Help! Quattro Nuances?

[phxAZ]

Ok... I'm starting get moderately frustrated with Quattro and doubting my purchase. I figured the machine would kill my ACE 250 in our nasty AZ soil, so my expectations were high. I've read Mastering the Quattro cover to cover and still am not getting good results.

Here's my biggest issue... I cannot tell when it is falsing and when it isn't. It seems that if I get hit, I will move the coil around, and it hits again (with tone). Now I try to hone in on where it is, and focus it with slow, confined sweeps... I notice it will it will then not beep anymore, but the target changes or depth. Why isn't a tone sounding each time I sweep it? Is that a false signal?

In short, I'm digging huge holes to find the target, and sometimes the target just disappears after I dig it, and cannot be found in the hole or my piles of dug dirt/sand.

Can someone explain the nuances of the Quattro, and in detail how they identify a target and confirm it before wasting time digging? Do targets you find always sound a beep each time you sweep over it with the "hot strip"?

I just find it a real frustrating machine to use, and I can't determine if it is just me, the soil, the design of the machine (not suiting me), or my machine is defective.

Also, what is your prefrerred method to pinpoint in normal and trashy conditions and how do you do it?

Thanks a ton!

 

[John (Australia)]

You didn't state what sensitivity setting you are using but if it is too high you could be chasing false signals. Try auto sensitivity and when you find a target you are unsure of use pinpoint mode to confirm that there is an object under the coil. If it is a false signal I wouldn't expect the pinpoint bars to show a rise on the display panel. Also the target may be in the removed pile of dirt hidden by another object that is bigger and falls in the range of any ids you have discriminated out, switch to all metal and then check the pile to see what is actually there. Lastly if the target was real and can't be found by scanning the hole or the pile you can bet your house it is still in the disturbed dirt in the bottom of the hole.
Regards
John

 

[Mirage]

I have one place in Ohio here that the soil is "mineralized". I'm not even sure I know what the definition is but all my detectors(DFX, Quattro, Coinstrike, Classic III) could not handle the soil very well. The soil is on a glacial ridge. Red sandy soil. I can take a penny and bury it 3-4 inches and only the Quattro would pick it up - and that was a little iffy. Beyond 3-4 inches forget it. Lot's of falsing. Don't know if the same conditions in AZ. One place in the yard I could not even get the penny at 1 inch deep! Only targets we found were bigger objects and coins close to the surface.

So anyway, try burying some coins at very modest depths(1,3,4 inches). See how the Quattro will do. From what I have read most of the VLF detectors have a hard time in heavy mineralization.

Try turning sensitivity down to 12. You still might get some falsing but the machine should lock on to very shallow targets you plant at shallow depths.


Bob

 

[vincentmty]

Use Coin Mode
if you don't have a repetitive signal : don't dig
I use the icon method :
- coin icon and short repetitive signal : it's a coin
- If pull tab icon : you will find a pull tab icon (ID 12-1
- coin icon an pull tab icon : you will find a pull tab


Don't use the Quattro on trashy sites

 

[phxAZ]

Here's what I am finding... if I do not use all metal, and instead use coin or C/J, I may get a signal, but another object nearby (even hot rock) will cause it to lose it, then null, as the other object is registering. Now I go All Metal only, and the results have improved, but it is noisy. Every single place (parks, schools, greenbelts, sand pits) have TONS of targets, and only a couple times I have been LUCKY enough to find a good target w/o a bad target within a couple inches or closer.

How does one pinpoint in high trash areas? I ave given up on lots of targets because I cannot locate them with all trash around it.

From literally moving the coil 3in either way, it can go from a -10, to -3 to a 27 to a 38 in many places. Meaning there are either quite a few targets or the obscene iron content/mineralization is intefering with 2 or 3 around each other. In all, it is basically impossible to "lock" a signal, and then pinpoint.

I have ran in auto sensitivity the whole time except during the end I put it at 12 to see if I could isolate good targets better. Not much improvement.

 

[Mirage]

Obscene Iron? I have seen that. If you are near the edge of the iron the detector will tend to falsely hit the 38. Of coarse beer cans give a great 38. Anyway...

Best solution is first use the smaller coil. Even with the large coil here is how I use to deal with it.

Turn down sensitivity. 12 should be safe.
All metal mode.
Sweep ultra slow.

