I post here very little but I read everyone's finds and I particularly enjoy reading about Bryce's and James' weekend stories because they really motivate me and help me to understand my SE better. I wouldn't have found what I did today without your guys' posts. I've got a little over 80 hours on the SE but have always struggled to get the depth out of it that others have been getting, but after reading so many of Bryce's descriptions about digging those faint signals that I normally probably wouldn't even have noticed, my understanding has grown alot as of today's hunt. My finds were meager compared to what you guys post, but I can certainly see the potential now.
I'm using the stock coil, ferrous tones, stock coin discrim (I don't feel I'm yet ready to use low iron mask or AM yet as effectively as I can coin discrim), gain 8, variability 10, deep on, manual sensitivity around 22.
The following is from my blog at dirtjournal.com.
11/07/08: Run Slow, Run Deep - I've been perusing the findmall forums and admiring the incredible finds those guys make with their Explorer models. They report some awsome depths and I really felt like I was missing something when I hunted with mine so today I wanted to go to an older but worked out park that should certainly have some old coins. I was going to go to *********** but I ended up at ********* because I've had just a bit more luck there and I figure it had less fill dirt.
It was a really beautiful morning...calm and cool - low 60's. I started off next to a newer basketball court and was going to work across an area that I felt had been filled but not so much that older coins couldn't be found deeper. I just focused on going really slow and paying close attention to the really quiet signals that hit in the upper right of my screen. I postponed my original plan though when I hit a screamer that was close to the surface on probably my fifth sweep for the day. The cursor was hanging off the right side of the screen just like a quarter and I like digging quarters, so I went for it. Low and behold!
It's been so long since I've found a silver ring, I honestly can't remember...easily over a year. I was so glad to drop this one in my pouch! Well, back to plan A, slow and deep. I made one run down and back in the grassy area and was headed toward the side of the b-ball court when I got an interesting hit that was real quiet. It sounded good and was hitting along the right side of the screen but mostly toward the top. The depth meter was about one-third from the bottom, maybe less. I wasn't sure what to expect as I'd never dug any older coins in this part of the park, and certainly none this deep. I dug a deep plug which held together nicely as I pried it out and flipped it over. I Lesche'd a few more inches from the bottom of the hole before I saw a wheat bouncing around at the bottom. Alright! It was at least six inches, probably seven. It was a 1955 D.
Not far from that hole, I got another target that was very similar which resulted in another deeper wheat! I really feel like I'm getting the hang of this machine now! Maybe ten feet later and I get a similar target but this one sounded a bit better. I was expecting another wheat at best, but when I loosened some dirt around the bottom of the hole, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a silver Washington mixed in with the dirt!! Holy crap!
Wow, this hunt turned awsome within an hour! My next target was close-by as well and it registered deeper than the others, almost bottoming out the depth meter. I dug and dug and dug. I was just about to give up knowing that there was no way a coin could have been this deep. The entire ten inches of the Lesche digger fit in the hole when my X-1 probe finally started to give me a response from the bottom. It sounded good...not silver good, but penny good. I was thinking no way there could be a coin this deep and was really expecting a pipe or an aluminum can. I pried out another two inches of dirt from the bottom and saw an aluminum scrap that may have been part of a bottle cap or lid of some sort.
Wow! It could have easily been a coin and I simply couldn't believe how deep the SE picked it up at for as small a target as it was. I still can hardly believe it. I put the tip of the Lesche where the scrap had been lying and the base of the Lesche handle was over an inch below the dirt line. That's almost twelve inches! This was probably the most exciting piece of trash I've ever dug!
Well, I worked the area some more and then wandered over to a spot that I had worked a tight grid with the DFX a few years ago and had found five or six wheats. The spot is a lot trashier than I remember it being, but even with the stock SE coil, I still found a '46 wheat that I had walked over before and I was just passing through the area to sample it. Just when I was wondering why I keep using the SE, it proves itself to me again.
I decided to save that spot for a different time and a different coil and went back to grid the area where I had found the quarter and the wheats. I didn't find anymore oldies or deep coins. I'm not sure if I started sweeping too quickly or what, but the area dried up pretty quickly and I was soon on my way home.
What an awsome hunt! I really feel like I found where the SE shines...in old worked-out parks where the only old coins that are left are down deep. I also learned to really slow down and I have a much better understanding on what to listen for. I can't wait to get back out there with the 6" excellerator to see what other goodies I can find!
