help with explorer II beach settings!

[s1u2r3f4]

Hi! First I want to thank anyone in advance. It's great how helpful everyone is. I am new to the exp II. It was a hand me down. After researching it to death and using it a lot, I am starting to really like it. A harness helped to take the weight off. I do almost all beach so far. What are the best settings..gold? I have gain at 10, deep on. The rest is a big ? What does it mean to change channels? So far I find coin and lead sinkers. But the coolest was when I found a gold band in the wet sand. So it can find gold, I guess. Also, where and what is Bryce's program? Thanks again

 

[sgoss66]

hey s1u2u3f4 --

I can't help you alot in terms of "best settings for the beach," or for gold, as I don't beach hunt, and if I gold hunt, I use a different machine (the Explorers will CERTAINLY find gold, but not as well as some others, especially if you are talking very small gold, like small post earrings, bracelets, etc.) But, I'll try to help on a few other of your questions...

"Changing channels" simply means changing the "noise cancel" channel, which is selectable between 1 and 11. When you run the automatic "noise cancel," by pressing the button on your machine, it selects what it feels is the best channel (slightly different frequencies on each channel) for mitigating electromagnetic interference (EMI) at that particular time, at that particular location. However, for somewhat complex reasons, that I'll not explain unless you specifically ask, some people like to have manual control of what "channel" of noise cancelling they select (instead of the machine doing it automatically). You can use your menu system to find the place where the "channel" can be "changed" manually to any of the channels from 1-11. I don't think I'd worry about that at this point; manual control of the noise cancel channel is generally only done by experienced users for subtle reasons...

As for Bryce's program, here are his settings; I'm quoting him here from another post on the forum:

These settings do work for many but they also take some getting used to...so don't get frustrated if you choose to try them..

Conductive sounds
Gain-10
variability-10
Limits-10
Max limits-10
Fast-Off
Deep-Off
Sensitivity-Semi auto 26 (manual 26 if the ground is clean enough)
Iron mask-22
Theshold barely audible
Everything else stock preset

The 3 keys for me which make these settings effective for deep park silver at "hunted out" sites are the following...

1) high gain which allows deep silver chirps to be heard

2) Semi auto sensitivity at 26 which makes the SE very stable while still running the high gain setting I prefer. Because of this..the SE has no problems hitting 8" to 10" coins. If the ground is clean and you don't seem to get the depth you need.....give manual 26 a shot.

3) Iron mask set at -22. this is a precise setting for me that I never vary from. 1 setting higher....and deep iron starts to mimick deep silver hits...hence some falsing. Also at this -22 setting... I have no problems hitting the same 8" to 10" deep coins even while the SE may be nulling....which is very important.

IMPORTANT: Please be aware you will hear some falsing and it will be up to you to discern between falsing and deep coin hits. The semi auto sensitivity does control the falsing quite a bit...but you might still hear some.

IMPORTANT: Please have the confidence to know that if you are going slow enough through iron...that your machine will still let a nice deep coin hit signal through the nulling threshold.

Hope this helps some,

Steve

 

[s1u2r3f4]

Thanks so much. That really helps. But why wouldn't you always want to have DEEP on all the time? Thanks again. I think I'm in this for the long haul. It's a blast. Karen, Fl.

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

Karen Hi there is some posts in the Etrac section about that question. I have tried deep and many others too and it don't seem to help any on deep coins but is supposed to help with the ID of them making it better for the machines reading no's on the screen so I have left it on as it doesn't seem to hurt anything. Bryce and myself and many others raise the gain up as that does make deep signals louder so you don't miss them. Andy Sabich says to vary the gain so as to not have too many objects under the coil at once it will overlaod and confuse the machine somewhaqt maybe possiably causing to miss something. So he varies his gain with deep on for the areas he's hunting in. Trash high lower gain low trash raise gain etc. hope some of this helps.

OH and FAST on does work in many co-located signal areas or trashy areas but it slightly clips the audio responce somewhat. I do use it depending on the area. Supposedly on the Explorers it's said you don't want DEEp on and FAST on at the same time as it may slightly confuse the machine but some do run it that way and don't have any problems either who knows just find a target and mess with these settings and find what you like is probably the best thing to do. Different strokes for different folks!!

