txbluesman
New member
Impressions:
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After a month of ownership, I thought I might provide my personal observations of the Minelab Explorer SE as well as my current settings. First, I guess I should explain that I'm primarily a coinshooter, therefore my viewpoint and settings may be skewed in this direction. I have found that the ESE is a very powerful detector with a couple of first rate features. The Full Band Spectrum Technology does an excellent job of ignoring the ground mineralization in my area. By removing this negative influence on ground signals, the circuitry is able to identify coins at some impressive depths. The more I use this detector, the more I'm impressed with this technology. Another great feature is the Smartfind screen which allows one to get a 2D view (or graph) of the target's conductive and ferrous properties. By using this feature, I can instantly see the how the circuitry responds to any target under the coil. And depending on how the cursor reacts, I use this information as a basis on whether I have a coin. By learning how coins respond on the graph at various depths and different angles, I use this 2D view as another "dig or not to dig" indicator. One of my favorite features is the ability to toggle into the Iron Mask mode. It allows me to quickly see and hear the full range of the cursor's movement by removing the loaded discrimination pattern. This provides two additional pieces of information. And lastly, the ability to always see the target's depth (using Smartfind with and without Iron Mask toggled ON) is usually my final determination on the "dig or not to dig" decision. The deeper the target, the more likely it is to be a good coin. Of course, I always keep an open mind as I have pulled some real nice coins at depth of only one or two inches.
How I configured my ESE for coinshooting:
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I utilize the array of available coils when coinshooting. Depending on the amount of trash, I will switch between the Sunray X5, X8 or the stock coil. The X5 does an outstanding job of locating coins amongst closely located trash targets. By turning down the Sensitivity two or three levels lower than "stable" I have found that it helps this coil when in high trash locations. The X8 coil is a great all-around coil for coinshooting. It helps with the balance of the detector which translate to more hours of detecting as the fatigue factor never comes into play. It does a good job of target separation at the same time, providing a depth that is fairly close to that of the stock coil. The stock coil is great for sites with little or no trash as it will get maximum depth.
As for the Audio setup, I think this should be purely based user preference. I perfer using Conduct over Ferrous tones. However, I have found that Ferrous tones can be very helpful in iron infested areas. I also like the LONG RESPONSE as it provides a crisp target response. Other settings are Volume at 10, Gain at 8 and Varability at 10.
I keep the Iron Mask setting at -30. I feel that this setting, allows me to open up the discrimination pattern while still providing some help with the iron targets.
I use both the Semi-Auto and Manual Sensitivity depending on the site and my mood. I have found that maximum sensitivity is not always the best selection and that I should not to be afraid of reducing it.
I switch between DEEP and FAST depending on what coil I'm using. I run the X5 on FAST and the X8 & stock on DEEP. I have found that these combinations give me the best performance.
I use both of the two saved programs (USER1 and USER2) to suit my hunting enviroment or mood. By saving two unique customized programs, I can switch easily in the field. My USER1 program is based on the default COINS discrimination pattern. Added to the REJECT list are CROWNCAPS and FOIL. I will use this setting at sites that I hunt often or that I know have been heavily hunted in the past. My USER2 program is a based on customizing the six available saved descrimintation patterns (S1 - S6). Using the LEARN function, I taught the each of the six patterns as listed below (using coins of different years and gradings):
***
S1 - U.S. silver coins 10
---------------------------------
After a month of ownership, I thought I might provide my personal observations of the Minelab Explorer SE as well as my current settings. First, I guess I should explain that I'm primarily a coinshooter, therefore my viewpoint and settings may be skewed in this direction. I have found that the ESE is a very powerful detector with a couple of first rate features. The Full Band Spectrum Technology does an excellent job of ignoring the ground mineralization in my area. By removing this negative influence on ground signals, the circuitry is able to identify coins at some impressive depths. The more I use this detector, the more I'm impressed with this technology. Another great feature is the Smartfind screen which allows one to get a 2D view (or graph) of the target's conductive and ferrous properties. By using this feature, I can instantly see the how the circuitry responds to any target under the coil. And depending on how the cursor reacts, I use this information as a basis on whether I have a coin. By learning how coins respond on the graph at various depths and different angles, I use this 2D view as another "dig or not to dig" indicator. One of my favorite features is the ability to toggle into the Iron Mask mode. It allows me to quickly see and hear the full range of the cursor's movement by removing the loaded discrimination pattern. This provides two additional pieces of information. And lastly, the ability to always see the target's depth (using Smartfind with and without Iron Mask toggled ON) is usually my final determination on the "dig or not to dig" decision. The deeper the target, the more likely it is to be a good coin. Of course, I always keep an open mind as I have pulled some real nice coins at depth of only one or two inches.
How I configured my ESE for coinshooting:
-----------------------------------------------------------
I utilize the array of available coils when coinshooting. Depending on the amount of trash, I will switch between the Sunray X5, X8 or the stock coil. The X5 does an outstanding job of locating coins amongst closely located trash targets. By turning down the Sensitivity two or three levels lower than "stable" I have found that it helps this coil when in high trash locations. The X8 coil is a great all-around coil for coinshooting. It helps with the balance of the detector which translate to more hours of detecting as the fatigue factor never comes into play. It does a good job of target separation at the same time, providing a depth that is fairly close to that of the stock coil. The stock coil is great for sites with little or no trash as it will get maximum depth.
As for the Audio setup, I think this should be purely based user preference. I perfer using Conduct over Ferrous tones. However, I have found that Ferrous tones can be very helpful in iron infested areas. I also like the LONG RESPONSE as it provides a crisp target response. Other settings are Volume at 10, Gain at 8 and Varability at 10.
I keep the Iron Mask setting at -30. I feel that this setting, allows me to open up the discrimination pattern while still providing some help with the iron targets.
I use both the Semi-Auto and Manual Sensitivity depending on the site and my mood. I have found that maximum sensitivity is not always the best selection and that I should not to be afraid of reducing it.
I switch between DEEP and FAST depending on what coil I'm using. I run the X5 on FAST and the X8 & stock on DEEP. I have found that these combinations give me the best performance.
I use both of the two saved programs (USER1 and USER2) to suit my hunting enviroment or mood. By saving two unique customized programs, I can switch easily in the field. My USER1 program is based on the default COINS discrimination pattern. Added to the REJECT list are CROWNCAPS and FOIL. I will use this setting at sites that I hunt often or that I know have been heavily hunted in the past. My USER2 program is a based on customizing the six available saved descrimintation patterns (S1 - S6). Using the LEARN function, I taught the each of the six patterns as listed below (using coins of different years and gradings):
***
S1 - U.S. silver coins 10
