First day with EX II and a billion questions.

[rebelLT]

Got out today and tried my new EX II for about 6 hours over the weekend. The unit is heavier than my XLT, though not so bad. Pinpointing is useless. I found that its easier to pinpoint by crossing the point where the machine hits on the target in detecting mode. I was able to get to the point where I would dig the target about 90 percent of the time on the first plug. All of the flute like noises about drove me crazy at first, though I

 

[James N.D.]

set up your Explorer that everyone on here is successful sooner or later, some more than others also. It depends on what your Discrimination Pattern or Settings are. I know a lot of user's here like using Ferrous Tones and All Metal Iron Mask as far as it will go to pick thru Iron but there is a few that still use the regular Conduct Mode and use a limited Iron Mask Setting like myself. I would run with a Sensitivity Setting of 22 either in Semi-Auto (which I do use and have a good amount of Success) or Manual. Make sure you Noise Cancel before Hunts also. If the ground is real Trashy or has a lot of Iron in it, make sure that you go slow (sometimes a smaller Coil works better here to get between targets and hear the items you are looking for) and have Fast On, Deep Off. Also, the more Iron Mask you run them more better you will hear targets next to Iron. If the ground has only a Medium amount of Trash or Iron, you may want to use Deep On, Fast Off with even a higher Sensitivity Setting around 26-28. The Gain I run at 10 so I can hear everything that is Super Deep (you will not be able to tell the shallow targets from 6" targets when using this feature this high but you can look at the Depth Meter and get an idea what it is and how deep it is also). One other important thing is to make sure you keep the Coil Cover clean of Dirt so there is less falsing. The Digital Screen is what I use and it is pretty accurate on Coins at depths of 10". After that the Numbers will start to fluctuate a bit (should only be 1-3 numbers off if you are directly over the target) which is also a good reason to go by Sound First, Display Second. In Pinpoint Mode, the targets should be directly under the Minelab Decal, about center of the Decal on the Coil. Shallower targets will be a bit closer to the front of the Coil. Hope this helps a bit. Good Luck and HH.

 

[jimb]

Here is my evolvement with the EX11. At first I started in digital but found myself looking at the screen to see what the numbers were a lot. In bright sunny areas that was a pain with glare on the screen and it was slowing me down. And as I worked more with it, sound became more important than the actual numbers. Good targets make good sounds. I then tried the cross hairs mode on the grid in smart find. After a while this suited me better. I now know where most of the normal items fall. I now just walk and listen to the sounds and if the signal is fairly constant I will check the screen to see how the cross hairs are doing. If the signal is solid and clear I dig. I find items that give off 3 beeps as the coil passes are right on the surface with no dig required, the majority of the time. I then started programing my own patterns that suited the area I was hunting. Wide open farm fields and old unused woods with little junk get the all metal mode. Everything else is mainly smart find just to keep the noise down. And when you teach it to find the neighbors lost item buried in a trashy area, life is good. After time you will have it set to how you hunt and where you hunt.

Jimb SE WI

My eye sight is finally coming back after the rosie picture

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Start slow, dig a lot and with field time all will fall into place..Don't get fancy with meter displays and try to learn about every facet one at a time lest you become confused.A learned Exporer user can sure cut down the learning period so if you have one or two in your club time to ask questions or perhaps plan a hunt with them.
Do remember the Explorer produces with many setups and what works in another State or area may not work for you so stick with quckstart until you get the feel for it..Seems like the learning period really varies and a keen ear to pick out those flute sounds sure is a help so invest in some good headphones..

 

[jeff & Maria]

Forget all about how you swung the White's. You need to move at a VERY slow pace with the Explorer, and honestly you really can't go too slow.
Don't overwhelm yourself with modifications, like a few others have said try Ferrous tones so iron sounds different than good targets.
Set the iron mask to -12 to start and then work your way up to-13,
-14, or -16 if you are comfortable with all the noise. Instead of using the pinpoint mode try this: when you isolate a target move the coil back and forth over it while pulling the coil back towards you, when the beeping stops dig the spot at the very front tip of the coil. It takes a bit of practice but you will find this way works well a lot of times, and is pretty accurate.