Can there be too many settings on a detector?

[dan b]

Like everyone else, I've been watching the videos on the new releases, and I noticed one where a silver quarter on the surface was not being seen by the machine. Comments were that the operator was new and he used the wrong setting. Maybe more has been said since then, I don't know because I never went back and took another look. But it got me thinking. If there are modes on a detector that will ignore what most of us consider desirable targets, even on the surface, can that be good? What if that coin was 1/2" down? The operator wouldn't even be aware he chose the "wrong" mode. Is this really heading in the right direction? I don't want to need a college degree in detecting to be able to find good targets.

Maybe I'm alone thinking like this, but watching this made me appreciate my older tech machine.

Thanks,

Dan

 

[dfmike]

I would like to see that video.

 

[still looking 52]

Like everyone else, I've been watching the videos on the new releases, and I noticed one where a silver quarter on the surface was not being seen by the machine. Comments were that the operator was new and he used the wrong setting. Maybe more has been said since then, I don't know because I never went back and took another look. But it got me thinking. If there are modes on a detector that will ignore what most of us consider desirable targets, even on the surface, can that be good? What if that coin was 1/2" down? The operator wouldn't even be aware he chose the "wrong" mode. Is this really heading in the right direction? I don't want to need a college degree in detecting to be able to find good targets.

Maybe I'm alone thinking like this, but watching this made me appreciate my older tech machine.

Thanks,

Dan

Definitely agree with your thoughts, the average person is lost with all these settings and modes. It takes a long time to really learn how they work best.

 

[vlad]

you need to be an engineer with it. But a simple unit can be set up wrong too.
You could purposely set a unit up for gold rings, and notch out all high conductors.
A novice can get the same result; but if its a mistake, he just lost all the targets he wants.

 

[dan b]

I would find myself going over the same plot of land over and over again, making adjustments and re-scanning the soil. Then I still wouldn't be sure I was thorough because there are still more settings and modes to try. That sounds more like a job than a hobby. I don't want to single out any particular new release, but that video is easy to find if you consider what just landed in peoples hands this week.

For me to replicate those results with my old tech machine I would have to turn it off.

Dan

 

[bootyhoundpa]

Simplicity has its place ... if it takes more than 1 minute to set up my machine I'm out. .. however when the finds start drying out it's nice to know there are things you can do to eek out a few more finds.. i dont own any complicated machines.. if a guy is willing to invest the time those extra options can probably make a big difference but if the operator is lost in the wrong program ,whats the use..

 

[John-Edmonton]

Sometimes the best adjustment you can make to your metal detector is to switch coils. Some handle mineralization better, some are deeper, some are mores sensitive to tiny/deeper targets. The right "COIL" for your "TOIL" can make a big difference. Changing coils is often like grabbing another detector, yet the user still maintains knowledge and confidence on that same unit.

 

[vlad]

its made by the user to himself. Things dry up, you need to open up the range of targets you dig; this means spending more time out when you hunt.
Many good targets are often averaged together with an undesirable target that is very close, and they only way to find these is digging more questionable signals.
Any good target can identify falsely as something different if another item is so close you get one signal, not two. Read NASA Tom's articles on masking.
I was hunting a yard once and hit something big; on occasion I would get a nickel signal. I dug the big item, an antennae for a car; after that I retrieved 6 coins that had been masked.
T.I.D. will only take you so fa

 

[Architex]

Lots of good advice here. Sometimes it seems adjustments, especially disc, are used to decide what NOT to dig. That can be counter productive.

 

[azsh07]

I can't speak for the machines in the video but there are many machines that if setup wrong will miss good targets. While the obvious setting is discrimination is by far not the only one and actually it is the easiest to realize.

An example of not so obvious settings that will mess up targets like silver would be the GB process on an AKA machine. Done incorrectly or if the coil adaption is done wrong you will loose silver targets as it will skew the VDI accuracy and make the silver VDI as a hot rock.

That is just one example and one that most users who are not familiar with the machine would make often. I got tired of explaining this process over the course of a year.

Otehr machines like a Whites V3 or even back when the XLT was the hit there were so many adjustments it was not too difficult to screw it up and seriously compromise performance..the DFX was similar.

Many of the machines that rely heavily on a complex computer menu and sub menu are the ones that can go from great performance to junk in moments if set wrong.

Even simple machines can but no as often or as bad...I mean so GB a Tesoro machine off..o.k...it is not going to drop silver targets and if you Disc out gold it is easy to see. But a setting that is off that is hidden deep in a sub menu can drive you nuts to find. Which is why even after 35 years of detecting I have had to do a reset to defaults at times when I realized...oh heck what did I set wrong...screw it..reset.

Now interestingly there have been more than one new release from major manufacturers that had been calibrated wrong in house and the machines could not "see" silver even on top of the ground. Fisher had this happen a couple times with an incorrect calibration on one of the pots in the Gb circuit. Was a simple mistake and they fixed them....but it does happen and that was not the only instance I just don't remember the other.

So it is possible the user has a similar issue...or it is just setup wrong.

 

[halfstep]

Archery is my main game and I know it well. I have seen countless guys opt to buy the fastest bow instead of a more shooter friendly bow. Mainly because of pride and bragging rites. They want the fastest, baddest bow made but they can't shoot it worth a crap. But that's okay because they can still brag on how fast it is.

All those knobs on a detector just entices a man. He thinks he doesn't need to start with a basic model, he goes for the gusto and wants the most advanced detector made. He soon finds out that reality is cruel and all those knobs are kicking his butt. At this time, the truth becomes known. Most guys will just quit detecting or ignore all the knobs and go half hazard detecting. But a few guys, the minority, will stick it out and learn the knobs. In time, they will master their machine and be able to utilize all the adjustments and use them to their advantage.

Just because a guys owns a detector and goes detecting doesn't really mean that he is being productive. A blind dog can find a bone. It's the guy who has spent countless hours learning thru trial and error that can pick the ground dry. I find myself somewhere in the middle between the idiot level and expert level. I just bought a ctx 3030 and am learning the machine but have a lot to learn. I will be diligent and eventually learn the machine. Learning can be confusing but it is half the fun.

As far as making adjustments, I learned to let the ground and the detector tell me how to adjust the machine. A lot of guys want to make adjustments before they go hunting trying to predict the conditions. I tried that before. But now I just go and swing the coil and listen to the machine. I listen for how much nulling is going on in the threshold and how much falsing is happening. How much trash, mineralization and EMI is going on. Then I determine how much sensitivity I can use with the ground I am on. I let the trash help me set the discrimination and I find the best swing speed depending on how busy the ground is. I also pick spots I think has been overlooked by other detectorists. I tend to cherry pick my first trip and learn the lay on the land. Then when I go back, I know where to go and open up the screen to detect more targets. Knowing what adjustments to make to help you adjust to the conditions is where the treasure lay buried.

 

[OregonGregg]

That is the reason I like my Racer 2 and Fors Core machines ( I'm not saying they are the best or the worst) but for me, they work very well in the sites I like to hunt and easy to set up.

9 times out of 10, give a person a complicated machine with many many settings and they will set it up to work worse before they set it up to work well.