Its tough at times, but with practice you'll get it.
1) rusted iron has a very high screechy sound that feels like it could give you a head ache, same with rusty crown caps. silver is More like a bell or a flute: Its softer and almost seductive. wheat backs can have the same sound, but its usually bolder and less specific about where it lands on the screen.
2) Iron sounding like silver likes to land on the lower to middle height on the right borderline of the smart screen, silver lands near but not usually on the upper part of the right, and the right part of the upper border lines.
3) Iron in IM -16 produces a screechy high tone, a low tone then the screech again as you pass over it. silver produces at least three tones all different and closer in range unless its extremely deep.
4)in IM-15 or higher, iron makes a popping screech almost like its choking or something. silver is the same as in IM-16.
5) usually, iron will begin to change, weaken, or go away as you make repeated sweeps over it in the same spot and direction, silver will stay the same or improve slightly. Wheat backs and indians can start out sounding like $#!+ and improve dramatically with repeated sweeps.
6)Silver and coppers are generally easy to locate and pinpoint,with iron you can get the general area, but it feels like a crap shoot where to dig.
7) when you get a signal located, rotate yourself about 30 degrees around it and sweep again. Iron changes dramatically, or goes away all together. If it comes back at 180 degrees it is almost always a rusty bolt. Lots of times when you get back to your original position its hard to get the signal again if its iron .
*Caution!- This is how many targets on edge or with iron mixed in get passed up, and from my experience, those have been the good ones! you must dig a few of these really bad signals and come home with not a lot, but a few iron nails, rusty caps... If you don't, you might as well be that old dude with the whites who just got done telling you "there's nothing left here!"
8 )when you cut your plug, check the hole with the detector to be sure your target is still in the hole. usually a good target will get better.
9) using your sun-ray probe that you hopeful have purchased or soon will be (hint hint) probe the hole. Iron will give that low tone with the screeches, or just be a null. and it will usually be off to one side. Silver/copper will give you a good sound, a broken up or weak sound or not break the threash hold at all if its still too deep or too far off to one side.
10) extremely deep targets (8+ inches deep) don't ID well at all and could come up as anything. the audio is generally wrong as well, dig a few if not all of these regardless. Tokens, toys, gold, odd but cool stuff that you probably would want will show up in an unusual location on the smart screen. When in doubt, dig it out. I have 3 known types of locations on the smart screen and with the audio response:
A) I'm 90% sure its something I want (coin)
B) I'm 90% sure its something I don't want (crown cap)
c) It could be a this or a that, but I don't really know, and this is probably my only chance to find out!
Don't bed afraid to dig some holes, but do be afraid to leave the place looking like the surface of the moon. Dig some targets, give it a month to heal back up while you hit other sites, then come back and dig some more.
And most of all enjoy yourself! sometimes you'll find a nice pile of coins, other times all you come home with is an improvement on your farmers tan, the key is to come home smiling either way!
I printed it for future reference. Thanks. HH.