Not Hearing Deep Signals in Trashy Parks

[Anonymous]

Hi Guys!
I am testing my explorer xs in a park where the targets are 4 to 7 inches apart. I use the 7.5 inch coil. My rate of swing is about 1 foot per 2 seconds. My problem is that I am not hearing any faint signals for deep targets in the park. Everything I hear are targets down to about 2.5 inches. All of the close shallow targets seem to be masking any deep targets. Here are my park settings:
smart find operation
iron mask -14
manual sensitivity 13
gain 6
variability 8
limits 10
sound = conduct
option = advanced
response = normal
recover = fast
deep = on
I went to my test garden and found that if I put a 2 inch nail on the surface of the ground, I will not hear a mercury dime at a depth of 6 inches if that nail is closer than 6 inches (horizontal distance) to the dime. I put a 2 inch nail on the surface of the ground. About 4 inches away from the nail was a mercury dime I had buried at 6 inches. I swept over them and only heard the nail (sensitivity = 13). I took the nail away, swept, and heard nothing. I turned sensitivity up to 20, swept, and barely heard the six inch deep dime. I again added the nail on the surface. Again the nail completely blocked the silver signal. I then turned off iron mask and swept. Only the nail registered. If I put the nail about 6 inches away from the dime, I could finally hear the dime and the nail.
I really like the explorer in areas where the targets are at least a foot apart. It really kicks ass with depth and sound recognition. Parks with target distances of less than six inches screw up my depth ability. Do you guys think I should simply stay out of trashy areas like this park?
Thanks--Mike

 

[Anonymous]

Good questions Mike I hope some of the Pro users answer this one, would like to know for myself.

 

[Anonymous]

was swinging at our local trash park and got a funny sound just befor a null went around the target a few times and it would happen at almost the same point every time.
I dug down about a 6 inch plug and swept the hole only got the null checked the plug and there was a signal, pinpointed with the probe and in the bottom of the plug was a 36 merc.
I think you might need to turn your gain up to around 8 it might make a differance.
I was running sens 20 gain 8 audio 1 and had just turned fast off and had deep only with Iron mask -14
I should say that I have a junk coil, I put to close to heater last weekend and it sorta did a melt down on me all twisted and warped with holes all over, got a new one on the way already.
Charlie

 

[Anonymous]

Mike Im no expert but, I have used my Exp. for around 8 mo. As far as your settings go I think you need to increase your sensitivity some, say up to around 20-25 manual if the ground will allow it. Also if hearing the deep targets are a problem you might increase your gain form 6 to 8 or more. On the iron mask setting of -14 its plenty low, you are almost in all metal. The iron testing you are doing with the coin being 6" deep and the nail being on the top of the ground is throwing the detector a curve, I dont think any detector would detect a coin in these conditions and ignore the nail, on the other hand if the nail was also buried at around the same depth as the coin I think you could then pick out the coin if you scanned from different directions and angels. Sometimes I try and use just the tip of my coil to detect the target and approach the target from different directions and can detect the coin. Detecting in iron is tough, iron produces the best halo of all tragets, unfortunately, yet silver produces very little halo even after long periods in the ground, and gold produces no halo at all. Like I said im no expert, but I do fairly well in trashy sites using these methods. HH
Jerry Murphy

 

[Anonymous]

take a few moments of there time and comment on this I would also like to here there comments..

 

[Anonymous]

If I were hunting the same type park (with the small coil) in my area this would be my set up.
smart find operation
iron mask -8
manual sensitivity 28
gain 10
variability factory
limits 10
sound = conduct
option = advanced
response = normal
recover = fast & deep

 

