Advice on Probe Use

[dgc]

Been digging a lot of iffy signals lately trying to pull a few more finds from a site loaded with nails. Most of the time, after I lift the plug, I check the hole with my Sunray probe and if I hear iron tones (or get a null), I replace the plug and move on. I check the hole thoroughly for any signs of a non-ferrous signal but wonder if I could be missing anything by not continuing to dig until I recover the nail or other iron object? I would think the Sunray probe would easily hit on a non ferrous target partially masked by a nail in the hole with it. Any advice?

 

[NebTrac]

There are several things I do that you might try and see how they work, if you haven't tried yet.

1. At times the good target is deeper than the probe reaches so I deepen AND widen the hole (kinda undercut 2" down below the top). Pinpointed with the big coil can be challenging with iron close by or in the hole.

2. Most of the times I do try and pinpoint with the probe in AM and get that nail or whatnot out of the hole. Generally the nail will be in the side and down.

3. I run mostly conduct. sounds, lately I've been switching to 2-tone ferrous and play with it to see on an iffy (sounds like your already in Fe sounds anyway so maybe this won't matter).

But. Most of the time, for me, the probe will reveal the target, even if there is a nail in the hole.

Let us know what you've tried and have had work for you.

NebTrac

 

[dgc]

Thanks Neb. I think I need to try widening the hole more often even if the probe is only signaling on iron in the hole. I could easily be off center from a good target enough that the probe won't detect it when I check the sides of a hole. That would be especially true if the target was lying flat , which would be on edge when checking it from the side of a hole.

 

[Cladiator (OR)]

Thank you both for posting this discussion on probe usage and techniques. As someone fairly new to the use of an X-1, this is very helpful.

 

[Digger]

Generally the nail will be in the side and down.

I'm not sure if this is what you meant. But I've noticed that when I chase a signal that turns out to be an old bent nail, it is usually (+/- 75% of the time) found in the lower left quadrant of the hole. In other words, if the hole were a face of a clock, most of my bent nails end up being at the edge of the hole, in about the 7:00 position. Funny thing is, on those "iffy signals", I usually walk around the target, trying to determine if it is bad or good. Seems odd that the place where I stop to dig ends up producing the nail in the same 7:00 spot most of the time. Anyone else noticed this? HH Randy

 

[NebTrac]

Yep, Randy. I don't know the %, but I see that often too!

NebTrac

 

[onemore]

Yea, I see it typically on both ends of the "clock" - 0700 and 0100 - unless there is more than one piece of iron in the hole.

Probably has to do with what position we are swinging in when the nail sounds the best.