Well, went out experimenting again.....but got rained out after 45 minutes, but I learned a LOT today.

[Anonymous]

But not before digging a '57 Roosie. I dug by tone alone and looked at the crosshairs ONLY after deciding to dig it regardless of what I saw. Well, the crosshair were smack over to the left up against the masked out area. In the not-too-distant past I would have said "nail"
Also, this was in dark old soil at about 6" and there was NO trash in the hole with it or anywhere near the hole. I was in IM -10 with thresh at 13 manual, conductive tones.
I pulled out my test coins (I always have some with me) and did another air test. I saw that the crosshairs were bouncing all over top of the display at about 6" and greater for dimes and pennies and even favoring the right-hand side...BUT the tone was strong and steady. I then air tested some rusty nails and a few little pieces of iron and got very weak, ragged intermittent tones or a total null.
So I guess what I learned is that even with a clean target and a good high tone, the crosshairs can still be jammed to the left.
In short, screw the crosshairs. As long as they are somewhere on the top of the screen that's all that matters. Just listen to the tone and get it to repeat from at least 2 angles.
I have GOT to have passed up literally HUNDREDS of keepers in the last year!!!
Now I get to hunt em again hehe <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know if it will come out looking like a chia pet but there's a chance... <IMG SRC="/forums/images/biggrin.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">
I posted below about Lansing having a loamy park... Give that town a good look... Guvner..

 

[Anonymous]

RE: In short, screw the crosshairs. As long as they are somewhere on the top of the screen that's all that matters. Just listen to the tone and get it to repeat from at least 2 angles.
Lately, I have been digging signals that only repeat from one angle. Amazingly, I have been finding coins this way. This morning I was hunting a yard that has a LOT of trash in it. I happened upon a signal that "said" wheatie, but would only sound off if I moved the coil (8 in. Minelab), from left to right and only from one direction. I thought about blowing it off, but decided to dig, and there was a 1951 wheat, on edge, at about 4 inches. The crosshairs said wheatie, the tone said wheatie, but I could only get the signal from one direction. So maybe you shouldn't pass up all of those one directional signals...there may be something there.

 

[Anonymous]

[No message]

 

[Anonymous]

Discrimination has left more coins in the ground than any other reason!

 

[Anonymous]

[No message]

 

[Anonymous]

The only coins that really seem to lock on for me are the quarters and halves. I got to thinking the other day while digging one of those iffies in tough soil (ended up being a barber dime) that as the coil moves over the coin and starts moving away from it, even when the coil is moving real slow, it's getting further away from the target, so if the mineralization or iron trash is bad, the cursor will jump from right to left as the coil moves over the coin. I would guess that an extra inch of dirt between the coil and the coin can move that cursor hard to the left in a hurry. Being able to control the coil so it hardly moves might improve lock-ons for deep targets. Now I need to test these thoughts out on my next trip.