False Signals (HELP)

[Anonymous]

I have had trouble in the last two days with my new explorer. I have been hunting a park and a old football field, both are not that trashy. Almost every sweep I take I get high pitch signals that jump all over the screen and when I rescan to see If it is a good signal it is gone, then a couple feet away I get the same thing.I also get some low tones and most of the time I can't hear the threshold. Just so many signals that I dont know which ones to dig.
I have had it in manual sensetivity most of the time and set it anywhere from 16-27 but still get a lot of falsing. I also try Semi Auto but still get a lot of falsing but not as much as manual.
Dont know what to do. here are my settings
Advanced mode
response normal
recovery deep
sound conductive
Threshold 8
volume 10
Man Sensetivity 16-27 also semi-auto
gain 7
limits 10
variability 10
Thanks Ryan

 

[Anonymous]

What you describe sounds like falsing (especially if you get no signal on rescan) which could be caused by high sensitivity (among other things). It could be that your ground needs a lower sensitvity than even 16???
Don't know what you mean by "it's not all that trashy". It sounds trashy to me from your description (low tones, not getting threshold, etc) ... either iron or non-ferrous trash??? It could be that you are sweeping fast over trash and get the initial bleeps but when you rescan carefully it may be that the disc circuitry is disc'ing the signal out as it is designed to do???
These situations are hard to trouble-shoot from a distance. If it were me I'd really zero in on these signals and do a bit of digging to find out what they are ... even if I end up with a bunch of trash. That way you can be sure if there is something metallic down there or not which would help determine the problem.
Sorry I can't be more helpful.
Good luck ... Gord.

 

[Anonymous]

Ryan,I have the same trouble with mine.Just talked to Gus at minelab he surgessted to put sens. at 14,threshold at6(just until you cant here it.)Recovery on fast.
It just might work by slowing down swinging speed. Or just lowing sens.
Could you let me know if Gus method works.My machine been like this for almost 2yrs.it would drive me crazy at the beach.Thinking every time it made a sound itwas atarget.I wish the people at MINELAB would read these forums so they could help us with our problems.
I went to the minelab forum and e- mailed them never even heard from them.
P.S. I hope this helps Dont forget to write back.

 

[Anonymous]

The first thing that I would try to do is to noise cancel. Perhaps there is something nearby causing interference.
A fair number of folks have noticed that some of the gear they carry (shovels, diggers in hand) can get picked up and cause a false. The Explorer is a pretty powerful machine.
Steel-toed boots could be a real face reddener.
I haven't noticed it with the Explorer, but sometimes low tempatures can cause problems with falsing. I could not find an operational tempature range for the Explorer, but if it is cold enough for the screen to look bruised in the corners, it might be too cold.
Try to keep your coil level at the end of the swing. Pendulum-like motions can cause falsing. Reducing the swing speed can also be of great benefit.
If none of the above conditions apply, take the Explorer someplace else and try again. The settings that you have look fine.
Tim

 

[Anonymous]

Ryan, slow down your sweep. Pretend that you are looking for land mines...go real slow and don't miss any or BOOM! Try that for a while..I get falses if I go too fast. Iron will give you a false high pitch, especially if you are swinging fast. What machine did you use before the Explorer? If it was an XLT you will be swinging too fast.

 

[Anonymous]

Sounds like somethings wrong with yours, do you have any other coils? I have seen the quietest operation on the beaches even at full manual sensitivity, of course I have only hunted NJ and Fla beaches

 

[Anonymous]

You might try lowering the gain back to 5 for a while, high gain causes loud falses. Also try fast recovery, you might also be into some hot rocks as they tend to act like that.. you could also try hunting a little while in a high coin only pattern, by using edit mode and just accepting the top right corner, just to get the feel for good hits

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all the help I will try the things all of you have suggested. I have used the xlt and the cz-7a in the past.
Thanks Ryan

 

[Anonymous]

I had problems on the first day with that. After spending a lot of time trying to pinpoint (with no luck) and then finally digging a couple I realized what was happening after I dug a couple of nails way off to the side of the hole in another plug I had to dug. Now when I get those I spend about 15 seconds to see if I can get them to repeat from the original angle and the from any other angle. If they don't repeat I go on until I find a deep signal that does. So far it's working great. Don't worry about leaving coins in the ground. Go back in 3 months when you've dug a lot of coins and hunt it again. Those signals will still be there.

