Depth not accurate?

[GA1dad]

I'm starting to notice depth discrepancies on my T2 SE. It seems to show a target is twice as deep as it really is. It took a bit to catch on, but the meter will say 7 inches,, pop a 7 inch plug and nothing in the hole or the bottom of the plug,,,, then you start busting the plug and find it was in the top 3 inches of dirt.

It won't be to hard to deal with since I know to cut my readings in half. But out of curiosity,, has anyone else had this issue? Is there reason to send it back to First Texas??

 

[Mega]

As a general rule the depth indicator is normally setup with the stock coil that comes with the detector,as you dont mention if you are using a stock coil then its possible that if you use either a after market coil or another coil size from the same brand as the detector it can be out by a small amount by how much well the detectorist will usually find that out as you have done.

If your detector has say a 10'' stock coil on it then the factory in theory would set the depth indicator as near as possible to that coil,but if you put on say a aftermarket coil of say 13'' then the depth indicator will be out,also it will be the same if you use a smaller coil,its not unique to your detector.

 

[Elton]

T2's and 11"DD coils .................. This is the factory calibrated coil.

They require exact coil placement in Pin point, hitting the exact hot spot on the coil, and sometimes what is around the target your trying to identify affects the depth reading.

When I used the T2 many , many targets read at the 5" range.. A lot were less, and some were more. Bigger, and or smaller targets than coins will almost never read an accurate depth on the meter.

Coins can be at different angles in the ground etc causing miss reads on depths.

It did seem on several occasions the deeper the target ( coin) the better the actual depth reading was. Again that was on coin objects only..

The size coil your using affects the accurate depth reading too.

 

[GA1dad]

Thanks for the replies. For the most part I am referring to the stock coil. I do expect it when I put on the 5",, and that has proven true. I considered that maybe it was my pinpointing skills,, but I don't think so as I don't rush it and move around insuring I've narrowed it down to the smallest number. I never really considered the target angle in correlation with depth readings though. No real worries, I was just curious if it was just me.

 

[2 Much Trash]

GA, don't pay attention to numbers. Learn your machine as though there were no screen or numbers to look at. Dig all kinds of tones until you're comfortable with what to dig by the sound, not the numbers. Numbers are fun to refer to and make the hunt a little more interesting. But if you rely on what that screen says, because of all the in ground influence your not gonna be as near as successful .

 

[dougj7]

I've noticed the depth on my T2se to be much less than reported on the readout also. After you learn the the depth meter is off, you can just apply that knowledge and dig accordingly. It would be nice if it was a bit more accurate though.

 

[HanoverDigger]

GA, don't pay attention to numbers. Learn your machine as though there were no screen or numbers to look at. Dig all kinds of tones until you're comfortable with what to dig by the sound, not the numbers. Numbers are fun to refer to and make the hunt a little more interesting. But if you rely on what that screen says, because of all the in ground influence your not gonna be as near as successful .

Good answer Bill...and one of the main reasons I enjoy hunting with my other non-metered detectors. Good luck hunting, Robert

 

[woodchiphustler]

Use a pinpointer to eliminate small targets close to the surface.

 

[Fish N Chips]

I heard it put well one time that the depth meter is not so much for depth, but shows the target signal strength. This makes sense as small targets read deeper, and large targets read shallower. There are a lot of factors which can affect the signal strength. I believe the meter is also set for a normal coin/quarter sized target. Dimes and pennies are usually 1-2" off for me, while quarters come in very close to the reading. I also find that it varies by site and soil condition. Also I have found with the pinpoint in all-metal, it is often hard to judge what target you are getting the depth reading off of, the coin or the tiny piece of rust that was discriminated out before. Too many factors change the outcome on the detectors is seems. Of course if all the conditions we encountered were the same, we would all be using the same detectors!