Minelab Explorer Forum

So many people talk about hitting a 10 inch dime and I know they are telling the truth and to your success I say, "Great, good for you - I wish I could" but to be honest it depresses me because I keep hoping but it has never happened. Im thinking, Whats wrong with me. Maybe one day my time will come but to be honest, I have never hit one that deep, in fact my machine will not pick up a 10 inch dime period The Safire will but not the SE Pro. The only thing my SE Pro will pick up at 10 - 12 inches is an aluminum can or something much larger than a coin. The deepest I have been able to pick up any coin (not counting sandy beach area) is 8 inches.

If the truth were known I wonder how many people are in the same boat as I am in and HAVE NEVER picked up a 10 inch coin. Do you care to chime in and lets see what the odds are that only 10% actually find a dime 10 inches deep (more that once). If I find one I believe it will be pure luck because as a rule it will not go that deep.

Just being honest.
Don

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CTX-3030, SE Pro, ProPointer

Most coins I find here are surface to 8" deep at most. I did dig a fully burried depth reading on my explorer2 once which was a barber quarter probably 10"-12" deep if the machine was right back on fathers day early in the last decade. My first rael silver coin and deep. None since then have been as deep. The soil here is at a GB of 80-85 so fairly mineralized and it's black soil the first 8" then there is a yellow soil layer 9"-10" deep then it's clay after that from what I've found in yards and the parks from digging around here.

You probably just havn't passed your coil over any yet. OR maybe you could get someone with the SE to meet with you and hunt your areas and see if your settings are the same and or maybe see what to listen for for deepies. What coil are you using?? I'm just throwing ideas out there.

what does the soil look like at 10" in your area? need to have the right conditions to hit 10" coins IMHO.

blank planet

best i've done is a rosie at 6" with the 8x6 SEF coil. going to try the same area with the pro coil sometime. figure i haven't passed over a 10" to be able to find it. my soil is the great north west minerlized stuff from Mt. St. Helens and others. reads around 92-93. did get a franklin half at 8" with my MXT and D2 DD coil. so i know these go that far down. i'm thinking you don't know how far your machine will go. it only goes as far as the deepest target you have found. and that goes as far as your settings and experience. your experience tells you the info you need for the best out of your machine. stop doubting yourself and continue to learn your machine. the finds will come.

HH

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Garrett AT Pr o
Garrett Pro pin pointer.x2
V3i on the way

AIN'T THIS HOBBY GREAT?

THE ONLY DUMB QUESTION IS THE ONE YOU DON'T ASK.
Kelso, Wa.
where the sun don't shine most of the time.

Are you sure you have your sensitivity set to manual, and not auto? And do you have an exceptional pair of headphones to boost the faint sounds?

On land (park turf) I've gotten up to about 10" on a coin-sized item (a copper token the size of a quarter, measured while still stuck at the bottom of the hole). Not sure if I've done 10" on a dime in park turf, though, as that's a smaller coin. And I've gotten dimes to 11" on the beach (measured in hard-packed sand), and quarters on the beach to 12"-ish inches. But go figure: on the beach, you can chase insane whispers that you don't even know if the target is even conductive or not.

Hi Don,it's good to see somebody being honest about depths.You here a lot of claimed depths on certain targets that are frankly pure rubbish.A dime is a fairly small target and to get 10" in any kind of soil with any detector is pushing it to say the least.......although in rare instances it can happen.Add a bit of mineralisation or iron close to the dime and you have no chance whatsoever.

Let me answer some of the questions: First on depth... In my "Be honest...." post I said, "The deepest I have been able to pick up any coin (not counting sandy beach area) is 8 inches." I've done my fare share of hunting the beach and I can and have pulled dimes as well as other coins 12" deep. But "Be honest...." is intended to talk about my home soil and your home soil (unless you happen to life on the beach )

I live in SW Virginia. I hunt a mixture of soil conditions: in the mountains it is sandstone so it has a sandy content. In Town is may be clay or rich fill dirt or nice rich dark garden soil. It may be along the river banks which is good soil. I do not hunt in mineralized soil but I do hunt some trashy parks occasionally (all parks are trashy). I guess what I am saying is that the soil is basically pretty good.

Tom asks if I am sure I have my sensitivity set on manual. I run semi-manual sometimes and at other times I run manual, it all depends on how much trash or how much chatter I'm hearing or how clean the soil is where I'm hunting. Normally I run semi-manual at 29. If I run manual I may drop it a tad depending on falseing.

