minelab explorer 11

[redderfox]

hya,
can someone please give me some information regarding the minelab explorer 11,
i love this machine and love to go out but after 2 years of buying it am still no further forward,i set off in factory settings and still not in advanced mode and thats with or without the iron mask, i have read the manual and watched the cd over and over and still only finding junk ringpulls and lots of other rubbish , i thought in factory settings you get a good start but just picking up rust an all sorts like it!
is there a technique to doing this?
i want to learn much about the machine but not wanting to dial loads of settings in thats why i bought it in the first place because it stated simplicity at its very least!

its just so frustrating going out setting your route doing your homework and stuff and just gettting junk , and i find it so disheartning coming home with a load of rubbish lol.. please need some valuable tips on operating at its best can anyone help? thanxs...

 

[Erik in NJ]

Where are you located? Maybe an experienced user can give you a demo of what deeper coins sound like. The other option is to create a very simple pattern with just a 3/4" x 3/4" square not discriminated out in the upper right corner of the SmartScreen and dig every signal that shows up there. Most of these will be coins. What CD did you watch? I didn't know there was one.

 

[mcb613]

Redderfox, I had the same problem until 2 weeks ago. I use all metal mode and set it to ferrous. That way your threshold will always be heard. When you hit anything on the left side of the screen , it will be a low tone. anything of interest will be a higher pitch. From there you can decide to dig or not. I would also suggest getting the book specific for that machine, it is writen by Andy Babisch. It has alot of modified settings prsented by experienced users. Definitely look at the article by Jeff Popp... that worked for me.

Also, I just found out last night that the auto sens. should remain at 16, the mahine will atempt to adjust to 32 if it can. I was setting mine at 32 and found that it also ajusts down. At 32, it sometimes cannot adjust far enough down to be stable.

Secondly, I would use a test garden to learn the sounds, like the book says. I must confes that I didn''t do it.... and thats one of the reasons why it took me so long .

Lastly, Erik's idea is not bad .... that upper right corner is where the coins are. However, you will miss nickels and most GOLD!

Good luck!

 

[Erik in NJ]

Hi, Just wanted to mention a couple things...

Ferrous - all-metal if you like this mode is good, but low conductors such as foil and esp. crown caps (fall in the lower right corner of the screen) will give a high-pitched sound too so you might want to discriminate out this part of the screen.

Also Semi-Auto sensitivity as far as I know will not adjust up, only down (there may be a special case in the software if you set it to its lowest possible value) so it's treated by software as a sort of ceiling on the sens. value.

 

[mcb613]

According to the Minelab tech that I spoke to on Tuesday... he said the sens will go as High as it can, while set at 16. If someone knows 100% for sure, please post. Thanx, Mike

 

[big-ears]

you may not find old coins at your local school built 50 years ago. Its been hunted many times I am sure. A coin garden will take you years ahead, bury 3 silver dimes at 6, 8, and 10 inches and pound the dirt down one inch at a time. Then soak the ground good.
Now see which one you can find, then work your settings till you can find the next deepest and so on. See which settings work for you, whats sounds best to your ears etc. then go hunting...........

 

[Erik in NJ]

If that's true it looks like it's another special undocumented setting of some sort......I wonder how reliable the info is

 

[amc rulz]

I have only used my Exp II for a year. I mastered it right off the bat, and have found 60-70 silver coins and lots of old ones. The first thing I did was to (air) test it over different coins. Probably the most important thing you can do.
The oldies must first be there to be able to find 'em. I tend to hunt outside the box, thats where i make lots of my finds. Outside boundaries of parks, school yards, etc. Putting in LOTS of time is also very helpful identifying good signals from junk. I set my sens at about 20 manual, gain at 5, using the curser to ID and hash out good from bad. Make sure you try lots of different areas and not just trashy parks. I make my best finds in front yards of old farms. Dig a few silver coins and you will not forget how they " hit." Same with indian cents in a clean front yard.
Most importantly don't get discouraged and put in as many hours as you can, at as many different sites. Hope this helps, and good luck.

AMC

 

[redderfox]

hya,
thanxs for replying..
i live in the noth east of england , the cd came with the metal detector its andy babisch..
i will give that a go,can you operate ferrous in factory settings? even though its 2 years since having the minelab am still learning?
thanxs..

 

[redderfox]

hya,
thanxs for the information, i will most certainly go out in my back garden and practise on a test area,and also read the article by jeff pop..
i will be lucky though if i find any nickels here in britain lol!

 

[redderfox]

hya,
thanxs for the tips i will also try that but sorry dont have any dimes lol..
but am sure have got some old silver threpences...

 

[redderfox]

hya amcrulz,
is there a reason on air testing?
and do you need to tune old coins in? in order to find them?
thanxs..

