Here we go again...:surrender:

["Dr.Tones"]

In the past couple weeks I've been really putting in some hours swinging my x70. Problem is I'm not finding anything cool! To date I've found one silver coin. It really chaps my ass when I literally hunt for about four to five hours a day at homes, sidewalks, schools and parks that are all pre 1910 era and here I am poppin clad all damn day. Answer the phone and it's my buddy
" hey dude sup?"
"nothin you?" "
" just stopped by an old school on my way to work and popped out four Mercs in bout half an hour"
" good for you... I hate you"

Should I be digging those targets that change tones, false in one direction and won't TID? Where do you draw the line? I have this feeling like im missing lots of goodies because they're just out of range to show up as a stable target. To be fair my friend was also swinging an etrack.

 

[Digger]

Go hunting with your buddy, but don't either one of you dig your targets. Instead, mark them with golf tees or poker chips. Write down what you think each target will be. After you've each located a dozen or so targets, you go over his with your X-TERRA and have go over yours with his E-TRAC. Then dig them up and compare each other's notes to the actual targets. I know this sounds tedious, but you'll never know whether it is the detector or your technique until you prove it to yourself. Having used both detectors for thousands of hours......no offense, but I'm betting it ain't the detector. JMHO HH Randy

 

[DirtAngler]

If you're in an area where old coins should be found, by all means dig those deep iffy signals. The Xterra is a fantastic machine but it is not going to identify deep coins by TID accurately, or by audio either but audio will be more accurate. Then again, no machine is, and then factor in all other ground condition possibilities and I'm sure you might be missing good targets by being too choosy on what you dig. When in doubt, dig it out.

 

["Dr.Tones"]

Ok so here's the question I'm getting at. Would a "higher end detector" consistently ID more targets at a depth of 4" or more? Or do I just need to dig more garbage? Cause whats the point of a detector that Sounds like garbage on stuff over four or five inches? I'd love to do that comparison against my buddies detector but he is working outta town for a while. Im telling you though, I've read everything there is to read about this machine. I practice daily, I learn daily, I can't break the 4-5" barrier without digging tons of inconsistent trash. That being said... I know that detectors aren't super machines, they aren't going to do all the work for you. I'm just frustrated and venting. When I hear tones jumping off the grid, TID from 22-46 and everything in between and a depth gauge that... Huh... Well... And I dig can slaw EVERY time I learn to trust that when my machine says garbage... IT'S GARBAGE!

 

[Old Longhair]

Ok so here's the question I'm getting at. Would a "higher end detector" consistently ID more targets at a depth of 4" or more?

No.
But don't take our word for it, prove it to yourself. Do as Randy (Digger) suggested and get together with your buddy.

Part of the whole idea with the Xterra and it's ability to change frequencies & search patterns, is being able to tailor it to the conditions and targets. If you're in high trash, then you need a small coil. If it's high numerical value trash, then the lower the frequency the more accurate the ID.

I routinely go for deep targets only, and may choose to recover none that are less than 4". My ground isn't mild, but it's not hot either. It's glacial morrain and can (and does) change in a matter of feet. With the right setup for your conditions, and going slow enough for your machine to get a good "look" at the target, pulling good targets beyond 4" should be common.

 

[Digger]

Don't lose sight of the fact that when you made the comparison between your clad and your buddy's silver in your earlier post..... you were in two different sites. So don't let that discourage you. And I still say if you're digging clad, you'll find silver if you put the coil over it. If a "junk target" has the same FE / CO properties as a coin, every detector out there will register them with identical TID's. With my X-TERRA set up to maximize the performance, it will "lock on" coins at 8 inches all day long. Larger coins even deeper. With that said, if you're not happy with your X-TERRA, I'm sure there are many dealers who would welcome you to trade it for something else. But before you do, take a look at a few posts I've made in the past, regarding "head to head" comparisons between my E-TRAC and my X-TERRA. One thing I would edit in the posts is that my "new dynamic duo" no longer includes the E-TRAC. But it still includes the X-TERRA 705. Here are links to three of those posts .......


http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,1605265,1605615#msg-1605615
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,1064275,1064621#msg-1064621
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?55,1601534,1601559#msg-1601559

 

["Dr.Tones"]

The grounds that I'm hunting are literally so infested that I can't find a place to ground balance my 6" HF DD. Also it's super dry. I'm beginning to think that maybe my neck of the woods just didn't have any money to lose.

 

["Dr.Tones"]

Thanks digger, you're the man.

 

["Dr.Tones"]

Seriously you guys are the best, I'd be lost without you all. I just hope some day I can pass it on!

