Explorer SE - First FBS machine coming

[Kapok]

Maybe I should start a new thread for this... but I've been playing with the emulator a bit and have downloaded some of the zip files from thebeepgoeson.com. Does anyone know of a zip for trash items like crown caps, pulltabs, screw tops, etc.? That would be most helpful. Looks like I could make my own if I had the right FE/CO numbers and descriptions of them. But chances are someone has already done this I'd think

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Below I'm assuming you want to hunt a deeper layer of targets than you have with your previous machines. If you plan to hunt shallow in heavy trash or iron that's a different discussion.

For hunting deeper targets avoid the FE/CO numbers screen imo, its fine for shallower hunting but not at depth. The Explorer is accurate to a given depth depending on your local soil, beyond that and likely the layer you want to hunt if hunting for deeper targets than your previous machines target ID starts bouncing around the screen and the deeper the target the more wildly it will bounce. To the point that at a given depth or deeper you are really looking at bounce patterns, the cursor jumping all over the screen but hitting in the general vicinity of say an Indian cent on 4 out of 7 bounces. Ditto for deep silver dimes, if the cursor keeps settling up there half off the top of the screen on even 2 out of 6 swings I'll dig it because nothing does that except a silver dime. Here the machine is getting enough target ID to fairly accurately ID the target at least on a few swings. Other swings might ID as iron, or the soil mineralization will pull the ID off where it should be, or other bits of trash are muddying the water. IMO the FE/CO numbers will be near impossible to follow at these depths.

Fortunately the Smartfind screen and cursor are perfect visual interface for this. There is ample room between coins and trash on the screen with plenty of empty space in-between them plus other visual clues. An Indian cent for example has its textbook single pixel location plus room to bounce around several pixels in every direction and still be separated from other coins and trash visually. On a silver dime half the cursor will be up off the top of the screen (silver dime visual clue) out of sight, you find one of those you dig. Clad dimes on the other hand almost always hit below that where you can see the horizontal center line of the cursor a couple three pixels down from the top edge. A clad dime will try to fake you out every now and then by jumping up there with silver but most swings its below where silver dimes hit. Indians hit right of zincs, wheats above zincs, screw caps below silver quarters, crown caps way down in the bottom right corner of the screen, half the cursor off the right edge of the screen, sometimes moving up from the bottom corner maybe 1/2 inch but never as high as silver dollars or halves and very rarely less than half the cursor off the right edge of the screen.

With everything so spread out its fairly easy. Probably the toughest to separate visually would be nickels vs pull tabs, that's where tone helps you, nickels will sound fuller, thicker, and seem like a wider target as you sweep it vs a pull tab. The original Explorer was a nickel shop vac nickels were that distinct. The later model Explorers lost some of that nickel mojo unfortunately.

Next Level...Tone ID and Brain Discrimination

Tones on the other hand, they never lie. And unlike the screen tone ID is instantaneous, its fast, so fast a human brain is needed to process the tone data. In time you will use tones and your brain to discriminate, and not just the pitch but how the target sounds as you sweep it, how wide it seems, how full it sounds say a nickel vs a pull tab, targets have a shape as you sweep them. Round targets sound round, silver dimes sound fluty like multiple notes played on a flute. Crown caps POP as you come off the target, deep targets sound deep and seem wider as you sweep across them vs shallow targets which seem much narrower so depth information in the tones. The Explorer gives you tons of target information in the tones and while it may take some time before you feel the machine is speaking to you via the tones, the above visual locations and visual clues you can use on day 1.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

Charles is right, of course.

I hunt mainly by auditory first. Plant a coin garden and first hear the tones. If you plant a silver dime at, say, 8 inches, make sure the soil is compressed down on it to take out any air. Then listen when you run your coil
over it. Then look in the upper right of your screen and see how the cursor behaves. Do the same with a buffalo nickel or modern nickel and a war nickel if you have one. The war nickel has some silver in it and will
sound different than a nickel. Listen first then look at the screen. Get your mind used to those sounds. Then when you are out detecting, just going along and you hear that familiar sound, you stop dead in your tracks.
You just know you went over a silver coin or (God forbid) a wheat back penny LOL. But it could be a large cent or a half cent which I've dug before thinking it was a dreaded wheat back.

