Ed in SoDak
Member
Today I hit my two "problem" sites where electrical interference made it difficult or near-impossible to hunt.
I'm happy to report the issue is now mostly moot. At startup, the interference is still there at these locations, but choosing the quietest frequency (F2 for me), upping the disc just a bit and lowering sensitivity made the T2 quiet right down. How much you may have to adjust these controls will depend on the severity of the interference.
I was able to run my settings "hotter" than before, while at the same time the machine ran quieter than I was able to make it operate at -any- setting before the coil replacement and upgrade chip.
At the mine site, where previously, I had almost constant little blips of sound/ID to ignore, today I was able to run at 80 sens and only 16-20 or so disc. In some places it got a little noisier, but a little more disc did the trick. I was still picking up iron bits at good depth, which read accurately and ID was mostly right on.
At the schoolyard, the interference was not as easily defeated as at the mine, but it was still very huntable. Before, I was never able to completely quiet the T2 down here, and frankly, I was more than a little concerned about it, but "kept the faith."
Today, I had to run sens at 50 or a little lower and disc was in the low 30's. I only spent a few minutes here, it was getting late and I really just wanted to check for interference so I could add the info to this report. Once properly set, the T2 was completely quiet till it hit a target. The only target I dug was a nickle signal that turned out to be a drain pipe way at the bottom of the chips, well over a foot deep. My wife and I have never noticed this signal before, hunting here often with our Time Rangers. Nor have I ever chased a signal all the way to the bottom here. My wife and I had this place to ourselves for many years. Now, I know this spot is being hunted by others, one clue; almost no targets at all, clue two; I found the plastic digger they left behind!
Not many people have apparently been bothered by the "interference issue," but there may be some too shy to speak up about it. Well, I don't know if it was the coil/calibration or the R6 revision that fixed it for me. I tend to think it was coil-related, but I don't care, as far as I'm concerned, it's fixed!
If you see a lot of false, jumpy ID's and "blippy" audio at your hunting sites, even with the coil held up in the air away from all metal, and no adjustments will cure it, I suggest you return your unit to Tek for at least a coil checkup. While it's there for repair, it really just makes sense to go ahead and get the R6 revision, as I see absolutely no reason not to add it's extra flexibility.
I used the new dP mode the entire day. I had guessed earlier this tone mode may be hard to learn. I was wrong. It did not take long at all to learn the sound that a specific type of target made and listen for that, if it was what you were seeking, or ignore it if not.
I also gave the pinpoint sensitivity a couple tests at the mine. It really helped narrow down the PP response area. A few faint responses may have benefitted from cranking it up, instead of down, but I did not think to try that till after the hunt. One of many reasons why a site is never hunted out, some new kink always comes along so you can go back and try it again anew.
A few tests with a tossed down rusty bottlecap showed great flexibility on how you wished to hear such a target, just by changing the tone modes from one to another. I have yet to hit the two sites where I know from experience that caps are a big problem. It's really only now becoming thawed so it's possible to actually dig what I find, so I'll get there soon enough and try that new tone feature.
You might call the old mine my iron site, as it's loaded with nails, cans, stove parts, and fortunately, a few 1880's relics. Today I dug more of these interesting iron "nuggets," for lack of a better word. I could have ignored them, but I'm curious as to what they are, so focused on finding more. Every time I hit one, I knew before digging what I had. Same for most of the other items the T2 hit on; nails, 22 slugs, bullet cases, shallow cans and junk iron.
One exception was a partial, very rusty can at over a foot. It gave a zinc signal, though it did have some indications it was iron, though not as strong on the Fe scale as I would've expected. Another area was so littered with nails and tiny bits of an almost fully-decomposed can that it really had the T2 talkin' and ID hoppin', but the Fe indication gave it all away as just iron.
These particular mine diggings have a story behind them that involves very rich gold deposits. Chances are it was fine gold, but I keep hoping to find gold in quartz or a nugget. Plus, there's the relics we have found, so I tend to dig many signals here that I would ignore elsewhere.
Today's coolest find was a nearly unused end of a digging pick, about 4 or 5 inches long. It had a huge signal, but reducing PP sens brough it down to just over the object. Bet it po'ed that miner when his nearly-new pick broke clean off!
