When running explorer II, 8 inch sef coil digital mode when the numbers are jumping around the scale over a item are they unstable because sensitivity is to high?Does how much power to get good depth with the machine seemed a little unstable on 21 auto.Noise canceled and started to turn power down and they seemed to clam down but i was wonder about missing a deep target.Thanks for help.The threshold seemed ok it would null a little the ground i don't think it was to bad does a concentric coil run smoother at higher power?
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Question about fe numbers and co numbers????
- Thread starter ohio fred
- Start date
sgoss66
Well-known member
ohio fred --
Generally, smaller coils run smoother at higher sensitivity settings.
Yes, higher sensitivity can cause instability, but lower sensitivity will cause you to miss some deep targets. It's all about finding the right balance. Not sure if this helps, but I have seen it said that it's best to set your sensitivity such that moving your coil up and down/side-to-side does not cause much nulling. While lowering sensitivity, and you find a sens. level where get a pretty stable threshold while moving the coil around, that is supposed to be the best sensitivity to run in that spot, at that time.
This link may help http://usetheminelabexplorerlikeapro.blogspot.com/2004/11/chapter-i-setting-sensitivity-on.html ...
...but please keep in mind that when he says "IM -16" this is the "minus 16 iron mask" setting used in older Explorers to get an "open screen" -- which is equivalent to running a 31 iron mask with an SE or SE Pro.
Steve
Generally, smaller coils run smoother at higher sensitivity settings.
Yes, higher sensitivity can cause instability, but lower sensitivity will cause you to miss some deep targets. It's all about finding the right balance. Not sure if this helps, but I have seen it said that it's best to set your sensitivity such that moving your coil up and down/side-to-side does not cause much nulling. While lowering sensitivity, and you find a sens. level where get a pretty stable threshold while moving the coil around, that is supposed to be the best sensitivity to run in that spot, at that time.
This link may help http://usetheminelabexplorerlikeapro.blogspot.com/2004/11/chapter-i-setting-sensitivity-on.html ...
...but please keep in mind that when he says "IM -16" this is the "minus 16 iron mask" setting used in older Explorers to get an "open screen" -- which is equivalent to running a 31 iron mask with an SE or SE Pro.
Steve
dewcon4414
Well-known member
You can also tell by how difficult it is to pinpoint or id targets if you have to much sensitivity. You start picking up targets CLOSE to the coil especially the back of the coil. These weak targets give a jumpy inaccurate TID. Centering the target helps a little. For the most part if your sensitivity is to low you will miss targets. But there are a lot of factors here. Everything affects target id.... minerals, salt, water, location to coil, EMI, sensitivity, gain, ferr vs cond... even coil drop off if you have too much sensitivity picking up disc targets. What you will notice is in digital screen is that the cond numbers are more consistent than the ferr ones. So the trade off is yes you hear iron as a deep tone, but since the machine is using ferr to determine the tone and screen... they may be off a bit and more jumpy. No doubt auto sensitivity will give you a more stable machine. This jump is just more apparent with the ML because of the screens... but all machines do it.
Dew
Dew
dewcon4414
Well-known member
Man Fred you been on here awhile.... 5 years and 3814 posts. Which detector was you using?
MNCoinhunter
Active member
Here is something I wonder about. A lot of times when trying to pinpoint, instead of getting a tone over the target it will go quiet and I will get tones on either side of it. Is this because of too much sensitivity and the coil grabbing onto a nearby target, iron or otherwise?
I have used bounty hunter garrets fisher a lot of whites.I really like whites xlt but never tried a mine-lab so this year i want to try and understand it,the minelab go's deep just need to get use to sound and screen i'am use to using numbers and i try using the digital on the minelab II,it seems a little unstable i think the ferrous numbers kind of mess me up jump up and down,so it causes me not to dig,so yesterday for a short time i started to dig everything and if junk was money i would be rich.Tried ferrous for a while and auto 1 like the audio 1 have to try it again and i'am curious about the audio 1 that it seems to hear more or picks out more targets have to see maybe today.So i dont like to say whites on the minelab forum seems you have to ease your way in by good finds or no one will answer your post little different than some of the other forums,not saying anything bad just i need to find some old coin or big ring.But you have answer some of my post and a few others i know lot of people do not come down to the class forum same with the whites xlt forum but last years was last year for the xlt.Thanks for your time hope the weather is good by you.
Fred, you might want to setup a test plot with items buried at different depths.
Generally solid readings and solid sounding tones usually mean the target is well
within depth range and possibly no co-located targets.
One thing to keep in mind is it might take time to get to know your Explorer which
may be different than what you have used in the past.
I noticed you mention not many replies to some of your questions, this classroom
forum doesn't have the traffic like the main forum has so some patience is required when trying to
get answers.
A very useful tool also is the search feature that you can set to search only this forum
for particular questions you may have.
You can set it up to include all dates which should give you a good number of threads/posts
to read through.
