Hello and a question.

[Dan in mich]

Hello all, I've been reading your site for the last few weeks since i bouhgt my quattro. I've been trying to gather info from the other posters on operating techniques for our machine since that time, along with getting some time in the field using it myself. I'm coming from another detector brand and am familiar with detectors and the jargon. I'm only new to this machine, not detectors and their set up. I've read the book by Andy and have spent time using the quattro, but still have a couple of questions for those of you more familiar. 1) is there any way to tell which setting the machine has chosen for the sensitivity in auto ?? I want to bump up my sens, but not sure where the machine has it at that time. 2) any help in zeroing in on a good target with a lot of trash signals present too would be appreciated. I have the 8" ML coil and am trying to distinguish good signals from close trash ones. I know about a repeatable signal, but can't always get it to do that in trashy areas. Thanks for taking time for this lengthy post, but i appreciate the input. I'll probably become a regular poster, now that i finally registered. Dan.

 

[High Desert Jim]

Hi Dan,

I don't own a Quattro, however I have owned several Minelabs so I'd like to try to help, if I'm wrong there are folks that will tell you so.

Best thing to do for your sensitivity is to jack it up until it's a little eratic then back it off until it levals out.

As far as the trash separation, big shovel or a smaller coil.

JMHO

 

[surfrat]

The auto sensitivity is factory set at 15. I usually start mine at 20 and work down till I don't get much falsing/chattering. I can usually set it at around 17-18 at the beach and it'll run smooth. I've very rarely had to go down to 15.

 

[Rick(ND)]

I believe when using auto sensitivity the detector is changing the setting all the time to give you the best possible threshold that will run the smoothest. Now some like to run it maybe not as smooth, but yet stable and this is where using the manual sensitivity you can adjust it to what you like. I feel there is no real answer to where it is running as some trashy ares it may only be 3 or 4 while some clean area it may be 19 or 20. The best is start in manual high and reduce until you have a stable threshold if you wan the max performance.
I find that with the smaller coil in trashier area like the 8 inch do good, I will try to get a good repeatable signal on a target coming for different angles. I will even pinpoint the target, then go back to one of the hunt mode and check the target i just pinpointed to see if it still is a good tone and number. Another thing is to run relic or all metal and build a program so only the far left has 1/8 of a inch blacked out so you will hear more and the nails and iron will be low pitched while the coins will be a higher pitch as these 2 mode use ferrous tones.

Rick

 

[Sand Shagger (NMB)]

I do not think that the Auto sensitivity is "set" at 15. It varies depending on ground conditions. How low and how high? No one that I know has figured that out for sure. Some feel 15 to 16 is highest auto level. I have compared it many times on very deep and marginal signals on a "clean" beach and can't tell any difference between Auto and Manual-17. I believe Mike (Virginia Beach) thinks the highest Auto is 15. But I don't know if the ground (sand) conditions up there may limit Auto more than down here. Guess the only way we will know if there are low and high limits is if the manufacturer publishes the information.

 

[beachguy777]

I think Sand Shagger is right. I've read Andy's book at least twice and I don't remember him or anyone else giveing a numeric figure for the auto sensitivity. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but that's my take on it too. Maybe someone should write or call Minelab and ask a few questions. I'm pretty curious too, and I think what's going on here is we all want to know so we can compare it to the manual and make some kind of a decision as to where to set the manual. I would tend to think that it might vary, too, because in automatic, the very meaning of automatic, at least I'm lead to believe is just that: it would set the sensitivity automaticly depending on the ground conditions, electrical interferance, mineralization, etc. I would think it might change even from spot to spot depending on all the above. Marc Trainor.

 

[beachguy777]

Good answer, Jim. I like your take on all that, it makes sense to me.

 

[Sanddigger]

n/t

 

[beachguy777]

Man, forget everything I just said about the automatic ground setting on the noise cancel. I try so hard to be accurate and careful about what I say on these forums, but I think I blew it big time here, and here's why: This afternoon I started reading "Andy's" "bible", I mean book on mastering the quatro, (and I ment that as a compliment, by the way), I do think he wrote the bible on the quatro, at least, but all of a sudden I was reading about noise cancel and it hit me: remember in the book when he was talking about the nickels he was finding that read 16 instead of 14 when he moved to a newer or different area he was detecting in? If I'm not mistaken, he decided to re-noise cancel and the reading came back to a 14 again. That tells me, at least that we need to re-set the noise cancel from time to time and especially if something seems a little weird like falsing, odd numbers, etc. According to Andy, there are 10 different sets of 10 frequencies that it picks from out of the 28 different frequencies. (God, I hope I'm right on this, but I think I am) and the noise cancel computer dealy picks one of the ten at any given time that you use noise cancel. I don't know how it knows which set of 10 to pick but that's my understanding of how it works. As far as threshold, I'm still curious about what number, i.e. 1 to 20 that the detector chooses when it's in auto. Maybe the minelab guys could tell us. I'll try and email them about it.

 

[beachguy777]

Ok, this time, someone take me out and shoot me dead. I'm only half right on the frequency thing. I'm looking right now at Andy's book, page 8 paragraph 3, and it looks like there are 10 sets of frequency's, but I'm not sure how may different frequency's there are in each set. Here's the quote directly from paragraph 3. ...the Quatro FBS-based detector can use one of 10 different sets of 28 incrementally different frequencies. Each set starts at 1.5kHz and ends at 100kHz, with the other 26 frequencies differing slightly from one set to the next. I'm still not quite sure what that means exactly, so I'm gonna go sit in the back seat of the car and shut up for a while. We may need the big guys in on this one, but you know it probably doesn't even matter as long as it all works right when you hit noise cancel, but I'm really sorry for being wrong twice in the same day. Happy hunting everyone. Marc Trainor:

 

[Sanddigger]

n/t

 

[beachguy777]

Well, I guess you don't actually have to kill me if you don't want to, but at least put me on restriction for a while for not doing my homework first before I wrote a forum message. I just can't believe I screwed up things three times in a row. I just wasn't paying enough attention I guess. Well happy hunting everyone. Anybody out there finding any gold or silver??? Wish I could say I have, but all I found last Sunday was an old watch that doesn't work in the wet sand, but it's kind of cool. Maybe it's a prelude to something better. Take care out there.

 

[beachguy777]

Man, I'm really out of it on this one. I went from talking about sensitivity setting to noise cancel and then "FREAKED OUT". I better get a grip. I do think now from reading Andy's disertation on noise cancel that you need to re- cancel from time to time because of what he was saying about the nickels reading different after he noise cancelled, but...., as far as sensitivity setings, (manual vs auto), I still don't know. I'd go with the plan of starting out high numbers in manual and then work down the scale till you stop getting falsing and chattering. As far as what number the auto setting has, I THINK IT'S STILL A MISTERY, till we call the tech guys at Minelab, and maybe they don't even know or may or may not tell us. Good project for somoeone.