why hunt exclusively in Iron Mask?

[Anonymous]

I heard that many people hunt just in iron mask mode... what are the main advantages in doing this? is this the best mode for hunting old coins, or am i better off using the "learn" mode..
as i have "taught" my explorer to go after the basic old coins, as described in andy sabiches book.
peter

 

[Anonymous]

Iron mask gives deep nails and rust balls a low tone

 

[Anonymous]

Good question Peter. Been wondering the same thing myself.
Also my digging tools only go down about 8 to 9 inches. Have to figure something out for those 10 to 12 inchers. (Don't want to use a shovel"
I just trained my Explorer "via Sabisch" with the old coin program. Hope it works as weel as the "New Coin Program" Found 109 (no silvers, new park) coins in 12 hours of detecting over the course of a week.
Let me know how it works for you. Maybe we can share tips. I need to do some research to find a place.

 

[Anonymous]

You will have to take this for what it is... I have owned my Explorer for around a month, so I am hardly an expert...
The purpose of working in iron mask mode (with -8 to -12 being a good working range) is to account for the behavior of the Explorer XS. In a nutshell, when you are using this mode you will hear the tone of a coin, but you may not see the cursor ever move out from the left hand side of the screen.
If you are discriminating, because the the Explorer had locked the target to the left, you would have gotten a null sound instead of the tone (or just a small pop of sound).
The situation that this is designed to overcome is a good target near a bad one (i.e. a dime near a nail). As most detectors null it out, the Minelab user finds it, digs it, and makes the users of other brands of detectors wonder if they have the right machine <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">.
So, when you are using iron mask, here is what you do. Press iron mask. Set it to -8 or so. Press detect to get back to a smartfind screen. Drive on.
If you need to get back to some tighter discrimination, press iron mask again. This will be really useful if you have an x1 probe and are homing in.
I have had moderate success with this... Then again, I have only had about 6 hours to practice. I did find a penny at nine inches. No biggie... Well, it was standing on edge and after digging it, I had a lot more respect for the Explorer. I have also dug a lot of junk because you are probably going to have to in order to become confident with this technique.
The typical settings to accompany the use of iron mask...
Sensativity - Manual
Sensativity level - 24 to 32, back it down in trash
Recovery - Deep, or Deep + Fast in trash
Audio mode - Audio 1
Sound - Ferrous
Gain - 6
Iron Mask - -8 to -12 (some try -16)
I do suggest that you try Iron Mask -16 for a few minutes. Doing that will make it a little clearer about what the machine is actually doing. It was an informative 15 minutes or so for me. (It is also probably a good method for finding a homestead site in a field...)
This mode is much more about listening than watching the display. If it sounds like a coin from several angles, then dig it. Any repeatable coin-like sound should be investigated. And you are going to find that pinpoint doesn't help much here, so plan on using the X method to pinpoint your targets.
Finally, and you will discover this first hand, using iron mask is painfully slow. I have spent several minutes working a small space of ground with the coil and then not digging. Getting a repeatable sound can take a little while, especially if they are deep. But you can pretty much rest assured that you have really cleaned out an area once you have worked it.
Again, I do not claim to know much. This is mostly a rehash of the bits and pieces that I have put together from dozens of messages here. If anyone has anything to add, please do. If there is something that I have said that is just plain wrong, by all means correct me.
Thanks!
Tim

 

[Anonymous]

Peter,
Using iron mask will give you a little more depth plus get you a few more coins that are close to nails also. Turning it to a more negitive number will cover up the good target less than a higher number will. One thing to try is take a dime and put a rusty nail within inch of it and try your disc pattern, now try the iron mask at a -9 or so and see what difference it will make, also start raising the coil and see what difference it make in depth.
Most of the areas we are working are areas that have been hit hard over the years, and what is left is the good targets that are mask by junk or rusty nails or just plain deeper than any other detector can get them. Most of these will not read as good targets on the smart screen, but the audio will be there. Now in a disc pattern if they read in the black disc areas because of the junk or iron beside them we will not get a response to them.In iron mask we will hear them even though they may not show on the smart screen the exact area that they normaly do.
Disc patterns are good for cherry picking a area of new coins, but for serious hunting of the deep and old ones iron mask at a -8 or less is the way to get them.
Rick

 

[Anonymous]

I hunt in iron mask because you'll lose some
coin's in disc.
If you have a silver dime & a old nickel in the
same hole, it won't read dime or nickel but will
average somewhere between the two.
Also with trash, if your in a known good area
you would check out every piece of trash by
swinging from all direction's to see you might
pull a coin sound next to the trash which may only
be heard from one of those directions, but if you
were hunting with only coin's notched in you
wouldn't even hear the trash to investigate a
possiable good target next to it.
Just my thought's, I'm sure other's have even better reason's.
Sometimes I do hunt as you mentioned when I'm
tired, HH & go slow in those known good area's.
jim s.

 

[Anonymous]

I was hunting civil war camps in iron mask until i droped a minnie ball on top the ground that was coverd in iron trash and i couldent pick up the the bullet on top of it.I went to disc mode and got it fine.