Little confused with "deep" signals

[Ex-Sox]

I have been reading about how you guys are diggin the deep signals. This has me scratching my head. Is there a difference between the deep and shallow sounds, maybe sound the same but the deeper ones are muted? If so, is there a setting that allows me to hear it. I dug a small silver ring the other day over 6 inches and it bout blew my headphones off. I have been purposely trying to listen for the muted tones and havent succeeded. Maybe I havent been over a deep silver yet, I have certainly been in places that they should have been, I just hope that I am not letting them go due to not knowing what to listen for. Thanks for you help!!

 

[jeff & Maria]

Since just about everything I have dug has been at about 7 inches max, they have all sounded the same with my machines settings. The only time I noticed a soft deep signal was when using my Xterra 70, and that was only once.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

If you say that even deep signals sound loud (indistinguishable from surface signals), then it sounds like you have your gain set too high. I never go above 6 or 7. By keeping the gain moderate, it's true that your deeper signals will not be as loud (you have to pay more attention), BUT you will have a mental idea as your scanning the ground, the deep vs the shallow.

 

[Hotcz70]

my gain at 10. It just isn't as clear or as loud after the 7" mark to me. It may still be a nice high hit...but it may break up somewhat or sound a little muffled. A lot of guys like lower gain to distinguish a deeper signal better...but not me. I like it high to make sure I hear all deep signals as best as I can. Again though...I can tell a shallow clad hit at 5" versus a deeper silver hit a 7" to 9" even with gain at 10...and I want that deeper hit to sound as loud and clear as it can which is why I run it high. Just my personal preference...which isn't worth a dime...but it works for me. The sites I hunt are so void of signals after being pounded over the years...I want to hear each and every peep...so low gain doesn't work for me. There just aren't any surface to 5" targets left to even worry about distinguishing between a 4" or an 8" target. If I was at a site loaded with clad or 4" to 6" targets...then a lower gain would work for me....but again...those sites disappeared to me years ago.

 

[NH Bob]

Tom is exactly right. Your new SE is factory set with a gain of 8. I find this way too high for any mental tracking of depth. Like Tom said, 6 or 7 is good and will give you a softer high tone on deep coins. Also note that when you get a high pitched tone like a piece of silver. But is very loud and you've dug a fair sized hole and no target but still sounds loud. A coin will not do that. A coin will have s moderately loud tone and fade with depth.
I really suggest air testing with the different gain settings and distances from the coil. This will make a great difference in how you hear your targets in the field.

 

[NH Bob]

n/t

 

[NH Bob]

Bryce, you know it's worth every bit of a Dime.
If it wasn't for opinions, I wouldn't have anything to post on the forums

 

[Mike in Dana Point Ca]

when you're swinging the coil, listen for any high pitch sounds, no matter how soft. if you can get the signal to repeat even 50% of the time, i would dig it. some deep coin signals are just little peeps, but the explorer is so good at tone ID that if it gives off a high pitch it's worth checking out. i have dug deep coins that only repeated from one angle, then when i check it at a 90 degree angle it doesn't make a sound. this may be due to trash near the coin. trust the tones the machine gives you. DO NOT only dig loud, totally repeatable signals. you'll be missing a lot of goodies. once you get a quiet, or short, high pitch signal pay attention to the depth meter and where the cursor is hitting. deep coins will not always ID as a coin in the upper right corner (but most times the machine is pretty darn accurate, even on the super deepies). i dug a wheat at 11 inches one time, and it was the softest repeatable high tone ever, and it was ID'ing accurately in the upper right. i have also dug deep silver and wheats that sounded good, but ID'd towards iron. trust the tones!

i swear by these settings: conductive mode. gain at 7. smartscreen. deep ON (although i started out with deep AND fast OFF and had great success). variability 10. MANUAL sensitivity (i DO NOT recommend auto sensitivity...yuck!). sensitivity 20-28 or whatever is stable in your area.

hope this helps. all of my success comes from hunting with a fellow named Dan (captain SE) that found just under 700 silver coins last year with the SE. he and i hunted together at least once a week and we would let each other listen to each other's signals. we'd do a lot of comparisons and he would talk about why or why not he thought the signal was a silver or not. i suggest hooking up with someone who is successful with the explorer and have him mark deep signals for you to listen to. there is no better way to learn what they sound like!