The sweetest sound I ever hear is that faint sound that sounds kind of hushed. It's a coin at the very edge of the ability of the detector to detect. They repeat and sound ever so sweet to the human ear of a Minelab detectorist. DIG THOSE.

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

Maybe I should start a new thread for this... but I've been playing with the emulator a bit and have downloaded some of the zip files from thebeepgoeson.com. Does anyone know of a zip for trash items like crown caps, pulltabs, screw tops, etc.? That would be most helpful. Looks like I could make my own if I had the right FE/CO numbers and descriptions of them. But chances are someone has already done this I'd think

I thought I sent you a file by email of all the FE/CO numbers of most everything out there? Didn't you get it?
I'll post some pictures of it here.

 

[Kapok]

Maybe I should start a new thread for this... but I've been playing with the emulator a bit and have downloaded some of the zip files from thebeepgoeson.com. Does anyone know of a zip for trash items like crown caps, pulltabs, screw tops, etc.? That would be most helpful. Looks like I could make my own if I had the right FE/CO numbers and descriptions of them. But chances are someone has already done this I'd think

I thought I sent you a file by email of all the FE/CO numbers of most everything out there? Didn't you get it?
I'll post some pictures of it here.

Yes, I got them, but forgot. Thanks, Tony.

 

[Kapok]

If this Explorer was my new girlfriend, I'd say we just had our first fight and I'm thinking about going back to my old girlfriend. I can't understand what she's saying, she's erratic, and can't make up her mind about anything.

Seriously though, I am struggling with the detector. I took it to a park that does have quite a bit of trash and put it through its paces for a couple of hours. I was using a couple bumps of iron mask, but also tried the coins pattern. I guess my biggest struggle is with target separation. The audio signals overlap each other, and it doesn't seem to want to lock on to anything. The cursor in the Smartfind screen jumps around so much, I can't imagine using it. Even shallowish modern coins are tough to lock onto.

Someone please tell me it gets easier. I have about two full battery cycles in on it, and I'm frustrated. Maybe it's more for cleaner old parks without so much junk? I'd try one if there were one around here.

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

If this Explorer was my new girlfriend, I'd say we just had our first fight and I'm thinking about going back to my old girlfriend. I can't understand what she's saying, she's erratic, and can't make up her mind about anything.

Seriously though, I am struggling with the detector. I took it to a park that does have quite a bit of trash and put it through its paces for a couple of hours. I was using a couple bumps of iron mask, but also tried the coins pattern. I guess my biggest struggle is with target separation. The audio signals overlap each other, and it doesn't seem to want to lock on to anything. The cursor in the Smartfind screen jumps around so much, I can't imagine using it. Even shallowish modern coins are tough to lock onto.

Someone please tell me it gets easier. I have about two full battery cycles in on it, and I'm frustrated. Maybe it's more for cleaner old parks without so much junk? I'd try one if there were one around here.

What are you running your sensitivity at?

Are you holding your coil about a foot above the ground when you are Noise Cancelling?

Are you running your detector in Auto for sensitivity?

Is there an underground electric service wire nearby? That can cause a lot of falsing.

Do you have a coin garden with different coins at different depths? That's SUPER important to do that and see how your detector sounds and how they appear on screen with different settings.

I'd run about 1/4" or so thick line for Iron Mask.

I'd also darken the lower right area by about 1/4 inch wide by about a half inch high to disc out rusty bottle caps.

I'd run Gain from 8 to 10.

I also go LOW, as low as I can to the ground and SLOW especially in trashy areas. You have to go slow enough to pick out the good sounds mixed in with the bad.

I get very discouraged some times like just recently when I'm not finding anything good. But you can't rush it. You cant just march down a field and expect to hear that good signal.

If you are at a place that the detector is acting up too much, find another place. It it continues, it could be either your detector needs an adjustment or you have a coil that is overly sensitive.

When I started out years ago I started out with the XS. When Id detect a park or any place in town the detector was super eratic. It was picking up the Electric lines nearby. Sent it in and got that fixed.

