M6 Tips

[markg]

To begin with I like to say I don't own or use the M6.
My hunting buddy whose name is Garry owns and uses one though.
It has been a pleasure to hunt with him since he bought his machine. I am presently using the Tejon, so some side by side comparisons have taken place over the last several months.
Now with any new machine comes frustration and disappointments and Garry and I have felt these emotions about both of our machines. I'm not a rookie but not an expert either, even though I've been hunting for many years I count myself as "knowledgeable about the subject of metal detecting". Now from this short introduction to some things we've learned in the past year.
1. Most know as well as I that TID machines are very fun to use, but a person can become to relent on it for dig no dig decisions if some precautions are not taken.
2. Always rely mostly on the quality of beep received from the hidden target.
(Now don't jump to conclusions yet)
3. If you get a good repeatable signal, then look at the display and see what the numbers are saying.
4. If the numbers are fairly consistent, and by that I mean not bouncing low and high but staying either low or high. (Hold on)
5. Then look and see what the machine thinks the target is.

Now for a story that has happened many times in the past few weeks from many different locations.

Recently Garry and I went hunting at a local grade school which is about 75 years old. After a few minutes of hunting Garry detected a smooth repeatable beep. Now instead of just trusting what the machine was saying he first listen to the consistency of the beep (smooth and repeatable). Next looking at the numbers, which ranged from 84 to 91 he felt more confident the target was a good one to pursue. But the machine was not sure what it was and by that I mean the confidence bar was low. Finally he looked at the depth, which displayed over 7" deep. His decision to dig was a good one because at about 7" came up his first silver quarter.
Now from our conversations he has come to the conclusion, that for deep targets 6+" the consistency of the beep and numbers are by far more important than what the machine Id's the target.
As a final note, since the silver quarter he has dug many wheat pennies that had similar characteristics to the silver quarter, good consistent beep, small range of numbers and depth.

Hope this has helped
If it beeps

 

[Jim McCulloch]

The true value of a VDI meter is that it gives a "second opinion" of a target's identity. This is far more important than some users realize. How so? Let's say that a target is producing an "iffy" signal, one not clearly "good," nor clearly rejected. This kind of signal can occur on 1) larger junk targets which give "break through" signals, 2) targets very close to the edge of the discrimination setting, thus "almost good," and "not quite bad," and 3) very deep "good" targets. A glance at the VDI meter will likely immedaitely identifiy target types 1 and 2. This saves teh operator a great deal of time. But what if the VDI meter gives NO ID on a signal? In other words, you get a signal, but there is NO VDI indication. Remembering that the VDI goes about 75% as deep as the audio signal, such a situation means that the target is very likely a very deep "good" target. These faint, often "iffy" signals which give no VDI display really should get your attention at sites where good targets may be deeper. Thus, if your M6 can get dimes to 8", but will only VDI them to 6" maximum, then an iffy signal which gives NO VDI should be DUG. Sure, some will be junk (NO discrimination system is 100% accurate) but enough will be "good" targets to justify digging. Remember the adage "When in doubt, dig it out." Hope this helps; HH Jim

 

[markg]

Thanks for the info. I've not thought of that one, maybe because the Tejon only gives me a beep. I'll pass that to hunting buddy. Thanks again. That's a good one to know.
mark

 

[crazyman]

Meters can be a useful tool in certain situations. One is cherry picking older coins in modern trash using target ID and the depth meter to be selectable on what you dig. I use this technique in old parks or old Victorian house lawns where I want to limit my digging. The best use of a meter for me is when hunting iron infested ghost towns. I want to dig everything that is not iron. Around areas where buildings once stood I use zero disc. and inch along watching the meter. Using zero disc. at these sites will be time consuming and not pleasant on the ears but will help with iron masking out good targets. Coins for instance in or close to iron will most often come thru on the meter by bouncing between iron and coin. You can then hit it at different angles for better ID. and then use the pinpoint to isolate the good target So in this instance a bouncing meter is a good thing. I've pulled a lot of good stuff out of so called hunted out spots this way. In the end if you want to find it all you have to dig it all so a meter is only useful for selective digging.

 

[markg]

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