Minelab Safari/Quattro Forum

Just got the Safari 2 weeks ago and I'm new to MDing all together.,
These question or for Beach hunting.

1, i made a All metal mode on coin/J, and cross saved it to relic, started on coin/J mode and figured i would learn those sounds then move on to the Fer. sounds. is that ok?

2, I get great repeatable targets deep with this machine and i dig and dig and cant seem to ever find the deep targets., 1 to 6" targets i get em in 1 scoop almost every time.. what am i doing wrong with the deep ones?

3, Pull tabs seem to hit all over the place., with diff. sounds is that normal?

thanks for any help/
rivvers

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rivvers
1, i made a All metal mode on coin/J, and cross saved it to relic, started on coin/J mode and figured i would learn those sounds then move on to the Fer. sounds. is that ok?

That sounds like a good plan since you are new to metal detecting. The only way you can learn is by putting some hours on the machine. Dig everthing to learn what the sounds mean and as time goes on you will figure out what to dig and what not to dig. Remember your brain is the best discriminator.

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rivvers
2, I get great repeatable targets deep with this machine and i dig and dig and cant seem to ever find the deep targets., 1 to 6" targets i get em in 1 scoop almost every time.. what am i doing wrong with the deep ones?

A large piece of Iron will give you a high tone sounding a like coin in conductive tones. If you are hitting a large piece of iron that it is deep it could be giving you a false depth reading. It could be deeper then what you think. The depth indicator is only accurate for coin sized objects. You could try notching the #40 or you could switch it to ferrous tones and see if you get a low ferrous tone.

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rivvers
3, Pull tabs seem to hit all over the place., with diff. sounds is that normal?

Yes, I had pull tabs hit at different areas on the TID meter. This due to the different sizes, shapes, if the pull tab is broken in half, and if the the pull tab is bent over. I have dug a old style pull tab with the beaver tail, and the beaver tail was bent over the ring, it sounded like a coin and it read in the coin range. Some of the newer style pull tabs will read in the nickle range. Also you can say that about gold jewelry, it can hit all over the place with different sounds. So one day you expecting a pull tab but a piece of gold could come out of the hole.

John

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john4840

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rivvers
1, i made a All metal mode on coin/J, and cross saved it to relic, started on coin/J mode and figured i would learn those sounds then move on to the Fer. sounds. is that ok?

That sounds like a good plan since you are new to metal detecting. The only way you can learn is by putting some hours on the machine. Dig everthing to learn what the sounds mean and as time goes on you will figure out what to dig and what not to dig. Remember your brain is the best discriminator.

Quote
rivvers
2, I get great repeatable targets deep with this machine and i dig and dig and cant seem to ever find the deep targets., 1 to 6" targets i get em in 1 scoop almost every time.. what am i doing wrong with the deep ones?

A large piece of Iron will give you a high tone sounding a like coin in conductive tones. If you are hitting a large piece of iron that it is deep it could be giving you a false depth reading. It could be deeper then what you think. The depth indicator is only accurate for coin sized objects. You could try notching the #40 or you could switch it to ferrous tones and see if you get a low ferrous tone.

Quote
rivvers
3, Pull tabs seem to hit all over the place., with diff. sounds is that normal?

Yes, I had pull tabs hit at different areas on the TID meter. This due to the different sizes, shapes, if the pull tab is broken in half, and if the the pull tab is bent over. I have dug a old style pull tab with the beaver tail, and the beaver tail was bent over the ring, it sounded like a coin and it read in the coin range. Some of the newer style pull tabs will read in the nickle range. Also you can say that about gold jewelry, it can hit all over the place with different sounds. So one day you expecting a pull tab but a piece of gold could come out of the hole.

John

thanks a bunch, all great tips, i never even thought to switch to ferrous tones to check it..

on question two doesnt Iron hit as a - number on cunductive, the deep targets i was hitting and couldnt recover were hiting in the 18 to 30ish range.

