Help with detecting old yard

[DELETED USER (Emmitt)]

Good Morning gang...I need a little advise in how to set up my machine for md'ing a yard dating back to the 1850's. I really haven't had much practice at yard detecting. Mostly a woods guy. I started to last nite for about a half hour b4 it got dark. I have a x-705, I had it set on auto GB and had the sens about 20 using the 6in DD hi freq coil and was in the 4th preset pattern. Yard seems kind of trashy. Couldn't seem to get definite coin hits. Do i need to go lower with the Sens?? I dunno..that's why i am asking you folks for help..this is kinda my first private property yard. Thanks all and have a great weekend..Em

 

[Digger]

The first thing I do everytime I turn on my X-TERRA is set the Noise Cancel channel. I always keep my volume at Max. I can usually run with more Sensitivity than you indicate you have your's set at. But that will depend on several other factors. Threshold is one that is often overlooked. With the Volume and Sensitivity at Max, hold the coil at waist level and set your Threshold so it is just barely audible. Having it too high or too low can cause you to miss small targets. You mentioned you used Auto GB. What ground phase number did you get? Even though you are using the best coil for highly mineralized sites, having your Sensitivity too high can cause ground reflection, blanking and false signals. I say the best coil for highly mineralized sites due to it being small and DD. Were you getting any target signals at all? If not, were you getting a lot of target blanking due to an abundance of iron targets? (pattern 4 rejects -4, -6, -8 and +48 ) Remember, the Patterns are nothing more than a group of rejected and accepted notches, saved as a factory preset. Any of the Patterns can be altered to fit your site. Let us know what your other settings are and we'll see if we can't help you knock some coins out of that old yard. HH Randy

 

[DELETED USER (Emmitt)]

Hi Randy...Thanks for the reply! I think the GB came up at 7 with the auto GB setting. I was getting some target signals, but most were jumpy and i really didn't want to dig unless i was quite sure it was worth digging. Don't want to make to many unnecessary holes in this person yard, more than i have to! LOL. That's why i want to ask these questions here with more experienced yard diggers. I will take your advice about the setting up of the detector and the sens and give that a whirl. Will check back later to see if ya added anything more. Theres gotta be a few nice coins in that yard! At least that's what i want to think! ha ha!! Em

 

[Digger]

If your Ground Phase sets up at a 7, you have some serious mineralization in that soil. A DD coil will definitely help as DD coils are designed to help offset the effects of mineralization. And a small coil will be of benefit due to the smaller footprint and less soil to analyze at any one time. But regardless of the coil you chose, if your ground balance is in the single digits, you can plan on running less than Max Sensitivity for best performance. Some guys like to overdrive their Sensitivity, thinking the more the better. But I compare Sensitivity to the headlights on your car. If it is a foggy night, running with the bright lamps will not be the best scenerio. With the bright lights, much of the signal bounces right back in your eyes. Similarly, if the ground is cluttered with lots of trash targets or heavy mineralization, when you crank up the Sensitivity, the electromagnetic signals from the transmit coil will bounce around all over the place causing falsing, unstable performance and target masking. Just as with the low beams in the fog, lowering the Sensitivity will produce better results in those cluttered areas. JMHO HH Randy

 

[Idaho PRB]

..... Some guys like to overdrive their Sensitivity, thinking the more the better. But I compare Sensitivity to the headlights on your car. If it is a foggy night, running with the bright lamps will not be the best scenerio. With the bright lights, much of the signal bounces right back in your eyes. Similarly, if the ground is cluttered with lots of trash targets or heavy mineralization, when you crank up the Sensitivity, the electromagnetic signals from the transmit coil will bounce around all over the place causing falsing, unstable performance and target masking. Just as with the low beams in the fog, lowering the Sensitivity will produce better results in those cluttered areas. JMHO HH Randy

I never get tired of hearing this analogy. It is a good reminder, and great advice. Thanks Randy!

 

[DELETED USER (Emmitt)]

Thanks again Randy and excellent analogy..makes perfect sense. I will let ya know how I did. Much appreciated! Em