Have had the Vaquero for a couple weeks now. Read and reread the manual and am practicing. Was wondering if the experienced could give me a few pointers. I've copied Monte's post on Audio Target Classification and tried to digest that. I've searched my backyard and am getting the iron thing down, but have been going to sand playgrounds in the city park to practice. LOTS of junk. Found three cents today and lots of OTHER stuff. The pull tabs and metal beer caps seem to draw my attention. If trying to find coins in that environment where do I put the disc setting. Seem to get iron well past the iron setting. How high should I run the sensitivity. Not tried super tuning by cranking up the threshold yet. Generally speaking, if there is a signal that is not consistently repeatable is that an indication to move on? What technique is used around metal poles of playground equipment? I think I'm ok on the ground balancing but have read of some running a tad positive. What's that all about? Well that should be enuf for me for now. Am using the 5.75 coil and Killer Bees phones. Thanks Jim
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Learning Curve
- Thread starter Jim Hodge
- Start date
rentasquid
New member
As for sounds...you will probably get to noticing a "round sound" as compared to a tab sound or "canfetti" or "can-slaw" sounds. Its one of those "train you ear" things. But, even after hearing all those noises that you know is gonna be trash, I still tend to dig it anyway, because you never know.(Unless its getting toward the end of my hunting, and I'm getting sick of digging junk!)
Hunting around poles...smaller coils work best and move your coil toward the pole and away from it...Perpendicular. As you move you coil toward the pole, listen for a double beep. The big beep will be the pole, but if you hear a little blip before the big beep, check it out. I find quite a few coins close to poles, which I would assume was being missed by others.
Another thing to do in playgrounds is to keep your disc. down around the foil level. I tend to find a bunch of nickels in playground too. I again assume its because the people that hit the playground ahead of me dont like digging foil, but they also knock out nickels too.
Well...I guess thats about all I can think of, so I'll stop babbling.
j.
Hunting around poles...smaller coils work best and move your coil toward the pole and away from it...Perpendicular. As you move you coil toward the pole, listen for a double beep. The big beep will be the pole, but if you hear a little blip before the big beep, check it out. I find quite a few coins close to poles, which I would assume was being missed by others.
Another thing to do in playgrounds is to keep your disc. down around the foil level. I tend to find a bunch of nickels in playground too. I again assume its because the people that hit the playground ahead of me dont like digging foil, but they also knock out nickels too.
Well...I guess thats about all I can think of, so I'll stop babbling.
j.
Thanks for the reply. I'll be trying your suggestions this morning. I realize I have a lot to learn to get the ear trained. Would taping various items on pieces of cardboard and turning them over for pinpointing and learning the sounds be a good exercise, or do I need to make a test garden to get more natural sounds? Jim
rentasquid
New member
would train your ear for near surface objects. But things sound different when they are buried. A test garden would be great. That said, I have never planted one myself. I just try to pay attention to sounds before I dig them up.
Best of luck, Jim!
J.
Best of luck, Jim!
J.
Well it helped. Probably the most help was setting the disc up around nickle. I still was attracted to a bit of foil and those bobby pins continue to ring out, but with a ratty or double hit type sound. Found a new golden "colored" dollar, and a quarter, and some dimes and a nickle and some pennies. 1.60 total. Better than a stick in the eye. Will keep practicing. Set at nickle on disc, the pennies are a bit iffy. Is this due to being clad and they are being discriminated against or what? Jim
Starting to get a bit more used to the new Vaquero. Getting so I recognize a coin sound. I've been using a rusty nail to set the disc, but it still seems to false on iron. The disc is just past nickle, haven't checked to see if nickles are discriminated out. Large pieces of iron will sound no mater what the disc is set on. Is this normal? I've been limiting myself to sand playgrounds so far and sometimes there will be a buried metal anchor for play equipment that has been abandoned and I end up digging them all up (at least until I see what it is and then cover them back up). Its starting to warm up here and the dry top sand layer seems to have a dampening effect on a hit, it kinda mutes the sound. Guess that goes along with moist soil conducting better. Found a quarter near a pole so the technique that rentasquid offered worked pretty good. If any of you have pity on a newbie, any suggestions would be appreciated. Jim
rentasquid
New member
Large iron objects will fool your detector! Switch your detector to all metal mode and size up the object, if it seems as though the target it really loud and makes a overloaded signal. You'll probably find that the target is big(and iron), odd shaped which is a dead give away that it probably is a big chunk of junk. But, you know what, you should probably dig them until you are really comfortable with what is a junk sound, and what isnt. Hope this helps
J.
J.
Hi Jim,
Read your post and am a fellow V. user. The GB thing, as you lower the coil you will note a change in the threshold sound. You want to shoot for little or no change. If you can't get it perfect, it is perfered to leave it slightly pos. A slight change upward in sound is positive.
When around iron equipment poles I turn the sensativity WAY down to around 1 or 2. This allows you to get alot closer to the pole. When you move away from the pole just move the sensativity back up. It doesn't hurt depth that much as you are looking for shallow targets anyway.