 

[sgoss66]

Karen --

I totally agree with Etrac Tom, on all he said. Lately I've been trying "deep on" with lower gain while working trashy areas; reason being is that it can make the shallow trash sound "louder" and the deeper targets to sound "softer" and perhaps with a little better ID -- kind of allows you to ignore shallow stuff (if you want to) and focus on the deeper (softer) hits. Otherwise, I usually use Bryce's settings.

Like Tom says, though, you gotta find what works for you; and then -- at least in terms of things that affect the SOUNDS you hear (variability, deep/fast response, etc.), you might want to LEAVE THOSE ALONE. Reason being, if changing a setting changes the pitch, or duration, of the tone, it can confuse your ears. Bryce has trained his ears to listen for VERY SPECIFIC sounds, and if you use fast=on, then like Tom mentioned it might "clip" your audio. Well, if you have spent months listening and training your ears as to what GOOD targets sound like, and then you switch fast=on, you might MISS a good target, as your ears did not quite "recognize" that "clipped" audio as being a good target. Make sense? Have you ever had a favorite song that you listen to all the time, and then you hear it live and it doesn't sound "right?" That's kind of an analogy -- still the same song, but the live version just "sounds" a little different, despite it being the same song. If your ears learned to prefer the "studio" version of the song, and they are used to how it sounds, your ears then may "not like" the live version, or vice versa. This principle is sort of why Bryce found the settings (in terms of pitch and such) that he likes, and then LEFT them there...so he is listening for those specific sounds that he has learned to RECOGNIZE, ones that usually mean "good target."

Hope this helps,
Steve

 

[dewcon4414]

Three main things that affect the machines ability to see targets.... sensitivity, Deep on, and gain. Each increases the amount of noise the processor has to sift thru. On a beach you may not have as much mineralization.... but you have an increase in salt which reacts very similar. Some call the Explorers gold dead..... that refers to it being factor set very closely to where small pieces of gold would hit...... like studs, light earrings, and small chains. I can tell you small chains without a good size hasp .... forget about it. The size of coil also affects your ability to see or not see those targets. But the big tickets..... which is what you are after in the first place you can find at a reasonable depth. Watch the lower part of the smart screen for the smaller bans..... 11 to 15 fer and 2 and above cond. 80 percent of all jewelry is womens and its smaller. Silver rings or any copper targets you wont have a problem with. Dont over power your machine.... to much sensitivity will loose you depth. Just because you can run 30 sensitivity its not going to gain you depth for various reasons. I agree just let the machine select the proper channel. Hunt the low areas at the tide marks and the visible ones on the more solid sand. The closer you are to the hard bottom or shells the better chance you have of heavier gold not sinking out of your reach. Take note of the targets you are digging..... if most are floater move down a bit. You wont have any problems digging deep coins. Avoid those targets you know are trash like bottle caps in the lower right corner. You can even use the coin program and disc crown caps. These junk targets or even coins can be come distractions if you are solely looking for gold. Be careful in the surf.... i wouldnt raise the coil above the box, dont get in deeper than cam lock.... water will bob up the shaft, and CLEAN it very good after every hunt even over spray will rust anything exposed quickly. I not only have a cover on mine but put a nylon sticker over the speaker. CLEAN between the coil and cover EVERY time of you will get falsing once water or sand gets in.... and it will. Lot of competition on the dry sand.... less and less as you go onto the wet sand and into the water. HH

Dew

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

Good analogy Steve!! Thanks.

 

[s1u2r3f4]

Wow! Thank you. So much info. I have a lot of homework to do. I know I'll have more questions. Thanks again!

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

Dew's got it covered.

 

[s1u2r3f4]

Ok! I hit the beach today and spoke with a guy with an Excalibur. He has me totally convinced to give up on the Explorer and go into debt for the Excal. My clad and pull tabs vs. his tons of gold and silver!!! Any thoughts??? Just beach hunting....gold, hopefully Thanks!!

 

[Orlensin-FL]

Great thread.