After all these years...

[alton]

... I'm still doing something wrong!

I've been using an Explorer for 5 years now. Just got the new SE and I love it. I've had a variety of other detectors too. And I have to admit something, and ask for the members here for help.

I can't find really deep targets!

To explain further, my new SE goes deeper than I really care to dig sometimes. But, I'll get a good deep hit and when I dig it goes away. Why?

To make matters worse, I have every probe you can imagine, Periscope, UniProbe, X1, etc. I know I can't be getting fooled by iron this much.

I'm not talking about ALL the time. I found a dime at 10" once. But the majority of the time, I dig a deep hole and end up not being able to find the target or get the signal again.

Am I alone on this? Is it something simple that I am doing wrong? Is it more complex than that?

I've read tips everywhere I can find them about how "if" the pinpoint wanders that it is probably iron. I'm talking about solid repeatable signals that pinpoints well. Of course, "iffy" signals don't fare to well either.

OK, I'll end my short rant now. But does anyone have any comments that might help?

TIA

Alton

 

[Dok-Ath]

Hi! Seems you have nothing deep except hardly decayed iron. when the target missed switch to All Metal and you will see... Also try to play with burring targets at max depth and crunk the Gain to 9. I also have Exp 2 for 3 years and this case is normal in my practice because of WW2 ( Sevastopol-Crimea ).

Otherwise it

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Several reasons come to mind...in some areas no detector will go deep because of the ground mineralization and for that matter some areas just don't have deep coins..Operator error perhaps..Remember setting your parameters high is not always the answer as strange as it seems a moderate setting of -16 might go much deeper than one that is in the high twenties. I doubt if the unit is faulty as you mention SE and must have had a previous Explorer as you mention a duration of 5 years..Hopefully you have a competent Explorer user in your club or someone interjects a cure which is unlikely with limited info.
All detectors catch extremely deep targets either good or bad and go away once you break the halo and its up to you to tell which are good or bad which comes with time, in your case five years experience tells me you have poor tonal interpetation or have not learned the language of an Explorer. In any case I do hope someone interjects helpful info...Explorers do go deep and grab the silver coins other units can't so good luck in your ventures.

 

[John LA]

It usually happens when I have the sensitivity as high as I dare put it. Think I might start running it lower. Feel free to comment.

 

[Captain Kirk]

Alton,

You should be aware that a nail that is under the outer edge of the coil will sound like a coin. If you dig without careful pinpointing, then your probe will never hear the coin that is that far off. It only takes 5 seconds to find do an accurate pinpoint using the pinpointing mode.

HH,
Glenn

 

[Steve(MS)]

Just wondering if you are hunting in very trashy areas, one of the main reasons I like audio 1 is it gives me more info hunting in those areas. I usually investigate a questionable signal using a wide open screen to see if there is a mass of iron under the coil. There are times if 2 iron targets on each side of the coil, it will give a false that sounds like a good target and if you pinpoint, can determine that there is no signal centered under the coil. Junk targets have a tendency to "move around" as you dig, you think you are centered then all of the sudden when you repinpoint, it is to the side of the hole, that can happen with any detector.

 

[Chris(SoCenWI)]

Alton,

I had this happen before I got my periscope, but never since. Always find the target before I ever start digging. Wish the Otts were still making them.

Chris

 

[alton]

Yes, sometimes with the Periscope I will punch 50 holes in the ground and finally decide nothing is there. Then I'll sweep again and there it is a solid repeatable signal.

That is one scenario, the other is I will find it with the Periscope. Of course when you find it with the Periscope you usually know EXACTLY where it is. I dig a plug to the exact spot and nothing. I put the scope back in and suddenly it is another 3 inches down. This happens a time or two and then it disappears. Not just in the hole, but in the plug and dirt outside the hole as well.

I'm not saying this happens very often with the scope, but it happens.

Of course, if you can touch it with the scope you can verify with certainty that it is not iron. This is a seldom occurance that I can't find once the scope has touched it. In fact, the scope had be out of action for a while (broken switch) and my finds dramatically improved once I got it repaired.

But, it still happens occasionally even with the scope, especially when it is a deep target. I'm sure I would find it eventually by dragging the scope over everything, but with a huge plug and a few sq. feet of loose dirt, sometimes I guess I just give up.

Most of the time though if I can find it in the ground with the scope, then I can recover it. It is the ones I can't find before I dig that I'm mainly talking about.

I read the other day Charles (NY) tips article on his site, and I've been trying some of the things he mentioned like listening for a sound right at the end of the beep/chirp. I had already been lifting my coil for years, but especially lately after I started detecting some with the Nautilus as that is part of the ID method with the Nauty.

I appreciate everyone's comments, and understand that the biggest part of the problem is likely something I'm doing wrong. However, I've had several hunting partners call me over with my scope to help them find their target too. Many times it has simply vanished. We were not all using the same type detector either. Some of them have been hunting for 25+ years. And they came from different parts of the USA. My hunch is that this happens to others more than I know. That makes sense too, as this is not something that I was comfortable owning.

Could it be this red clay Tennessee soil? I don't know. It might be after this much time that I give up too easy, but I've been making a conscience effort to insure that I haven't let that slip into my habits.

And it is true enough that I have stayed with some of these targets and finally found something. How many times I have spent 10 minutes on a hole and finally found a single piece of shotgun shot or a .22 shell that reported being a much better target than it turned out to be.

Well, I've been rambling on more than I intended and I truly appreciate the feedback from everyone. I'll try to put your tips into practice and hopefully I'll have a better retrieve rate soon. I sure hope I get it right. I have an Excaliber coming as soon as I get my old XS and CZ-3D sold. I've heard horror stories about how deep you dig with one of those.

Thanks again everyone!

HH Alton

 

[Dennis(WI)]

Hi Alton I'v also got a periscope and the exp 2. The periscope is pretty handy for finding the target but unlike a lot of folks on here I run my exp gain at 5. I find this produces the least amount of false targets. Most people say the best setting for the exp gain is 6 or 7. With the Sunray headphones I've never had a problem hearing and usually finding the deep ones. Just my opinion. HH