Recovery, sweep speed and target seperation:detecting:

[Bryannagirl]

First I am a newbie to Minelab FBS and also own a Safari and not an ETRAC - (but definitely have one on my wish list) but I feel the question/statement I am about to make applies to all minelab FBS machines.

I hear a lot of comments on how the Minelab FBS machines have slow recovery. At first I just accepted that as true. I saw videos where the minelab had to have a nail 12 to 15 inches away before it would recover in time to detect the coin. But now after using my Safari for a while I am starting to form a different opinion. I should mention I previously owned a White's DFX. Now here is what I am starting to believe, a Minelab FBS detector is a completely different animal then the other detectors I have used. In respect to my whites the Safari is almost a non motion detector with full discrimination. With my dfx I had to have a reasonable amount of coil motion to get accurate discrimination and depth. This is not the case with my safari. I can with very little motion hover over an area with multiple targets including trash and identify those targets while still maintaining full discrimination and full depth. This is just not the same kind of detecting you would do with other detectors.

For example yesterday I visited a public baseball field. These fields have been around for a long time. I had hunted the areas around the bleachers with my DFX. Allthough I did find some copper it was very hard and took lots of swinging to get any success at all. I was using multi tone on the DFX and with the amount of trash it was hard to pick out a good signal between all the bad. I would venture to bet that there is not more than 6 inches square anywhere in that park that does not have taps,foil, or screw caps. It is about as trashy as they come.

So now with my Safari it was also very noisy but I was able to swing much slower so the target separation was much easier to see and hear. When your coil has to move faster it is harder to tell where a good sound came from. When I did hear something of interest I could really slow down over that area and either verify the good target or reject as trash or to iffy. This took a lot less effort and was way more fruitful then my DFX hunt. The only hole I dug that did not produce coin was one with some brass studs smaller then a pencil eraser that where 6 to 7 inches deep. They were surrounded by several pull taps and a couple of screws. Several of my other holes produced multiple copper located underneath tabs.

So instead of judging the Minelabs by saying if you swing them like other detectors you miss targets, I think we should judge other detectors for not being able go slow and deep and still discriminate.

New FBS convert

Bryanna

 

[Critterhunter]

Yes, I tend to agree. The real advantage to unmasking or separation is not how fast a detector is, but rather how sharp of a detection field the coil is putting into the ground. Something like an SEF 12x10 has a very laser like detection line (compressed tightly width wise), and that's where it matters. So long as you keep your sweep speed slow enough a slow recovery machine has no real issues if it's using a good coil with a sharp detection field. The big perk about a fast recovery machine is being able to swing fast and have less risk of missing targets.

Ask yourself this, would you rather use a fast recovery machine with a more blunt or broad detection field, or would you rather have a slow recovery machine with a razor sharp detection field? The real key in unmasking ability is being able to "light up" the good target while not lighting up the bad one as well, as the detection field can't hit a shallower piece of trash and still have it's signal continue deeper into the ground to hit the deeper target. I've always read that the field in effect curves, warps, or bends with the first target it intercepts and then pretty much the game is over with no real ability to reach out and hit something much deeper.

I believe the big perk with a slow recovery machine is that it has more time to see and "grab onto" a deep target. With the fast machines I've owned in the past they don't seem to hit as hard on a target at depth, or at least sound off to it as well...Because the machine is trying to cut the target short in it's response (Some refer to the SAT setting on some detectors in relation to this). You can't "hover" over the target and get a feel for it's response and target qualities because the machine keeps wanting to reset. A slow recovery machine, in general, tends to have more ability to relate target traits via the audio if you investigate it properly. Of course these a very broad and generalized statements, because different machines (fast and slow) have features that vairy wildy from one another.

 

[Blank Planet]

slow and steady wins the race, but don't be fooled the etrac can go pretty fast for surface clad hunting.

last time out went to a park that i thought i had cleaned out went to the trashy parts with small coil went real slow and like has been said it gets down in the cracks between the trash to see the silver and i was amazed to pull out 4 more silver well more than amazed just going super slow and i think this is important to keep the coil moving smooth no jerking movements or if hitting a bit of grass start that swing again, so yes being able to just go super slow is an asset in some places for sure!!

BP

 

[Bryannagirl]

I really feel the FBS makes the Minelab a different beast in much the same a PI machine is a different beast. Like you said the ability to hover over a target and gather intelligence at depth is a very powerful ability. I guess in many ways comparing traditional VLF to FBS is somewhat of an apples and oranges affair. The both require different techniques to get the same results.

Bryanna

 

[Elton]

Partial quote........by B......I can with very little motion hover over an area with multiple targets including trash and identify those targets while still maintaining full discrimination and full depth. This is just not the same kind of detecting you would do with other detectors.

......... That is called the Minelab Wiggle Bryanna.... an exceptional tool in my opinion.

 

[Jason in Enid]

I've never seen another detector that can respond to conductive target with almost ZERO motion from the coil while still discriminating. THAT is the power of the E-Trac. Other detector must have a certain speed of swing to get a response and they want to think there is something good bout that. It ain't a race, it's about results.

 

[Southwind]

The right tool for the right job.

I agree under the right conditions slow is better but slow is not best for all hunting conditions. I use my E-Trac in the city park where the coins are deep and surrounded by iron, but I prefer my DFX everywhere else.