EtracTom ask what coil I use. I have three; they are the stock Pro-coil which comes on the SE Pro, the FBS 800, and I use the SunRay X-5. My coil choice depends on how much trash the area I'm hunting has. I understand the smaller coils will not go as deep as the Pro-coil.

If you are interested in my settings they are: Volume Max 10, Gain 9, TH Tone 8, Variability Tone 10, Limits 10, Fast/Deep Off, Iron Mask 22.

Head phones; most of the time I use wireless ear buds but I own and have used the Koss that came with the SE Pro; I have a set of Koss Professional Stereophonic and I have a set of Killer B's.

How do I hunt? Slow, real slow if it's trash infested but slow and as close to the ground as I can. I used to ground-balance with my coil on the ground but recently I read a post that said to ground-balance with the coil as close to the ground as you normally hunt - now that's what I do.

I may not be doing everything right but I think I'm doing a lot of things right. Still I read so many posts from people who pull dimes and other good stuff at 10 inches and more deep. Honestly though, I can barely get my SE to sound off on a dime below 7 inches deep and that will only be a little chirp. A larger coin I can get it to sound off at 8 inches but any deeper and it ain't gonna happen as a rule.

I'm not crying or singing the blues, I'm just being honest about how deep this SE Pro will go and was wondering if Im the exception. Honestly though, I think it's probably about all this machine was intended to do and anything deeper is less than 10 percent of the operator and machines out there.

I hope tomorrow I'm proven to be wrong.....

Sound off,
Don

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CTX-3030, SE Pro, ProPointer

Don I think your wrong and it will go deeper especially with the Pro coil and the 8" coil on. The 5" is no slouch either. BUT from what I read on here and in the amgazines your soil is HOT there so maybe your getting max depth possiable FOR YOUR AREA is all. Bryce's soil is very deep black low mineralization there in ILL. so he gets deep. Here it's in Upstate N.Y. start of the Adirondack park area it's fairly mineralized soil so it does pretty good. Again maybe take it to another state or area or go out with someone who has one too and see if you get better results which I know it's capable of.

Using real good headphones (I use Sun Ray Golds) makes a good difference to hear the fainter deeper good targets too. Don't give up on her just yet Don.

In response to you...and I quote:

Quote
scoper
Hi Don,it's good to see somebody being honest about depths.You here a lot of claimed depths on certain targets that are frankly pure rubbish.A dime is a fairly small target and to get 10" in any kind of soil with any detector is pushing it to say the least.......although in rare instances it can happen.Add a bit of mineralisation or iron close to the dime and you have no chance whatsoever.

Feel free to click on the link below...and as for iron...a lot of people including myself have found coins in heavy iron at 10" deep.

http://www.findmall.com/read.php?19,1148775,1148775#msg-1148775

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Here's the link to my field test post containing over 60 different hunts of various coil tests...comparisons...nicer finds...etc..:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?19,1055627,1055627#msg-1055627

Been swingin' the coil since 1972
Started out in 1972 with a Jetco Detector...then the late 70's with a Whites 6000....then in 1981 went to a Bounty Hunter VLF TR 840...then in the early 1980's I went to a Whites 6000 Di Pro...mid 80's I went to a Whites Eagle II SL...Late 80's/Early 90's I went to the Whites XLT...1990's I used the Fisher CZ5, CZ6, CZ7, 7aPro, and CZ70Pro...Started using Minelabs in 1999
with a brief stint on the Musketeer while also using the CZ's...then in 2002 I switched to the Minelab Explorers and currently use an Explorer 2, SE, SEPro, and E-trac with an arsenal of coils

Here's the story of my BEST FIND EVER.:
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?19,876944,876944#msg-876944

"Metal detecting is an escape for me and allows me to find some much needed peace and solace.
Being able to clear my head...even if only for that short while...is much more meaningful than any amount of finds that end up in my pouch" "Quote ME"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2012 09:23PM by Bryce-IL.

Yup. Most of the silver coin i find is between 9-11 inch range. I found a merc. Dime at 11-1/2 inches deep. with the explorer, And the deepest coin i have ever found was a indian head cent at just over 14 inches and i was using the sovereign GT. The sovereign is a deeper detector then the explorer, just my opinion, but the explorer is smarter.

