Nothing Really Changed in Twenty Years

[Anonymous]

In about 1984, I hung up my 80s metal detectors, put away my digging tools and quit coinhunting after about 14 years of really fun and successful hunting (and finding). Now, after retirement from the 8 to 5 job, and reading some of the glowing reports about the Explorer XS, I decided it might be time to get a

 

[Anonymous]

Maybec somebody already been to your spots with an explorer, while you been waiting <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=""> I found quite a bit from my pounded spots after getting the explorer, and that was at sites with modern machines.. you should just keep learning the machine.. keep the coil flat on the ground.. if you were getting a depth reading of 6 inches on a 2 inch penny, you musta been holding the coil too high off the ground

 

[Anonymous]

No, the coil was as close to the ground as I could get it (brushing the grass).
I just checked my Indian head penny, here on the bench, and the depth indicator seems to be reasonably accurate on an air test.
BTW, at a Semi-Auto Sensitivity of 21, the Indian head can be detected at about 6.5 inches (air test), but I doubt that little warble of a signal would ever be something that anyone would dig, since trash items can sound the same way. Between about 6.5 and 7 inches, the sound nulls to quiet when you pass the coin in front of the coil, just like a piece of iron would do. At greater than 7 inches there is no signal at all. This is with the 8" coil.
Perhaps my unit is defective... but I seriously doubt it.

 

[Anonymous]

If you found coins from the 1800's or early 1900's in this park with your old detector, and no one else has cleaned out the park with an Explorer, then there are still old coins to be found there. If the oldest coins you ever found in this park with your old detector were mercury dimes and wheat pennies, then the park might not be old enough to have the oldies, and you may have cleaned the more recent coins out of it already. Like Jim, I too have been able to go to locations that I had previously hunted to death, and have been able to pull out lots more old coins, but these have been at sites where I was able to get a few older coins with my old detectors. The coil should be brushing against the grass. I have seen some hunters whose coil never even makes contact with the grass. They are passing over many coins, and don't know it. Personally, I like to hunt in the digital mode, and dig anything that registers 22-30, and is 6 inches or deeper. There are sometimes after switching to pinpoint mode I can tell it is something much larger than a coin, and I don't always bother digging those targets. I have pulled up some seated dimes this summer in the 10-12 inch+ range, and some Indian Head cents close to the same. I don't swing my Explorer near as fast as I did my old detectors. Try slowing down. Hope this helps. Believe me, the Explorer is much better than any old machine you have setting around! Be patient, you'll get the hang of it. HH, Doug

 

[Anonymous]

Stick with it. It takes 2 to 3 weeks of hunting everyday with it to get to understand it.
I agree with you on the depth meter. If it says 6 inches it's probably in the plug (about 2 to 3 inches).
I dont dig anything shallower than 6 inches on the meter.
I can tell you for a fact this machine goes deeper than any other. I'm getting silver dimes 11 inches deep on edge with it at hunted out spots.
Sweep slow, use the iron mask, Dig high pitched signals only at first until you get used to the machine.You'll be fooled by a rusty nail or bolt once in a while but I swear you'll love it when you get used to it.
Hang in there. Dont get discouraged. It's a tough machine to learn.I went to a park this morning with 3 guys with explorers and we all got skunked.
Went to a second worked out park and found a silver nickle, 2 mercs, and an 1875 seated dime.
All well into the 10 inch range.
Sweep slow, bypass all of the lower signals, don't dig anything on the meter under 6 inches and try several sites. Some sites could be hunted out if they were hit in the 60s and 70s when the coins weren't that deep.
I think you'll have success if you're patient and give it a chance.
Good luck.
Tony

 

[Anonymous]

See my Explorer 101 post a few lines down. 5 months ago I was doing just what you are doing and getting the same results, junk and clad and more junk.
But that was then and this is now. I think the seated half dime I found today puts me up around 140 silvers since the end of July and I have at least 100 IH's.
Note on the depth meter, if the target is not directly under the center of the coil, but more out towards the front or back, the depth reading will be off. Move forward and back as you sweep and watch your depth change.
Also, really small items and foil often give off a false depth, no trick to fix that but otherwise the stock coil is pretty accurate. The smaller coils are not callobrated, like the Joey and 8 inch, you have to subtract about 3 inches from the depth reading. Same goes for the large 15 inch WOT coil.
Hang it there, the Explorer is awesome.

