Ok to be lazy with the LTD?

[cometguy]

Well, this probably isn't the place to admit it, but I was lazy with the LTD last night. I was hunting an old area where I had found lots of Indiana heads and silver over the years. I haven't got a lot of time in on the LTD and I find myself carrying two detectors along and defaulting to the CZ3 d a lot. Last night I set up the LTD for maximum scream, high sensitivity, low disc and went after the field. After ten or fifteen minutes I realized that it was wearing me down pretty quick. I dropped the sensitivity, stayed in bp and raised the disc to 5. It airtested a quarter at over 12 inches but ran quiet and smooth. I hit a lot of small targets and nailed an 1880 Indiana head at nine inches that screamed even with the coil two or three inches off of the ground.
I guess that combination was what I needed to get a full hunt in with the LTD. I picked up a 1912 wheat, a '58 nickel. and a cool antique broach. My lesson for myself is I don't have to run the LTD screaming hot to find cool things.

HH, Don

 

[chuck ky]

what did you lower the sensitivity to. i haven't got to use mine much. isn't 5 disc. where you get the extra boost. seems like even in bp that when i get to 5 or 50 disc. i start getting the extra chatter from the built in boost. thanks.

 

[chuck ky]

n/t

 

[gmanlight]

Actually it is good of you to post here . The fact that you don't have to Red Line the tachometer to
get a great ride out of the LTD is good to know. Mental fatigue equals missed targets .

 

[Elusion]

What did the indian head penny VID at? When I air tested I think I was getting high 50's, something I might pass up unless I knew I was in indian territory.

 

[cometguy]

The Indian hit hard 50's with a bounce to 60. Since the Indiana head is one of my favorites and it was so deep, I was pretty happy. This is where they hit on my F70 too.
The great thing was the signal strength. It pulled me in from a close sweep and just rang out. I was running bp and my sensitivity was at about 75. The ground balance numbers
were in the 60s. I just need to get more time in with the LTD. I dialed it back to get a quieter machine but still hit a lot of targets and brought home some good stuff.

 

[NamVetLesTreasureSeeker]

Hey Cometguy, How many TONES were you using? I've had mine out (4) TIMES in the past month, and MENTAL FATIQUE is really starting to get to me!!
I have been using 4-H TONES, with 50-60 Sens; bp Mode with 21 Discrim., and the GB was 80 + 2 the last time OUT!! THANKS, Les
Robinson

 

[DKinPA]

Don I don't know if I'd even consider that being lazy......maybe just an attempt at sanity!! I only have about 22 hours on my LTD thus far but I can tell you that running 0 Disc and a screaming sensitivity level is not going to be a regular occurrence for me. Most of my hunting is parks and ball fields and I can't believe the amount of signals this machine picks up when I try to run the Disc at 0. It sounds like a tommy gun going off in my headphones and I quickly reach maximum patience level with all the noise. The last two trips out I ran the Disc at 4 and the sensitivity at 60-65, I had a minor amount of extraneous noise but an amount that was OK to deal with. This past week while running at these settings I hit a signal that was solid in both directions and was hitting a consistent mid to high 60's on the screen, I changed the Disc to 50 and rechecked the signal and it stayed as solid as before. I was curious what the sensitivity change would do, the target pinpointed at 8" and I would say it was real close to that when I reached it. It was a wheat cent slightly tilted.
When I reach a quiet (non-trashy) area that will allow me to, I will run the LTD as hot as I can for stability but I will always run it stable and I will no longer be afraid to crank up the disc in a trashy park. I do know that all the coins I found so far have been found in specific areas that I have hunted for the last 4 years with other machines....co-incidence? I think not, I really think there is something wonderful about this machine! Can't wait for spring to arrive so I can hit ALL my old haunts with the LTD and see what else I left behind!

Good Luck and HH

Dave

 

[cometguy]

I am a big fan of the CZ3 so four tone seems logical to me. I ran 5 disc and had sensitivity of about 75 when I started. I got to the far side of the property and started getting some EMI talk. It wasn't so bad that you couldn't work through it, but I was tired of the noise. I went down to about 55 or 60 sensitivity and was still hitting the few coins I found hard. The wheat cent was at least 8 inches and tilted. The nickel was more shallow. I also snagged a cool old broach or pin with a huge cut stone.
I guess my thought it run what you can stand and dig what you hear. Maybe after we clear an area out it will be quieter when we go back cranked up. I did run a yard the day before in the disc 6, all metal two tone. I dug by vdi and pulled three or four coins after of a lot of nasty iron. I almost feel like we need qb wrist bands to keep our programs on so we can remember what we want to try.

HH, Don

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Disc settings of 5- through -20 (5-20) are reduced depth/sensitiviry settings.......but, in trade for better/more stable operation.

 

[cometguy]

Wow Cal,
You know we hear these things, read these things, but it easy to forget the magic numbers. Are these things that people have discovered or is there a listing of these
characteristics somewhere? I am pretty certain that I could stand running disc 4. Just this one number change would keep me in the better depth/sensitivity range?
I hope you have a chance to answer these questions. I know there are a lot of people who don't have much time in on the LTD. I think most of us can tell it is special, but need some help getting everything to fall into place.

Thanks, Don

 

[boxofchocolates]

Don I'm having good success with my f75ltd also even if its cranked down for good stability.....this is not a boring machine ......so many things you can do with it.......hh.......God Bless.......Dan

 

[Cal_Cobra]

Wow Cal,
You know we hear these things, read these things, but it easy to forget the magic numbers. Are these things that people have discovered or is there a listing of these
characteristics somewhere? I am pretty certain that I could stand running disc 4. Just this one number change would keep me in the better depth/sensitivity range?
I hope you have a chance to answer these questions. I know there are a lot of people who don't have much time in on the LTD. I think most of us can tell it is special, but need some help getting everything to fall into place.

Thanks, Don

Don I believe this is actually in the manual (or it was on that sheet of paper in the box?), but Nasa Tom has also discussed using these settings in length at his site.

Another good setting to remember (it's definitely in the LTD manual) is that using sensitivity of 29 or less kicks the LTD into a low gain mode, 30 and higher is high gain mode. This could be useful, but remember it is independent of the discrimination settings of 5 - through - 20 (5-20). I don't know how much depth you get from the low gain setting, but I'm thinking if your working in a bed of nails scenario and you'd be happy to get coins from 6" or less, that using the low gain, and lower sensitivity settings may be a good strategy, but I haven't tested it.

 

[NamVetLesTreasureSeeker]

I'm EXPERIMENTING with lower DISC Settings, than 21, and 3H -TONES instead of 4H TONES!! It seems ALOT MORE STABLE!! But with experimentation
and perseverence, only TIME WILL TELL!! hh, Les