 

[go-rebels]

Perform the air testing to get a feel for the machine and how it generally responds to different settings. You do not need to "tune old coins" to be able to find old coins. The detector only knows them to be metal targets anyway. Newer coins will respond slightly different than older coins, but, for a beginner, I'd use the default "coins" program or, better yet, run with a wide open screen w/o any discrimination.

 

[JJ]

According to the Minelab tech that I spoke to on Tuesday... he said the sens will go as High as it can, while set at 16. If someone knows 100% for sure, please post. Thanx, Mike

"In the SEMI-AUTOMATIC mode the user can select a relative sensitivity setting ranging from "1" [minimum] to "32"[maximum]. Then, the Explorer will maintain the actual sensitivity setting AS CLOSE TO THAT VALUE AS POSSIBLE while taking external conditions into account."

"The Explorer starts out at a sensitivity setting of "16" which is equal to 50% of the maximum available sensitivity. Higher settings are not needed in all areas; however, you should determine if a setting greater than "16" can help you detect targets out of the reach of other detectors."

excerpts from:
Mastering the Minelab Explorer
Andy Sabisch

Pretty much says it all IMO. IN ANDY I TRUST! Feel free to take that baby outta first gear mcb613. (If anyone disagrees or finds the above information "unauthorized use" or "plagiarism", feel free to delete this post mods. JJ

 

[Jason illinois]

You might be suffering from shallow target-itis

1.Find a place you know is old and that has not been landscaped or resodded that you can see
2. look for a nice small piece of public blvd. that has short low grass, bare dirt is even better, perhaps around old stores or other high traffic areas if you can
3. dig everything that sounds good for you and as much trash that is shallow as you can stand to
4. return later with fresh ears and batteries and slow WAAAAY down
41/2. listen for the sounds you like, keep your eyes on your coil as you sweep and try to make perfect sweeps really close to the ground without banging it on clumps and getting false beeps,
5. dig signals that are not so perfect, and deeper, if all the shallow targets are gone your ear[/i] will not be as likely to "mis-underestimate" signals that are fainter and deeper and not laying flat and not locking on in the screen.
6. When you find really cool old coins and valuable jewelry- send them to me and I will keep them safe for you! MWAHHAHAA


I just spent 2 hours digging clad - everything,almost no trash in the area, because of construction there was no grass! it was almost like someone put fresh dirt down and threw clad coins everywhere, finally i got a good signal right in between 2 holes i dug clad out of, it was a 1940 mercury dime 5-6 inches I suppose, before- my pinpoint was locking onto the clad i think since they were bigger and closer. The point is i had to go over and over the same areas until I cleared enough shallow targets to pinpoint a silver dime. Maybe other guys do it all in one pass but i am not that good.

If you are sure the place is old so were the old silver snatchers! The silver that was shallow might be all gone due to the silver snatchers that went through and tried to just dig MY silver in the last 30 years. Sometimes I get a old guy who comes to see what I have found, they tell me the story of all MY coins they found years ago! They got a lot of MY silver! But there is some deep coins or ones not laying flat that they couldn't detect with what they had at the time. I also suggest upgrading your coil, the technology has improved and the stock coil for EX2 can be out done by the butterfly ones (i think that's what they are called) I have se pro, the coil ( its sort of a butterfly coil and really light) I can tell a difference just made by the coil, I found 2 1800's quarters the first week I owned this next to side walks. All I did was manually adjust the sensitivity as I went. I probably should check out the semi auto but I have not yet.

Keeping up with the latest technology is also something the guys who find good stuff do because MY coins are slipping deeper and deeper into the soil every year due to gravity! If you are already competing against the new coils you are already at a disadvantage. But you should still be able to scratch out some good silver coins here and there with what you have already so that's up to you.

 

[Jason illinois]

Keep doing that and when you get into some grass with old coins you will know because you can research and date the relics you find like old tokens, glass fragments and marbles can give you time line also. If you are not seeing those things then the deep stuff might not be there in the first place.

 

[redderfox]

hello jason of illinois,
thankyou for that long and lenghty message, its petty good like, ive been out and done the settings in my back garden so am all fired up to to try these out! am off to middleham castle in 2 days and a hope have mastered it with all the good advice from this web site!..
if i strike rich i will surely let yous all know thanxs everyone for all your valuable info its much appreciated....

 

[Jason illinois]

n/t

 

[Pete in MI]

DVDs,,,,,there are two of them that I know of and have.

Exploring The Explorer

Exploring The Explorer: Advanced Edition

These are made by Gary Brun and Pat Watson and are good videos for the Explorer II.

I didn't know Andy Sabisch. made a video for the Explorer II. Will have to find a copy somewhere.

 

[Pete in MI]

Setting sensitivity - this might help:

http://www.mlotv.com/view/399/allow_explorer_s_threshold_to_select_a_sens_level/