 

[Kapok]

Hi, Tony. See below.

If this Explorer was my new girlfriend, I'd say we just had our first fight and I'm thinking about going back to my old girlfriend. I can't understand what she's saying, she's erratic, and can't make up her mind about anything.

Seriously though, I am struggling with the detector. I took it to a park that does have quite a bit of trash and put it through its paces for a couple of hours. I was using a couple bumps of iron mask, but also tried the coins pattern. I guess my biggest struggle is with target separation. The audio signals overlap each other, and it doesn't seem to want to lock on to anything. The cursor in the Smartfind screen jumps around so much, I can't imagine using it. Even shallowish modern coins are tough to lock onto.

Someone please tell me it gets easier. I have about two full battery cycles in on it, and I'm frustrated. Maybe it's more for cleaner old parks without so much junk? I'd try one if there were one around here.

What are you running your sensitivity at?

AUTO

Are you holding your coil about a foot above the ground when you are Noise Cancelling?

Yes

Are you running your detector in Auto for sensitivity?

Is there an underground electric service wire nearby? That can cause a lot of falsing.

I don't think it's EMI. Just a lot of stuff underground for it to deal with.

Do you have a coin garden with different coins at different depths? That's SUPER important to do that and see how your detector sounds and how they appear on screen with different settings.

Indeed I do, and it operates fine in this environment because it's clean, with isolated targets.

I'd run about 1/4" or so thick line for Iron Mask.

That sounds about right.

I'd also darken the lower right area by about 1/4 inch wide by about a half inch high to disc out rusty bottle caps.

Will try that.

I'd run Gain from 8 to 10.

I don't think Gain is an issue.

I also go LOW, as low as I can to the ground and SLOW especially in trashy areas. You have to go slow enough to pick out the good sounds mixed in with the bad.

I get very discouraged some times like just recently when I'm not finding anything good. But you can't rush it. You cant just march down a field and expect to hear that good signal.

Oh yeah, going very slow.

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

Hi, Tony. See below.

If this Explorer was my new girlfriend, I'd say we just had our first fight and I'm thinking about going back to my old girlfriend. I can't understand what she's saying, she's erratic, and can't make up her mind about anything.

Seriously though, I am struggling with the detector. I took it to a park that does have quite a bit of trash and put it through its paces for a couple of hours. I was using a couple bumps of iron mask, but also tried the coins pattern. I guess my biggest struggle is with target separation. The audio signals overlap each other, and it doesn't seem to want to lock on to anything. The cursor in the Smartfind screen jumps around so much, I can't imagine using it. Even shallowish modern coins are tough to lock onto.

Someone please tell me it gets easier. I have about two full battery cycles in on it, and I'm frustrated. Maybe it's more for cleaner old parks without so much junk? I'd try one if there were one around here.

What are you running your sensitivity at?

AUTO

Are you holding your coil about a foot above the ground when you are Noise Cancelling?

Yes

Are you running your detector in Auto for sensitivity?

Is there an underground electric service wire nearby? That can cause a lot of falsing.

I don't think it's EMI. Just a lot of stuff underground for it to deal with.

Do you have a coin garden with different coins at different depths? That's SUPER important to do that and see how your detector sounds and how they appear on screen with different settings.

Indeed I do, and it operates fine in this environment because it's clean, with isolated targets.

I'd run about 1/4" or so thick line for Iron Mask.

That sounds about right.

I'd also darken the lower right area by about 1/4 inch wide by about a half inch high to disc out rusty bottle caps.

Will try that.

I'd run Gain from 8 to 10.

I don't think Gain is an issue.

I also go LOW, as low as I can to the ground and SLOW especially in trashy areas. You have to go slow enough to pick out the good sounds mixed in with the bad.

I get very discouraged some times like just recently when I'm not finding anything good. But you can't rush it. You cant just march down a field and expect to hear that good signal.

Oh yeah, going very slow.