If you are hunting around powerlines, you may see some jumping around on the cursor or audio
with higher sens. settings.
Another thing if you know someone in your area with an Explorer, that you could detect with a little
could go along way to getting you jump started.
Or a nearby detector club if one exists.
If may be useful also to do a few clad hunts and concentrate of tone/cursor readings before going to those
places where higher trash levels are present.
At such places, practicing pinpoint skills can also help later on.
Confidence goes along ways when dealing with a new detector so keep in mind any noticeable progress you
have made thus far.
Keep an attitude that you will in the long run master the Explorer.
As you gain confidence, go for those signals that you are questioning and make mental notes each time of the
outcome to build on the learning experience.
There is nothing wrong with digging some trash, most serious in this hobby do so, have the mindset that it is
part of the learning process and part of the hobby.
You may want to check out some of Andy's books as they have info that can be useful as well as
seeing others and how successful they are with the Explorer.
Somewhere between where are now and experience and knowledge of others things will start to click for you
if you keep at it.
So keep in mind to build on what you have already learned, little by little to get to where you need to be.
For me the Explorer was the hardest to learn but even when I still wasn't all that good with it at the beginning,
I was making finds that I had missed with other detectors.
I am glad I stuck with it.
The Explorer is definitely one of the best detectors on the market but it requires more patience on the front end.
Take your time and learn it at your own pace.
HH
PS It will be helpful later to have a place where you can dig up as much as you desire without worrying about
how many holes you dig, that way you can learn more readily about some of those tones/readings you are getting.
Generally solid readings and solid sounding tones usually mean the target is well
within depth range and possibly no co-located targets.
One thing to keep in mind is it might take time to get to know your Explorer which
may be different than what you have used in the past.
I noticed you mention not many replies to some of your questions, this classroom
forum doesn't have the traffic like the main forum has so some patience is required when trying to
get answers.
A very useful tool also is the search feature that you can set to search only this forum
for particular questions you may have.
You can set it up to include all dates which should give you a good number of threads/posts
to read through.
If you are hunting around powerlines, you may see some jumping around on the cursor or audio
with higher sens. settings.
Another thing if you know someone in your area with an Explorer, that you could detect with a little
could go along way to getting you jump started.
Or a nearby detector club if one exists.
If may be useful also to do a few clad hunts and concentrate of tone/cursor readings before going to those
places where higher trash levels are present.
At such places, practicing pinpoint skills can also help later on.
Confidence goes along ways when dealing with a new detector so keep in mind any noticeable progress you
have made thus far.
Keep an attitude that you will in the long run master the Explorer.
As you gain confidence, go for those signals that you are questioning and make mental notes each time of the
outcome to build on the learning experience.
There is nothing wrong with digging some trash, most serious in this hobby do so, have the mindset that it is
part of the learning process and part of the hobby.
You may want to check out some of Andy's books as they have info that can be useful as well as
seeing others and how successful they are with the Explorer.
Somewhere between where are now and experience and knowledge of others things will start to click for you
if you keep at it.
So keep in mind to build on what you have already learned, little by little to get to where you need to be.
For me the Explorer was the hardest to learn but even when I still wasn't all that good with it at the beginning,
I was making finds that I had missed with other detectors.
I am glad I stuck with it.
The Explorer is definitely one of the best detectors on the market but it requires more patience on the front end.
Take your time and learn it at your own pace.
HH
PS It will be helpful later to have a place where you can dig up as much as you desire without worrying about
how many holes you dig, that way you can learn more readily about some of those tones/readings you are getting.
Yes the mine lab is like starting all over again.trying to get use to it and you were correct find a place were nobody mines if you dig .Been digging a lot of junk holes and once in a while a surprise.Was in audio 1 over weekend got a signal on stock coil down meter says 10 inches started digging stared to use my pinpointer after the hole got deep was thinking to my self about things and like laughing out loud all of sudden i look up and two kids are standing there and looking at me and iam laughing ask me if i found any thing told no just junk, they looked at me as those i was crazy laughing and digging,finally was in this hole at 10 inches Garrett pinpointer in hole below surface finally found the target a 1940 nickel was happy with that,thought i would find some silver by now.But iam going to stick with it.My brother in law tim dude fund those five ring i posted day before Easter first time hunt with his explorer xs.
sgoss66
Well-known member
fred --
Steve(MS) is right -- the traffic on this forum is not as high; but, it's a good place to learn. Like Steve said, doing searches on the forum can help, too.
Finding that 10" nickel is good; if you can find a 10" 1940 nickel, you can find silver -- remember, alot of it has to do with the location you are hunting, whether the spot has been hunted before, etc. I have hit spots HARD that should hold silver but don't; I've hit others where I didn't expect to find much and found silvers at 3" deep. I'm sure you already know this, but hang in there, get used to the machine, and branch out to some other sites. I PROMISE you the silver will come, if you hang in there!
Steve
Steve(MS) is right -- the traffic on this forum is not as high; but, it's a good place to learn. Like Steve said, doing searches on the forum can help, too.
