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So What Kind Of Depth Are You Getting On Coin Sized Objects On Which Coil?:shrug:

John-Edmonton

Moderator
Staff member
Depth ill be affected by the size of the target, the mineralization in the soil, the oxides and halo effect on the target and size of the coil. We have 3 different AT Series detectors. All work rather well under different conditions.

Lots of people wonder, how deep did the AT Machine go for you, in your area, in your soil for your type of target. This should answer a lot of those questions.

[size=medium][size=large]Below are some tips on how to get maximum depth/performance out of your metal detector, no matter which unit you use.[/size]

* in higher mineralized soil, a smaller coil allows one to operate at a higher sensitivity, getting perhaps as much or even more depth then a huge coil.

* A large coil will get you more depth in low mineralized soil

* With the AT Pro, learn and hunt in Pro mode. It is deeper then standard mode. With the AT Gold, the all metal mode is deeper then Disc 1 or Disc 2.

* Has a place been hunted out? Go back and try again after a good rain soaking. Moist wet soil gives better sensitivity and greater depth readings for targets.

* If you get a nice high aHow To Get Maximum Depth + Performance Out Of Your AT Series ( Pro & Gold)
audio and a VDI in the 70's or 80's, dig it.

* The larger the coil the deeper it goes. However, too many targets under a large coil can mask a good target. If you get a slight good audio using the large coil, lift it up 2-3 inches and center the coil where the good audio was. Often times the good target will be much clearer.

* Get a coil cover and scrub the ground. Some people scan the ground inches above it...."DON'T" You can gain a couple of inches scrubbing, which is significant.

* Don't swing too fast! Just because it has a very fast "recovery speed"......doesn't mean it can always pick out that one good silver coin amongst several pieces of junk. The electronics still need to process lots of information.

* Swinging too fast can make you a sloppy hunter. You also risk eventually cracking/breaking your coil and elephant ears from the constant banging on trees, playground equipment or concrete.

* If you are getting lots of EMI or increased mineralization which is causing erratic audio, try adjusting your discrimination first, before lowering the sensitivity. This sometimes lets the machine run smoother without losing any depth. Also, changing the operating frequency will often timees completely fix the problem.

* If you get mixture of audio signals, scan the target from different directions. Sometimes a good target is beside or partially underneath a good target. The AT Series has a unique ability to pick out those good targets amongst the trash. Going at the target from different directions allows the AT Pro to perform even better!

* Ground balance your machine occasionally. Temperature can change, and directly affect the settings. Hunting in shade vs. sun can vary. "a 14 degree difference on a lawn area to a 35 degree difference on a parking lot." But, the mineralization can also change between areas....so again...ground balance periodically.

* To increase the depth/sensitivity to silver targets, lower the ground balanced numbers appx. 10 points

* If you are hunting an area that is absolutely covered with nails, try ground balancing out a nail until it is nothing but a small amount of static. Now....all the copper & silver targets will give a loud audio response....BUT the target ID will be off.

*Bottle cap? Stomp hard on the target. Often times, an old bottles cap's halo will break, and the reading will change from a good coin sounding target to a bottle cap or junk. Don't forget to use the iron audio feature if searching for coins or silver.

* Build a test garden...use good & bad targets at different depths. You will soon discover that deep silver targets beyond depths of 8 or more inches begin to not sound off as a high pitch or that the VDI numbers remain in the 80's. That is very good information to know. My rule of thumb states if it's deep....it's old. Dig it! It costs you nothing.
[/size]
 
My ground conditions around Edmonton are usually mild, so I can often times run my AT machines full or near full sensitivity.

A couple of weeks ago, I dug a copper ring, thin, about size 9 at a measured 9" with the AT MAX 9" x 12" combo. I know it was measured, as I started pinpointing the hole when it was down to about 6 inches, then I carefully removed dirt, expecting to find a silver coil and not scratching it. At the 9" mark, I carefully removed it from the hole.

The AT Gold with the 5" x 8" coil found the items below a few years back, each carefully measured for a depth write up.
 
Awesome post!
Your statement

* If you are hunting an area that is absolutely covered with nails, try ground balancing out a nail until it is nothing but a small amount of static. Now....all the copper & silver targets will give a loud audio response....BUT the target ID will be off.

Does this mean GB in the carpet of nails? Or pull out a single nail and GB on top of that over clean soil?
 
John-Edmonton said:
I would ground balance on one nail.
Okay great.. thanks!
 
From my many years of vacationing and detecting up there for a couple of weeks or more each summer, I firmly believe there is some amount of ground movement during the thaw. Tundra residers and detectorists like John will know for sure. HH jim tn
 
This is an interesting situation, dealing with frost. The frost prevents the targets from any sinking (if you believe the theory that targets actually sink?) is the ground is just too hard....and in many areas the frost remains in the ground for a good 6 months. On the other hand, it could also push objects closer to the top of the soil. A good example of this is the rocks which are constantly being removed from farmers' fields, yet, after a few years, now ones appear. Now they obviously don't fall out of the sky, and after many generations of farming, and rock removal, they still manage to be pushed up from underneath. This is known as "frost heaving." It can actually be quite significant. Here is an explanation of this process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_heaving

Of course, the arguments still remain with the frost issues aside, as if objects actually sink?, or is it an matter of leaves and dirt piling up on objects? If you get a jar of sand, and lay a coin on top of the sand, put it in your house and observe it. The coin does not sink over time, unless of course you actually shake the jar. Now, aside from earthquakes, why do some coins sink drastically in soil, sometimes to significant depths?
 
John-Edmonton said:
This is an interesting situation, dealing with frost. The frost prevents the targets from any sinking (if you believe the theory that targets actually sink?) is the ground is just too hard....and in many areas the frost remains in the ground for a good 6 months. On the other hand, it could also push objects closer to the top of the soil. A good example of this is the rocks which are constantly being removed from farmers' fields, yet, after a few years, now ones appear. Now they obviously don't fall out of the sky, and after many generations of farming, and rock removal, they still manage to be pushed up from underneath. This is known as "frost heaving." It can actually be quite significant. Here is an explanation of this process: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frost_heaving

Of course, the arguments still remain with the frost issues aside, as if objects actually sink?, or is it an matter of leaves and dirt piling up on objects? If you get a jar of sand, and lay a coin on top of the sand, put it in your house and observe it. The coin does not sink over time, unless of course you actually shake the jar. Now, aside from earthquakes, why do some coins sink drastically in soil, sometimes to significant depths?

500 lb bombs dropped from airplanes in WWII would penetrate clay to over 100 feet but sand to only about 5 feet. My point: a coin in sand may not be the right test to determine whether coins sink. Try one in clay that is kept moist.
 
Saturation of the soil, clay or sand makes all the difference.

Saturated soil is much looser and allows sinking.

Example - In spring there are frost laws to protect roads from damage. Saturated earth will be mush under your tires.
 
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