"nulling" and lost signals

[parrothead]

Went hunting today and had strange things going on, I would get a good loud hit and the try and go back to find it and it was gone, This happened all day long. Also The machine would "null" out all the time. I know there was lots of iron in the ground, is that the cause?
Was in pattern #1 with 99 tones and sens set at 18. Any thoughts would be great.

HH

 

[BarnacleBill]

If there is lot's of iron then not centering over a target(iron) will give a momentary high tone report. But on another swing of the coil you may center over the iron and it will null out since you are in Pattern 1 with iron notched out. Go to AM momentarily by hitting the AM button and give a listen.

HH
BarnacleBill

 

[tony (Orlando FL)]

Next time this happens to you, simply switch to all metal and check the pile of dirt you have already dug as well as the hole. Chances are iron was maybe fooling you. By having it disc'd out and once the ground was disturbed, the iron/rust halo was broken up and the small piece of iron could no longer fool the detector.

If you get a few of these signals in the future, the way I used to deal with it was to pinpoint the target and then pierce the soil at least once or twice with the shovel or probe and then recheck the target location. If the target is now gone, it most likely was iron, if the target remains, dig it.

The way I have totally overcome the problem is to just learn how to deal with detecting in all metal all the time, hasnt happened since.

Best of luck
Tony

 

[Treasurechic]

Iron can give a quick high tone if the ground is full of it, I have gotten signals that read 45-48 on my 505 the more I swung over them the more they changed from 9-45 thats when I know its iron. If its a good target the Xterra wont stop signalling till you dig it! turning down the sense seems to help or even trying to re-balance. I always rebalance when going from field to woods etc. anytime the situation changes.

 

[Goes4ever]

yep it was iron, I am surprised it was that bad with sensitivity that low

 

[Digger]

That is exactly what I was talking about in a post I made yesterday in regard to jumping numbers. http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,1088868,1089850#msg-1089850 JMHO HH Randy

 

[Jackpine Savage]

n/t

 

[drdetecto]

Iron

 

[dignit]

Answer to your first question: Absolutely "YES". I agree with Tony (orlandoFL) for his suggestions, because this has also worked well for me. Those false signals have happened to me on any type of soil from black dirt to the saltiest of the saltwater beaches, with a heavy gravel and sand mix where I am at. Most of the time I get a false 48 signal (max upper range indicator) for rusty nails and deteriorating metal twist caps, then jumps right to the lower end range (minimum range where you get a disappointing "thunk" in your headphones) indicating iron content. You can notch out the 48 and minimum low end readings to get what you are looking for. Remember that you will have to scan the "null" blanks a little slower to pick out the "good" from the "bad". Your best bet is to go all metal mode, and slow down, pick your targets.