pin pointing problem on Safari

[turkeybuck]

My Safari arrived today, so I tried it out in my cousins back yard. Things went pretty well the first 30 to 45 minutes. put it in coin mode and found a wheat penny with a unrecognizable date. Got on another target under a tree and and then started digging, then try hole again and pin point, then dig some more. This went on a couple of minutes. I was doing my ground balance several times just to make sure things where OK. What ever it was it seemed like it kept moving. So I would dig in another direction. Then check it again and it was gone? Did a pin point and my machine started acting crazy, so I turned it off and restarted in again. When I would pin point, it would make the noise when I was holding it in the air away from me and when I would put it on the ground, it would go silent. Once, the pin point graph was dancing like music was going through it. By this time, I thought maybe my batteries was going bad or something. Got home and took it out and it did it again after about 20 minutes. Had three bars in the battery window, so that's not it. Any ides anyone? Didn't seem to be getting the depth like i was expecting when I would air test it with a coin on the top of the ground, it Seems like 6 to 7 inches and nothing after that when I raise my coil up and down on top of a coin. I hope it's just me, and not the machine. I don;t have a clue. I had a MXT before this and never had issues like this with it. Any help will be much appreciated. Lee in East Tennessee

 

[j3cwill]

Targets that are on edge can pinpoint 2 to 3 inches away from where they truly are. This has happened to me before. Some junk can also "move" around.

I thought that I had read that Tennesse had some difficult ground due to minerals, so depth can be affected, but the FBS units tend to punch through difficult ground. The Safari has the same depth as the SE and the ETrac, and I can attest to that. It is the deepest machine I have ever used, and the accuracy of the ID at depth is truly impressive.

I cannot help more with the erratic pinpoint without understanding how you go about a pinpoint? How do you like to pinpoint? I pull the coil off to the side of the target, press pinpoint and slowly move back over the target. If you pinpoint over the target, it wil detune and get smaller for more accuracy. I usually do not do that unless I am having trouble.

Hopefully some others will chime in with some good advice.

Keep at it. The Safari is a very good machine

 

[TNdigginsafari]

a note on your ground balance, you are not actually ground balancing because the machine has auto ground balance. what you are doing is a noise cancel, basically the machine will, when you push noise cancel will select the most open and clear channel for detecting according to the area your in. In other words when you switch to different grounds always do a noise cancel. The best way is to put safari in all metal mode, sweep the ground and find a spot where it is not picking up a signal, stop it there and hold the coil at 1 inch off the ground and push the noise cancel button. This will set the machine up for the area your hunting and will help gain you the most depth and pinpoint accuracy. Also to get even deeper try setting your sensitivity on 17 or 18 in manual. This works very well for me in this area, I hunt in northern middle TN and ground here can be quite mineralized.

 

[TellYaWhut]

I also just got the Safari, maybe we can help each other. Pinpointing does take some getting used to with the DD coils....for me it was a slow process that has gotten easier. A few things that I've tried with sucess is to::: use High Trash setting, use Relic Mode, use Manual Sensitivity (at a low setting). As you learn the Safari the Sensivity setting can be set higher. Experiment pinpointing targets on the ground...find out exactly at what point (on the tip of the coil) where tone clearly sounds good. I keep a (quarter sized) plastic bottle cap (brightly colored) for extreme hard to pinpoint situations. The Pinpoint button (all metal) pinpoints like the concentric coil (in the middle of coil). Raising the coil, while in using Pinpoint button, will help in target seperation. The Pinpoint button grabs the strongest signal...so not good in thick trash. Once you find a good target.....If you have doubts of the target ID you can change into Low Trash setting and sweep the coil slower....the ID is more accurate at this setting. I'm looking to try a smaller coil. Let me know how everything goes. There are true Minelab experts in this Forum.....listen, experiment, and learn. Let me know how everything goes. I'm now starting to have fun with my Safari. Happy treasure hunting.

 

[ual10]

Your right, you gotta put some time in with it, It does get easier, no matter what coil you use. If you multible targets dig them, could be a coin spill.

 

[hershey1]

Try this. When you locate a target and decide to dig it wiggle your coil about one inch left and right while slowly pulling the coil backwards. When the signal goes away the target will be right in front of your coil. Practice this outside with a coin so you can see the target. Works on my Safari & E-Trac. HH

 

[turkeybuck]

Thanks everyone, I sent the Safari I had back to Kellyco and they sent me another one. This one is working, unlike the first one I had. It got to where it would not do anything but turn on. Anyway, I played with my new one they sent me today and dug up three penny, no wheat's! I did catch my self chasing ghost targets sometimes. I would get what I thought was a nice signal and dig here, then move over some and dig some more, etc. Then find a little piece of wire left from a old fence. Even though the VDI would be hitting 38 and in the silver area on bottom gauge while in coin and relic mode. I did go to all metal and experiment with the setting and set up a program like the guy on the Video in England or someplace like that on the minelab owners forum. It is a must that I make me a garden for coins if I can ever find a clean enough area, That a shame too! Anyway, I'm not totally ready for the big time, but I know what a penny sounds like, I think?

 

[kschae4]

TB- Glad Kellyco quickly remedied the problem. Many of us take worn coins of the denominations they we typically find or would like to find out in the field. After you noise cancel on a clean piece of ground,toss those worn coins on the ground away from each other, then scan 'em and check the tid and graph bar id and familarize yourself with their unique readings in the four pre-set program modes. This helped develop my audio and visual sense when scanning unrecovered targets that your coil comes across. Many of us come across iron or wire that's been in the ground quite some time and believe the halo affect of oxidation and corrosion allows the item to produce a higher conductive response of about a 38 tid. Try using the search function above under the Minelab banner on target id readings/in this safari/quattro forum/all dates, and you'll see 34 pages of topics going back 6 years of what others have noted for the coins that they recover. GL

 

[turkeybuck]

Thanks again, I had a problem finding a target i thought I may or may not dig and finally dig it only to find the thing totally disappear. like a ghost was there and then not anymore. I worked over the ground and never got a hit on it again. I did all 4 modes and it was gone, I put my coins on the ground and it would sound off like it's supposed. Never could figure out what the disappearing signal was or what might cause it. I got allot to learn from what i am seeing, but I am sure it will be worth it after I know what I am doing.I need all the luck I can get and thanks again...

 

[Dave400]

Keep practicing,you will get better.Took me a while to learn to pinpoint.After you get it the target will be in the center of the coil.You will get ghost signals now and then.Good targets will sound off well.Test gardens will polish your skills.Speed makes a big difference.Start slow and you will see how you get many signals in one sweep.All these problems have been adressed in past posts.Go back and read some of the past posts and problems.and you will get lots of tips.This machine is a lot diff. the single frequency ones.Takes more time to recover from a target.But when you learn it you will see how good it works.Dimes at 10 inches etc.After you figure it out you can go to some of the trashiest areas and still pick out the good targets.I recover a lot less trash with this machine.It can be fooled though.Pennies usally are tdi 34-35 ,but when ground is wet they might hit at 37-38.Keep practicing,it will come.Get the rechargable batterie it will save big money in buying batteries.Used to go through batteries a lot.Since I got rechargable one haven't bought any.Charge at night and you'll be ready for next day.Charge usally lasts all day.Happy hunting Turkeybuck

 

[turkeybuck]

Thanks Dave400 and everyone else, I will keep practicing and hope for the best, I will stay on-line allot so to keep up with new information if it comes in, Thanks again...Turkeybuck!!