I used that detector for years and know it pretty much inside out. If you are not used to running a detector with a completely open screen, also known as all metal mode, or zero Iron Mask it can get unnearving hearing all the thousands of sounds the detector is picking up.
It is giving a report on EVERYTHING that's in the ground. If you are not used to that, then I would suggest running with more Iron Mask. It will run a lot quieter but you will just have to be more careful detecting. Eventually you will want to hear everything
so you can hear coins co-located with trash targets. But for now, just think of it as you are starting to date this girl. You want a little information from her but not her whole life's story in one evening. Giving a little more Iron Mask is like putting the breaks
on too much information from her. Eventually she will tell you more and more. But you are the one in control. You let her give you as much information as you want her to give at this early time in your relationship. Otherwise she'll just blabber and blabber
on like some psychotic idiot if you let her.

 

[Kapok]

I used that detector for years and know it pretty much inside out. If you are not used to running a detector with a completely open screen, also known as all metal mode, or zero Iron Mask it can get unnearving hearing all the thousands of sounds the detector is picking up.
It is giving a report on EVERYTHING that's in the ground. If you are not used to that, then I would suggest running with more Iron Mask. It will run a lot quieter but you will just have to be more careful detecting. Eventually you will want to hear everything
so you can hear coins co-located with trash targets. But for now, just think of it as you are starting to date this girl. You want a little information from her but not her whole life's story in one evening. Giving a little more Iron Mask is like putting the breaks
on too much information from her. Eventually she will tell you more and more. But you are the one in control. You let her give you as much information as you want her to give at this early time in your relationship. Otherwise she'll just blabber and blabber
on like some psychotic idiot if you let her.

Tony, I run my Makro Racer pretty much wide open and am used to hearing a lot of chatter, but with the Racer I can separate the signals out quite easily. I probably just need to spend more time with the Explorer. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it. At work we say PICNIC error. Problem In Chair Not In Computer.

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

I used that detector for years and know it pretty much inside out. If you are not used to running a detector with a completely open screen, also known as all metal mode, or zero Iron Mask it can get unnearving hearing all the thousands of sounds the detector is picking up.
It is giving a report on EVERYTHING that's in the ground. If you are not used to that, then I would suggest running with more Iron Mask. It will run a lot quieter but you will just have to be more careful detecting. Eventually you will want to hear everything
so you can hear coins co-located with trash targets. But for now, just think of it as you are starting to date this girl. You want a little information from her but not her whole life's story in one evening. Giving a little more Iron Mask is like putting the breaks
on too much information from her. Eventually she will tell you more and more. But you are the one in control. You let her give you as much information as you want her to give at this early time in your relationship. Otherwise she'll just blabber and blabber
on like some psychotic idiot if you let her.

Tony, I run my Makro Racer pretty much wide open and am used to hearing a lot of chatter, but with the Racer I can separate the signals out quite easily. I probably just need to spend more time with the Explorer. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with it. At work we say PICNIC error. Problem In Chair Not In Computer.

How many different tones does your Racer have?
If I were you and you were me, starting out on the Minelab, I'd just start out in coin mode and get used to just a few sounds.
Believe me, when you get used to what specific sounds sound like for silver, copper, nickel, etc. when you have the Explorer in coin mode, then you will be able to hear those specific targets. Then when you go to Iron Mask and detect one day with maybe a half inch darkened then another day maybe a 1/4 inch darkened, then maybe another day 1/8 inch darkened then another day you are in All Metal you will hear those specific good sounds you heard in coin mode.
If a place you are detecting is absolutely littered with lots of garbage and all the many sounds are driving you nutty, just use enough Iron Mask to quiet the trash and listen for the good targets. Then later, as you get
braver, use less and less Iron Mask but, and this is important, if you are in, say a 5 foot by 5 foot area with loads of trash, use no iron mask and very methodically, very slowly, and I mean VERY slowly, swing your
coil in amongst the trash and listen for that good tone. You are only moving your coil a few inches at a time, slowly. When you sweep slow enough with no Iron Mask in trash, you will only hear a couple tones at a time. Find that trash target and approach it from different angles to try to eek out that coin. Use the tip of your coil to sneak up on that trash target and move around it and over it. You might also try pinpointing the trash target to know exactly where it is. Then work the coil around it in different directions SLOWLY. Did I say SLOWLY? I thought I did. In case I didn't, I'll say it again. Move the coil inch by inch around it SLOWLY. You will only hear a couple sounds. You dig, man? LOL
to try to see if there is a good target lurking near it.

