Wet ground

[TURNMASTER]

Ok here is the thing, I have been getting real poor ID and Depth lately. I am not doing anything different at all. In my back yard, I had to dig a one way tone to get a penny at 2 inches. Nothing else there, no nails, nothing. Penny was tilted a bit but not verticle. I have noticed that I have been haveing some poor IDs over the past few weeks with enough solid hits and deep enough to make me think that I do not have a problem.

I now am wondering if the moisture in the soil can cause this if you are in an area that has higher mineralization. The "problem" at some sites I had attributed to trash, but maybe there are other factors.

I May buy an Explorer to hunt the super trashy stuff, but have no plane to sell the Xterra. Simply looking to improve my weaponry choices.

Jeff

 

[TomB]

Jeff..the area I hunt is also mineralized. I used the 10.5 DD MF coil to combat this. Moisture is an answer to my prayers when hunting deep CW bullets. A couple of good days of rain will find me on the battlefield digging deep bullets. In fact I have found some of the deepest bullets, 9" to 11" after a hard rain. I don't recall having a depth or ID problem. Due you have the same problem using say a MF coil verses a LF coil? HH TomB

 

[TURNMASTER]

I am not sure what my issue is, I seem to be having the same results with all three DDs I own the 10.5MF, the 5 x 10 and 6" DDs. I've been running the sens up and down always GB and usually use tracking, always noise cancel, I turned the ID stabilization back on to see if that helps. Don't get me wrong I have hit 20 wheats in the last 4 outings and some clad and there have been a few deeper targets. We are talking in the 6" range, with an Al can at 11" measured to the top corner and in the ground vert. What I am at odds with is the Wheats and clad that just ain't sounding good in the 2 to 4 inch range. I am talking good one direction with jumpy numbers mixed in with lower tones. If the precieved problem keeps up then I will call Minlab USA.

I was just wondering if anyone else had issues if the ground had to much moisture. I am not convinced that in some situations that added moisture in conductive soils is good and may just be downright problematic.

Side note is that my back yard GBs between 14 and 18 in tracking. This is not unusal in some of the hoods I have been beeping in. There is one however that runs in the 35 to 45 range, and I thought there was something wrong when one yard was briefly in the 50s when I looked.

I will have to listen to the voice of experience if you guys say moisture is always good.

Jeff

 

[Terra1959]

Hi Jeff,

IMHO Tom has it right.....Ground moisture enhances detector performance.
Just suggestions : Have you tried with Tracking ON ?
or maybe - Try a factory reset ??
best of luck.

Terra59

 

[TomB]

Jeff...I also use tracking from time to time. When I hit a TID I switch tracking off and swing the coil over the target. After target has been recovered I switch tracking back on. TomB

 

[Digger]

This is simply my opinion, based on where I've hunted. But I wouldn't say moisture is always good. I would say that moisture serves to intensify the magnetic lines of flux (eddy currents) out of, and back into, the coil. In working with sound, an amplifier increases the level of audio. In other words, the amp repeats everything it hears, with more volume. That includes the voice you want to hear, as well as the static and white noise you don't want to hear. So, just as an amp is dumb in that it intensifies ALL the sounds that it receives and retransmits, wet conditions in the soil will intensify the signals from the "bad stuff" as well as the "good stuff". The wet soil simply allows the eddy currents to flow more readily. Bottom line is, if you are having problems with highly mineralized soil conditions when it is dry, wet soil will likely increase the falsing and irratic TID numbers.

With that said, in my neck of the woods, with gorund phase readings in the 30's - low 50's, I love to hunt after a rain. In areas with little trash, hunting with wet soil intensifies the signal from the coils. And, when conditions are right, the wet soil seems to add an inch or two in depth. JMHO HH Randy

 

[morelic55]

Hands down, moisture in the ground makes a BIG difference in the depth I get with the 705 and the 10.5 coils

 

[TURNMASTER]

I think I understand what Randy is saying. An amplified signal is not always better. Amplifying a good signal is a good thing and can add depth. Amplifying noise generates more noise and can decrease effective depth. This could also make a very trashy site worse, as it amplifies all of the trash just as much as it would the good signals. This could in practice make a bent nail that has been in the dirt since 1941 that much more of a good sounding target.

Now the trick is to find the settings that can take the best advantage of this most cruddy situation. Problem is when I turn down the Sens I loose depth, I have played with it and this is the case. The key here may be GB offsets. I run in Tracking 75% of the time. The problem is not quite as bad with the 10.5" MF DD, but is still plenty not what I have been accustmed. I expect better depth and TID out of that coil though. I do not know how the stocker will run, I have not used it since I took it off last summer.

Jeff

 

[Digger]

Your interpretation of what I was trying to say is correct. Finding the "best combination" includes coil choice, Sensitivity, Threshold and Ground Balance. You might be able to maintain better depth on larger targets if you try lowering the Threshold just a little bit, instead of just adjusting the Sensitivity. The downside is smaller targets at depth may not provide enough signal to overcome the lower Threshold setting. And I'd recommend also comparing the results of using a positive GB offset vs a negative GB offset. Although a positive offset should provide better TID in hot soil, based on what you've told us, your circumstances are extreme and your results may vary. Also, the concentric coils will provide more accurate TID in moderately mineralized soil. But it may take a DD coil to even penetrate that stuff you have! My suggestion would be to bury some test targets in that nasty soil, varying sizes and various depths. Work them with each of your coils and every possible combination of settings (NC, Threshold, GB and Sens) that you can imagine. Kind of like we do when we field test a new product. But as you've discovered, one size does not fit all! The objective, as you stated, is "to find the settings that can take the best advantage of this most cruddy situation." Hang in there, put it through the tests, and document what you've done along the way. Sooner or later, I think you'll find a combination that opens up a whole new world to you! JMHO HH Randy

 

[Utuk_Xul]

Hmmm... Maybe I will have an easier time of it here when the rain stops. I keep digging nail after nail because they are producing high tones both ways using the 10.5" MD DD coil. I've been ground balancing between 11 and 14 with it. Rains a lot this time of year in Oregon.