Question for Bill Ladd 525

[Tagamet]

Hi,
I'm a virginal user of the C$ (in fact I don't even HAVE it yet - hopefully arrives tomorrow). I HAVE been doing a lot of reading on it's use and settings though (including the manual). I was hoping you could help me understand the 525 setup that you're associated with. In fact, the whole Threshold/sensitivity setting relationship is as clear as mud to me. Maybe it'll become obvious when I actually get to use the unit in real life.
Thanks in advance,
Tagamet

 

[Bill Ladd]

But when you hear us mention settings like 525 or 430, this is just a quick way of saying sensitivity 5, threshold -25. (I just thought it was easier than typing 5-25 that's all)
Again, I'm not that great at explaining threshold in engineering terms. But, when you get it, to better understand it, I think of it as "threshold" was in the old days. When I first started out I usted to run a TR machine (no not that guy) with a bit of a hum. Then I felt I could get deeper by hearing faint tone changes. I found alotta goodies this way including the infamous slave tags. Anyhow, not to get off track, but C$ threshold I look at the same way. When you get it, put thresh on +1. You will run with that constant hum. Some old timers like to run it this way still & you get top depth. But, your also running "hot", & the C$ can be unstable unless you back sensitivity way down to compensate. Sens & thresh work together in a way & running them both high can spell doom in trash or mineralization. Some like to run sensitivity to 8 or 9 & back thresh down to -40 to make it stable. I've said this a million times, but many who hated the C$ just plain ran it too hot or used the hot preset mode with thresh on 0. I have found tiny cuff buttons with sensitivity 1 This thing has power. So, I push 525 as a good starting point (& think 525 would be a better preset). It's a solid "middle of the road" setting, & stable. It's a mistake to overdrive sens. & thresh to see how deep it will go. I always have thresh negative (at least-10) so don't think your losing alotta depth that way. I put one newbie on 525 & trained him & he has never changed it off of 525 & does quite well. Others may like to experiment more, & having a seperate threshold (unlike the Excel) allows for more "play". I also tell folks that it's kinda like other Fishers sensitivity-wise....as my CZ's get unstable over 4. So start on 525, 430.....dig some trash like we all did so you learn, & don't get frustrated. Once learned it can do amazing things........HH< Bill

 

[Tagamet]

So, with 525, is there a background hum?
Thanks,
Tagamet

 

[Bill Ladd]

see it's hard to put into words. POSITIVE threshold, +1, +2 give the constant hum. Most folks hate this including me....
You need to back away from this into negative numbers for the desired silent search & better stability....say to the reccomended -25. I never turn mine above -10.
This may sound very confusing because you don't have one yet. practice in the field is the best way to see everything.......

 

[Tagamet]

Bill Ladd 525 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> see it's hard to put into words. POSITIVE
> threshold, +1, +2 give the constant hum. Most
> folks hate this including me....
> You need to back away from this into negative
> numbers for the desired silent search & better
> stability....say to the reccomended -25. I never
> turn mine above -10.
> This may sound very confusing because you don't
> have one yet. practice in the field is the best
> way to see everything.......

Actually, at this point I don't know enough to be confused. That's why I'm asking such stupid questions. If I had ANY ability to delay gratification (but I'm a male, so that ain't likely), I'd wait until tomorrow (I hope) to receive the machine. I have a nice 4 acre soccer complex in mind to start getting used to this new animal (see I WAS listening). I know I'll have many more questions, but (again hopefully) I'll have some very positive experiences to report as well.
Thanks again,
Tagamet

 

[BarnacleBill]

Think of a two way radio, if you've ever operated one.

Threshold=Squelch, any weak signal below the squelch level is not heard, whether 10% below or 50% below. As you decrease the squelch, more distant/weak & annoying signals are heard, same as turning threshold to say +1, +2 etc.

Sensitivity=RF Gain, you need to increase it to hear weak signals, but if set too high you overload the receiver on stronger signals.

HH
BarnacleBill
Lowly Excel ID minion

 

[Bill Ladd]

n/t

 

[Mark in NC]

n/t

 

[Jackpine Savage]

Good explanation Bill, Back when the C$ first came out I was one of the "early adopters" and got one from the first shipment to the dealers. Very few people had them and it was quite the learning experience. Al Ga was still a dealer and we all had to learn the beast together. The analogy of thinking of the threshold as a squelch control was brought up back then and after 3 years it still fits.

The main thing for new users to remember is what Bill has been saying, do NOT be afraid to run the sens at 4 or 5 and threshold at -25 or lower. Coin sized targets hit at very good depths with a low (-) threshold and IMO lowering the threshold has less effect on depth than lowering the sensitivity. Of course in cleaner areas go for it with a setting of around 810.

Tom

 

[Mike Hillis]

the threshold control.

http://www.ionet.net/~tgomez/threshold.html

Now I treat them as two independent signal processors. The sensitivity control acts like a basic amplifier, and the threshold works like a normal sensitivity control. The Sensitivity setting controls the signal amplification and the threshold controls the sensitivity to that amplification.

All confusion I'm sure, but it works for me

Happy CoinStriking

 

[Jackpine Savage]

In good conditions I set the threshold just so that it eliminates the faint spurious noises in the audio which is probably not a good setting for folks that hunt areas with a lot of tiny shallow bits of trash. The FP mode notches out the foil signals for that reason due to its high settings, but I preferred to hunt with nothing notched out adjusting the threshold to sliminate the tiny bits since it seemed to have little effect on depth on coin sized targets.

HH Tom.