Help with my Omega 8000

[dld]

my Omega 8000 has been right on with identification of coins, foil etc.
I made a test bed and planted a quarter, dime, nickel, penny, lead, two different style pull tabs and a pop top at 8 inches.

I can't get a response on the dime or nickel, but the real problem is the quarter and penny ring up as iron. I scanned the
area before I made the test bed and it was clean.

When I air test different coins they read all over the place now except where they are suppose to. This is with both my coils.

What gives?? Is there a hard shut down to reset it?

I had buried the coins a few inches before I put them at 8 inches and they read fine. Now everything is all wonky

 

[gambler13]

The only easy thing to check if your coil cables are fine would be to try new batteries.

 

[dld]

I put in new batteries and it did the same as old batteries

it set a few days while I used my water detector, it worked fine when I was using it previously, then when I used it it was nuts and now it is diving me nuts

 

[Barney II]

How does your water detector read over these test coins----if it goes crazy too then you must have disturbed an " iron nest" when you dug deeper. A nest where the iron had all rusted away and only left unnoticed rust and when you closed the holes you moved all the rust all over-----????? It has happened before and does happen when you dig a signal and then can't find anything..........have done that alot---lol

 

[jabbo]

Coins buried 8" most likely won't ID correctly, thats a deep coin. Also targets should be at least 10" apart so they don't mask each other.

 

[Monte]

First, it is important to make sure the batteries are fresh or show a decent reading, such as 2, 3 or 4 bars.

Second, we need to make sure the proper search coil is installed with a snug connector fitting.

Third, when doing an 'in-air' test, make sure the Sensitivity level is as high as possible, but stable. If there is EMI then we have to reduce the Sensitivity level. If it is too noisy, the TID/VDI will not lock-on and hold.

Fourth, when doing an 'in-air' test, if the Sensitivity has been reduced to deal with EMI, then the test sample must me worked closer to the search coil as there can be reduced depth of detection and responsiveness of TID/VDI.

Fifth, make sure the test sample is moved across the search coil's center axis and not off-center, and also make sure the sample, if a coin or ring, is held in a position as if 'flat-to-the-coil' and not on-edge or canted.

Sixth, if testing outdoors, first make a proper Ground Balance and ensure the spot is free of any metal target. Use the All Metal mode to accomplish this.

Seventh, lay the sample target on top of the ground, select the Discriminate mode, set the Sensitivity as high as possible but just where it is stable, and make some test sweep over the target. Center the search coil, but don't be too close as it might cause back-reading or overload.

Eighth, if you are in a location that is free from too much EMI and are able to run a somewhat high Sensitivity setting (let's say 60 or higher on an Omega) and get a proper Target ID/VDI read-out, that suggest you can try an in-the-ground test. To do this, try to disturb the ground as little as possible and also do not bury the target more than 3". Sometimes maybe 4" is okay, but often even at 4" a fresh-buried coin or other sample will not produce a proper read-out. Why? Because the detector is not just trying to 'read' and interpret the target signal of the sample, but also the surrounding ground mineral matrix. Once you have disturbed the ground to bury a target, it might not be able to produce a good reading for anywhere from maybe a week to several months time. The ground needs to settle and adapt to the rest of the area. That could involve stepping the ground firmly in place, allowing time for moisture and other effects to blend it back to a more consistent composition. Deeper than 3" or 4" you shouldn't expect a good TID.

Ninth, if you have done an 'in-air' test, both indoors and outdoors, and done it away from high EMI issues, then checked the detector with a coin on the ground surface to make sure you know the detectors potential if all is in your favor, continue testing. Continued testing is simply going out to all the common-use sites and searching for naturally buried coins and other targets that have been in the ground an ample amount of time. Listen to the audio, try the various Tone ID options, use different search coils, work with different sweep speed, and learn all you can about your Omega (or any other detector) so that you master using it. Then, take advantage of what it is capable of doing in the real-world.

Just some thoughts, but if you use your Omega in realistic conditions, at the higher Sensitivity settings and away from a lot of EMI, and I think you'll find it to work quite well and not "wonky."

Monte

 

[dld]

water machine only tells me whether it is iron or not, works fine

 

[dld]

First, it is important to make sure the batteries are fresh or show a decent reading, such as 2, 3 or 4 bars.

New batteries, 4 bars

Second, we need to make sure the proper search coil is installed with a snug connector fitting.

11 DD coil that came with it, snug connector fitting

Third, when doing an 'in-air' test, make sure the Sensitivity level is as high as possible, but stable. If there is EMI then we have to reduce the Sensitivity level. If it is too noisy, the TID/VDI will not lock-on and hold.

Done

Fourth, when doing an 'in-air' test, if the Sensitivity has been reduced to deal with EMI, then the test sample must me worked closer to the search coil as there can be reduced depth of detection and responsiveness of TID/VDI.

Fifth, make sure the test sample is moved across the search coil's center axis and not off-center, and also make sure the sample, if a coin or ring, is held in a position as if 'flat-to-the-coil' and not on-edge or canted.

Sixth, if testing outdoors, first make a proper Ground Balance and ensure the spot is free of any metal target. Use the All Metal mode to accomplish this.

did this several times

Seventh, lay the sample target on top of the ground, select the Discriminate mode, set the Sensitivity as high as possible but just where it is stable, and make some test sweep over the target. Center the search coil, but don't be too close as it might cause back-reading or overload.

