A question for Uncle Willy.

[Mick in Dubbo]

Hi Bill.
You've got my interest in regards to comments about the GTI's. While a really like my 1500, I seem to keep falling into the trap of treating it like it's just another detector. You've made the comment about not using it like other detectors and I'm wondering if you could clarify how you use it differently?
I've been using the Scorcher coil to good effect most of this year, but I have been playing around with the imaging coil again and starting to notice a few little things that I hadn't picked up on before that is assisting in IDing certain targets.
thanks.
Mick Evans.

 

[Uncle Willy]

Hi bud,
The more you use it the more little things you will pick up. First of all as you probably already know you can't scan with a GTI like you're killing snakes as it is a slow responder and you can actually skip over targets.. Many users like to scrub the coil but Garret coils don't like scrubbing so it's better to scan with the coil at least an inch off the ground. Pinpointing on the ground is okay. A lot of folks keep listening for that faint whisper which indicates a deep ( and possibly old target ) but the GTI's have FAINT TARGET AUDIO BOOST which eliminates that altogether but weaker targets will emit shorter beeps while stronger targets will emit longer beeps. . Many users want to crank the sensitivity to the moon like they did on their old machine which winds up causing them nothing but grief. You can run it lower on the GTI's without loosing depth and you'll find a lot more goodies.

The coils, especially the Scorcher ( my favorite ) are super sensitive and hard to get used to by many. This is one reason for running the cable up the shaft as the slightest movement of the cable down next to the coil will set it off. Another thing, it will detect coins off to the side of the coil and you will think the coin ( or coins ) are under the coil. This is one reason for phantom signals that plague the user. I got a signal one time that ID'ed as a quarter and amazingly pinpointed as one. After digging for some time I was unable to locate anything in the hole so I started checking around the hole to see if the coin was in the loose dirt from the hole. Out several inches from the side of the hole I found three quarters laying on the ground at the base of the grass. I have had this happen two or three times and have yet to figure it out so if you ever wind up with a phantom target in a grassy area, check around the hole several inches out.

Another thing new users had problems with was centering the coil accurately and getting accurate readings. They were all used to a coil with two windings, not one with one transmitter and two receivers - with one of the receivers being only a couple of inches in diameter that didn't allow one to get the least bit sloppy. This applies to my tip about the GTI's ID'ing quarters as pennies even when pinpointed and requires one to move the coil around ever so slightly to get it exactly centered, at which time the penny ID will often change to what it actually is - a quarter.

A lot of folks had trouble with the "overload" which comes into play when the target is too deep, too big, or too small to get an exact size. Also if you're off center you will get the overload. Often raising the coil up a couple of inches will kill the overload. And a lot of folks didn't know how to use or understand the signal strength indicatoir for centering the target precisely which throws off all readings. The GTI's are very touchy and you can't get sloppy with them. If you do you lose. There is some more stuff I can't recall at the moment but it will come to me.

Bill

 

[Mick in Dubbo]

Thanks for a very informative post.
A lot of what you said is probably the main reason that I switched over to the Scorcher coil with good success. The recovery speed was a big one, plus the greater audio animation. I must be lucky with the Scorcher coil because I haven't come across any downside to it. Even steel twist tops are identifiable with it. If you remember my Jan 1 hunt (a $118 day) it was in a park on the Sydney Harbour foreshore. These parks are utterly infested with these twist tops, and although plenty tried to masquerade as $1 coins (7.5) they gave off a slightly different signal. I dug a few, but left most in the ground. I read a post on an Aussie forum of a very capable E-Trac user who tried to hunt one of these parks, but gave up in frustration.
The pinpointing certainly takes some time to master. Being spot on is critical. The imaging feature helps clue you in too. Just as the depth meter will be off when you are off centre, the imaging shows a larger target when off center. I've found that you need more than 2 inches of depth showing before you can get a correct size, as all targets show up as a B size targets. Screw caps if shallow will give an overload signal. Other times they give a fully rounded tone where as coins will give a slightly clipped tone.
I've found that I run the sensitivity from 6 to 7.5. Any more than that is usually too much. Ya don't want to be driven to distraction with falsing.
Thanks for the tip on the ghost signals off to the side. I've come across it once or twice. Ya just gotta love the Pro pointer sometimes.
Mick Evans.

 

[cwilk]

First one in a while to make it to my notebook. Write some more articles would you? Someting how to. Preferably Garrett specific.

Chris

 

[Uncle Willy]

Yeah the only problem with the Scorcher is that it is hollow and easily damaged plus it will false easier if bumped or in tall grass, but I still prefer it. Pinpointing is one of the biggest problems for newbies with the GTI because there is no room for sloppy. It has to be dead on to perform as advertised and that little two-inch receiver doesn't give one an ounce of room to get sloppy, but once you get it down there ain't a better pinpointer out there.

Bill