Jack,
I feel it is not the depth loss as much as good targets being loss in some of these disc patterns. As we know not every target reads like it should read and with a disc pattern 2 items close together will not read in their correct place on the screen on the Explorer so these may be nulled out depending on the disc pattern you are using.
The good finds you are seeing posted from some worked out parks and such did not read in their correct postion on the screen and would have been lost in a tight disc pattern.
Now some have been having good luck runing a iron mask at a low setting of -12 to a -15, but this is not for everyone and everyplace, but have seen where it can get coins closer to iron than a -6 or so would be.
I used to run a disc pattern, but not a tight one and have run a iron mask at a -12 when not in the pattern, but found I like mine better with just iron mask at a -7 and no pattern, but when I have a questionable signal that may be coin next to iron I switch over to my disc pattern which is a copy of Iron mask at a -15 with the bottom right blacked out. This way I can use this pattern in iron and go to ferrous tones if needed.
Also as a coin or good item gets deeper we find they will read differnt and with a tigher disc pattern these too would be missed not because of depth, but be disc out. I feel the depth itself is not lossed in a pattern as much disc out in a pattern.
Rick