 

[Anonymous]

When you air test, try it with a piece of iron (a washer about the same size of the coin) and a good target in close proximinity.
After you do that, punch IRON MASK and reduce it to -16. Change your audio to FERROUS. Press DETECT. Now air test again.
If you experience is like mine, this will be an eye opener. The XS is a very, very conservative machine - the discrimination will almost certainly keep you from digging trash, but often at the cost of good targets near trash.
Today I dug a 1906 nickle at about 4 inches. Not too impressive, but it had 4 pieces of iron in the same hole and more all around it. If you <i>listen</i> to the machine, you will find happiness with it. The XS can cut through iron and mineralized soil like a scalpel, but you are going to have to do the surgery.
Hope this helps!
Tim

 

[Anonymous]

I read that earlier post of yours, but missed the fact that you changed the machine to ferrous sound. I just re-read it, and I'll try your recommendation. Tnx

 

[Anonymous]

4th time out with my explorer, 2 mercs, 3 buffalo nickels, I indian head, and 1 wheatie...plus 1 clad quarter and dime from an area that has been pounded to death. Just think if I knew how to use it...Had to admit learning period is involved with this unit and I have used em all, but you post is ridiculous to say the least....wait till I learn to use it...Been hunting in the start mode...

 

[Anonymous]

You should go detecting with someone who has experience with the Explorer. When I first got mine I would have wrapped it around a tree if I did not have help from a friend. When I am in a trashey area I use my Silver Mask which is all black except the upper right one third of the screen. This yields only coins and some larger iron items. I use Ferrous sounds on auto Sens untill I get a deep sounding target that will not repeat, than switch to Manual to see if it will repeat. When I used the XLT I would stay away from picnic tables because of the trash. Now with the Explorer I run to the picnic tables because I can pull silver out from the trash. Your depth error could be some smaller piece of junk above the coin or below it that is thrownig off the reading. I still end the day with a lot of trash because I can not help myself from digging the unusual targets that are not quite up to snuff.
Go back out and try an old ball field or a school playground. Good Luck, Bud

 

[Anonymous]

[No message]

 

[Anonymous]

YEP, THE ONLY THING THAT HAS'TN CHANGED IN 20 YEARS IS YOU, THANK GOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE YOU, LEAVES MORE STUFF FOR US....

 

[Anonymous]

The Explorer takes time for some to get used to it, some are used to the older detectors that told you when to dig with just a beep or increase in threshold. Now the Explorer will tell you whats in the ground with all the tones it makes, so the first thing to do is learn what these tones all mean, next to dig repeatable signals that you can get from more than one angle.
The biggest mistake I have seen is many dont take the time to learn the Explorer and sell it before they understand it.
If you want a easy detector to learn the Explorer isnt the one to use, but if you have the patience the Explorer WILL get the coins others have missed.
I have a old park that has been hit hard since early 70s and still to this day, but most will not hunt it because even new is hard to find, but the Sovereigns and Explorers have been finding seated, IH,V Nickle and Buffalos plus a few merc too. There even has been 2 Cap Bust dime found with the Explorers in this park too. Depth wise has been from 3 inches to 12 inches with many with junk in the same hole.
I have had my Explorer for 2 years now and I still have problems understanding some of it, but I have been impressed with some of the finds it has found and at depth that is unbeleiveable.
I find the depth meter not too accruate if the targets is 4 or less inches, but when it is over half way down on the gauge is where i find it accrate.
Many good tips other have given you, just take some time to use some of them and learn the detector. Just remember not everyone is finding all deep and old coins, many are having a tought time too and only after they understand the Explorer and with some experience they start getting them.
I too was ready to give up on mine as my Minelab Sovereign was always doing better for me untill I tried some differnt setting and seen what the Explorer can realy do.
Have patience, go slow and listen to repeatable signals you can get in more than one way.
Good luck.
Rick

