need some advice about my 1225-x

[Osage]

I have a couple of questions concerning my knew 1225-x. I,m a little confused about the use of the sens. control. I know it can be useful near power lines and in highly mineralized soil. I,m in the midwest and I have not noticed the soil as being a problem even at high sens.
I,ve read that the other use would be for trashy areas like old parks. My testing reveals a drastic reduction in depth when I use the sens. Yes! I do get alot of chatter using the sense on 10 in trashy areas but it still seems like I can tell a good target. I just have to listen through the noise. I guess I don,t really understand the advantage of using low sense and losing tremendous depth reduction.

My in ground test on a quarter newly buried at 6in. returned no signal. Buried at 5 in I got a signal. I quess 5 in. would find most targets but I expected a little more depth. What experiences have others had with the depth of the 1225-x?

I will say in the last 4 weeks I have had some decent luck though. Usually hunt at 4 disc. then use disc. to determine the the usual target. I find that after experience you really can tell alot even with the single tone. Finds- 4 rings ( none of any real value ) 2 Mercs, Three Wheat's and about $10 in clad.

Have not found any coins over 5 in. though.

 

[DavHut]

I wish I had some advice. My only experience has been with a 1266X, a very different detector than yours. It had depth to spare. Im a little surpised at the lack of depth, too. I would have thought youd get better. The 1225 is a pretty basic machine though, and you may be dealing with mineralized soil, too, so there could be factors involved, as you surmise. Running at max SENS to get useful depth is not usual. Have you made sure the batteries are new?

Burying new coins and expecting the same result as you would in the field is misleading. Whether you believe in the halo effect or not, you havent duplicated conditions - and the field is a different place than a test hole.

You are correct in that you usually can tell a lot from a basic PRGORESSIVE DISC machine like yours if you work with it for awhile. One of the advantages is that you tend to dig more with such a machine. Staring at displays and using them to decide NOT to dig is really the wrong mindset, anyway - were here to recover items, not leave them behind.

Im expecting a new 1236X2 in the next week. I dont know if there are similarities or not between the two, but I hope it does more than you have seen!

 

[Jackpine Savage]

and use all the sensitivity you can stand. The 1200 series Fishers (1225, 1235, 1236X2) all have a great combination of discrimination ability (fast recovery/target seperation) and a max sensitivity or gain setting that is useable in all but the worst of conditions. If as you say you can still hear the good stuff in the noise, pops, clicks, chatter or however you want to describe it go for it because the detector can handle it seeing thru the trash/iron and letting you know something is there as you have found out. I put mucho hours on a 1236X2 when it came out and will always feel that anyone that starts out in this hobby with a Fisher 1200 series machine has a big leg up on those that opt for the quieter Target ID models. What you learn by listening and digging it all is an invaluable lesson in detecting. No matter what machine you may pick up in the future the lessons learned with a 1200 series are a great help.

Tom

 

[Osage]

David, My understanding is that the 1236-x and 1225-x should have the same depth. Maybe the soil in my yard where I checked is limiting depth. I will try another location and see.

I really have limited time on this machine and no experiance with any other detectors. Perhaps it does have better depth performance. I did read a detector performance comparison test on TreasureNet. It gave the depth on a quarter sized coin at 6.29in. with a 1235-x with an 8 in. coil. I don,t remember what the soil conditions were for the test though.

Thanks,

 

[DavHut]

Recall, too, that we are talking 8" coils here, when the standard these days is rapidly approaching 10". From what others are saying, the 1236-X2 has great depth. I can only ponder your situation.

 

[Osage]

Dang! Do I feel stupid. I performed another depth test at a differant location and got some better results. I got a loud clear responce at 6 1/2 in. at zero disc. At #4 disc. a responce but one that I needed to repeat sweep to decern a good target. At #7 disc. barely audible and one I would normaly pass. 7 in. test gave a just audible signal at zero disc. only.
This makes me appreciate the fact that performance is dependant on location when using a no ground balance detector.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Osage,I have owned and used both the 1225x and 1236x.The 1236x gets much better depth my guess the threshold ability.I know an air test doesn't give you ground performance,but my 1236x will air test a clad quarter about 13 inches with a eight inch coil and threshold tuned.The pinpointing I think is better on the 1236x.

 

[AllenOK]

Is that as you increase the Disc., you loose depth.

I still have my old 1235X. It's a great competition unit, and for beginners. I keep it mainly in the hope that one of my kids will show an interest.

HH from Allen in OK

 

[Osage]

Yes! When I increase disc. it loses depth. When I did an air test I could not see the decrease as much. Ground test shows a loss.
Thanks for the correction on 1236-x2 and 1225-x. Sounds like the 1236-x2 would be a good one to have.

Thanks,

 

[DavHut]

...It's likely best to consider the 1236X2 and the 1225-X as "beep and dig" detectors, in the main. Set it at foil DISC and have at it. If it beeps smoothly, then dig. Cranking that DISC way up only brings other worries.

"Oh my God, I'll find tabs and other trash if I do THAT!" you might be saying. All I can say is, "So?"

It's not the end of the world and trash tends to give itself away after you learn how your detector reacts to it, in my experience. These signals are subtle, admittedly, but they are still there. Keep in mind that most if not all detectors are designed around coins as their main target. Coins almost always give good smooth signals... junk gives trashy, inconsistent signals, normally.

Of course you will do some knob twiddling, especially in trashy areas, but the beep/dig concept is first with these detectors. Honestly, after peering at meters and fiddling with menus for a while now, I find the idea of returning to that method as refreshing. I'm looking forward to the thing.

 

[Bob Stephens]

This past year was the first year that I really took the "dig it all" approach and it was my best year ever for finding some nice gold jewellery. I have two beep and dig machines - the Aquanaut 1280 and the Fisher 1270. True, I dig a lot more junk with them but I also dug my best ever gold pieces with the 1280 both on land and in water. With my recently acquired 1270, I dug some older large cents and nitro gold (gold plated) pieces. I've got a 1236 coming in spring to join the Fisher stable and I'm looking forward to using it in some of the trashiest iron sites I can find.

I set the DISC at a low enough level (usually 2 1/2 or 3) and the SENS to about 6 and then dig every clear signal that comes up, even if it's one way. I was amazed at what I've been missing over the years and will adopt that style of hunting for future as well. I've also got a CZ-5 which has the meter and tones but I'll be digging it all with this machine too, especially the round and square tabs plus the foil.

Gotta love this hobby!

Best Regards and Happy Hunting.

Bob and Louise. Hamilton.

 

[DavHut]

...I wish every detector had. You could dispense with the rest, IMHO.