Went straight home after work this afternoon, quickly assembled the ACE 300i (international version) and headed to a nearby school. Being close to a transit pickup, I could only operate the ACE 300i at 4 bars sensitivity. I set the program on coins mode, turned down the volume and started swinging the 18 x 25cm (7" x 10") PROformance Search-coil which comes standard with the unit. What a sensitive combination, the ACE 300 + coil makes. I could not believe how sensitive this unit was. From a tiny shoe eyelet to various coin denominations, this machine picks out the targets, even in trashy areas. With only 4 bars of sensitivity, I could easily find some 4 inch deep coins and it air tested a penny at 6 inches....not bad. The difference between the ACE 300i and the ACE 400i is that the ACE 300i comes with a smaller coil, operates at a lower frequency of 8 kHz and does not have the iron audio option like the ACE 400i. Now don't let the smaller coil bother you. It is very sensitive, and when a coin sized target gets under that coil......it bangs "Hard."
Here are the finds......not bad for a 1.5 hour hunt. The ground was so hard and dry, that if the coin would not beep on the Pro Pointer, I just left it for someone else at some other time. The shallow coins were easy to pop out!
Here is a chart I made up giving the numerical ID from the ACE 300i screen for the common targets shown. The numbers may vary slightly, depending on the accumulated oxides on the targets, the soil mineralization and how the target is orientated to the search coil. Canadian coins, as usual not including pennies, will have the numbers bounce around the 60's -70's to 80's and sometimes into the 90's. As long as the targets bounce at least to the 80's, they should be dug. Targets in the 70's tend to be junk. My 10K gold wedding ring gave a nice softer audio sound at 65. So.........the more iffy targets you dig, the more good targets you get. I still need to put in some more hours on this machine to learn it well.
Below are some of the more interesting finds.....
