Proabably a dumb question but I don't get it! :rage:

[DaugBiscuit]

I'm trying to learn my Explorer and I'm a bit confused about those dancing crosshairs. Can someone tell me generally why they are dancing around and basically what does it mean? I am learning the crosshair position but when I come across one that is dancing across the top of the screen, back-n-forth I really get confused what the machine is trying to tell me. Any input will be most appreciated.

Thanks,
Don

 

[Bayrat76]

Most of the time it's junk when it's dancing around like that. If it is a good sounding tone and not broken on the start of the tone and on the back side of the tone dig it. Plus in trashy fields it will dance around when reading more than one siganal. Sounds are the key most of the time good tones always dig them. Hope this helps you.

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

Most of the time it's junk when it's dancing around like that. If it is a good sounding tone and not broken on the start of the tone and on the back side of the tone dig it. Plus in trashy fields it will dance around when reading more than one siganal. Sounds are the key most of the time good tones always dig them. Hope this helps you.

Good post here! Don't worry about the #'s. Sound is always the best dig signal. If the target is deep or if trash is close #'s can and will be erratic. Learn the sounds!

 

[dewcon4414]

Take a look at one of Mikes posts: http://www.frontiernet.net/~jvokes/exscreens.htm You get screen or digital jump from EVERY detector..... nature of the beast. With the size of coils now used the detector is attempting to process approximately 7 gallons of soil. With depth and high mineralization the filters get overwhelmed so picking out a single weak signal is difficult. Many times the machine may know there is a target there but cant give a proper TID so it will just ID it as iron. Settings also come into play. If you run high sensitivity, gain, and deep on you are asking the machine to listen to even more mineralization and EMI (both heard and not heard). Add moisture and salt that increases conductivity and you get even more to process. All this adds to masking as does targets in close proximity, size, and density. If you are used to a digital screen you may try to avoid the smartscreen..... but trust me its easier to SEE a target in smartscreen. Targets tend to get lost in the digital jumping.

Dew

 

[Hotcz70]

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?19,1305087,1305391#msg-1305391

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?19,1510171,1510250#msg-1510250

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?10,1446736,1447279#msg-1447279

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?19,1542536,1542689#msg-1542689

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?10,1443523,1443837#msg-1443837

Key #1 is sound and sound ALONE.

It could mean a million different things....some of them being a deep silver coin....deep coin in junk....deep coin in iron....deep coin on edge...deep coin on the brink of audible detection depth...etc. It isn't a science and it won't do any good to try to explain the other million things that dancing cursor could mean. You just have to keep putting in the hours and hunts to learn what it is saying to you.

Most of my best silver coin finds have come when the cursor dances and flutters along the top right 50% horizontal edge of the screen,,,,then moves towards the top right corner.

When it does the dance...then flutters and stays towards the top left center where my iron mask is set at...it is usually junk or iron.

If you spend your time watching for that textbook hit where the cursor will peg somewhere in the top right corner....you are gonna' be very bored and very disappointed. Most of those types of hits disappeared from sites nearly 10 years ago.

On a deep Injun the Explorers can do an unmistakabale "stairway walk" that definitely helps ID them. This is a perfect example of whre flashing numbers on a digital screen are worthless to me.

On many indian head hits the cursor will start on the right edge about 50% of the way down...then dance or walk "up the stairs" to the left.

Regardless of what your settings are or where the gain, sensitivity, etc. are set at...the cursor wll not peg and stay anywhere UNLESS you have run accross a "textbook" hit...and again...those are few and far between.

You will begin to see a pattern form with cursor movement over deep coins and junk only after you have spent a lot of time learning the explorer language. If you take the needed time to learn what it's saying though...you will be justly rewared in a way that not even the E-Trac can provide.

 

[Orlensin-FL]

I'm with you on the smartscreen. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

n/t

 

[DaugBiscuit]

All this is good information and I appreciate all that you have written. I followed every link you sent and carefully studied the grafts by Mike Mountray. This evening I went out for about an hour tried to remember all that you'd written while whole listening to the sounds and watching those crosshairs on the SmartFind screen - not once did I go to the Digital screen. The first dancing crosshair ended up being a 1925 Wheat Penny. That was strange but it was dug in around a piece of iron. Anyway, in an hour I retrieved four wheat pennies, two clad quarters, two clad dimes, and five recent pennies. I changed the Sensitivity from the 18 I had been running to 28 Semi-Auto. This seems to help in the park where I am hunting. After I changed the sensitivity I started picking up coins around the six and seven inch mark; I was picking up tones a lot deeper but I passed over them based on tone. Anyway, while I would have enjoyed some silver, I was quite happen with the wheat pennies (1925; 1940; 1941; 1957-D)

Thanks again for you help, I am still open to additional comments, and/or suggestions should anything come to mind.

I see I'm gonna have to change my Avatar too

Don

 

[dewcon4414]

7 inches...... start taking a look at your depth meter. You are diffidently in the range to get some nice coins since thats the range things start changing on the smartscreen. Those targets should still bounce in the keep range thou. Keep in mine HALVEs will NOT be higher than a quarter but will stay on the far right edge. Tones will be the ticket.... but dont discount all the tools available that the SE has..... depth meter and smartscreen... walk around and try to "wiggle" those deeper targets for a better read. Chance are you could be picking up a bit of trash close to a good target. Anything deep is worth investigating. Its as important to learn what BAD target sound like as good ones.

Dew

 

[DaugBiscuit]

Dew, you said;

..... start taking a look at your depth meter.....dont discount all the tools available that the SE has..... depth meter and smartscreen

I always look at my depth meter before I dig but maybe I'm not using it the way you are trying to tell me. Should I be watching the depth meter for something other then just depth? Should I be watching the depth meter for something other than target depth just before digging? Or are you saying, if it's deep, dig?

Thanks so much for your input.
Don

 

[DaugBiscuit]

-- moved topic --

 

[dippodigger]

This is a very helpful post to me as well. I am beginning to see "the light" of the dancing crosshairs...lol.
Nice responses by everyone else too...thank you.

 

[JAN1]

Don't know about others but when the cross hairs jump across the top of the screen it usually turns out to be brass from horse harness or horse brasses as the fields around here have been worked for a couple of thousand years.

 

[dewcon4414]

JAN.... those deep LCs will also be up there with copper. What you dont like those of snaffle bits, brass rivets, buckels, and copper roof nails lol. What i was saying about the depth meter is deep targets that show say beyond 7 inches are starting to change positions on the smartscreen if you are in trash, mineralization, or just not center on the target. Make sure you wiggle the target to the end of your coil so you know you are getting a good read on the target. Sounds like you are doing it right.... listen carefully to those tones.

Dew