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Recommend you step back and regroup, lets begin with your settings. Auto sensitivity bad idea. Gain 8-10 bad idea. Starting off in all metal bad idea. It would help to know what part of the country you live in and how mineralized your soil is but here are some getting started settings...

Sensitivity MANUAL 25 to 28, for now pick the most stable setting you can increase it later as you get used to the machine and are able to handle some instability. Make sure you do a noise cancel with your coil sitting on the ground.
Gain no higher than 7 for now.
Tones Ferrous, this is ideal for coin hunting as iron will sound low, coins high. Iron falsing will sound high but has a very unique bounce pattern from top/left corner to right edge of screen, back and forth, only iron does this, trust it.
Response Normal
Variability 10
Recover Fast OFF Deep ON

Now setup your smartfind screen with a coin discrimination pattern. Hunt in this mode until you find a target of interest, THEN switch to your iron mask screen setup for all metal and sweep the target and a coil size area around the target, go ahead and circle the target, practice your pinpointing. Keep an eye on target depth typically deeper is older, but the depth meter is only accurate if you are centered over the target. If you are off center the depth meter will read deeper than the target really is. You need to ease into hunting in all metal on an Explorer, using a combination of discrimination patterns while frequently switching to all metal to investigate a target is an excellent method, will also show you how different the machine behaves in all metal without nulls breaking up the signal and getting sticky on discriminated iron and trash.

Lets talk swing speed, with Explorers you don't want to swing too fast, nothing even close to say a Whites DFX swing speed. But you also don't want to swing too slow, you want to swing just right. Practice on a coin with your coil raised, you will see how slow is too slow. When you think you hear a good target shorten your swing, 2-3 inches wide over the target back and forth a bit faster than your normal swing, you are feeding target info to the machine, get the coil hitting on the target pretty good for 3-4 swings then stop your coil and let it rest on the ground and wait for the machine to position the cursor on the screen. A few sets of this will give you an average, if its settling in the coin area most times dig.

Lets talk walking speed, Explorers like target data, you want to be walking pretty slow, moving forward maybe half a coil at a time in trashy conditions, walk slow swing medium. In heavy trash or iron walk slow indeed, even consider the 8 inch coil which is excellent in heavy iron. Don't be afraid to use the front few inches of your coil to sneak up on targets hiding in the shadow of iron and trash I have made many a good find doing that.

Don't be afraid to raise your coil to confirm the depth of a target. A true deep target will vanish quickly after raising your coil just 2 to 3 inches off the ground, Explorers HATE a sandwich of air/soil it kills depth which can be used as a tool for confirming the depth of a target. A tiny shallow/surface target that is trying to fake you out as deep will still sound off with the coil raised. The depth meter is calibrated to a cent sized target, tiny targets will read deeper than they really are, large targets will read shallower than they really are.

The owner of Findmall gave me a suggestion when I was struggling with my first Explorer. He told me to go out and dig only based on depth, obviously not iron but any target that's considered deep for your area or deeper. It was an eye opener. I had not had much luck with the machine up to that point, then like flipping a light switch I was digging deep old coins all over the place at the very same sites I had been hunting for 6 weeks.

 

[Kapok]

Charles, thank you. I will regroup and try what you've suggested. I've been able to figure out every detector I've ever used over the past 30 years, so I'll get this. The FBS is just a completely different animal. I'll report back in tonight or tomorrow.

This forum is awesome, so thanks to all who patiently provide advice.

 

[tiftaaft]

Recommend you step back and regroup, lets begin with your settings. Auto sensitivity bad idea. Gain 8-10 bad idea. Starting off in all metal bad idea. It would help to know what part of the country you live in and how mineralized your soil is but here are some getting started settings...