 

[T.A.L.LasVegas]

If the ground is so infested you can't ground balance the clean a spot out to ground balance.

 

[mapper65]

no offense, but I'm betting it ain't the detector. JMHO HH Randy

I have to agree with Randy's statement but your posts also make me wonder something. You mention that you can't get a good ground balance. Don't get offended by this question because I don't know your abilities with the Xterra but is your detector noisy even if your coil is 3 to 4 feet off the ground?

Why I ask this is that I'm curious if you are confusing noise that's in the air (EMI or EMF) with trash and mineralization that's under ground. Again, I'm not sure how much time you have swinging the Xterra but if your detector is noisy when the coil is 3' off of the ground then I would double check that you are doing a noise cancel properlly and if you are properlly noise cancelling and it's still noisy 3 feet of the ground then you'll need to lower your sesnitivity until the chattering stops.

If you still think it's the detector it would be money well spent to send it back to Minelab and have them test it and put it back into spec.

 

[BADBAJA]

Make sure you ground balance. Even if you have to run all metal and clean out a spot to set it up. Noise cancel, set your sensitivity so it's stable with a few quick swings left and right then drop it a couple more numbers to be safe. Then do your ground balance. What numbers are you getting for your ground balance? I had GB 5-6 yesterday at my beach and it's finding quarters, dime and nickles at 5-6 inches no problem.

 

[EOS]

Well the E-trac is a silver sucker!
Me and my brother was out detecting yesterday.
I used the XT 705 with 5x10 and my bro the E-trac with 6x8SEF coil.

The park we detected is mixed with newer and older finds.
There is so much signals in the ground, and I was getting tired listening to the constant
beep on all metal, so I turned over to coin mode. Ground is around 30-35 and I set the sensitivity at 28 without any falsing.

My brother was digging silver after silver and I just found the newer coins, clads.
I had a couple of big silver, a bit larger then a quarter. But that was it.

I could see my brother holding up another nice old silver, looking very happy.
He had a lot of small silver as well.
I know its much easier finding silver coins in trashy sites with the Etrac. .

Well I went back to all metal and worked the ground in slower pace. Concentrating on each signal.
I had a couple of faint signals at 30-32 and they were all small silver. I had 2 of them.

So when my brother had a "silver signal" I passed the Xterra over it and it was a smooth good signal at 32.But turning over to coin mode and the signal was gone due to all
the trash in the ground.

So my conlusion is that the E-trac is a winner on infested sites. The discrimination is way much better and you get a lot more ID info on the E-trac.
You dig less trash.
I love my Xterra dont get me wrong. Its a really good machine on the fields. But for park and infested areas I go for E-trac.

I had 6 silver and my brother 13...but its all about getting it under the coil I guess...

Mike

 

["Dr.Tones"]

Yeah, I clean out a spot to ground balance in AM, use noise cancel and adjust my sensitivity till she sputters and then I back it off and set her to auto track. I can tell when I start running into interference and I make noise cancel adjustments appropriately. My ground balance usually runs between 20-30. I guess I'm just too picky when it comes to digging. If it doesn't hit from all directions consistently and if the TID moves more than two digits in either direction (sometimes it fluctuates but not by much) then I typically won't dig it. I feel proficient with it, enough to say that if there's a coin less than four inches deep, I'll find it. Quarters I'll find deeper, but that's just because they're huge. I really am begging to think that the moisture content of the soil in the places that I'm hunting might be a lot of the problem. I notice that when I hunt parks and other places that are sprinkled I get better depth more consistently, and when I hunt old houses/farms that are bone dry I really start to struggle breaking that 4" depth barrier ... With consistency. Are you starting to see a trend yet? I love me some consistency. Ok so here's one for ya. You're detecting in an area with moderate to high trash in pattern one. You get a null in your threshold followed by a broken high/mid tone chirp. As you scan the target your TID jumps about and reads 22, 46, 30. You hit the target from a 90 degree angle and you get another very broken blip that sounds scratchy like a degrigated digital lo fi type sound. Your TID from this angle reads 46, 48. You check your depth gauge and its bouncing between 1-4 arrows. You put the machine in pin point mode and the target reads -2 one direction and 30 from another. You switch to all metal and your machin grunts and squeezes in erratic high tone sputters between grunts. To dig or not to dig? Five inches away you get the same target... And another three inches you get the same target... Again....and again... See where I'm goin with this? Might just be my luck but none of these types of targets ever end up being anything other than nails, can slaw, bottle tops....

