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How do you tell depth with Sharp Shooter II?

H

hunkadinka

New member
Hello fellow Bounty Hunters: I just came back into the fold of metal detecting after retiring from the hobby back in 2002 or earlier and selling my treasured Teknetics Mark I Ltd. My wife has been invited by a high schoolmate to attend a reunion in Florida in January. We've always been intrigued by what one sees in some TV documentaries showing detectorists finding serious stuff at Sebastian Inlet or Bay and we were going to just go there and with just a beach scoop mess around on the beach. But I thought it would make more sense if I had a detector to really have a chance at finding something worthwhile, maybe a doubloon or two :detecting:

So today I picked up a used Sharp Shooter II and on my way home with it I realized that it was missing a very important feature: depth indicator. I was looking at similar models on oyvey and was about to buy one of them since they all look similar and I don't know why different models cost more than the others while all being described identically. Then I read a British field report on the SSII and the reviewer, John Castle, pointed out that due to the extra Ground control he was able to detect wet sand which it doesn't look like the other models would have been able to do since they don't have this extra feature.

So what I have here is a detector that sounds great for the beach where depth is not a factor, you just scoop until you have the target. But if I were to go to my local parks, how would I know how deep the target is? That question is the reason for this post and I'm asking for your help in how you deal with this. Do you just dig a hole until you find your target or you've found ways to know how deep the target is. I can't believe that Bounty Hunter would make a model without this important feature although I see where the Land Star has both the Ground control AND depth zones. But the price is more than I want to pay and what I paid for my SSII was a good deal which allows me to overlook this lack of depth indicator.

Now that I've bent your ear, please give ME some bending, hopefully from SSII owners.
 
Hello Hunkadinka !

With a motion detection system, you hear a signal indicating you the presence of a target. A no-motion system will let you hear the target !

You can, in no-motion get an idea of the target's size (how "broad" is your signal), and also an idea of the depth, by listening to the strength of the signal. Ex, a broad, strong signal could be, according to the ID meter, a drink can just under the surface, while the same ID giving a sharper and weaker signal could be a deep coin.

The trick about searching parks is to search in motion, checking each signal pinpointing it in non-motion. This will give you a pretty good idea of the shape and depth of your target. A much more accurate method than the depth meter, cause those work correctly only on coin-sized targets.

Happy hunting !

Nick the Belgian.
 
I have noticed that First Texas puts out some detectors with very poor features and fancy looks as a sales "gimmick". The mode indicator should have been made as a depth indicator, but wait!!! That would make the detector a Pioneer 202, and we would lose a detector in our lineup...OH MY!!!! For the price you pay for the Sharp Shooter, you could have bought a 202 or even a 505 elsewhere and had depth detection...Electronics companies rely on the non-knowing public to be fooled by the looks of a product...if it looks good, and we hype it up enough, the un-educated public will buy it....Now do not get me wrong...the SS II has a purpose, and it CAN find treasure, but why waste the area a depth indicator could have been placed in on a mode indicator...hopefully, when I hit the button, I KNOW what mode I am in. What I need to know is how far to dig???? I think it is high time First Texas got rid of some of it's older lower end detectors, reducing their overhead and production costs, and continue with the detectors that have the modern features...keep the entry level Fast Tracker IV, and Pioneer 202, and maybe the Junior for the kiddies...This would lower the prices on the other detectors, and get more sales for First Texas...Just a thought....And here I go...you know it was coming First Texas...PLEASE for the Love of God!!!....redesign that terrible pin-pointer probe you put out...you know the one...the one you can't hear, can't feel, and the one the battery case falls off every 10 seconds without tape....

Here is a list of the detectors I think are worth saving:

BH-Junior
Tracker IV
Commando
Quick Draw II
Sharp Shooter II
Pioneer 505
Land Star
Camo-LS
Land Ranger
Time Ranger
Platinum

End of Rave!!!

Land Star

P.S. keep up the good work on your upper lineup...My Land Star is a keeper, and Before long, I plan on owning a Time Ranger or Platinum...
 
[quote BH-LandStar]I have noticed that First Texas puts out some detectors with very poor features and fancy looks as a sales "gimmick". The mode indicator should have been made as a depth indicator, but wait!!! That would make the detector a Pioneer 202, and we would lose a detector in our lineup...OH MY!!!! For the price you pay for the Sharp Shooter, you could have bought a 202 or even a 505 elsewhere and had depth detection...Electronics companies rely on the non-knowing public to be fooled by the looks of a product...if it looks good, and we hype it up enough, the un-educated public will buy it....Now do not get me wrong...the SS II has a purpose, and it CAN find treasure, but why waste the area a depth indicator could have been placed in on a mode indicator...hopefully, when I hit the button, I KNOW what mode I am in. What I need to know is how far to dig???? I think it is high time First Texas got rid of some of it's older lower end detectors, reducing their overhead and production costs, and continue with the detectors that have the modern features...keep the entry level Fast Tracker IV, and Pioneer 202, and maybe the Junior for the kiddies...This would lower the prices on the other detectors, and get more sales for First Texas...Just a thought....And here I go...you know it was coming First Texas...PLEASE for the Love of God!!!....redesign that terrible pin-pointer probe you put out...you know the one...the one you can't hear, can't feel, and the one the battery case falls off every 10 seconds without tape....

