Question........

[James/Washington]

I should recieve my X-70 tomorrow and was thinking, which is dangerous! I know that numbers can be notched out on this detector but does notching cause loss of depth? I hunt mostly schools, playgrounds and the yards of homes less than 50 years old. Most coins are less than 6" deep. Would notching everything except nickles, copper pennies, dimes and quarters effect depth? I have been reading a lot about this detector and most seems very positive. Thanks for your replys in advance.

 

[George (MN)]

Even if it did just as well in an air test, it could do worse in the ground. I have an X-50 & there are 2 problems I can think of with major notching: if you don't go exactly over the center of the coin, it might ID low, very low. Also, in some ground minerals, my X-50 can give a pulltab ID on a coin within 5" of the surface, at least on many sweeps.

If frequent beeping doesn't annoy you unbearably, try minimal or no notching. Just because you hear the beep, doesn't mean you have to dig it & the first sweep could give a wrong ID due to not being centered, plus the inaccurances that may occur in mineralized ground. I'm no expert, but saw no answers so wanted to try. HH, George (MN)

 

[James/Washington]

I will get the detector tomorrow and I will just have to spend the time to learn it.

 

[Farmercal]

James, I am still learning this detector myself. Great machine by the way! I use pattern 1 and listen to all the tones. When you hear a tone that is a coin, you will get to know what that tone is as you use the detector more. I have been using multiple tone machines for years and just wait the the right one to hit my ears then look at the meter to ID it better. You will like that machine. HH

 

[Chuck@TreasureHut]

Hello James......I believe the general rule of thumb is "the least amount of discromination you can get by with, the better off you are". Instead of notching out everything but the coins you want, try notching out only the most troublesome and common item you have at a given site. Remember, notching out items is discrimination, and the amount of discrimination one uses, directly effects depth.

 

[plugger]

n/t

 

[Digger]

All of the answers so far have given you good advice. But I honestly believe that IF you overlap your swaths by 1/2, sweep slowly and consistently, you can notch out whatever you want and not lose any depth. Especially since you indicate your intended targets are no deeper than 6-inches. With that said, you may get varying ID's if your coil is not centered above the intended target. But I believe that is due to masking on the 9-inch coil. Not because the intended target is being incorrectly ID'd. That is why I said to overlap your swaths by 1/2. And, you will also get some signal variance if you sweep too quickly. Again, I believe that may be caused by target masking (due to other targets under the coil) and ground mineralization variables.
We all find a comfort factor in using our detectors. And, the way we learn to use a detector is usually the way we continue to use it. If you are coinhunting in places less than 50 years old, I recommend that you start out in Pattern 1, listening to all the non-ferrous targets. Let you ears provide the "notches" you need to separate coins from trash. After a couple weeks, you will not even hear most of those lower tones. If you are going nuts digging trash, add a notch or two to the parameters of the Pattern. This will eliminate many of the trashy targets. But know that you might be missing a few good ones too! You never know until you dig it! HH Randy