Finding that 10" nickel is good; if you can find a 10" 1940 nickel, you can find silver -- remember, alot of it has to do with the location you are hunting, whether the spot has been hunted before, etc. I have hit spots HARD that should hold silver but don't; I've hit others where I didn't expect to find much and found silvers at 3" deep. I'm sure you already know this, but hang in there, get used to the machine, and branch out to some other sites. I PROMISE you the silver will come, if you hang in there!
Steve
is what I use along with conduct sounds but I am not saying those settings are for everyone.
I prefer the smart find screen over the digital screen.
It tends to let you see patterns easier IMO.
Sounds like in your original post you are detecting around power lines.
Good signals tend to repeat when you resweep.
Very good signals will repeat while turning on an angle and resweeping.
Some of those deep signals that sound good on one angle are the ones that take time to
discern which to dig.
Of those, some of them will be trash, like a nail false.
May help for now to go for the "higher percentage" better sounding signals along with a decent cursor/meter reading
in order to build your confidence.
Hope this helps,
HH
I prefer the smart find screen over the digital screen.
It tends to let you see patterns easier IMO.
Sounds like in your original post you are detecting around power lines.
Good signals tend to repeat when you resweep.
Very good signals will repeat while turning on an angle and resweeping.
Some of those deep signals that sound good on one angle are the ones that take time to
discern which to dig.
Of those, some of them will be trash, like a nail false.
May help for now to go for the "higher percentage" better sounding signals along with a decent cursor/meter reading
in order to build your confidence.
Hope this helps,
HH
sgoss66
Well-known member
Hey McDave --
No one answered your question, so here it is...
I will do this in layman's terms, since I don't know the technical way to explain it, but you'll get the point...
When pinpointing, your machine "senses" the "ground," and then looks for a signal that is "different" from the background "ground" signal. It sort of "ground balances" immediately, and then looks for a signal that is "different" (i.e. your target). However, if you enter pinpoint mode TOO CLOSE to your target, or on top of some other nearby target, the pinpoint mode takes this "target" as being the "ground," and "balances" accordingly. So, now, when you sweep over the ground on either side of the target, you get a "tone," since the detector is now "positive balanced" (from the target) and the ground is thus a "negative" response. Whereas, if you had entered pinpoint mode NOT on top of the target, but over clean ground, THEN, you would have been "balanced" to the ground, and when you swung over the target, you'd get the normal, positive response of target when the coil passed over it.
Again, I may be getting these terms wrong, but the point is, this is what is happening. The way to fix it is to find a nearby spot with "clean ground," and enter pinpoint mode over the clean ground, while holding the coil stationary. THEN, sweep the coil over the target, and the machine will respond properly. Some people will actually enter pinpoint mode with the coil in the air, to combat this problem, but I haven't tried it enough times to verify that it works. It seems to, but usually, I just move the coil a foot or two away from my target, and enter pinpoint mode, and then all is well. When I have the problem you described (sound on either side of the target, but no sound over the target), it's a clear signal to me that I have entered pinpont mode (and thus "balanced") over a target; just exit pinpoint mode, and re-enter, NOT over a target, and the machine will go back to responding correctly.
Hope this helps,
Steve
No one answered your question, so here it is...
I will do this in layman's terms, since I don't know the technical way to explain it, but you'll get the point...
When pinpointing, your machine "senses" the "ground," and then looks for a signal that is "different" from the background "ground" signal. It sort of "ground balances" immediately, and then looks for a signal that is "different" (i.e. your target). However, if you enter pinpoint mode TOO CLOSE to your target, or on top of some other nearby target, the pinpoint mode takes this "target" as being the "ground," and "balances" accordingly. So, now, when you sweep over the ground on either side of the target, you get a "tone," since the detector is now "positive balanced" (from the target) and the ground is thus a "negative" response. Whereas, if you had entered pinpoint mode NOT on top of the target, but over clean ground, THEN, you would have been "balanced" to the ground, and when you swung over the target, you'd get the normal, positive response of target when the coil passed over it.
Again, I may be getting these terms wrong, but the point is, this is what is happening. The way to fix it is to find a nearby spot with "clean ground," and enter pinpoint mode over the clean ground, while holding the coil stationary. THEN, sweep the coil over the target, and the machine will respond properly. Some people will actually enter pinpoint mode with the coil in the air, to combat this problem, but I haven't tried it enough times to verify that it works. It seems to, but usually, I just move the coil a foot or two away from my target, and enter pinpoint mode, and then all is well. When I have the problem you described (sound on either side of the target, but no sound over the target), it's a clear signal to me that I have entered pinpont mode (and thus "balanced") over a target; just exit pinpoint mode, and re-enter, NOT over a target, and the machine will go back to responding correctly.
Hope this helps,
Steve
MNCoinhunter
Active member
Steve, thanks. Makes perfect sense. Will try a different approach next time I'm out.