 

[Anonymous]

I noticed that nobody asked you what area of the country you live in. Maybe someone in your area that owns an explorer can get together with you and help. If you haven't hunted in the last 20 yrs. the explorer is an awsome task to take on. It is nothing like the machines of 20 yrs. ago. It is nothing like the machines of 5 yrs. ago. The first 50 hrs on the machine is the hardest. It usually takes at least that much time just to start to understand what it is saying. I also have the old machines hanging on the wall in the basement. The latest wall hanger being a GTI 1500. The explorer xs is the most advanced machine on the market today. Don't give up on it, use it and learn it and you will be amazed at the things it will find for you. My last machine was a cz-5. Since traded for a lap top computer. The cz found me 21 silvers the last yr. I used it. This year my exp. has found 140 plus silvers. That is 7x the silver coins found by the other machine. This tells me that I made the right choice in the upgrade. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">
HH BiLL IL

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input, Tim.
I spent quite a little time doing the air test you recommended. I put in what I would call a medium tight coin program, and then tried running the coil over a trash target a few inches away from a good silver target.
I got the same results you described. The trash target completely masked the good target (this was true 20 years ago too).
Next, I adjusted the XS like you and Charles (posting below) suggested, where you run with the Iron Mask turned on and adjusted to -16. Again, I got the same results you suggested, where the good target would now register as a signal (sort of) in the upper 1/3 or 1/4 of the display.
Pretty interesting experiment... (I like it when I get the same results that someone else has experienced).
However, if this is the mode of operation that makes the machine useble, and able to find the good targets in the heavy trash areas, --that's great, but it leaves me in a serious quandary and with a rather interesting question.
When you employ this mode of operation, doesn't that NEGATE and completely DEFEAT the whole idea of being able to use and store custom programs involving unique areas of ACCEPT and REJECT? Maybe I'm missing something here (obviously), but I thought one of the technology advancements of the XS was the ability to program and tailor the machine to a myriad of different discrimination patterns. Or, is this idea only possible in non-trashy areas?
Seems like your suggested mode of operation will net more good targets, but it also turns the machine into an All-Metal detector, where the operator must do all of the discrimination with his ears and an occasional glance at the display. I'm not sure, but I think there is "...something wrong with this picture...", based on the money spent and the way we must utilize the machine. What am I not understanding?

 

[Anonymous]

Ridiculous??? Hmmmmmmmm...
Naturally there is a learning curve involved, I expected that, the same as there was with any of the machines now long gone (Gardiner, D-Tex, Compass, A.H. Pro or any of the Whites and Garretts).
I guess for the money invested, and the twenty odd years of technical advancements and integrated computer chips, I wouldn't have expected the learning curve to get longer and more difficult, rather it should've gotten shorter and easier. Guess I was expecting too much.
BTW, you didn't say how much junk you had to dig in relation to your good finds.
My first trip out was with the machine set in the Coin Quickstart mode too, and I don't remember when I ever dug so many rusted pop bottle caps and zip-tabs. Probably the last time I unearthed that many bottle caps was with one of Charlie Garrett's first BFO machines... that was a long time ago.

 

[Anonymous]

Rosario,
With the advancement of detectors everyone wanted more depth and with this we have more sensitive detectors. Now we know that a more sensitive detector will give us more depth, but also more good signal on trash. The secret is being able to tell the difference and this is where the tones, the repeatable of the target and the size comes into the picture. It takes time to understand it and some of the seting we read about will work for that person and may not for you, so fist you have to understand it and then use the features it has to offer to make it work for you.
I work exclusivly worked out parks this summer and I do dig alot of trash and rusty nails, but unless i am sure it is trash I will dig as I dont want to take a chance of missing a good target. This goes expecialy if the target is deep.
My settings I do the best with being nails fool me at most old parks is, I have the Sensitivity at 24-28 in manual, the sounds on Ferrios and the gain up to 10 with the response at fast with normal audio and go slow and listen. I also have a pattern made up that has the top opened up for a half inch down all the way to where Iron mask at a -10 would be and the rest blacked out. I also have the area open where nickle will read using the learn mode, I still get a lot of pulltabs tails and other pieces of alum, but nickle have been reading little lower than the the junk does. This helps me alot in trashier areas, other wise I use Iron mask at a -10 for the cleaner areas and go by the tones and how they sound.
Just look at the finds being found with the Explorer, most are beleive are found in areas other have cleaned the easy coins out of and others have given up on. Normal detectors get no signal on them, but the Explorer give the signals and with the info it give us we decide to dig and retreive them. Some may be junk while others are the deep old coins that would not have been found if not for the Explorer.
Take time to learn it and remember it is not like the detector we used back in the 70s. I remember detectors with no disc at all and we had to rely on only the sound and size of the target, now with the Explorer we are doing the same only with a lot more depth and with more sensitivity and a lot less signal of junk. Many detector tell us what to dig and what not to, but both the Sovereign and the Explorer tells us the info and we decide what we feel is good and what is bad.
Good luck.
Rick