I like to use a very fine 14k yellow gold ring as a baseline. This ring should Disc. out @ around foil (about half way between iron and nickle). With Disc. adjusted to JUST accept this tiny ring you can be sure to find any gold worth finding. But you will dig LOTS of trash. Not a good setting for trashy parks, esp. in the grass. But great in sand and the beach.
Now if you want to just cherry pick for coins in a trashy park set the Disc. using a '84 or newer (zinc) penny. Adjust the Disc. to just accept the penny and you will be rewarded with pennys, dimes and quaters, almost no trash. BUT you also give up nickles and any gold items. I use this in real trashy parks in the grass where the odds are not in my favor for finding gold as opposed to all the garbage.
Another technique is thumbing the Disc. To do this you have to know just where a nickle and zinc penny discriminates out on your machine. Start with the low foil (small gold ring accept) setting. When you find a target roll the disc. up to nickle reject. If no sound dig. Could be a nickle, gold ring or round pull tab. If sound still there roll the disc up to zinc penny accept. If sound still there dig 'couse almost certinally a coin. If sound gone target was probably (75% chance) a pull tab.
Like has already been mentioned trash sounds alot better, sharper-louder, than coins. Coins are duller and more rounded sounding. Also with the pinpoint button, with practice , you can judge depth by the sound. Louder and higher is real close to the coil. Now when you get use to this and you PP something that sounds shallow but you dig down 3" and still no target chances are it is something big and deeper. Not worth bothering with. As far as the iffy signals-dig a few and find out what they are.
Rember that eyeball ID is the only TRUE ID!!!!
Read your post and am a fellow V. user. The GB thing, as you lower the coil you will note a change in the threshold sound. You want to shoot for little or no change. If you can't get it perfect, it is perfered to leave it slightly pos. A slight change upward in sound is positive.
When around iron equipment poles I turn the sensativity WAY down to around 1 or 2. This allows you to get alot closer to the pole. When you move away from the pole just move the sensativity back up. It doesn't hurt depth that much as you are looking for shallow targets anyway.
I like to use a very fine 14k yellow gold ring as a baseline. This ring should Disc. out @ around foil (about half way between iron and nickle). With Disc. adjusted to JUST accept this tiny ring you can be sure to find any gold worth finding. But you will dig LOTS of trash. Not a good setting for trashy parks, esp. in the grass. But great in sand and the beach.
Now if you want to just cherry pick for coins in a trashy park set the Disc. using a '84 or newer (zinc) penny. Adjust the Disc. to just accept the penny and you will be rewarded with pennys, dimes and quaters, almost no trash. BUT you also give up nickles and any gold items. I use this in real trashy parks in the grass where the odds are not in my favor for finding gold as opposed to all the garbage.
Another technique is thumbing the Disc. To do this you have to know just where a nickle and zinc penny discriminates out on your machine. Start with the low foil (small gold ring accept) setting. When you find a target roll the disc. up to nickle reject. If no sound dig. Could be a nickle, gold ring or round pull tab. If sound still there roll the disc up to zinc penny accept. If sound still there dig 'couse almost certinally a coin. If sound gone target was probably (75% chance) a pull tab.
Like has already been mentioned trash sounds alot better, sharper-louder, than coins. Coins are duller and more rounded sounding. Also with the pinpoint button, with practice , you can judge depth by the sound. Louder and higher is real close to the coil. Now when you get use to this and you PP something that sounds shallow but you dig down 3" and still no target chances are it is something big and deeper. Not worth bothering with. As far as the iffy signals-dig a few and find out what they are.
Rember that eyeball ID is the only TRUE ID!!!!
the 14K gold ring. The crown I have, but not to sure about using the wifes ring. Making a copy of your suggestions and will practice using them. The louder sound of a steel post doesn't bother me since I'm listening for a second hit. Might turn down the sensitivity if I get a second hit and pp it that way.
As far as I know I have no problem with doing the GB. Usually check it every so often. After changing the battery the sound was strange, kinda muted, different tone and sounded like it was coming down a culvert along with a bunch of falsing. Checked my settings and I had knocked the GB off while doing the batt change. Made a world of difference when I adjusted it. Have a good day. Jim
As far as I know I have no problem with doing the GB. Usually check it every so often. After changing the battery the sound was strange, kinda muted, different tone and sounded like it was coming down a culvert along with a bunch of falsing. Checked my settings and I had knocked the GB off while doing the batt change. Made a world of difference when I adjusted it. Have a good day. Jim
The crown may work. See where it discriminates out @. If it goes away between foil and nickle your in, should be closer to foil though. A slight churp on a Hershey's Kisses wrapper is about the same. Rember no trash no gold. I once read that the ratio of pull tabs to gold was about 1200 to 1. 1200 pull tabs to one gold item. I went all last year with no gold, but lots and lots of pull tabs!!!
Good Luck and above all ENJOY!!!
Also rember that there are no absolutes in metal detecting, so don't be afrade to experiment.
Good Luck and above all ENJOY!!!
Also rember that there are no absolutes in metal detecting, so don't be afrade to experiment.