Explorer II settings for newbie

[lambo1]

Bought an Explorer II about 4 months ago but only had a chance to use it once and the rain cut me off after a half hour.

I have the opportunity to do an 1864 farmhouse this weekend and looking for basic settings for a newbie. The farm house is now a gift shop
so I don't want to tear up the yard chasing targets.

I have the 10x12 SEF coil and don't have Andy's book yet.

Couple of questions I have are:

Can you hunt in Ferrous vs Conductive mode with Explorer II?

How do you read the depth meter?

I have been swinging an Xterra 70 for a couple of years now but been using 4 tones with AM mode. I don't mind all the noise, just need some help.

Thanks in advance.... hoping to find my first silver coin of the year!

Lambo

 

[Big Fang Coin Biter]

Hi Lambo,
First off if you have a smaller coil try that first. The larger the coil the more complex the signals (to a certain degree). The standard advise on this forum for new Explorer users is to use factory preset for the first 20 hours or so. You can return it to factory preset by holding in the "on" button until it restarts (I think that is how you do it). Just use it and don't be messing around with settings. It is enough to learn the sounds and display - don't add in more variables by adjusting other things.

Your questions:
Yes you can hunt in either conductive or ferrous. (stick with conductive for now)

If the depth meter is all black, the target is on top of the ground (or very large), If the meter is all white, using the standard coil, a coin sized object is in the 11-12" range, so half way white would be around 6". The meter is designed for coin size objects and the standard 10.5" coil. It all depends on the size of the object and to a certain degree the size of the coil you are using. Larger objects look shallower than they are, smaller than a coin objects look deeper. Smaller coils will make the depth meter "less deep". Using an 8" coil, the meter max depth would be around 8-9". A larger coil will make the meter "more deep".

I put together a bunch of tips not too long ago, but here is a good one: If it sounds good, dig it up. If it sounds like crap, it probably is. Before you go to that yard, put some coins on the ground in your yard and listen to the signals. Raise the coil up six inches and listen to the signals. That is more like what you are listening for. Raise the coil up ten inches and listen to the signals - this is sort of what a deep coin sounds like. Try to practice a bit on pinpointing too.

Best of luck and I hope this helps. Take care and HH - BF