Adapting to dry conditions

[Bilko]

It's not rained down south in the UK for ages and the ground is becoming very dry where I am on farmland (apart from The Thames)

As such, I am keeping the manual sensitivity down to about 5 but, if I put it in auto -3, would the ETRAC perform better do you reckon? I only want to dig down a couple of inches really

 

[EladSwerdna]

Why would you have the sensitivity so low? In dry conditions you need more not less. (in my experiences anyways)

 

[Bilko]

maybe I am incorrect but if I can only dig a couple of inches down, I would reduce the sensitivity?

 

[hershey1]

Interesting question. I would think Auto- sensitivity would take care of those conditions but nobody knows your ground like you. HH

 

[joedirt]

What is restricting your digging depth? A layer of hard clay or rock? Government regulations? Or are you only interested in shallow targets?

 

[Bilko]

Thanks for the replies.The ground here is as hard as a rock so can only get to the top finds

 

[joedirt]

If you already know that you can only dig down a few inchs then it makes sense to use auto at normal or even -1, -2, or -3. The lower the sensativity the more accurate the reading.

No sense using high sensitivity so the machine sounds off on a 10" target or falsing off a piece of iron if you have no intention of digging that deep anyways.

At least with normal or low sensativity when you get a reading it should be about as accurate as your're going to get off the target. You can then make a better decision on whether you want to dig it or not. If you get a solid 12-46 or 11-47 at 3" you'll know it's a good dig.

Keep in mind, however, that surface targets will often read much deeper. I've picked up signals stating they were over 6" inches deep only to find that when I bent down to dig that the object it was laying right on top of the soil or only an inch under the dirt. After recovering the object, no more signal.

Good luck.