Modes

[ifoundapenny]

Hey guys, I have a question about modes on the Safari. I was reading Andy's book the other day and in his breakdown of Coins and Jewelry he said it was meant for use on the beach...I mainly hunt using that mode and it made me wonder if I made a bad decision or not. Secondly through lurking and reading everything I can I'm noticing a lot of guys here hunt in ferrous rather than conductive and that has been instrumental in them making some good finds that they wouldn't have found if they were in another mode. I realize when first starting out that you should just pick a mode and learn it and then when you've mastered it you can try to learn another mode, so am I short changing myself out of good coin finds by using coin and jewelry or should I be trying to learn in relic or all metal?

 

[Scenario84]

I hunt in all metal ferrous. The coin sounds are nice and sweet and you can't miss them. Also, in all metal you don't get any nulling. Which is huge if your trying to pick out decent targets in a heavy trash area. I like to hear all the junk sounds when I sweep, it makes the silvers stand out even more. Plus you don't have to worry about the computers recovery time and if your missing a good signal while the machine nulls. This is my personal preference and everyone is different so experiment and see what works. I have found that alot of junk iron will give an occasional chirp or two of silver at a 36-38. Which drive me CRAZY when I was first learning the machine. I dug every crap signal that gave a quick chirp because I was in coin mode, and only heard the silver tone, not the mass of junk iron sounds that it would make in all metal. But play around and have fun, and don't expect anything amazing at first. It takes some getting used to. But when you pull out that first object, whatever it is, that is something special you'll be glad you hung in there! I say that from experience my friend. Good luck and HH!

 

[klever]

When I first started I kept switching back and forth. I finally decided on ferrous after reading a bunch of post. That really helped and things started clicking. Plus those rusted nails for the most part now come in with a low tone so it is much easier on the ear. In conductive they would sound high pitched like a coin. About the only thing I discriminate out now is -10. But if it is going crazy I will notch it out. I did not do this overnight though. I started in relic and notched out most everything in the negatives and 40. Then as I learned more I opened the rest up

 

[MetalMiner]

I also prefer to hunt in All Metal Ferrous tones, it can be tough in heavy trash areas. Yesterday I was hunting a spot that was infested with iron. every few inches there was iron hits. I did manage to pull out 2 old concave Gilt buttons from between the iron. The iron was so heavy I couldn't use the pinpoint, so I had to walk the coil backwards & dig at the nose of the coil when I lost the signal. If you are new to the Safari hunting in All Metal may drive you crazy. You could try Relic Mode it has a little discrimination & uses Ferrous tones. Good Luck, & be patient.

 

[ifoundapenny]

What about if you are hunting parks or tot lots, do you Still continue to hunt in all metal? I'm wondering if that would make the occasional jewelry hunt more difficult? I do however think that I may try to experiment a little with it and see how it goes. Thanks for all your input so far!

 

[KinTN]

fwiw, I hunt in ferrous and screen out whatevers appropriate for the hunt. Very little to none in the woods, lots in trashy parks.

 

[Scenario84]

I personally like to still hunt all metal, if only because I hear all the different tones, and more importantly the different tones the SAME coin or metal can make. One thing I have learned is that often you will get very varied sound on the same kind of coin or metal depending on soil conditions, trash density, and depth. But you can identify patterns and learn the few different tones things make in all metal. I've found that large musket balls come in at a low tone 33. And I didn't know why at first an Indian head or wheat penny sounded so odd. And was I ever suprised after because most lead objects I have found come in between 9-13 and higher. That's just what I have found, and I'm sure there are plenty others with different results, which is why I believe all metal is the way to go for me

 

[KinTN]

The sounds (barring nearby interference) stay the same ime. That's why its so important to listen to the tones over watching the screen. I've seen lots of clad quarters sound like quarters but show up as 14-16(pulltab/nickel).

'84, my hats off to you if you can run wide open in a park. All that clutter drives me crazy in a matter of minutes.

 

[Scenario84]

It's not my fav thing to do ill admit, but my paranoia that I'm missing good signals while the machine nulls wins out, and I run in all metal, albeit in a reduced sensitivity. I will notch out 40 tho

 

[KinTN]

Here's to your staying sane!

 

[Will1877]

When I used my safari I hunted exclusively in ferrous and for the longest time I thought guys were nuts that didn't use disc when hunting. I didn't utilize zero disc until I got an etrac and have pulled many thing in previously hunted yards I did with the safari and its not because the safari is lesser it was because nulling caused me to not hear the targets. Get used to the tones and confidence in what the machine is telling you then open the beast up full tilt slow down and see what has been missed. You will be surprised I know I was.

 

[Goldstrike]

When I go into tot-lots, I usually hunt in A.M. The reason being it doesn't usually null out when you swing close to the metal swing/slide etc; structures. I can get much closer to the existing metal poles before it goes to 'Overload' status and I have found stuff that others, I'm sure have missed just because they have some discrimination going on. Different park departments do different things in different cities and states, like the use of pegging or using large metal 'nails' to keep in place some kind of weed barrier cloth under the bark in some tot-lots. So sometimes, I think I have a target and it's one of those pegs/nails! I usually don't have too much sensitivity going on for that reason in tot-lots.

 

[ifoundapenny]

Lots of good info guys! I went out over the weekend and tried all metal but it just felt like information overload and I started to dig way more trash because I was over analyzing signals. Needless to say I got frustrated pretty quick. When I start to feel that way I started to use Andy Sabisch's cherry picking program until I had some success and would just switch in and out after that to try to wrap my mind around the tones. Sometimes it clicked and I was digging quarter after quarter and other times it was to much.... I'll tell you what tho 90 degree weather will take the hunt right out of you! Thanks for all the input everyone, I'll keep plugging at it and keep you updated.

 

[croakersmoker78]

Never close 40 i have found many silver at r0

 

[Rob in (Ca)]

I'M only hunting for Jewelry at the Beach / tot lot's/ sports fields and always use The stock Relic program........ only difference between the Relic & Coin & Jewelry is that on The lower end of the VDI Scale....... foil, nickle, Pull tab Range ( this is where 95% of jewelry finds are) On the C & J program the foil, nickle, pull-tab Range is a very very low tone (kinda hard to here)

On The Relic program it's a much much higher pronounced tone ( yes I heard that ) and also the Relic program accepts a little iron for those hard to find gold chains......In the safari manual it states that jewelry hunters would favor the Relic program .......good luck