scubadetector
New member
THIS has been asked on EVERY forum and MAYBE before it has to be answered again, an answer can be stuck somewhere so EVERYONE can refer the person that asked to a post such as this. I am thinking that the experienced users could all chip in to an answer, and ALL the people that ask on ANY FORUM, can be redirected to an answer they can understand. SO I am taking my time to TRY to explain WHY its impossible to answer.
Soil mineralization and content vary so widely its impossible to make a detector that handles the same way in all the soil combinations it will encounter. The soil moisture, the effects of the surrounding metal on the object your after and the ability to get your coil as close to the ground as possible ALL contribute to finding a target.
Detector variables..... Coil size, coil composition and type, detector settings, ground balance, transmit power, receive power, circuitry, distance from coil to surface of ground. Ability to separate targets, Ability to perform in any ground mineralization, machine frequency
Ground variables..... Mineralization, moisture content, soil composition, obstacles, flatness
Target variables....... orientation (one edge, tilted) target size, target composition, target mask, length target has been in ground,
User variables......... Knowledge of machine, distance of machine to ground, CONCENTRATION, swing pattern, speed of swing,
I am POSITIVE I missed some variables, Please everyone help fill this in.
I don't want this to be a post that ends up where people say this machine does better at this and that. NO machine is right for every user or every situation so lets leave BRANDS ad MODELS completely OUT of this post.
MY aim at this post is for us experienced users to NOT sound RUDE to newcomers that want our advice.
Why do we ALL miss targets, AGAIN, a lot of that has to do with WAY, WAY to many variables so there is NO one answer. How far is your coil above the ground at ALL points in your swing, Did you set your machine up to its best capabilities? Is the ground at its ideal moisture consistency, How fast are we moving the coil ahead. Are we concentrating on what we are doing.
You are told to overlap your swings by 50%. You will for sure miss targets if you do that. Plain and simple. If you have a 8" coil and you move it 4 inches and at the deepest your detector reads is a point that is only the size of lets say a dime, you missed detecting at least 3 inches of ground. You should only be moving your detector half an inch each swing to cover all the ground. AND you also have to make sure your coil stays EXACTLY the same distance from the ground for the WHOLE arch of your swing, so you need perfectly flat ground. LOL impossible.
Another HUGE variable is what angle you come across the target, especially one that is masked. Hit it one way no signal, move all around it in a 360 degree circle you will sometimes hear good solid signals and sometimes hear iffy signals.
If the powers that be like this, and the experienced users contribute, I am thinking WE as a UNITED EXPERIENCED group can help the newcomers understand why this isn't an exact science without sounding rude or demeaning to them.
We all have our knowledge, our detector of choice, our COMMITMENT and DEDICATION to the hobby we enjoy, lets unite here to help others understand what we face out there!!
And I would HOPE that if enough of us experienced users would contribute, the powers that be would make this a sticky and show the author as EXPERIENCED USERS or something like that.
Just remember, the water in Michigan is the wrong consistency for diving or wading and no detectors will work in it. Its also way to wet to detect in. And since everybody who swam in the 11 thousand lakes knew better to remove their coins and jewelry before they went swimming, there is nothing to be found. So detecting Michigan water would be wasting your money and time. And I would hate for anybody to do that.
(Ok my last statment could be removed in a final modification of this post!!)
Soil mineralization and content vary so widely its impossible to make a detector that handles the same way in all the soil combinations it will encounter. The soil moisture, the effects of the surrounding metal on the object your after and the ability to get your coil as close to the ground as possible ALL contribute to finding a target.
Detector variables..... Coil size, coil composition and type, detector settings, ground balance, transmit power, receive power, circuitry, distance from coil to surface of ground. Ability to separate targets, Ability to perform in any ground mineralization, machine frequency
Ground variables..... Mineralization, moisture content, soil composition, obstacles, flatness
Target variables....... orientation (one edge, tilted) target size, target composition, target mask, length target has been in ground,
User variables......... Knowledge of machine, distance of machine to ground, CONCENTRATION, swing pattern, speed of swing,
I am POSITIVE I missed some variables, Please everyone help fill this in.
I don't want this to be a post that ends up where people say this machine does better at this and that. NO machine is right for every user or every situation so lets leave BRANDS ad MODELS completely OUT of this post.
MY aim at this post is for us experienced users to NOT sound RUDE to newcomers that want our advice.
Why do we ALL miss targets, AGAIN, a lot of that has to do with WAY, WAY to many variables so there is NO one answer. How far is your coil above the ground at ALL points in your swing, Did you set your machine up to its best capabilities? Is the ground at its ideal moisture consistency, How fast are we moving the coil ahead. Are we concentrating on what we are doing.
You are told to overlap your swings by 50%. You will for sure miss targets if you do that. Plain and simple. If you have a 8" coil and you move it 4 inches and at the deepest your detector reads is a point that is only the size of lets say a dime, you missed detecting at least 3 inches of ground. You should only be moving your detector half an inch each swing to cover all the ground. AND you also have to make sure your coil stays EXACTLY the same distance from the ground for the WHOLE arch of your swing, so you need perfectly flat ground. LOL impossible.
Another HUGE variable is what angle you come across the target, especially one that is masked. Hit it one way no signal, move all around it in a 360 degree circle you will sometimes hear good solid signals and sometimes hear iffy signals.
If the powers that be like this, and the experienced users contribute, I am thinking WE as a UNITED EXPERIENCED group can help the newcomers understand why this isn't an exact science without sounding rude or demeaning to them.
We all have our knowledge, our detector of choice, our COMMITMENT and DEDICATION to the hobby we enjoy, lets unite here to help others understand what we face out there!!
And I would HOPE that if enough of us experienced users would contribute, the powers that be would make this a sticky and show the author as EXPERIENCED USERS or something like that.
Just remember, the water in Michigan is the wrong consistency for diving or wading and no detectors will work in it. Its also way to wet to detect in. And since everybody who swam in the 11 thousand lakes knew better to remove their coins and jewelry before they went swimming, there is nothing to be found. So detecting Michigan water would be wasting your money and time. And I would hate for anybody to do that.
(Ok my last statment could be removed in a final modification of this post!!)
araysis through Analysis". Have FUN!