I'm using the stock coil, ferrous tones, stock coin discrim (I don't feel I'm yet ready to use low iron mask or AM yet as effectively as I can coin discrim), gain 8, variability 10, deep on, manual sensitivity around 22.
The following is from my blog at dirtjournal.com.
11/07/08: Run Slow, Run Deep - I've been perusing the findmall forums and admiring the incredible finds those guys make with their Explorer models. They report some awsome depths and I really felt like I was missing something when I hunted with mine so today I wanted to go to an older but worked out park that should certainly have some old coins. I was going to go to *********** but I ended up at ********* because I've had just a bit more luck there and I figure it had less fill dirt.
It was a really beautiful morning...calm and cool - low 60's. I started off next to a newer basketball court and was going to work across an area that I felt had been filled but not so much that older coins couldn't be found deeper. I just focused on going really slow and paying close attention to the really quiet signals that hit in the upper right of my screen. I postponed my original plan though when I hit a screamer that was close to the surface on probably my fifth sweep for the day. The cursor was hanging off the right side of the screen just like a quarter and I like digging quarters, so I went for it. Low and behold!
It's been so long since I've found a silver ring, I honestly can't remember...easily over a year. I was so glad to drop this one in my pouch! Well, back to plan A, slow and deep. I made one run down and back in the grassy area and was headed toward the side of the b-ball court when I got an interesting hit that was real quiet. It sounded good and was hitting along the right side of the screen but mostly toward the top. The depth meter was about one-third from the bottom, maybe less. I wasn't sure what to expect as I'd never dug any older coins in this part of the park, and certainly none this deep. I dug a deep plug which held together nicely as I pried it out and flipped it over. I Lesche'd a few more inches from the bottom of the hole before I saw a wheat bouncing around at the bottom. Alright! It was at least six inches, probably seven. It was a 1955 D.
Not far from that hole, I got another target that was very similar which resulted in another deeper wheat! I really feel like I'm getting the hang of this machine now! Maybe ten feet later and I get a similar target but this one sounded a bit better. I was expecting another wheat at best, but when I loosened some dirt around the bottom of the hole, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a silver Washington mixed in with the dirt!! Holy crap!
Wow, this hunt turned awsome within an hour! My next target was close-by as well and it registered deeper than the others, almost bottoming out the depth meter. I dug and dug and dug. I was just about to give up knowing that there was no way a coin could have been this deep. The entire ten inches of the Lesche digger fit in the hole when my X-1 probe finally started to give me a response from the bottom. It sounded good...not silver good, but penny good. I was thinking no way there could be a coin this deep and was really expecting a pipe or an aluminum can. I pried out another two inches of dirt from the bottom and saw an aluminum scrap that may have been part of a bottle cap or lid of some sort.
Wow! It could have easily been a coin and I simply couldn't believe how deep the SE picked it up at for as small a target as it was. I still can hardly believe it. I put the tip of the Lesche where the scrap had been lying and the base of the Lesche handle was over an inch below the dirt line. That's almost twelve inches! This was probably the most exciting piece of trash I've ever dug!
Well, I worked the area some more and then wandered over to a spot that I had worked a tight grid with the DFX a few years ago and had found five or six wheats. The spot is a lot trashier than I remember it being, but even with the stock SE coil, I still found a '46 wheat that I had walked over before and I was just passing through the area to sample it. Just when I was wondering why I keep using the SE, it proves itself to me again.
I decided to save that spot for a different time and a different coil and went back to grid the area where I had found the quarter and the wheats. I didn't find anymore oldies or deep coins. I'm not sure if I started sweeping too quickly or what, but the area dried up pretty quickly and I was soon on my way home.
What an awsome hunt! I really feel like I found where the SE shines...in old worked-out parks where the only old coins that are left are down deep. I also learned to really slow down and I have a much better understanding on what to listen for. I can't wait to get back out there with the 6" excellerator to see what other goodies I can find!
I couldn't agree with you more about Bryce and James. They are two of the best as far as I am concerned and their tips have not only helped you and I, but several other forum readers I'm sure.
Good luck on your next outing and HH.
Continued Success, Good Luck and HH to you.
Good Luck and HH!
I hunted there this year a couple of times. The first time it was just me and one other guy...and I didn't feel real comfortable