question about higher pitch noise

[Anonymous]

im new at this so bear with me,when hunting old foundations my explorer seems to sound off on every piece of junk in the ground,but when i dig its usually a rusty piece of iron or junk,i reconize brass and copper noise pretty well and usually can tell,but the coins i have found sound the same as the rusty nail ect and i was curios if im have the machine set wrong or if you should hear that much chatter,it gets old digging junk! i have lowered my sensativity to about 15 to clear out the high pitched chatter but i hope this doesnt affect the depth. my normal setup is
sense20
ferrous sound
gain 10
var 10
deep on
fast off
iron mask 0 to -6
x on nails all else unmarked
a second question is iron mask should i run it at 16 like some poeple do?

 

[william king]

if you are running ferrous then I can not help. I never run in ferrous. Some prefer it but since I started learning in conductivity and have been using it for a year I dare not switch. Good luck and HH

 

[Gilly in Illinois]

Try this. X out everything but coins and jewelry.Set the gain at 6-7. (this will cut down the noise considerably)!!! Variability set at 10. I always run in CONDUCT too! Threshold at 12. Sens at 23-28 if conditions allow? Iron mask set at -14/-15. I've only been at it 1 1/2 years but this works well for me as a part of the learning process!!! The biggest issue for me was the GAIN. I was thinking that I wouldn't hear any deep ones but in the process found out that setting gain at 10 also magnifies the sound of every little piece metal in the ground too!!! Back off on the gain and I think you will see a big difference!!! If anyone has any comments please jump in on this! I'm always game to be told I'm nuts but I'm always willing to listen and learn too!!!
HH Gilly in Illinois

 

[Bill W.]

A couple of things stick out to me that could help. First thing I would do is change your variability to 8. This will make iron sound slightly higher than silver. To see what I mean go out in your backyard and find a clean area. Open up the Explorer to IM-16 and put a piece of iron and a silver coin on the ground. Sweep both separately and note the difference in tone. As far as gain that is somewhat personal preference. I have mine at 10 but alot of people don't like it that high. If the area is trashy enough don't be afraid to back your sensitivity down some. Having your sensitivity too high is just helping mask deeper targets when you sweep over the shallow targets because the signal is so strong from the shallow target. I don't use auto sensitivity alot but have used it before in trashy areas. Don't be afraid to experiment between the two (manual/auto sensitivity) especially if you are new to the Explorer. Slow your sweep speed way down and overlap your coil swings alot especially in iron... the Explorer loves a slow swing speed. I also keep my fast=on and deep=on all the time. Some of that is personal preference but I would suggest trying it. It works very well.

Conduct tones may be the better choice depending on what kind of site your are hunting. What are you defining as 'tired of digging junk' in your post? With Conduct you can tell the difference between an IH and a pulltab. Using Ferrous sounds a IH sounds like a pulltab. You're going to dig trash with either ferrous or conduct. It just depends if iron or modern trash is more of a problem at a site as to which to go with. You might also want to try a smaller coil. That can help seperate the targets so your can tell most of them apart.

As far as Iron Mask... I would definitely say no to IM-16 in conduct sounds. I have used IM-16 with ferrous sounds with alot of success but that depends if your willing to listen to ALOT of sounds. I usually use IM-12 or IM-13 in conduct sounds or IM-15 or IM-16 in ferrous tones.

-Bill

 

[Jim upstate NY]

I hunt foundations pretty much all the times.. One thing to note is if iron mask is on, it doesnt matter what you accept or x out, as iron mask over rides all disc patterns.. Anyway that being said You should try brining iron mask dow at least to -12.. If your hunting in ferrous you should not be getting high tones off iron, at least solid high tones.. Some flat pieces of iron and tin will give you high tones but will read lower on the far right than silver coins will. thats if your using the smart screen anyway.. Another thing you might be hearing is hot rocks.. they do come in with a very high pitch tone no matter what mode your running in, but they are usually going off over a much bigger area than a good target and not quite as clean a tone.. Might want to turn that gain down a bit to -7 or less... high gain will give you more falses off iron as well... at least till you get used to what your listening to

 

[Anonymous]

great replies,it seems like i should set my gain back a little from what you are saying,and about the sounds, what does the majority think cond or ferrous?

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

You need to decide that based on your preference.

I started out favoring Conductive but after an outing to the beach and some further controlled testing in my yard, I've decided that I like the Ferrous tones and they way they sound and act better for the most part. I suggest that you take a wide sampling of the types of targets you're looking for, lay them out on a blanket, and do some testing in both modes. It should quickly be apparent which you prefer.

And yes, if trash is a problem, backing the gain down would be a good idea as well as selecting "Fast" to ON.

 

[Gilly in Illinois]

Should have added that I keep both fast and deep on 95% of the time.
HH Gilly in Illinois

 

[Gilly in Illinois]

xx

 

[Joe G]

For coin shooting, I hunt in ferrous, I'll normally disc out crown caps and nails. My sensitivity is as high as I can go to just barely have a little chatter (can be a little noisy, but you're pushing the machine to the limit). Gain is at 7 or 8. While I've hunted in 10, you can get some falsing. Variability and limits at 10 (I like to hear all the tones). Deep on, fast off (or on in trashy areas for better separation). Now, I've been hunting in Audio 2 for the last 2 weeks or so, and I'm so used to it now, I don't think I'll hunt in normal. Takes some getting used to but I think it works great.

I set my iron mask to -16. When I find an "iffy" target in digital or smartscreen, I just switch to IM in order to hear anything that might be around the target, muddying up the tone. Helps in pinpointing.

One other thing... If you happen to be using the X-1 probe, make sure you switch it back to coil or you'll be hearing the high tones from the change in your pocket :lol I did that a couple of times when I first got it.

 

[Mike Bearden]

and I like to run the gain set at 7-8 depending on the site. The main thing with an Explorer IMO is you should pick your sound settings and stick with them or you'll have a hard time with it. When the Explorer is hunted at a slow pace like it was designed to do and iron mask is set at -15 to -16 (wide open screen is what I prefer) ... not much iron will fool you unless your headphones are junk.
When you've really learned to hunt by the sounds the Explorer makes and not get hung up on the meter/screen you will see some real results.
H.H.
Mike