Newbie with Edge question

[catclan]

Hi,

I bought the Edge for Xmas and I never used a metal detector before. I've read the manual several times and am using it in oC and always ground balance before hunting.

I'm searching in my own yard in St. Louis, our house was built in 1880, and have found lots of trash and quite a few old pennies.

My question is this, the the Edge frequently indicates +36, but when I dig I don't find silver, in fact the only silver I've found so far is a nickel. Am I doing something wrong? Why does +36 appear so often in oC?

Any advise would be appreciated,

Regina

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Hi Regina,

Welcome to the hobby of metal detecting! Based on the age of your home (I wish mine was that old) there is more than likely quite a bit of iron in the ground which is giving the +36 readings. It is a fact that certain types of iron will read at the highest numbers on all ID machines. If you look at the ID numbers which run from -36 up to +36 on the Edge as a being on a circular graph -36 is actually next to +36 and that is the problem. The magnetic properties of iron make it read with negative numbers but iron takes on conductive properties too. Combine the magnetic and conductive properties and thats when you get those darn +36 readings! Fortunately you can learn to recognize most of the iron that does this fairly easily. Normally with the new Fishers you should be seeing a mixed reading if its an iron target, if the screen shows bouncing readings of say -35 -36/+36 it is more than likely iron. Also, passing the edge of the coil over the target should give you the iron reading. During normally searching be sure to keep your coil sweep smooth and controlled, speeding up or slowing down when sweeping or even changing coil height can cause many false audio hits when hunting in iron infested sites.

It takes time and experience to hunt iron effectively and some take to it faster than others. You have one of the better trash machines made so stick with it and don't be discouraged if you don't see the results you expected right away.

HH Tom

 

[catclan]

Thanks Tom, your explanation makes perfect sense. My Edge is registering so many negative numbers in my yard that I can hardly find a spot to do the ground balance and the numbers are hopping around a lot and I'm getting OL quite a bit. I have found several big pieces of iron that look like rail spikes.

I guess I'll have to clean out some of the iron to get to the goodies.

Thanks again,

Regina

 

[OldeTymer]

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[catclan]

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[OldeTymer]

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