When I get a perceived good signal that I check out sometimes you can hardly tell I am moving the coil. As soon as you get the good tone(have to go by tone not numbers - this is why you need experience with the machine before taking it to these type of places) I wiggle the coil back and forth to within no more than an inch in both directions. I then stop moving the coil and then hit the pinpoint button. IF it is a valid target and not just the edge of some large rusty iron THEN the pinpoint mode will give a "good tone" without moving the coil. Basically I only use the pinpoint mode to confirm I have a decent target and that I have correctly pinpointed using my sweeping technique. On some of my deep iffy targets that I had reason to believe they were silver coins I could not even get a good confirmation in pinpoint mode and just had to dig on faith that I pinpointed correctly using the standard sweep/wiggle method.

I must admit that even with the small coil and expertise trashy sites are a challenge. Most of the time if trash is packed heavily(targets less than 2 inches apart) the only stuff I find is stuff near the surface(1-2 inches). Only exception is if I start digging everything. Then I clear out the trash and eventually get to some decent stuff. I have only done this at two old home sites. It takes a lot of time and frequent visits.

One more word about "Hot Rocks". The only sites that I have encountered to consider to have "hot rocks" are places where there is a lot of coal in ground. These places I have given up on as there is way too much falsing going on.

 

[SnowCampRick]

Here's some of the things I do in heavy trash / iron.

I run in all metal mode ferrous tones with -10 and 40 disc out

I run manual sen between 8 and 12 and hi trash mode.

I use the 5" x 10" coiltek joey coil (elliptical)

when swinging close to the ground targets up 4" deep may
beep 3 times once as the leading edge passes, again as the center
passes,and again as the following coil edge passes. It sounds like
3 targets when it is only one.

you can raise your coil 3-4 inches above the ground so detection
field is smaller (cone shaped) more pointed or narrow and swing
at that height so you can separate the targets better in all metal.

I will usually switch to pinpoint mode to see how many targets
are really there and locate them. Then I switch back to detect
mode and come down on top of each target center and wiggle to get an accurate ID.

But the big secret is learning the sounds and sound shapes of targets.

One last tip is to cross save a pattern in all metal with conduct
tones so you can switch between all metal ferrous and all metal
conduct a rule of thumb in coin hunting is that if it gives a hi tone
in both modes dig.

ok I'll shut up.
Rick

 

[phxAZ]

Thanks for all the help guys.

I am printing it all out to review in the field as well. I am picking up a used excellerator 5" to play with and see if it helps.

One of the other things that gets me, is from what I read the target should sound under the hot strip. With air tests, it will sound any time the target comes near the outter coil (outsides, not just the strip). I've tested in the ground too and it will do the same thing at reasonable depth, but in the ground it signals more when it just under the outer coil ring. I've tried the 'kick up' technique and it works a bit better that way.

Oh well, just a lot of practice I guess.

 

[Angela (Australia)]

is that it is VERY important that you make up a TEST GARDEN in the type of ground you are detecting in, with differnt objects buried at different depths, and run your detector over it, and see how it responds. Grab a pad and write down the type of sounds you hear for the targets you dig, and the soil conditions you are detecting in. Learning the variations in tone and signals when target hunting is very important and the more time you spend on it, the more successful you're going to be. I've just moved from an area where I detected almost daily in very trashy, highly mineralised ground, on old goldfields, with black, red and brown soil, hot rocks and rocky terrian, and the Quattro WILL perform in conditions like these, if you put the time and practice, set up the test garden and learn from it. Sorry vincent, but I have to disagree with your comment about not using the Quattro on trashy sites. I do it all the time, and have had a lot of success. Not to learn "how to", you're missing out on possibly good ground for targets. Just think, it makes it all the more interesting, and don't underestimate the Quattro's abilities, otherwise, you're not really learning the detector to its full potential.
But do the test garden, and write everything down for referrence.
You will learn a great deal this way. Others who have done this, have.
Cheers Angela

 

[Angela (Australia)]

One thing I didn't mention is to slow right down in your swing, use a smaller coil, I use a 7.5 inch coil but a 5 inch may be better for you so the unit doesn't read so much ground all at once. Use the High Trash setting, so it recovers quicker to read the next target. Run in All Metal Mode with NO discrimination, so you don't get nulling over good targets, after going over "bad" targets. Also by slowing down in trashy ground it gives your mind a rest from the barrage of sounds, as it can be overwhelming to begin with. Don't be afraid to drop your sensitivity down. I've found that by having a lower sensitivity, it allows you to see into the ground more affectively, giving you better depth at times, hence not covering over good targets with falsing.
Okay. I'm going now!
Ang

 

[JHM]

Sound like good advise. Some of that, I never thought of.