-Ed
I'm happy to report the issue is now mostly moot. At startup, the interference is still there at these locations, but choosing the quietest frequency (F2 for me), upping the disc just a bit and lowering sensitivity made the T2 quiet right down. How much you may have to adjust these controls will depend on the severity of the interference.
I was able to run my settings "hotter" than before, while at the same time the machine ran quieter than I was able to make it operate at -any- setting before the coil replacement and upgrade chip.
At the mine site, where previously, I had almost constant little blips of sound/ID to ignore, today I was able to run at 80 sens and only 16-20 or so disc. In some places it got a little noisier, but a little more disc did the trick. I was still picking up iron bits at good depth, which read accurately and ID was mostly right on.
At the schoolyard, the interference was not as easily defeated as at the mine, but it was still very huntable. Before, I was never able to completely quiet the T2 down here, and frankly, I was more than a little concerned about it, but "kept the faith."
Today, I had to run sens at 50 or a little lower and disc was in the low 30's. I only spent a few minutes here, it was getting late and I really just wanted to check for interference so I could add the info to this report. Once properly set, the T2 was completely quiet till it hit a target. The only target I dug was a nickle signal that turned out to be a drain pipe way at the bottom of the chips, well over a foot deep. My wife and I have never noticed this signal before, hunting here often with our Time Rangers. Nor have I ever chased a signal all the way to the bottom here. My wife and I had this place to ourselves for many years. Now, I know this spot is being hunted by others, one clue; almost no targets at all, clue two; I found the plastic digger they left behind!
Not many people have apparently been bothered by the "interference issue," but there may be some too shy to speak up about it. Well, I don't know if it was the coil/calibration or the R6 revision that fixed it for me. I tend to think it was coil-related, but I don't care, as far as I'm concerned, it's fixed!
If you see a lot of false, jumpy ID's and "blippy" audio at your hunting sites, even with the coil held up in the air away from all metal, and no adjustments will cure it, I suggest you return your unit to Tek for at least a coil checkup. While it's there for repair, it really just makes sense to go ahead and get the R6 revision, as I see absolutely no reason not to add it's extra flexibility.
I used the new dP mode the entire day. I had guessed earlier this tone mode may be hard to learn. I was wrong. It did not take long at all to learn the sound that a specific type of target made and listen for that, if it was what you were seeking, or ignore it if not.
I also gave the pinpoint sensitivity a couple tests at the mine. It really helped narrow down the PP response area. A few faint responses may have benefitted from cranking it up, instead of down, but I did not think to try that till after the hunt. One of many reasons why a site is never hunted out, some new kink always comes along so you can go back and try it again anew.
A few tests with a tossed down rusty bottlecap showed great flexibility on how you wished to hear such a target, just by changing the tone modes from one to another. I have yet to hit the two sites where I know from experience that caps are a big problem. It's really only now becoming thawed so it's possible to actually dig what I find, so I'll get there soon enough and try that new tone feature.
You might call the old mine my iron site, as it's loaded with nails, cans, stove parts, and fortunately, a few 1880's relics. Today I dug more of these interesting iron "nuggets," for lack of a better word. I could have ignored them, but I'm curious as to what they are, so focused on finding more. Every time I hit one, I knew before digging what I had. Same for most of the other items the T2 hit on; nails, 22 slugs, bullet cases, shallow cans and junk iron.
One exception was a partial, very rusty can at over a foot. It gave a zinc signal, though it did have some indications it was iron, though not as strong on the Fe scale as I would've expected. Another area was so littered with nails and tiny bits of an almost fully-decomposed can that it really had the T2 talkin' and ID hoppin', but the Fe indication gave it all away as just iron.
These particular mine diggings have a story behind them that involves very rich gold deposits. Chances are it was fine gold, but I keep hoping to find gold in quartz or a nugget. Plus, there's the relics we have found, so I tend to dig many signals here that I would ignore elsewhere.
Today's coolest find was a nearly unused end of a digging pick, about 4 or 5 inches long. It had a huge signal, but reducing PP sens brough it down to just over the object. Bet it po'ed that miner when his nearly-new pick broke clean off!
-Ed