Not Feeling the C$ Mojo

[Cal_Cobra]

I met up with a MD guru Monterey Bay yesterday that's been MD'ing for over 30 years, and I gotta tell you I can empathize with the guy here that made the comment that he wanted to wrap his C$ around a tree.

We started off in turf area next to the Presidio (c. late 1700's) where a side walk had been razed which was showing good old age signs (found a harmonica reed, old oil lamp part, etc) and he wanted to check it before we hit the beach. The C$ was getting some kind of electro-magnetic interference, I might as well have been trying to detect beer cans in the trees, as the C$ was going crazy, even with the coil four feet in the air the TID was going all over the place like it was possesed. I finally got it to settle down a little bit by switching from the 8" coil to the 6" coil and dropping the SENS to like 1/2, but it was essentially unusable, and he was getting good targets with his Minelab Explorer.

Then we headed to the beach, and it performed better then it did the last time I took it to the beach, but It had tons of false positives. I tried a ton of different variables (low SENS, Salt On/Off, variable thresh, etc), and got it to settle down (although still got lots of false positives) but it was no match for his Minelab Explorer. On a positive note, we were in a hole filled with coins, and I was able to submerse the coil in the salt water, which I initially figured the C$ would freak out on once it went in the drink, but it didn't.

Then he took me to an old turf field whereas if you could detect at 8" + you had a good chance of finding older silver coins as he'd found several in the past in the 8" + depth. I initially had more issues with electro-magnetic interference, and I moved to a different area of the field and it stabilized. I used the 8" coil, and it seemed that 6" in depth was about the best I could muster up. He would find targets with his Minelab and I 'd check them with the C$ and anything over 6" was almost undetected, or so faint I would've passed over them (even scrubbing the grass). The most stable setting it would take was 620 (with nothing notched out). Maybe the 10.5" coil was the answer here to keep up with the Minelab.

I wasn't feeling the C$ love, I want so bad to understand this machine but its dam discouraging, especially when I'm fiddling around with settings at each site, while my friend with his Minelab is out there swinging and digging


A couple of questions.

In the old field it wasn't that trashy, would I have been able to gain depth by going in AM mode, and using the 10.5" coil ?

I had a local Whites dealer tell me he had a C$ for about a year and although he felt it had potential, he had too many issues with interference, and gave up on it. I guess there's no setting you can use that'll effectively combat with electro-magnetic interference ?

I really want to beach hunt, but I'm starting to think this may well be the wrong machine for that. I'd really like to hear some suggestions from folks who successfully beach hunted with the C$.

When is that F70 coming out ?

 

[Mr.Bill]

I can't begin to figure out what's happening from what you just said. At least with out knowing the exact settings you had, at the exact moment. It may sound screwy, but it's near imposable to accurately diagnose what is going on, or not going on from here.

First thing, the Coinstrike needs a fast sweep. That is a must. If you were sweeping as slow as the Minelab guy was, that was half of your problem. In good ground with the 8" coil, you should be hitting on targets in the 8" to 10" range, at least. In bad ground also almost as good.

Disc. at #99. Sens. at #5 Threshold at -20 or -30. Ground balance correctly, and tracking on. ID numbers set to average, not instant. Now with these settings it should have worked OK. Out side of a "True" electrical interference problem, if it doesn't work with this, there's a good chance there's something haywire with the detector. This last statement is purely speculation

If you wish to converse with me by phone, call me at the shop: 508-457-4805. 9:am to 7m EST.

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Hi Bill,

I had the DISC @ 99, and typically will start off with the SENS @ 5 and THRESH @ -25 and then adjust from there (higher SENS, THRESH if stable, or lower if not). The sidewalk demo was under a utility line, so that must have been the problem, as it was unstable at any setting. Even with the coil 3-4 feet in the air the TID was going crazy like it was hitting on beer cans in the trees.

The same thing happened again in another park on the same day, but where I started out at was under a utility line (again near a sidewalk), and when I moved away about 30 feet, it was fine. It seems to be really sensitive to whatever the overhead utility lines were running in Monterey. When my friend with the Minelab would hit a deep target, he'd call me over and I'd try it (I believe I had my settings set to DISC @ 99, SENS @ 6, and THRESH @ -30) and unless it was less then 8" deep, I wasn't hitting it (it couldn't detect a copper belt buckle he hit at about 12", which was fairly large, say about the size of a credit card). The soil was pretty tame, nothing with a high mineral content, black sand or anything, and not trashy. In retrospect I wish I'd tried the 10.5" coil there, but everything I've read indicated the 8" coil should be capable of 8" - 10" deep targets.

I agree for the most part on the C$ sweep speed, although if you get into an area with a lot of targets you have to slow it down to seperate them (the small coil does a great job for that).

I've not tried averaging, as I've heard it slows down the TID (which is real time when averaging isn't enabled) and have seen people question what it will actually average if there's multiple targets close by. I'll have to play around with that and see how it works with some known targets.

When does that F70 hit the streets

Thanks,
Brian

 

[BuckeyeBrad]

First off, I certainly hope he actually shut the Explorer off when you came up to recheck his targets. If not, it was ignorance at best and a cheap parlor trick at worst. You should have (and maybe you did?) tried different settings to see how they impact the signal's detectability. Every target offers the chance to see cause and effect and when you have the situation you encountered, it really is a great opportunity to try anything and everything with whatever detector you're swinging at the time.

 

[Mr.Bill]

Well it could very well have been interference from the power lines, although I have never had it affect the unit like that. Perhaps what Brad mentioned about your friend leaving his detector on while you tried to ID the target would have most certainly caused that. I wasn't even thinking about that. He would have to be 50' or so feet away from you, and it may still bother you. Sometimes you don't hear the interference that is caused for nearby detectors, you just can't go deep. Of course, that was not what happened in your case, but if he left his unit on it would certainly explain it.

 

[oneton]

What state are you in.certain soils can hender any detector,I live in Lousiana and i can run my coin$ wide open and find targets at 9-10 inches deep.My coin$ will keep up with any f75 in clay soil.Most people that has trouble with the coin$ is not using the right settings,and has less than 10 hours on it. I do not hunt salt water beaches and i think you will be better off with a different detector for salt water beaches.On land the coin$ is a deep seeker in the right soils.oneton.

 

[Mike Hillis]

The Explorer can auto noise cancel out the CS effect on the Explorer. But the CS would be stuck with the Explorer's interfering signal. You'd have to hunt some ways apart.

HH

Mike

 

[Cal_Cobra]

I'm assuming that the interference issues you guys are talking about between the Explorer and the C$ are because the Explorer is a multi-freq MD ? I didn't notice if he switched his machine off or not when I was checking his targets, but I suspect not. I doubt he was trying to hose me up, he probably didn't think about it.

It was still a fun day (I did find about 60 coins on the beach at one of his back pocket spots, no silver, but my first couple of wheaties, and a funny story as to why there's so many coins there).