[Anonymous]

ok first off I have to say that targets 4-7" apart is really not all that bad of trash!How old is the park?.....are you pretty certain that the deep targets are there? Then put your gain on 7-8.I leave on 7.Also I run ferrous myself with no trouble from iron and sense at 20-28 the norm manual.It does not sound right when you say "I will not hear a mercury dime at a depth of 6 inches if that nail is closer than 6 inches (horizontal distance) to the dime" when you sweep from all directions the xs will no doubt pick up that dime....move around the target slowly,also slow down to a snail crawl and see how it helps inbetween the trash so it can recover enough. Trashey areas are some of the best to recover nice finds from without a doubt so I would not give up either.another thing you did not say is how long you have been useing the xs..... maybe give yourself a break and start in a cleaner area for the tones and such to catch on and use your setting a little each time till you hit a limit and go from there.Then last but not least at times it is a good idea to clean some of the trash off the top if you can to get the better stuff below...Im not saying did every bad target.....BUT dig some of them to see just what is down there and go from there.You can also cover a small area from every direction to give yourself the advantage of getting inbetween the trash........good luck and HH Bri

 

[Anonymous]

The smaller coil can take higher sens. and gain settings? thanks Ev

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

Hi Guys!
Thanks for the great help. I will carefully read all of your responses many times and do exactly as you have told me.
I have been using the explorer xs for about 2 weeks. I feel confident in my metals garden. But I admit that when I get into a trashy environment, I am unsure of most signals. I will continue practicing by digging any signal that sounds good (after I get the x1 target probe!)
Mike

 

[Anonymous]

If you're in an area where you know old coins have been found it's important to investigate "any" sounds (even little tiks, nulls, etc). This can be even tougher when it is trashy but if you want the deep/old stuff it's the price you have to pay.
Once you get a response, as someone mentioned below, you slow down some more and circle the target to try to get a better response. Usually if you have nearby trash this will isolate the target better and your signal will improve if it's a good target.
If the area is a good area for old finds, over time (even months or years), I'll criss-cross it at 90 degrees, then 45 degrees, etc because trash can hide the target if you swing the coil in one direction only but "usually" not in all directions.
You have to be pretty patient to go after the old stuff these days.
Good luck and HH ... Gord.

 

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[Anonymous]

First off let me say don't take test garden results too seriously.. I also agree with Brian, that you gotta make sure you sweep the ground from all directions as it may be that you will only hear a good target near iron or trash from one angle of attack.
If theres lots of iron use ferrous audio. I also think you should run the sens higher into the 20's at least, only lowering it if in a constant iron null.. Another thing when hunting in trash that not only should you be sweeping slowly, you should also cut down on the left to right length.. ie., If you get into a null from iron try sweeping slowly left to right but every 6 inches or so make a small motion back to the left over that 6 inches you just covered..like sweeping very small areas throughout your sweep.. the explorer requires time to analyze a target and just one slow sweep of it may not give a response.. however a sweep immediately to the opposite direction directly over it will mosttimes give you an indication of a target, then you can work that iffy target area with very close left to right quick sweeps while circling the are at the same time..if you get the blade directly over the target with quick short left right motions it will sometimes lock right in.
Hard to explain but more like many small sweeps within one larger one, then after covering it from one direction, then hit the same area from other angles the same way.. It takes a bit of time but will pick stuff up that you might never hear otherwise. If the trash is non ferrous its the same, but since the explorer will tend to target average, you have to listen for a tell tale change of tone off the ends of the target.. another thats hard to explain in writting, but after digging a few of the ones your not sure of, you tend to pick them out of the many other tones you might hear..
Now with all that said, let me add that iron will mess up all machines, and I think most would be suprised how much even a small piece of iron can hide targets below it, but dont give up on the explorer in trash, especially iron,.. its one of the best for sniffing the good stuff from it. It may sound like a lot of effort, but how much effort I put into hunting a site depends on how good I feel the site has finds that are worth it.
I would make sure you turn deep off if in iron, and run fast only, gain I run at 7 in iron/trash.. too high and iron falses may get too loud to recognize.
Variability should always be 10 in my opinion
Run your threshould tone at the lowest audible setting and at the lowest tone. run in ferrous in iron and listen for high tones that differ from iron falses or give medium tones..

 

[Anonymous]

the ~wiggle~ inbetween the trash and a few things more in depth <IMG SRC="/forums/images/wink.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">.....HH....Bri