Here is a list of the detectors I think are worth saving:

BH-Junior
Tracker IV
Commando
Quick Draw II
Sharp Shooter II
Pioneer 505
Land Star
Camo-LS
Land Ranger
Time Ranger
Platinum

End of Rave!!!

Land Star

P.S. keep up the good work on your upper lineup...My Land Star is a keeper, and Before long, I plan on owning a Time Ranger or Platinum...[/quote]

Good rave! I agree with you on some of your comments. But the fault with the SSII lies with me for I didn't do my usual, careful research. I got exceited at finding a SSII at a nice low price when all of the SSIIs being offered on oyvey were Buy It Now at $200+ and I didn't feel like spending that much since I might or might not return to THing. My purchase of the SSII was strictly to feel a need to take advantage of our driving by Sebastian Inlet and knowing that there might still be some serious goodies waiting to be found. And, well, one never knows. Now I see that the Land Ranger has the ground control I wanted PLUS depth indicator. So I might buy that one also and sell my SSII to recoup my investment. Thanks for the info.
 
[quote nick hunter]Hello Hunkadinka !

With a motion detection system, you hear a signal indicating you the presence of a target. A no-motion system will let you hear the target !

You can, in no-motion get an idea of the target's size (how "broad" is your signal), and also an idea of the depth, by listening to the strength of the signal. Ex, a broad, strong signal could be, according to the ID meter, a drink can just under the surface, while the same ID giving a sharper and weaker signal could be a deep coin.

The trick about searching parks is to search in motion, checking each signal pinpointing it in non-motion. This will give you a pretty good idea of the shape and depth of your target. A much more accurate method than the depth meter, cause those work correctly only on coin-sized targets.

Happy hunting !

Nick the Belgian.[/quote]

I didn't want to across as a THing newbie as I started detecting back in the early '80s with a no-frills White's. But in my haste to take advantage of what seemed a good buy, I threw caution out the window and got stuck with what is obviously a good all-around detector with the ability to detect on wet sand without which few machines can do. It wasn't until I had it in my hands that I realized that the 4 arrows on the lower LCD were to indicate mode. They look identical to the 4 arrows showing depth. Well, I'm not gonna cry over spilt milk so I'll make the best of it and just dig those signals whether near surface or way below. I'll find whatever's there and if it's a good target, voila! If it isn't, it won't be the first time.
 
Hello, I am not any kind of expert but let me tell a story here. I am a member of a club with 73 members, we have monthly club hunts. At the end of the year a trophy is given out for the person with the best total finds at these hunts. Last year the person finishing third was using a 99 dollar bounty hunter from wal mart. Some of the other members were using some very expensive machines from various other companies. I think the reason this man did so well with a hundred dollar detector was because he knew his machine very well. He did not depend on all of the fancy extras, he did his part by learning his machine. As far as target id I think that beyond about 6 inches in depth most machines loose some of their accuracy. The most sucessful coin/relic hunters I know run low discrimination and dig most everything that makes a sound. More trash yes but every now and then a real nice prize. I use a tesoro with 2 knobs and one lever no display. I would like a time ranger just to have fun with all the extras! Just my opinions. Good luck, have fun.
 
Here"s my two cents worth on depth detection.Once youv"e heard a target with a beep{tone},Gradually raise the coil as you keep sweeping across the Target,when the sound dies off look at how far off the ground the coil is and that should give you an approximate depth....HappyHunting!
 
ikandigit has it right....Raise that coil and keep sweeping...when the sound stops, the distance between the coil and ground is about how far your gonna dig...I have had my Land Star tell me a coin is at 6" and I start digging deep only to find the coin was at about an inch under the surface...One big hole for nothing, so the depth indicator is NOT always right...

BH-LandStar
 
The coil will still detect a coin buried 2" when raised a lot more than 2" above the ground won't it? Or if a 9" deep coin is detected I would think the beeps would stop if the coil were barely raised.
 
You are correct sir....This is my philosophy (My opinion only). When you raise the coil, you are stating at the detectors deepest depth (mine...10" on the LandStar for a dime sized object). Then when you raise the coil, you subtract the distance to ground from the max depth, and THAT is about how far to dig...

BH-LandStar
 
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