Please Tell Me What You Think/Automatic Vs Manual

[grumpyolman]

Got frustrated with my SE and decided to go to the factory pr-sets as suggested here and in the manual. Got a nice stable threshold and started finding lots of newer coins and some junk jewelry (52 targets yesterday and 20 today). I found surface stuff and sometimes I would dig 6-7" for a regular penny or a clad dime or quarter. I thought maybe I was just not hearing the silver (did find 2 silver quarters at the same location with my Fisher) and was not responding to the quick little high pitched ping in one direction..that some dig with great success. S0...I switched from automatic to manual. That's the only thing I changed. It seemed like the SE was telling me there was something there while in manual, but when I switched back to automatic I could not find what it picked up in manual. I dug and chased a few of the 'manual' targets and did find they sometimes turned out to be a modern coin, deep, and other times I could find nothing. Am I going in the correct direction to become competent to find silver if it's there? Or, should I just keep using the automatic for awhile yet and not dig unless I get a hit in both directions? Without the X-1, I'd be light years behind where I am now. The X1 and the SR 8" coil have combined to give me the confidence I can learn this machine and I am having a blast doing it.
No pictures but the first thing I found today was a half a set of handcuffs. Then I found 3 clad quarters in one hole. Five minutes later I found 2 quarters in another hole. I dug another target and saw a gold colored coin shaped object, maybe maybe, and got a plated charm bracelet charm the same size as a quarter. It was still fun. Thanks in advance. Regards!

 

[Steve(MS)]

Need to ask about "hit in both directions". I will assume you mean sweeping back and forth over a target and getting a signal, then turning approx. 90 degrees, resweeping and getting the signal again. The hit only at one angle are the more iffier ones and only your own judgement will determine if you should dig those. As as far man. sens. vs auto sens., there will be proponents of both. Personally I use man. sens. and turn it up just to the point of instability and back down a number or 2. My advice would be to open up iron mask a little more each time you go detecting till you can run it with minimum iron mask, since I use the XS, I usually run iron mask at -15 or -14, according to how moist the ground is. The less iron mask I use, the better I can hear those iffies and which ones I want to take a chance on ( I don't dig all iffies, only the ones that are less iffy and when I go to a site I haven't hunted or ground moisture has changed, then I dig a few to get an idea of which ones I need to dig and which ones to pass). Also if I have found some good stuff in an area, I may elect to dig more iffies. One other thing I do is keep the program screen completely cleared, while I run in iron mask if I get a iffy signal that I am not sure about, I will toggle to the wide open program screen, resweep a few times and make a judgment on whether to dig it or not- some practice doing this with time can help. As you decrease iron mask, you may be able to tell that iron, mainly nails cause chirps that either don't repeat, don't quite have the quality sound of deep coins, or they have a small notable silence right before and right after the tones that high conductive coins don't have, in other words, it is a more broken signal than what a coin will make. It sounds like you are doing well so you may want to try the stock coil if it isn't too trashy, you should be able to get an extra inch or more with it. I still use conduct sounds, never got away from it so a little iron mask is necessary while useing it. You may want to experiment with ferrous sounds to see what you think about it. Glad to hear you are enjoying the Explorer, hope this helps.
HH

 

[grumpyolman]

Steve - You made a few suggestions that help clear some questions I have. I'll try some of those suggstions and see what happens. Appreciate your instruction. Regards!

 

[Larry (IL)]

Hi Grumpy.

I too seem to get a little more depth in manual, but automatic is quieter for me. It depends if I'm in the mood to listen to the noise, sometimes it is worth the slight depth loss to save my sanity.

This is what I do which has helped me with digging nails and some other trash. After I get a questionable target, I will pinpoint a couple of times. If the target is right under the signal, I will dig. If the target seems to be off to the side, I will pass. They often turn out to be nails with the best signal off of the point of the nail.

 

[grumpyolman]

Larry...Thanks for the tip on pinpointing and then determining if the sound in beneath the suspected target or off to the side. I have noticed, but didn't realize the significance when doing it, that on an "iffy" signal the pinpoint target is not where the 'hit' target was. Another clue not to dig that target. How will I remember all the subtle tips others are sharing here? Many thanks! Regards!

 

[Magicman]

I too didn't put that together about the pinpoint off to the side.... I am afraid if I don't dig I will miss something...