I dont know guys..dont read this blah if u have a weak stomach. and don't send me a bill.

[greasecarguy]

I want to have the ultimate faith in my SE but am far from the man who can snake charm the coins out of the earth! My MD life is similar to my world of poker...so,so. I really put a fair amount of time in with much trial and error to, IMO, little avail.

Ok, so to my major gripes: I am in the trash so I switch to fast on, sens is always 31 or so, variability 9, tones-cond., gain 6. Iron mask is off and disc is set low. Ok, listening for the mental audio image of the ultimate tone. When this doesn't happen, I turn up the gain to 9 or 10 (hell, I cant tell the difference between a real deepie or not by listening only) and turn off fast and use deep on and move real slow. I dig dimes and clad pennies at 6" over and over. Ok, so the good ones are deeper. Let's ignore anything above 6" . Maybe I then go to fast and deep off for ha's and while we're at it, lets put the mask on as there's too much coming through. So I then get a deep one (thank god for the depth meter) .. It sounds good. Digital is good, smartfind is good. I switch positions 90 degrees. Ok, not so good but still a good enough conduct # to consider digging.I wanna dig. I move again and the tone quality and smartfind are restored....they're bouncing. I FOLLOW THE BOUNCING BALL! I pinpoint and things get ugly...now its coming up unfavorable in digital and smartfind...it is 31-31 from one angle...what to do....it is the deepest I've seen today....I dig. It's either a deep lincoln or a small bottle.ARGH! But sometimes its a silver. I spend so much time trying to analyze for comparitive results it's killin me. As many have said before, I am paralyzed by analysis!

Does the digital , smartfind and the pinpoint always align perfectly on the good ones ? NO...So how do I use deductive reasoning to tell the difference? I mean, I do have a relatively sophisticated machine doing all the work for me. I don't need to speak MINELAB SE, I just need to understand it. How tough can this be? Is there a Rosetta stone CD?

What if there was a coin , overlooked by the previous 1000 swings, sitting next to some iron piece that no one had the ambition to dig?

Had enough of my rant? Welcome to my world. Can you shed some light on my issues? I hope so 'cuz I am getting frustrated with MYSELF. Probably far to easily but what can I say.

Good Luck

Aaron

 

[NealNoIN]

I mean, if someone tells you their version of how to know it's a goodie you'll have to trust them and then you'll doubt them when you're not finding anything.
If you dig 20 holes and get 1 goodie you've gotten first hand, hands on, real world education and you'll remember it better too. Digging is the absolute most accurate visual ID you'll ever experience.
BUT
You do have to be at a place where good finds exist. Around here in this 1830's settled area there are still only about 1/3 or less of the parks that have old coins in them. The rest are too new. Or they've been bulldozed or filled to heck!
AND
There are SO MANY metal detectors being swung in parks today that if you hunt for 3 hours and find a good old find you are doing great in most places.
You probably know most of this stuff but I felt like telling it to somebody.

 

[king-ghidorah]

Greasecar,
U haven't put enough time on it and you're letting it frustrate you. Stick with the same settings until you "FEEL" comfortable with using the SE and then you will know what I mean.

 

[Hotcz70]

n/t

 

[Nick A]

Experience. Knowing detecting and knowing your machine... and your site.
It sounds like you are doing everything right to me! Just keep doing it.
Make sure you have a site that has potential though... if you find one old coin, even a wheatie, slow down and cover that area carefully.

 

[montanagold]

Sounds to me like you are over thinking and worried to much about missing a coin. The best part about having these sites that we find is the ability to go back. You can't find all of the coins in one trip, its more fun to go back and pick a few more out each time. I am no pro but sounds to me like you need to stop and take a step back. Put your machine back in factory settings, set your iron mask low, turn on your machine and go slow. Let her do the work for you, Listen to what she is telling you. Don't analyze or try to figure out all of the technical aspects. just listen and dig, you will quickly figure things out. I have had my SE since November of 08 and can almost always tell if its a coin just by the sound. ( I am sure others can to ) This machines sole purpose is to get you the coins and she wont let you down, Like any lady she just wants to be heard. So listen.

 

[Martnessmonstr]

Ok, I've been hunting w/ the SE for about 4 months now, I'm no expert. As far as finding good stuff, location is always key. My experience is hunting a nearby park, I've found 53 silver coins there since april 15. I'm pretty sure a lot were deeper or masked by trash that my old machine could find. I hunt in Iron mask 27, sensitivity 27 semi auto, and my gain is at 9 ( cause my hearings not so good). Though I don't see what the difference is, I'm digging every thing no matter it's depth.And I'm not sure, but I think as far as fast ON goes, it has nothing to do with how your machine detects, but only with how the displays reads out the signals, that is that the computer /display lags behind the real time detecting beneath your coil. The SE, compared to a beep and go machine seems like a burden at times, but I think it gives some depth and nuance (in the trash) that makes it a great detector.

 

[sweepdog]

I think you are looking for a little too much from the detector. There is no recreational detector or probably any detector that will tell exactly whats in the ground. The detectors we use can give incredible information and depth and ground canceling compared to years past. I can vouch for this because I started at 12 years old and I am 52. When I first took an explorer out I dug a BB size conductive object at about 3 inches and knew the machine had power. Finding good items takes a lot of time and a location that has them. Good luck and try to have fun. The mystery is most of the enjoyment.

 

[big-ears]

put the dirt back in an inch at a time and pound it down one inch at a time with a flat ended object, I use a broom stick sawed flat on one end. Wet the ground down good and your good to go. You know something is there so the guess-work is out of the equation. Now vary the settings to your liking till you get the max depth, adjusted to your hearing taste, etc. I alway hunt damp ground, or even wet ground and constantly make better finds. I also go back to my garden and refresh my hearing to the deep ones. I also circle the dime to check to see if I get a good reading from different angles, and I don't always, I already learned something right there. Different moisture content on different days makes for different signals.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

The way I look at it much easier to analize a target from the top than dig a foot hole..Believe me have used a bunch of units and an Explorer has the best guts and gives the most info of any unit I ever used..First thing that comes into play is tone recognition so get what your look for and swing it past the coil until the tone is imbedded in your brain.
Second watch how that target crosshair moves(bouncing ball) as it usually gives you an idea how to dig or not. Mike Mountray has some excellent screens that does just that , Last but least ID numbers come into play which added to the other 2 certainly helps. In a perfect world a silver dime would sit right in the upper right hand corner but always the ground and nearby trash to take into consideration. Last but not least crawl before you walk and put the unit in quickstart and raise the sens. and it will give you a good idea and once you have that mastered you can move on and experiment perhaps using a planted garden that has been planted for years and see what works best for you.
Perhaps the Explorer is not for you but those that master it with setting for their neck of the woods excell. A mentor such as an experienced patient Explorer user certainly is a plus also as it shortens the learning period..

 

[Lowtones]

I been hunting with Se now for little over a year,,,when I first started I wanted to take that machine and break over a tree,,,I thought it was joke,,,I can now tell you that machine is best on market,,,I been finding the old stuff all the way back to 1779 in places where people have hunted for years,,,,it takes a lot of practice,,,to date i have dug up over a thousand coin's in just little over a year,,,one piece was large cent at fifteen inches,,,,if you think you have reasonable target,,,dig it,,,better then walking away not knowing,,,also that help in learning machine,,,I found seated half dime 1854 where people hunted for thirty years,,,right in middle of trail