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Where is the discussion on the 99 tones and Iron. :shrug: Must have been asleep. You know how it is when You get old. Naps are great. :D: :D: I must h
- Thread starter Tinfoil
- Start date
Hey Jerry, I don't think we have had a "real discussion" on the multi-tone mode. But the comment I would make, if we were to have one, would be to try it! Especially in those iron infested sites. I have been using the X-Terras for, well, as long as anyone. And the more I use it, the more I find it will do. This past spring I have been using the multi-tone mode almost exclusively. I had tried to make myself use it off an on the past couple years. But I just couldn't get the hang of it. Now that I have seen how it will speed up my hunt, I use it all the time. Toss in the Prospecting mode for target sizing and helping to determine the target shape, those old deep chunks of iron are farily easy to distinguish.
As you may remember from some time back, one of my theories about the discrimination range is that it is circular instead of linear. For those who haven't read those posts, I'll briefly explain what I mean. Some think of discrimination being a straight line, running from the most ferrous targets at the far left side of that line, to the most non-ferrous targets at the far right end of that line. I prefer to think of discrimination as being circular. If I were to ask you what straight north was on a compass, would you say it is 0 degrees or 360 degrees? The correct answer is both as a circle has 360 degrees. I would compare the discrimination of the X-Terra (and many other detectors) as having the most ferrous targets adjacent (within that circle) to the most non-ferrous. So think of the most ferrous TID of -8 being adjacent to the most non-ferrous (conductive) TID of +48. Thinking in those terms will explain why you will sometimes get a high tone and a TID reading of 48 on a piece of iron. When I hunt farmsites that are chocked full of deep iron, I like to use the 3 kHz coil due to it being "less responsive" to low conductive targets. Not to say it won't detect them. But I am convinced that the 3 kHz coil provides a better audio definition of those iron chunks than the two higher frequencies. When I am detecting an area and hear the audio high tone, I will X over that target to check for the consistency. Consistency is another one of my theories. I believe (as a coin shooter) that I can determine with 95% accuracy whether or not the target is a coin or scrap. There are some exceptions such as adjacent targets or coins on edge. But I am comfortable knowing that I am getting most of the coins I sweep my coil over. Anyway, back to the hunt... I typically hunt in all metal / multi-tone mode. When I get that high tone, I "X" over the target from multiple directions. Each time I pass the coil over that target I look for it's exact location in relationship to a blade of grass, clod of dirt or whatever is on top of the ground. Iron will generally produce the high tone when you are sweeping fairly rapidly, and from what I call the "back side" of the coil. By that I mean that the target will not be under where you heard that high tone. The high tone you heard will likely be repeated from several target "locations", depending on the direction and speed of the coil movement. You can prove that yourself by digging up a couple hundred of those high tones and finding a couple hundred iron targets. (that is how I came to these conclusions) Or, you can simply sweep your coil from multiple directions and notice how the target location seems to "move". If it "moves", I am willing to bet it is iron and I simply go on to the next target. If,however, that target location is consistent with each sweep, (remains in the same exact spot), I listen for audio tone consistency. When I am in the multi-tone mode, I slow my sweep down quite a bit, as I "X" over the target. Again, not just one or two directions. But sweep slowly over it from four or five directions. If it is a coin, the tone will likely be a single tone and not a blended tone. And, it will usually not waver. However, if it is a piece of iron, you will get the mixed tones of low and high. Where the high and low tones come from will vary, depending on the direction and speed of your sweep. You get that same audio variation (to a certain degree) with the 4 tone mode. But it is much more pronounced in the multi-tone mode. Especially if you slow down your sweep when Xing over the target. When you think about it, with 4 tones, any one target could vary by several notch segments, and you wouldn't hear any change in tone. But with multi-tone mode, there is one tone for each notch segment. So every target that moves between notch segments will produce multiple tones. If I get two distinct tones, and not the blended tones generally produced by iron, I will switch to Prospecting mode to make sure there is only one target under the coil. If there are two or more, I will likely dig the one that gives me the most consistent location, regardless of audio. Once I am confident that there is only one target under the coil, I'll sweep over it (again, from various directions) and look for a consistent TID. Frankly, by this time I don't care what the ID is. Coins are generally close to what I put in that TID chart a couple years ago. But rings, buttons, pendants, tokens and other collectibles can be anywhere on the chart. Digging all these signals does have it's shortcomings. In one of the sites we hunted this past weekend (when my brother skunked me), I switched to the 6-inch DD coil and tried to separate some of the trash. I must have dug fifty 22 calibur shell casings that had a consistent location, consistent audio, and locked on hard with a TID of 4 or 6. Just couldn't pass them up! HH Randy