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rivvers


thanks a bunch, all great tips, i never even thought to switch to ferrous tones to check it..

on question two doesnt Iron hit as a - number on cunductive, the deep targets i was hitting and couldnt recover were hiting in the 18 to 30ish range.

Well the way conductive numbers are generated is by how conductive the object is. If the object is a large piece of iron it will be very conductive and it could read in those numbers, especiality if it is deep. Check out this link here.

Another thing that could be happening is that the Safari is falsing over a piece of iron. Meaning that the coil is swung close to a piece of iron and it sounds like a coin. You actually think that object is where you are digging, but really there is nothing in the hole. The piece of iron would be near the hole not in it. You might want to slow your coil speed down, I have found that if I swing my coil to fast my Quattro would false on Iron. The thing I have experience and read about the FBS machines is that you want to go slow with all of them.

It is kind of hard explaining something without actually showing how to do it. Is there anybody you know in your area that might be able to help you since you new to the hobby. What part of the country or world are you from?

John

that makes sense, thanks. I have hooked up with a few others down here in louisiana and mississippi but none have FBS machines. most have AT Pros.

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rivvers
that makes sense, thanks. I have hooked up with a few others down here in louisiana and mississippi but none have FBS machines. most have AT Pros.

OK rivvers I can't show you because I live near Pittsburgh. How is your Safari setup? Can you tell what your settings are? When you are out hunting can you ask one of your buddies to check out your deep target hit with their metal detector? By the way most coins are in the 1 to 6 inch range. The coins I have found were in that range, but I am guessing that you are detecting on a beach, so I guess that coins would sink deeper and faster. Am I right about that? I have never use my MD on a beach, but I have learn the Safari is a great beach machine. How are you doing compared to the AT Pro users? Just curious.

John

im doing decent on the beach no big finds yet, but alot of clad and pulltabs. your tips are a big help, some thigs to try and work on... i run in factory Coin/J or a custom all metal that was crossed saved from coin/J to relic, depending on amount of junk..Thanks Again..

.999 of the targets that I dig in the 16 to 30 range are trash (non beach areas), so be fore-warned. Unfortunately that is where much of your gold is found too. Other than lacking experience you seem to be doing everything right. If beach hunting, some of your targets especially if a larger one, may be a lot deeper than you think it is. Another thing that may be happening is that deep targets can't always be pin-pointed real accurately with the Pro coil, as a result your target may actually be outside of your hole and not in or under it as you think it is. Try X-ing your targets and making a wider deeper hole, if unable to find a target while on the beach. It can always be filled back in. I often find that junk targets won't pin-point nearly as accurately as coins or small jewelry will.

You might use a handheld pin pointer to check out your hole.. Good ones wil speed up your finding a target immensly.


When you swinging a coil over a target the coil induces a small current into a target and into the conductive mineral aura around the target if it's been there a while. If you swing slow your machine and the coil passes over the target at a rate where the circuitry in the detector can do it's thing. As yo speed up the swing over there's less time to induce any electron flow into the object and it's induced charge is lessened. The faster you move over the bried object the less induced field there is for the cicuitry to pick up. Becasue your dealing with objects of varying conductive properties and aura's with varying properties in relation to surrounding soil dwell time is crucial and impprtant. Also realizing the coils field is best served onto the object at a true vertical and not at a oblique angle holding your coil and moving it over the target are consistently is key to good detection and good illumination of the target with the coils field..
So go slow and go level and don't swing out to far into an arc. All that motion in the edge of the arc is a total waste as the coils field lifts away and penetrates shallow at the end of a swing.

Think of your machine as a minature radar. Your movign the transmit antenna and the recie antenna over your search area and trying to get enough field strength down into the earth and onto a target and the mineral aura to effect a return your detector will see as a disutrbance in the field. The relationship of the coil to the target spatially is key. Thats why an object will detect when a coil comes over it from one direction and not as strong from another... Most enthusiasts know that swinging over the same ground at right angles to the original pass improves your likelyhood to encounter nad detect a target especially deeper ones. When your pinpointing approach the target area from several directions. This will enable you to determine a targets position and depth accurately.

Good luck...

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