Help w/Pinpointing with a Lone Star / Fortune Hunter

[Mad-Medic]

Hello, I am having problems with PP with my detector. It is a new BH Fortune Hunter / Lone Star. It works great at locating the items but when trying to PP for where to start digging it is not so good. I got this for Christmas from my mom-in-law. I have done MD'ing before using an old (well new then anyway) Whites Coin-master and my old Garrett's Gold Stinger. But that was many years ago. I have been wanting to get my own so I would not have to keep borrow one of my friends units all the time. Anyway any help would be appreciated. Oh yes, I have used the news paper trick as well (hiding coins and items under the news paper then PP'ing and poking through the paper to see how close you actually are, as well as placing coins in my flower bed. same results always off from 4 to 8 inches.

Thanks
Ron

 

[sgoss66]

Ron --

I probably don't have much to offer you since I'm no expert, but I'll tell you what I do and usually get pretty close. I am using a Sharpshooter II right now, which has all-metal no-motion mode, which helps, and which your Lone Star does not have. However, when I'm not using the all metal mode, but discrimination or notch modes like your machine has, I do the "X" thing, where I sweep back and forth multiple times left to right, and stare at the spot on the ground where I consistently get a signal. Then, I go forward and backward multiple times, crossing my original left-right sweeps at 90 degrees -- again staring at the spot on the ground where the signal consistently hits. If you can't get something consistent to happen, it's probably a junk target. One other trick I learned from someone else while reading one of the forums is if you locate something, and can "pinpoint" the location to within a few inches, sweep your detector back and forth in much shorter, and much more rapid, sweeps than normal over top of the target, maybe only swinging a foot or so back and forth very quickly. This seems to help. One final thing I'll do sometimes is lift my coil off the ground a few inches, and then do the "X" thing again. Since the signal sent out by the coil is, as I understand it, cone shaped, getting smaller with distance away from the coil, it can sometimes be easier to narrow down the location of the target with the coil lifted off the ground a few inches, if that makes sense.

I'm sure you probably knew most of this, but since you asked I thought I'd throw out some of the things I do.

Steve

 

[Mad-Medic]

Steve,

Thanks for the reply. I have finally got it figured out. I decided to just look at it a bit differently and now I am able to zero in on almost everything I am digging within a small 4 inch box. I have to admit I am very suprised and pleased with the Bounty Hunter Fortune hunter / Lone Star. I went out today and picked up 4 dimes and 3 quarters and a handfull of pennies. All the dimes where between 3 and 6 inches the quarters where between 1 and 3 inches with the exception of one it was at 7 inches. The pennies where all over the place from 1 to 5 inches. I was thinking about getting a 4" coil for it to use at the local tot lot, do you have any experience with the Bounty Hunter 4" Coil?

Thanks
Ron

Ron --

I probably don't have much to offer you since I'm no expert, but I'll tell you what I do and usually get pretty close. I am using a Sharpshooter II right now, which has all-metal no-motion mode, which helps, and which your Lone Star does not have. However, when I'm not using the all metal mode, but discrimination or notch modes like your machine has, I do the "X" thing, where I sweep back and forth multiple times left to right, and stare at the spot on the ground where I consistently get a signal. Then, I go forward and backward multiple times, crossing my original left-right sweeps at 90 degrees -- again staring at the spot on the ground where the signal consistently hits. If you can't get something consistent to happen, it's probably a junk target. One other trick I learned from someone else while reading one of the forums is if you locate something, and can "pinpoint" the location to within a few inches, sweep your detector back and forth in much shorter, and much more rapid, sweeps than normal over top of the target, maybe only swinging a foot or so back and forth very quickly. This seems to help. One final thing I'll do sometimes is lift my coil off the ground a few inches, and then do the "X" thing again. Since the signal sent out by the coil is, as I understand it, cone shaped, getting smaller with distance away from the coil, it can sometimes be easier to narrow down the location of the target with the coil lifted off the ground a few inches, if that makes sense.

I'm sure you probably knew most of this, but since you asked I thought I'd throw out some of the things I do.

Steve

 

[capt.]

Hey Mad-Medic, get the 4 inch coil, you will never regret it. It is just about the only one I use in the parks anymore. Worth its weight in gold. I have the 10", 8" and 4"coils and I like the 4" best. It will still get to 8 inches in all metal mode and will get to 5 to 5 and a half inches in disc or notch. I have a Pioneer 505. Good luck and Happy Hunting.

capt.