Digging nails?

[silverchef]

I sure dig alot of nails. I'm not complaining and will continue to dig those sounds. If I get that tone both directions I'm digging. I'm just wondering if others experience this as well?? I don't recall digging so many with my etrac?

 

[xQuestx]

I get the same thing, I haven't used it enough to figure out a way how to stop it. expect for maybe using pinpoint and its ways off from where the sound is.

 

[mtwolf2270]

I have had mine since it came out and dig deep nails especially if they are bent. If the pinpoint (set to sizing) is off from where you visualize the target it will most likely be a nail. So it depends if I have the time to dig every good trace and sound even if pinpoint is off then I do if I am short on time then I am more selective. Hope that helps HH

 

["Dr.Tones"]

Using this basic disc. Pattern or modifying it into an existing program helps dramatically reduce wrap around false positive signals given off by rusty junk. Good luck!

 

[Big Boys Hobbies]

With practice you can usually spot nails. Takes practice and a keen ear.

The target trace feature works well too. If you get splatters all over the screen... Most likely iron.

 

[Atlas]

If nails were silver I'd be rich. Never had an Explr or Etrac but do have an Excal and I rarely dig nails with the Excal so I can feel your pain. I get lots of these signals as the areas where the oldies are left tend to be trashy etc.

Anyway if I get a signal that is sort of iffy I'll switch to a different mode with different target separation and tones and check. Des D suggested a TTF set up that shows iron wrap pretty well. The other thing is to pinpoint the target and if the target center of offset from where the best tone comes in it's probably iron. What I've noticed is that once the target is pinpointed rescan and you tend to get the high tone when the outer edge of the coil passes the target center so for whatever reason the leading or trailing edge of the coil is registering an iron false.

I suspect its due to the halo effect created by the rusty nail. I'm not an electrical engineer but it would be nice if someone at Minelab could figure this phenomenon out cause it seems somewhat constant. Perhaps in the lab the false signal from a nail from the leading or trailing edge of the coil has some diagnostic signal that could be processed and screened out? I guess I would ask what's the difference between the ability of say my Excall to seemingly do better at screening out nails vs say the CTX? Again I'm not an engineer so there may be good reasons for all this.

 

[jojames2]

Wow! I have to work at digging nails with my ctx. Target trace? Turning the coil 90 degrees? Broken sounds? Fast on? I find 8" coins on a regular basis.
I would suggest using the search feature on this forum "nails". I dig a nail on average once every 4 hour hunt but I go over one every foot it seems like.

 

[goodmore]

Some run more discrimination than others. Bent nails are hard to say no to sometimes. I dig a few every time I hunt. You never know if there is a coin being masked or not. Every top end machine I have ever used has problems with rusted iron halo. Always go back to basics. If it sounds good and is deep dig it.

I can tell you without a doubt I have been very pleasantly surprised by a few iffy targets with the CTX. Targets that never gave any sign of being good with other detectors.

 

[Atlas]

jojames2: I have to admit I am not the most proficient user of the CTX and could probably benefit with some lessons from someone who's at "one" with the machine. I have learned a lot of tricks on this forum like turning 90-deg etc. I have to admit that most of the nails I dig are "good" 1 and or 2 way signals but generally not 4 way signals. So these targets tend to fall into the "iffy" category. But some sound good enough and give a good # so I dig. I should also mention that my local area has high ground mineralization with sens levels in Auto +3 running in the 10-20 range so this may be a contributing factor.

I do pass on a lot of targets if they don't give a good signal on the 90 so I have cut down my nail count. Like goodmore says I keep thinking there is a nice piece of silver co-located with a nail etc.

HH

 

[jtalley007]

I am a relic and beach hunter and still have a lot to learn about the CTX. Coming from using the explorer with ferrous tones I dug very little iron like nails, maybe occasionally a bent one.

So setting the CTX up to somewhat mimic the explorer seems to be working the few times I have been out?

I also noticed that if a civil war nail was burned in a fire it changed the composition, stopped the rusting so I have dug one of those.

Overall once I set my detector up with 35 FE they are not a problem.

Maybe this is not a good setup for coins so looks like the other settings like wrap around prevention would work nicely?

Great detector and a great bunch of guys on this forum is all I can say.

 

[silverchef]

@neicebdog-I put that into my CTX seems to have stooped some of the falses. I think the real reason I'm digging more nails is I once dug a target that was classic nail(iffy,broken signal, couldn't pinpoint), but I was bored and dug it. Out comes a merc-at that point I felt like all I had learned with my ears was worthless! Hard to explain, but it's almost as if I lost confidence in my ears and just starting digging everything! I hunt open(line 35 x out,plus a little extra on side), check at 90 degrees, pinpoint, target trace etc. I have probably 300 hours on this machine. Just lost the mojo a little bit and now dig all! With the Etrac I could always double check with TTF. I think I need to learn the target trace more. Thanks for everyone's help!

 

[Porschephile]

Excellent advice given above!!

If you do a 90 degree sweep of the potential target and its gone or moves in location, I would advise you not to waste time digging. That simple step will eliminate 90+% of falses from iron haloing, imo... I know that I walk away from some partially masked coins but having so much less frustration, wasted effort, and lost time is worth it to me...

 

[Ralph Sun Ray]

Atlas,

The outer coil edge signal you are referring to is unavoidable. On a double-d coil there is residual signal around the outside edge of the coil but is only a couple of inches deep. Lifting the coil a little above the suspected target area will allow you to center the target under the middle of the coil as you sweep the area where the transmit and receive coils cross and will eliminate that side signal effect. You can then pinpoint the target and X the signal for exact pinpointing. On deeper targets you will not hear the side signal unless there are shallower targets under the coil as well. Many times in trashy areas I will pinpoint in the disc mode for more precise pinpointing. Hope this helps.

Ralph (Sun Ray)
Sun Ray Detector Electronics
319-636-2244 Mon-fri 9am-5pm CST

 

[Atlas]

Thanks Ralph. I knew there had to be some technical reason for that response.

I suppose if the "good sounding = iron false" side signal is only a few inches deep and you were to lift the coil and it went away that could be another diagnostic test of an iron false? I may fool around with this and continue checking with the 90 degree coil turn, pinpoint shift and cross checking in some other modes as well to test for iron. I am getting better at ignoring the clipped and choppy responses that sounded like iffy signals when I first got the machine.

I had this experience with my MXT and all of a sudden one day I just didn't hear those iffy iron false sounds any more. Takes time to tune the ear and test by digging

 

[mtwolf2270]

I for one use everything stated above and still do dig bent nails yes I usually have a good idea it is not a coin or good target by the pinpoint being way off. I will say this bent nails can and will give soild numbers and good trace seen it dozens of time. What they never give is an exact pinpoint in sizing it will always pinpoint not where you see in your mind where you heard the target. I can also say becuse I have dug those borderline signals I have a few merc and atleast 2 IH that I would not have, so like I said, when I can I dig them when I cannot I do not.