 

[Anonymous]

That happen to me at a park. Find a old lot that the house was removed before the 60's(no pull tabs) and hunt real slow. You got the right setting.

 

[Anonymous]

You didn't say what coil your using but I can bet its the 10.5". Try putting it in the closet for awhile and get out the 8". The most common problem out there is new guys who go out and try to get max depth right away. The Explorer will bombbard you with imput and you need to learn how to sort thru it before you start going for "gold ring". The 8" will quiet things down alot and it doesn't cost you that much depth. You got to remember the larger the coil the more junk that will be under it and the harder it will be to keep stable. I think that everyone should be limited to the 8" until they get there feet on the ground. There will always be a certain amount of falseing if you have your sensetivity set to high so moderate it a little. Take your time, it will come. They drive everyone crazy at first.

 

[Anonymous]

Rich,
Good Post!!
I learned more about the Explorer when the 8 inch Sunray coil came out than I did before with the 10 inch. After using the 8 inch coil for a while thing started to come together and now the 10 inch isnt so bad to use.
I feel that is where many get discusted with the Explorer as they want to do too much too fast and lose intrest.
I will say Minelab got the right idea on the new Explorers that are being sold, as they give you a 8 inch coil free with the Explorers being bought this last month or 2 as their Christmas special. I think this will make it better for many to learn with the 8 inch.
Rick

 

[Anonymous]

Might be iron from cinders if they burned coal in your area, try ferrous sounds, remove coil cover and clean the coil also. just some guesses.

 

[Anonymous]

Try AUDIO 2 or 3. In audio 2 or 3 , false signals are short and good signals are longer ...In fast mode,put Audio 2.

 

[Anonymous]

that lessens falsing, at least in taller grass and brush are the Sunray coil inserts

 

[Anonymous]

I will try all of the suggestions that you all have gave. thanks for all of the help, it is nice to know that if I need help I will know where to go. Last night it just snowed 2 inches so I wont be going outside but I will bench test.
Thanks, Ryan

 

[Anonymous]

JIM, if you are refering to me I do have the WOT coil and it does the same thing.I have posted the same problem but didnt get many replies.The next thing I am going to do is use GUS suggestion.Iwas wondering if you knew if the threshold is silent does it effect the machine proformence(loss of depth etc.)

 

[Anonymous]

Tried the silent threshold in my coin garden today and did not notice a depth change. But I like hearing the threshold so that I will know when the unit resets itself and the cross hair will move.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Ryan, I had a simular problem and shortened the cable loop at the coil. It was moving when the coil was at the end of the swing and starting back. This motion of the cable sets off the detector slightly. This solved most of the falsing problem for me. In areas where there are hot rocks of ash clinkers I run up the Thresh. to 7 and set Sens. to get a threshold that is just starting to break up and then back off Thresh. to 5 so I can not hear it. This is the greatest Sensitivity that can be used and should be changer by resetting as you move from one area to another in the same field. The slight falsing all sounds about the same and can be ignored, but go back and check any higher signals. In problem areas I also run a coin only mask with just the top right 2/3, left to right and down,about 1/2 inch, in Accept. This eliminates the rest of the false signals that drive me crazy. Some guys I hunt with listen to and mentally process all of the good and bad signals with no problem. It is just too much for me and I like things quiet so I can concentrate on the good signals.
Bud Ohio

 

[Anonymous]

Dont know for sure, but why should you have to do that.. if somethings wrong it should get fixed.. If its happening all the time and with different coils than something aint right.. of course when I used my wot it falsed alot too, so maybe trying a small coil would tell you more...Jim