As you may remember from some time back, one of my theories about the discrimination range is that it is circular instead of linear. For those who haven't read those posts, I'll briefly explain what I mean. Some think of discrimination being a straight line, running from the most ferrous targets at the far left side of that line, to the most non-ferrous targets at the far right end of that line. I prefer to think of discrimination as being circular. If I were to ask you what straight north was on a compass, would you say it is 0 degrees or 360 degrees? The correct answer is both as a circle has 360 degrees. I would compare the discrimination of the X-Terra (and many other detectors) as having the most ferrous targets adjacent (within that circle) to the most non-ferrous. So think of the most ferrous TID of -8 being adjacent to the most non-ferrous (conductive) TID of +48. Thinking in those terms will explain why you will sometimes get a high tone and a TID reading of 48 on a piece of iron. When I hunt farmsites that are chocked full of deep iron, I like to use the 3 kHz coil due to it being "less responsive" to low conductive targets. Not to say it won't detect them. But I am convinced that the 3 kHz coil provides a better audio definition of those iron chunks than the two higher frequencies. When I am detecting an area and hear the audio high tone, I will X over that target to check for the consistency. Consistency is another one of my theories. I believe (as a coin shooter) that I can determine with 95% accuracy whether or not the target is a coin or scrap. There are some exceptions such as adjacent targets or coins on edge. But I am comfortable knowing that I am getting most of the coins I sweep my coil over. Anyway, back to the hunt... I typically hunt in all metal / multi-tone mode. When I get that high tone, I "X" over the target from multiple directions. Each time I pass the coil over that target I look for it's exact location in relationship to a blade of grass, clod of dirt or whatever is on top of the ground. Iron will generally produce the high tone when you are sweeping fairly rapidly, and from what I call the "back side" of the coil. By that I mean that the target will not be under where you heard that high tone. The high tone you heard will likely be repeated from several target "locations", depending on the direction and speed of the coil movement. You can prove that yourself by digging up a couple hundred of those high tones and finding a couple hundred iron targets. (that is how I came to these conclusions) Or, you can simply sweep your coil from multiple directions and notice how the target location seems to "move". If it "moves", I am willing to bet it is iron and I simply go on to the next target. If,however, that target location is consistent with each sweep, (remains in the same exact spot), I listen for audio tone consistency. When I am in the multi-tone mode, I slow my sweep down quite a bit, as I "X" over the target. Again, not just one or two directions. But sweep slowly over it from four or five directions. If it is a coin, the tone will likely be a single tone and not a blended tone. And, it will usually not waver. However, if it is a piece of iron, you will get the mixed tones of low and high. Where the high and low tones come from will vary, depending on the direction and speed of your sweep. You get that same audio variation (to a certain degree) with the 4 tone mode. But it is much more pronounced in the multi-tone mode. Especially if you slow down your sweep when Xing over the target. When you think about it, with 4 tones, any one target could vary by several notch segments, and you wouldn't hear any change in tone. But with multi-tone mode, there is one tone for each notch segment. So every target that moves between notch segments will produce multiple tones. If I get two distinct tones, and not the blended tones generally produced by iron, I will switch to Prospecting mode to make sure there is only one target under the coil. If there are two or more, I will likely dig the one that gives me the most consistent location, regardless of audio. Once I am confident that there is only one target under the coil, I'll sweep over it (again, from various directions) and look for a consistent TID. Frankly, by this time I don't care what the ID is. Coins are generally close to what I put in that TID chart a couple years ago. But rings, buttons, pendants, tokens and other collectibles can be anywhere on the chart. Digging all these signals does have it's shortcomings. In one of the sites we hunted this past weekend (when my brother skunked me), I switched to the 6-inch DD coil and tried to separate some of the trash. I must have dug fifty 22 calibur shell casings that had a consistent location, consistent audio, and locked on hard with a TID of 4 or 6. Just couldn't pass them up! HH Randy
Gonehunting
New member
[quote Digger] I must have dug fifty 22 calibur shell casings that had a consistent location, consistent audio, and locked on hard with a TID of 4 or 6. Just couldn't pass them up! HH Randy[/quote]
Me too!
Me too!I have not used the multi tones yet. I usuall don't dig the Wrap around tones low/High neg/pos numbers. Every time it has been real deep iron. Especially nails that are straight up and down. Numbers that are bouncing -8,-6 to +48 +46, and the target moves around, has been Iron for me. I will try the multi tones though. I just have not even thought about it. I will take it back in that deep place I been hunting and use the 10.5 DD 7.5 Khz coil and see if I can pull a few out of it. Everything is so deep there. 8,10,12+"s. It is just one of those places that you just have to keep going back to. You and your brother have a great year and I hope there is a lot of sliver in it for you. Water season has started for me and I am hard at it. I still like to play around in the dirt though where all the good targets are real deep. HH 
: : Great Post and thanks Bud. 
Jerry aka tinfoil
: : Great Post and thanks Bud. Jerry aka tinfoilMick in Dubbo
New member
That's a very informative post Randy. Thanks for posting it.
Mick Evans.
Mick Evans.