"Foiled" again

[Anonymous]

Snuck out for a couple of hours this morning. Decided to try relic, trigger forward, Disc. just under 4, gain +2, Eclipse 5.3 and auto GB locked at 83.
Ground mineralization registered mid to high 60's. Was using the auto GB at 83 TOO positive?
The teeny bits of foil and aluminum were metering 6-10 inches deep. When in reality were only an inch or two deep. One faint signal registered at 12". Cut a shallow plug and would check hole. If target was gone I knew it was foil or small aluminum but still had to dig the plug to find out.
Before I would dig I would switch to C/J and check in that mode too. Audio sounded alright and meter jumped around a bit but I thought that would be normal for a target 8" or so deep in a park with it's share of trash. If I had only found a coin, that would have given me an idea on what to watch for. Dug 12-15 targets and got skunked every time.
Any suggestions on anything else I should have done to triple check the target?
I'm having a great time learning the ins and outs of the MXT. It's one sweet machine! I am just amazed at the sensitivity. Keep on swingin'!

 

[Anonymous]

locking the GB for a <EM>slightly</EM> positive GB. Find some ground that's in the 67-70 range and set it there. An '83' setting could be a bit too positive and you will see some periodic erratic operation.
I am not referring to the 6" deep reading 2" deep foil. That sort of effect on tiny stuff is to be expected, regardless of the make and model.
<EM><STRONG>Monte</STRONG></EM>

 

[Anonymous]

My advice would be to cut down your gain to around 9 or factory preset for a short time while you are learning the mxt. When I first got mine I was doing the same thing, it is a natural reaction to want to run the detector at max or near max to achieve max depth. It is an extremely sensitive detector and I think you will be very pleased with a lower gain,till you get a good feel for it.
Far as locking the ground,if I lock, I generally will turn it on and pump the coil up and down over a clean area of ground and then lock it there. Most times I don't lock it ,I let it auto track. If it gets noisy I pump it again till it quiets down and continue hunting.
Remember the meter is for "coin sized" objects. If you target is tiny foil it will jump around. but it could do the same on small rings too. Only way to tell is to dig.
You may like to try a kids play ground to get some coins at first. I seem to do well in them.
Good luck and I know you will love the mxt even more once you are out using it more.
Hope I helped.......HH

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input from the both of you. Monte. I thought that 83 might be TOO positive. Slapshot. I have only had my MXT for a couple of weeks but have been metal detecting since 1973. My first Whites was a 5900 DI Pro SL that I bought sometime in the mid 1980's. I have a lot to learn about the MXT but I pretty much know the basics.
There was no way for you to know this so I do appreciate your input. The MXT IS a very sensitive machine that will take some time getting used to. I'll probably be asking plenty of questions and I hope you all will bear with me.
The good news is that my neighbor that I convinced to buy an MXT knows the person that owns the property where an old Boy Scout Camp is on. We're in the process of trying to gain permission to hunt it. YEEE HAAA!!!

 

[Anonymous]

For the bits of foil and aluminum,some detectors pinpoint mode sounds weak and the signal sota moves around as compared to say a nickle in which case the pinpoint is strong and centered. If the foil or aluminum is bunched up in a compact ball lets say then it will sound solid in both modes like the nickle. If it is flat and irregular shaped you can feel it out in pinpoint once you look for that. It also kinda has that crackle sound as compared to smooth or solid. This works ok for me and you gotta have good head phones to hear these harmonics.