Sensitivity MANUAL 25 to 28, for now pick the most stable setting you can increase it later as you get used to the machine and are able to handle some instability. Make sure you do a noise cancel with your coil sitting on the ground.
Gain no higher than 7 for now.
Tones Ferrous, this is ideal for coin hunting as iron will sound low, coins high. Iron falsing will sound high but has a very unique bounce pattern from top/left corner to right edge of screen, back and forth, only iron does this, trust it.
Response Normal
Variability 10
Recover Fast OFF Deep ON

.

Had an interesting day yesterday and looking at Charles' note above reminded me of something. I spend about 4 hours swing time hitting an old park (1900) and an old school (1950). I found one piece of sterling jewelry, but all else was clad. I then took a break and headed back out to the site of my first IH a week or so ago... and I hunted about an hour, with not much luck. I realized that at some point, I was testing All Metal and high sensitivity and had boosted my sens to 32. So I lowered it down to 28... and back to back wheaties within minutes that were obvious in tone, cursor placement and depth. So I may have been overdriving the explorer (and here is the key) for my soil conditions. I found one more wheat and called it a day. Now, maybe I just happened upon those wheats at just the same time I changed the sens... but with several hours of hunt time and nothing deep to show for it... it makes me wonder. I am currently running essentially the exact pattern that Charles shows above... and practice my brain discrimination on every solid target (meaning if it is solid, I guess what it is, then I dig it... even if I am guessing trash targets in some cases). It has really helped me in learning the machine and cursor placements. Also, I am still new to the explorer, but both my Indian Heads this past week... in the back of my mind I heard Charles' words... dig on depth... I probably would have passed them up otherwise.

Can't wait to hear about your awesome explorer finds Kapok!
Tim.

 

[Kapok]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. Went back out tonight and pulled these two coins out of a spot I've been over numerous times. 1919-S wheat and 1926 Merc. So geeked that I did it with this detector. Both were on the edges of trash targets, but I listened to the tones plus the cursor and ID to isolate them. The cent was a bit of a reach, but on the Merc, the cursor kept returning to the top right and the ID would bounce around but I kept seeing 03-29.

One question, though... I found a clad quarter lying on the ground and ran my coil over it. It didn't sound any louder than a deep target. Do I need to change a setting somewhere?

 

[tiftaaft]

NICE Kapok!!! First of many I am sure!!! Congrats!

 

[Tony N (Michigan)]

Thanks to everyone for the tips. Went back out tonight and pulled these two coins out of a spot I've been over numerous times. 1919-S wheat and 1926 Merc. So geeked that I did it with this detector. Both were on the edges of trash targets, but I listened to the tones plus the cursor and ID to isolate them. The cent was a bit of a reach, but on the Merc, the cursor kept returning to the top right and the ID would bounce around but I kept seeing 03-29.

One question, though... I found a clad quarter lying on the ground and ran my coil over it. It didn't sound any louder than a deep target. Do I need to change a setting somewhere?

All right Kpok!

First of all, how deep were the mercury and penny?
As to the quarter, where is you sensitivity at?
What is your gain at?
What is the setting on your volume?

If you are hitting deep coins and the quarter sounds shallow, don't worry about it. Remember, Minelab Explorers don't really like air between the coil and the coin.

 

[Kapok]

Neither coin was much past 6" or so, but surrounded by high ferrous junk.

My gain was set at 7, sensitivity manual 25. Not sure about the volume--I don't think I changed it.

 

[aproc123]

I just got my explorer se in march of this year. I used a t2 before and was used to swinging fast. At first I thought I wasted my money...but after slowing down and taking my time I have found more silver in the last few months than last year. Go to a park with lots of clad until you get used to the sounds. Only issues I've had is with certain kinds of grass causing falsing which I drop gain and auto sensitivity to compensate.I bought a 12x10 sef coil and do believe it has helped with target separation, though I have noticed deep old wheats and Indians ring up 0-22 and also if it sounds like your detector is dry heaving dig the target cause it is a mixed signal and have found several coins with iron and trash in the hole. They are awesome machines!

 

[Charles (Upstate NY)]

Neither coin was much past 6" or so, but surrounded by high ferrous junk.

My gain was set at 7, sensitivity manual 25. Not sure about the volume--I don't think I changed it.

What headphones are you using? I have tried many brands, Sunray Gold are my top choice for the Explorer.