 

[Anonymous]

Rosario -
The point of my post was that by tightening your discrimination, you were worsing the situation rather than improving it. The tighter discrimination is super for finding a target that will not be masked by iron. Basically, that means something that was lost recently or in an area that has a limited amount of trash.
One thing that no one has mentioned, is that you can improve performance by setting the recovery mode to FAST. The detector will come off the discrimination masking a lot quicker. A lot of fellows hunt in that mode almost exclusively.
Now, you were asking what the point of discrimination was if you had to run in all metal mode. First off, most folks prefer an iron mask mode of -10 or so. Another thing that many do is to take the medium cursor and then disciminate a cursor line across the bottom - this kills all the foil and thin trash (you will also loose the thinner ladies rings).
The strength of the Explorer isn't discimination - it is target identification. Once you find a good target, you can wiggle the coil over it and eventually get a solid target it. Once you know what the positions of the crosshairs mean, you will be digging the good targets and not the trash. And you know what, THAT is discrimination.
I have been detecting with Explorer for about 2 months now. A lot. I am just now really turning the corner on how to get the most out of the machine. You seem like a very methodical fellow and I think that you are going to do great once you set aside your expectations and discover that you have a lot more detector in your hands than you had anticipated.
For me, recovering a coin in an area that is both difficult to work and has been gone over by a lot of people is very rewarding. If the machine just did it, well, that would be cool, but knowing that it was the machine combined with my ability to operate it makes it even more fun.
Here is good cluster of settings that I used for a long time:
sensativity 24 (or less, depending on noise)
iron mask -10 to -12
FAST recovery
Audio 2
Varibility 10
Gain 7 or 8
Ferrous sounds
As you grow accustomed to this, you will likely find yourself dropping the iron mask lower to check targets. Eventually, you may tire of adjusting it and just run it wide open.
Use it and go find some oldies. Once you have some success, even just a little bit, it becomes a lot less frustrating <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">
The reason for the modest sensativity setting... The DEPTH indicator becomes a lot less accurate once you pass 24. (It isn't very accurate anyhow, especially on shallow targets.) It will also cut down on some ghosting and still gets way, way down there.
Finally, that 10.5 coil is nice - it runs deep! But if you are working a trashy site, the 8 inch coils (either Sun Ray's straight 8" or Minelab's 7.25") will let you use a lot more discrimination and still get the good stuff. Having the proper tool for the job at hand is always a good thing.
Tim

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the settings, Tim, I'll give them a try next time out.
Just got back from several hours in an old park and an old schoolground that used to produce some really nice old coins (Barber stuff and Indians).
Got a handful of black clad stuff, most of which was hardly below the surface of the grass, and my usual take of aluminum screw caps.
I did decide to dig what I knew as going to be a Buffalo nickel, at about 6"... turned out to be the end of a 16 gauge shotgun shell. That was my thrill for the afternoon. (I sure hope my wife never finds out what I paid for this thing.)

 

[Anonymous]

I still contend that one of the main selling features of the XS is the capability of programming, and storing away for future use, the specialized discrimination masks (programs). If the instrument really can't effectively be used in this manner, to a great advantage over the All-metal machines of a bygone era, ---I wonder what the point was in providing this feature?