 

[EOS]

I had a faint iffy signal coming in it at 32 but was jumping all over TID areas mostly at the higher range.
I started to dig and got a clearar signal jumping in at 42, a very sweet sound.

It was a 2 ore coin at least 7" down. Funny is this coin never comes in at that TID. But this coin had propably been run over a train, something kids used to do. Just like myself
It was flattened and larger since it had been under a train. Thats why it had a higher tone. I used the 6"DD HF

Yesterday I was digging a 42 signal only to find there was

 

[Old Longhair]

I really am begging to think that the moisture content of the soil in the places that I'm hunting might be a lot of the problem. I notice that when I hunt parks and other places that are sprinkled I get better depth more consistently, and when I hunt old houses/farms that are bone dry I really start to struggle breaking that 4" depth barrier ... With consistency. Are you starting to see a trend yet? I love me some consistency.

Ground moisture most definately plays a role. But that role enhances the junk as well as the preferred targets.

Ok so here's one for ya. You're detecting in an area with moderate to high trash in pattern one. You get a null in your threshold followed by a broken high/mid tone chirp. As you scan the target your TID jumps about and reads 22, 46, 30. You hit the target from a 90 degree angle and you get another very broken blip that sounds scratchy like a degrigated digital lo fi type sound. Your TID from this angle reads 46, 48. You check your depth gauge and its bouncing between 1-4 arrows. You put the machine in pin point mode and the target reads -2 one direction and 30 from another. You switch to all metal and your machin grunts and squeezes in erratic high tone sputters between grunts. To dig or not to dig? Five inches away you get the same target... And another three inches you get the same target... Again....and again... See where I'm goin with this? Might just be my luck but none of these types of targets ever end up being anything other than nails, can slaw, bottle tops....

You're asking for consistancy, yet you dig inconsistantly and wonder why you dig junk? Coins, regardless of their TID make a clean clear sound. If the TID changes and you have it on 99 tones, then the tone will change with the TID, but it will still be a clean tone. Broken, grunting, scratchy, unclear tones are most often junk. If I'm coinshooting, about the only things that occationally fool me are rusty crown caps and the odd piece of canslaw that comes in the same as a nickel.

Since gold can come in anywhere, and multi-facetted jewelry will cause jumpy TIDs and odd tone changes, if you don't dig it all you can miss some nice things. But if coins are your target, listen for clean tones only.

 

["Dr.Tones"]

Longhair,

I'm not digging those signals. Havent been for a long time. Like I said. I only dig consistent signals that hit from all directions and don't fluctuate more than two digits in either direction. I get fooled every now and then by the same stuff. What I'm asking is are you guys digging those iffy signals? Yesterday I dug around 50 coins varying from 1910-present. Wheats were the only thing I popped that are mentionable. Out of all those coins I dug one rusty nail and one dog tag. Thing is all those targets were less than four inches deep. Either there's no coins in the area that are that deep or my detector isn't giving me the tell tell signals that key me in on goods past that depth. I mentioned digging those garbage targets because it was recommended that I try just to find out for sure. If you guys are getting great sounding coins at depth then the only thing I can think of is either my machine has a problem or my area sucks. Honestly though I think I'll just keep digging those signals the same way I always do and I might get lucky and find something silver. My odds are really horrible though. Literally in the past three weeks I've dug around 300 coins and only one of them was silver. About thirty wheats and one buffalo. About 10% of them are pre 64. Just think if I can get deeper my odds will increase.

 

[DirtAngler]

To get deeper I'd suggest you use the 10.5" MF DD coil. It still provides good seperation.

 

["Dr.Tones"]

I love ths detector but I must say for all the coils I've got already I could have jut bought an etrac. I'm going to keep this one around but I'm getting me a CTX to go along with it. Not looking forward to learning a new machine but I think it should be pretty fun.

 

[Old Longhair]

The makeup of the substrait along with a couple other things will determine the rate and depth that coins sink. If you've dug that many coins within the date range that you've said (and I don't doubt you one bit), then you should find silver if it's there.

Just today I dug 5 clad quarters, 24 clad dimes, 7 Jefferson nickels, and 20 copper memorials. Three of the dimes were '65, one nickel was a '62, and two of the memorials were '60. I also got one Wheat (a '56) and two '57 Rosies. I could ask a similar question as yours..."Why only one Wheat?" or "Why no dimes or quarters between '65 and '57?" The answer is simple. They either were never there, or someone already found 'em, or I just haven't found 'em yet.

Stay at it. This isn't an instant gratification hobby. If you're persistant, you will find what you seek.