SENSITIVITY /DEPTH / COIL SIZE ? UNCLE WILLY.

[willyp47]

What is SENSITIVITY,really for,on an ACE 250 ? The 250 has 8 settings,the 150,has 4. I have read the post on rusty metal [by Goesforever],and what was said about Sensitivity settings.It was stated that it has nothing to do with depth of target.Man,I am all befuddled now!!!!!!!!! My Garrett Owners Manual says,I quote,"Use higher sensitivity levels when searching for very small or very DEEP targets." I would say,that,this is why myself and alot of other ACE owners,are using the highest settings on our machines!!! The owners manual says too????
I have high mineral soil,here in Pa. I most of the time,can only use the third notch,on the sensitivty setting ! Four is pushing it? any higher and i get alot of ghost holes !!!!
I have 3 different search coils,the 4.5,the 9x12 and the one,that came with it. Which one will give me the greatest depth ?
I have found 250 coins,in 3 weeks,using the coil that came with it, and 25,with the 4.5.[I just got it last week.] All but 2 coins were found in a carnival lot of mowed grass.The other 2,were at an old torn down home site[the 4.5]. These were from the suface down to 3 inches deep,on a 3 sensitivity setting.
How does a person decide which sensitivty setting to use?????

 

[khouse]

If you run too high of sensitivity for a particular site. You may start picking up more of the ground and your detector may not see a good target. Each site is different so will be your sens setting. I start at full sens on a site. Then keep lowering a notch at a time until I get no falsing (or little). Sometimes that's 4 notches and sometimes it's 7. But you can't run 7 notches in a site that really requires 4. You are running 3 notches for your particular site and looks like your pulling a lot of coins. So your doing it right.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah I'm going to have a word with Garrett about their manual. If you have a lot of mineralization you are forced to use low sensitivity otherwise your coil picks this up and beeps or chatters. You can use low sensitivity and still get decent depth Whoever writes the instruction manuals is smoking some bad stuff. I believe the manual tells the new owner to start out using all metal. "WRONG". And starting out with sensitivity at the max is a recipe for disaster for a new user. Read the troubleshooting guide in the manual. It vaguely eludes to a lot of the problems you mention but fails miserably to go into detail.

Sensitivity has long been falsely associated with depth. It does not force the signal deeper into the ground as many seem to think. It just makes the coil more sensitive to what is in the ground, including all the junk and mineralization. Cranking the sensitivity to the max is asking for it unless you understand what sensitivity is and means - and it doesn't work the same everywhere in the world. The amount of sensitivity one can use depends entirely on their particular soil conditions or the amount of trash in the area you are hunting. Also keeping your coil off the ground helps a lot..

As for coils - the 9x12 will get the most depth but due to its large footprint will pick up more targets at one time. Don't use it in trashy areas. The 4.5 is great for trashy areas and it will get close to seven inches in depth in many places. In your area it may be less. It's a shame they don't make a DD coil for the Ace as it would solve the problem of high mineralization.

You determine your sensitivity setting by how unstable and erratic your detector becomes. You adjust it down until this ceases. Also try scanning slower.

Bill

 

[willyp47]

From one Willy to another,thanks for the reply.
I have been metal detecting 20 years ! I bought one to find lost arrows[ my boys were learning to shoot],then ventured out to find my treasure!!!! I've owned older detectors that would not work well,but were good for arrow finding. Now that i am older and mellow,i felt i should get a decent one and did ?
Let me say this,about my Ace 250,it does very well,for me,but it does just what a person [dealer] stated it would do,here in Pa. It was recomended not to buy it,because of the soil conditions here !! After readding all the reviews,on the 250,i thought ' BALOONEY ',what do they know???? Well,it acts just as it was stated it would. Man,if it could be balanced for soil conditions,it would be one of the best ones around !
It is frustrating . I may just sell it and get a better one?[Yea right.]

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah if they would include GB on the 250 it would be one helluva detector. Does lowering the sensitivity help any with your soil conditions?

Bill

 

[draaiorgel]

I usually start at 4 bars sens and gradually work up the way.
Besides if you've lifted 250 coins in 2 or 3 weeks, ya aint doin so bad.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah he done good.

Bill

 

[NM5K]

I just let the machine tell me how high to go. I run it as high as I can without
excess falsing. "chatter". If you get so much chatter that telling it from the
targets is a problem, back it down. Some places will let you run full blast,
some won't. You can usually run the sniper full blast or close to it, being it is
small. The larger coils it's best to go by ear.
When you get used to the sound of the chatter, you can tell it from the targets
and run higher than you normally might. Real targets repeat. Chatter won't.
I tend to run pretty hot most of the time. I'm always right on the edge of
chatterville. But some places I can detect full blast with little chatter, even
with the big coils. It's that way here sometimes, and usually is up in OK
where I go.