HH, Mike

 

[Ex-Sox]

Thanks a ton fellas. I went out yesterday evening to an old homesite. I think my gain was 7. I dug a lot of the high tones to only find trash iron and tin can parts. I usually use the digital screen with the numbers, would the smart screen help to identify the junk. Example: I get a nice high tone surrounded by iron grunts, in my mind I am thinking edge of iron but I keep remembering the folks here say dig the high tones. I check it from another angle, not as prominent but is still there so I dig it hoping that this is what folks are talking about. Piece of a rusty tin can. Would the smart screen correctly ID that as junk in the high left corner and if it does, should I trust it and move on, even with a nice high flutey tone mixed in?? I would love to hunt with a seasoned SE user but is just not possible here as I do not know anyone, that would be just the ticket I think. I am having a blast learning this machine and am finding lots of good stuff, I think that I am missing something tho. Hopefully this post will help some more newcomers to the SE also. Thanks again

 

[minelab locust]

hey sox...sent ya a pm

 

[mattockman]

Trash iron, if you listen careful, and watch when(eyeball the ground) it sounds high, it will be while moving away from target one way, weather it be left or right, to determine this, pin point the ground and see actually where the target is, if you eyeballed the target at a certain point and then pinpointed and found it to be off to the side of the sound it is most likely Iron edge sounding good......example....moving left to right, First you hear "O"(being iron grunt low) then as you keep moving to right(away from the target) you hear "E" (being high tone) that is most likely edge of iron. Then the best thing to do is turn 90 degrees and try it again...if it is grunt,grunt low(O,--O) then most likey it is iron. I run using the smart screen, and ferrous sounds.....and always use the digital to check every signal if it is in question....hot rocks that sound toooooo good will by high and tight right corner....alot higher than any silver would be.....and in digital it will be 31 (max)# on explorer XS..(sorry don't have SE) aluminum will be your problem.....unfortunately it is good to the sound and smartscreen. If it is slaw or pieces it won't look good unless you are hunting lower tones and gold....but if it is good size or full can it will sound great...thats when you can tell it is big by pinpointing it. A coin will be smaller, and alum. can, larger pinpointed target. a pinpoint of about 3-6" inches is usually a can and lift the coil off the ground a few inches to 6" or so and it will still be there loud and clear. I got to cut this short.....so......The combo of sound and eyeballed position and pinpoint being the same position....and sounding good in 2 directions, and by always looking at depth, and by lifting coil to see if it disappears quickly or stays loud after higher raise....always check smartscreen and digital #....deepies will be good(if not on edge) in 2 directions, Be lower in sound as in a whisper or muffled(when running Gain at 6-7) ,Smartscreen cursor can very, when deep, popping in as good, to iron, back and forth, to low good, to high good like as in crown cap to penny.or silver.....etc etc etc.....I could keep going but I think I have done enough damage......trust me it takes along time and pay close attention and it will pay off......I am still learning today and I have had the XS since 2001....I think?......see still confused.....

 

[NH Bob]

A crumpled soda can at 4 or more inches makes a great silver tone. Big iron, the edge of big iron will sound like a coin. Turn 90* and no signal. How do you know to dig or not? Wiggle the coil over the sweet spot of the coin sound, as your wiggling over it try walking that nice sound around the edge of the iron. If you can then it's not a coin. It's a rusty hunk of iron. And you can size it by walking it around. Quick and easy as you come up on it and move right along. You are going to dig lots of trash. You will with any machine no matter how much it costs. It's the nature of the beast. But do dig. There's all kinds of treasures out there that make absolutely no sense on the digital screen. Have fun. and the finds will come.

 

[Ex-Sox]

I appreciate all of the help. Gotta love this forum, folks always lendin a hand.

 

[jeffk]

lots of GREAT information here. i posted the question about sounds in another recent thread. i think this answers that question!

 

[digitrich]

Deeper targets will sound fainter unless they are large like a soda can