DaugBiscuit --

In my opinion, alot of it has to do with mineralization. If you have mineralized soil, you likely won't hit those extreme depths. If you have irony clay, you likely won't hit those extreme depths. It's hard to compare apples to apples when one guy digs a 10-11" dime, and another guy says he can only hit one at 8". The SOIL is as big of a factor as experience, knowing what to listen for, etc. in my opinion.

I have NOT hit a 10" dime. Now, I will say that I don't think there ARE many that deep in my area (except in areas where fill dirt has been spread or whatever), because it's tough for coins to sink that deep in dense clay soil.

My deepest coin with this machine is a measured 9 1/2"...it was that Seated quarter, and was on edge. I will say that it hit real hard, so I had some more room there to go, but that's the deepest for me so far (was using the Pro coil). I also dug an Indian Head penny a day earlier at 8 1/2" to 9" (Pro coil)...but it was a very soft hit...I may have been able to get it another 1/2" or so deeper...not much more; I doubt it would have hit at 10". I have hit 7 1/2" to 8" measured dimes/pennies with the 6x8" SEF coil; nothing deeper than 8" or just a shade more, with the 6x8", so far.

But, to answer your original question, NO -- no 10" dimes for me, in my soil.

Steve

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Minelab Explorer SE Pro, Fisher Gold Bug Pro (DP)
Garrett ProPointer
Lesche 38D "King of Spades"

Norman, OK

Here is my opinion.
For one as stated by others above the make-up/content of the soil is a huge factor.
Then how much rain/moisture is a factor.
Whether or not your on a flat area, hillside, hilltop, low lying area etc. A hill-top or hill-side will not hold the water like a low lying area so hence with the added moisture help things sink faster.
Then factor in the density of the soil as some is hard compact some is loamy.
You also have the freezing and thawing if your in that kind of climate.
You also have to factor in hole much rock is in the ground how many roots are in the ground etc. etc.
Now, some probably will not agree with this but on buttons, and smaller coins I generally find them deeper then say LC's or Halfs etc.
The reason is I believe the density of the object has alot to do with how far it can sink.
My oldest coin is a Realle and it was only about 6" but, it was on a hillside. My deepest is a Half Dime and it was just about 10" in a low lying area surrounded by other areas sitting higher up holding less moisture where LC's where being dug at 7-8" or so.
I will say when this coin was dug it was on my third day if I remember correctly after pounding the tar out of this productive spot. It had rained the day before and the conditions where great. I am suprised I found it but, I do think it was the soil moisture content that helped. It was a repeatable one way signal that bounced mid high to right mid on the SC. It was not loud but faint but good sounding high.
I am a firm believer in the conductivity idea that coins do produce a halo effect and the more moisture surrounding that given coin/object the better it can be detected.
I will also add I have pulled LC's at about a inch in very very hard compact clay soil.
In general though I would say 10" is not the norm for me as most are about 6-9".
This is all just my opinion so, take it for just that.


But, do not beat yourself up over 8" old coins that is fantastic.
I could care less how deep I dig but, rather just if I am getting the old coins.

I do it alot and deeper..........This is not to say you cannot.

I have been using the FBS technology since the first Explorer XS.......We had no help or manual.

Everything was new about the technology, You just have to go slow and low.

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Joseph DeMarco
DeMarco Detector Sales-MetalDetecting.com
Findmall Forum Sponsor Since 2005
Proud to be a NJ Detector Dealer since 1995.
http://metaldetecting.com/
NJ Certified Minelab Dealer, Tesoro Detectors, Garret Dealer, XP DEUS Dealer,Fisher Detector Dealer

When I am going for deepies only I never run in semi auto (in my dirt it seems to over compensate for a clear channel, and I get stuck in the 6" - 8" area), only manual setting above 26 max 29 (stock coil) with a little falsing, lets me know I am running hot as snot, but still capable of understanding what I am hearing. Average deepies in my area run between 8" - 12".

HH,

Tom



Edit: (minelab explorer se pro) Can't say I have broke 11" on dirt, but on the beach 13" on a fat silver wedding band.

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Minelab explorer se pro (main)
Minelab e-trac
Minelab safari
Whites xlt e
Garrett ace 250

I am like most true hunters, I get up early and hope to get a few bucks. Coins or horns works out either way.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2012 06:13PM by detecterx.

I dug a V nickel at 11 inches. I have dug Indian Head pennies at 10 inches. I think a dime it is 9 inches so far.

I was detecting in Northern West Virginia.