around here I can only get the sensitivity to 16 or so and it's still on the unstable side. Try these setting IM-12, conduct sounds, variability=8, sensitivity down far enough to get the Explorer semi-stable. Go totally by sound ID. Take a penny with you to 'tune' your ear into what you looking for if you get confused. A couple of reason for my settings. IM-12 will allow you to hear coins that get 'pulled' to the left on the LCD. I've also had deep coins 'pull' to the lower right on the LCD. I think crowncaps come in that area. BUT, they have the proper sound ID. Conduct sounds are better for parks and areas with modern trash. Variability at 8 helps you tell iron falses from one way coins hit. The iron falses can peek through in IM-12 or so but they will be a higher tone than a silver or copper coin. For now, until you're used to sound ID I would only dig signals that cross and retain the proper sound ID. By crossing, I mean for north to south and east to west. Feel free to email me directly or post on here for more help.

-Bill
 
Bill W.
Thank you so much for your post. I will try your settings. I especially appreciate your adding on a rationale for your choices.

chezhinkle
 
SgtSki,
Thank you!!!! I do not mind the long post at all. I have strongly considered putting the machine on e-bay and getting a Tesoro Cortes or DFX. Yes, I do have a great deal of learning yet to do. That is part of why I asked for help! It is interesting to note that I called Tesoro some time ago to ask their advice for a detector for mineralized soil, and even they said that the Minelab Explorer was the best around! So, I bought one, and I am trying to learn it.

chezhinkle

P.S. Thank you for your service in Iraq! A deep bow of respect to you, sir!
 
AK,
Much thanks to you and all who have replied. Even knowing that others are having the same issues (especially those who live with mineralized soil) is comforting and gives hope. Hopefully both of us can get some help from this thread!

chezhinkle
 
Mathew,

If you can not run your sensitivity above 15 then 6 inches is probably about right for depth. I posted finds with high and low sensitivity over on the classroom forum awhile ago.

You might try going out in a location far away from any powerlines and see if you can get the sensitivity up any higher. With a couple of exceptions higher sensitivity = greater depth.

There are places in the US that have such mineralized ground that it is difficult to get depth at any sensitivity. Here in Southern Wisconsin I can get a dime at 8 or 9 inches, but that is in perfect conditions - High sensitivity, wet ground, short or no grass in between the coil and the ground.

The good news is that the majority of coins, even older ones, are found shallower than that. The explorer excells at picking coins from trash and you should focus your skills on doing this instead of worrying about raw depth.

Chris
 
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