Pushing A Detector To It's Limits Of Being A Little Erratic Pros & Cons

[Bill G]

Just a thought, some pros & cons on maxing out a detector to the point of being a little erratic.

Sometimes when we set up a detector for max depth buy cranking the sensitivity to the edge of being erratic or slightly erratic behavior for the sake of depth it can just plain wear you out listing to the noise. This can cause us to miss targets because we do not hear them over the chatter so turning the sensitivity down a little to stabilize things lets us hear the targets better. It also allows for less fatigue during a long days hunt at minimum or very little depth loss over all considering the detector is now running smooth and stable allowing us to pay attention to what were hearing in the headphones instead of trying to filter good target signals through erratic background noise in the headphones. Pushing a detector to its limits is not always the best way to go nor does it always get us more depth.

In all reality the ground conditions along with the ground balance of the detector dictates the total usable sensitivity gain we can get over all out of the detector.**** Depth is really a side affect of these variables anyway and is subject to change based on any changes in the ground conditions, ground balance of the detector or sensitivity settings of the detector.

Happy & Safe Hunting To All,
Bill G

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

Well said Bill and I couldn't agree more.

I also think that most of us think we are sweeping slow but I have really focused on having good slow sweeps and good coverage (no gaps) and I find more from being to able to hear more of what's really going on underneath the coil.
Also coil size too is another variable as slightly smaller coils (8inch) gives the detector less soil to have to process underneath and you can still with good sensitivity and gain get just as much useable depth in your particular soil.
I find unless a place is really hunted out it's got way more targets per square foot area than most of us think for the detector to have to decipher so seperation is king untill you clean out an area.

LESS IS MORE!!!!

 

[Bill G]

Well said Bill and I couldn't agree more.

I also think that most of us think we are sweeping slow but I have really focused on having good slow sweeps and good coverage (no gaps) and I find more from being to able to hear more of what's really going on underneath the coil.
Also coil size too is another variable as slightly smaller coils (8inch) gives the detector less soil to have to process underneath and you can still with good sensitivity and gain get just as much useable depth in your particular soil.
I find unless a place is really hunted out it's got way more targets per square foot area than most of us think for the detector to have to decipher so seperation is king untill you clean out an area.

LESS IS MORE!!!!

Thank you,

I agree with you all the way, you make another great point here I try to do the same and concentrate on my sweep speed and coverage. I also try to choose the right coil and agree here with you 100% as well.

This subject reminds me of a video advertisement I saw a while back. It's funny as I have seen White's detector advertisements on TV were the guy is sweeping and walking really fast with the coil about 4" of the ground. You know he is missing a lot of targets that way. You would think that White's would have caught that poor technique before releasing the advertisement.

Happy & Safe Hunting To All,
Bill G

 

[GoGoGopher]

Well played Bill, and I agree totally...SENSitivity is not the ONLY factor in depth...it is all 4 working in harmony...SENS, DISC, GB, and Threshold...

HH,

 

[michaelosully]

I don't want more depth...I want more shallow targets!

 

[Metal Magnet]

totally agree with what is being said here. as you gain experience, you definitely learn that all depth means nothing in most situations. That's like rookies who always try to hit the ball out of the park. You have to be patient - and that is one of the hardest things about detecting.

Now, once I clear out all shallow objects from an area, I really run the AT hot. I go super slow, have good coil technique, and I listen very intently. If I try to do this when it's trashy, I get tired very very quickly. I always back off in trashy areas and just know that it is going to take time to get to the good stuff. Sometimes you get lucky early, sometimes it takes many trips to get what you want. Patience pays off.

Good post.

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

GoGo and Metal M. your both right and making great points too.
Like I see Bill do in his videos I also use different detectors over the same area to see if one can sniff out something either I or the other machines missed. Could be the frequency or coil size or discrimination or GB setting or something that will make a difference.
I also in a high target rich environment go through and first pick out the fairly easy targets then come back and go after more difficult ones then finally the really iffy signals till there isn't any more that I can reach or hear for now. In a year or 2 I go back as the frost heave can move targets around in the ground and make them detectable finally so who knows a place may come alive again in the future.

I started right down the street from my house in 2 different parks in opposite directions from where I live and I'm still there after 2 years now (that is when I got the newer detectors I'm using, sold my 4 old ones) and they're not very big but I still find things so untill I stop doing so I'm not moving on as I want to have areas for future years to enjoy so I don't want to run out and have to drive a long ways to find a place to detect. (got Etrac, AtPro, Omega8000 and G2 machines now with various sized coils)