Eighth, if you are in a location that is free from too much EMI and are able to run a somewhat high Sensitivity setting (let's say 60 or higher on an Omega) and get a proper Target ID/VDI read-out, that suggest you can try an in-the-ground test. To do this, try to disturb the ground as little as possible and also do not bury the target more than 3". Sometimes maybe 4" is okay, but often even at 4" a fresh-buried coin or other sample will not produce a proper read-out. Why? Because the detector is not just trying to 'read' and interpret the target signal of the sample, but also the surrounding ground mineral matrix. Once you have disturbed the ground to bury a target, it might not be able to produce a good reading for anywhere from maybe a week to several months time. The ground needs to settle and adapt to the rest of the area. That could involve stepping the ground firmly in place, allowing time for moisture and other effects to blend it back to a more consistent composition. Deeper than 3" or 4" you shouldn't expect a good TID.

Packed the ground good, I replanted 4-6 inches, guess I will have to wait a week to several months time

Ninth, if you have done an 'in-air' test, both indoors and outdoors, and done it away from high EMI issues, then checked the detector with a coin on the ground surface to make sure you know the detectors potential if all is in your favor, continue testing. Continued testing is simply going out to all the common-use sites and searching for naturally buried coins and other targets that have been in the ground an ample amount of time. Listen to the audio, try the various Tone ID options, use different search coils, work with different sweep speed, and learn all you can about your Omega (or any other detector) so that you master using it. Then, take advantage of what it is capable of doing in the real-world.

Just some thoughts, but if you use your Omega in realistic conditions, at the higher Sensitivity settings and away from a lot of EMI, and I think you'll find it to work quite well and not "wonky."

I am trying to learn deep targets so I can hunt in heavy hunted areas. I keep getting conflicting signals on items 8-10 inches down. Most of the time it is just trash, but the signals are not average, they jump from iron to quarter

Thanks for the reply and help

Monte

 

[Monte]

I am trying to learn deep targets so I can hunt in heavy hunted areas. I keep getting conflicting signals on items 8-10 inches down. Most of the time it is just trash, but the signals are not average, they jump from iron to quarter.

Well, there, in just three sentences, you covered what some of the main problems are that bring about unsuccessful results:

1.. Trying to find DEEP targets in heavily hunted areas means, to me, that these sites have been worked really well, and in the past quarter-of-a-century most avid hobbyists have been using a model with Target ID. in all that time, logic suggests that most of the targets that gave a good audio AND VISUAL response were recovered. Thus, while we might get a decent Target ID display on a deep coin, what we ought to be attentive to is simply HEARING the response from a potentially deep coin. One that is at or beyond the TID range that all those detectors achieved, or even the one you have in hand.

2.. When you get "conflicting signals in items 8"-10" down" that really isn't surprising. All too often we read a manufacturers statement in literature that a particular detector will respond to a coin at a certain grand distance, and maybe even identify it at those reaches. The fact it that they do that in a more controlled environment, in an air test, and with a sweep speed needed to generate the most impressive result.

In reality, you will often hunt a site where the ground mineral condition or the severe dryness or abundant moisture content, or the soil's density of compactness can skew a target response a little higher or lower than a 'proper' out-of-ground reading. Then, when you get a target out from a detectors more intense electromagnetic field, you start to see a degradement of the audio and visual response to the point where Target ID will be erratic or just way off and not functional at all.

3.. When you state that "most of the time it's just trash," that is what often causes an erratic TID or VDI response. many or most junk objects that are made with an ample amount of iron, or mixed alloys and in odd shapes and positions in the ground. Then you said "signal are not average, they jump from iron to quarter." That is expected from odd-shaped junk targets, or objects that also have a strange mix of alloys, but especially junk that is mainly iron-based in nature. Things like bottle caps, old bottle openers, rusty tin, etc.

I'm not sure what you mean by they are not 'average' but if you mean a good target and bad target do not 'average out' then that, too, is the case most often. Even two or three coins that are laying close together will not necessarily 'average' out. If all are stacked and touching they might, but if they are just veryu closely spaced you can get a random response based on the direction of the search coil sweep.

So, to sum this reply up, I will say that I like the Omega and Gamma in the d4 audio Tone ID when I am working a typical site with modern change. If I am working any older-use site, and especially hunting for the deeper targets, I use d1 or d2 Audio Tone ID, and often d2. I set my Discrimination at '1', then I GB and work a site very methodically, listening for any audio response. If i get a good audio hit and it sounds like it is deeper, and I evaluate it with the pinpoint function to ensure it is a narrow-response as if from a coin or other smaller target, then I check the coin depth read-out. I am likely to recover that target unless I get 90% Iron ID in sound and visual display after several sweeps.

If it's not iron, but is small, and deeper than 5", I recover it if I know the site to be well hunted in the past, and dates to an era where older coins are potentially to be found.

Monte

 

[sekypaleo]

I gotta be honest I think 8-10" down is about the limit on the Omega. I have never dug a target over 9" and that target was a 58 cal minie ball and it was ringing up as a soft repeatable 99 which is iron wrap around number. I am guessing your Omega is working fine. I only get solid numbers on targets down to about 6"...anything past that my numbers jump around alot. Bill