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Relic hunting with SE
- Thread starter txbluzman
- Start date
digginrebel
New member
You are correct - most folks see the Explorer as a coin machine, but I have used it for relic hunting exclusively for about 10 years now and it rocks. It gives you tons of info before you dig. I basically run my machine wide open in Iron Mask. I think I may have one bar blacked out on the left. Definitely use IM for relic hunting. I also use the ferrous tones. Learn to trust your ears and your graph will also help you decide what to dig.
I recently upgraded my XS to the SE Pro and love it. I used my same settings - wide open!
I also have a Fisher F75 and still run my Minelab more than it for relic hunting.
I recently upgraded my XS to the SE Pro and love it. I used my same settings - wide open!
I also have a Fisher F75 and still run my Minelab more than it for relic hunting.
Thanks for the info Rebel. I think you are one of the few people that use an SE for relics. I started hunting relic oriented sites and ran into heavy concentrations of rusty nails. I then realized I needed to create a relic garden in my yard and start practicing and tweaking the settings. I will most likley run wide open, ferrous, etc.
Been using the SE for relic hunting since June '09. Really still learning the machine. I also run the SE in iron mask @ 30 sometimes 29. I use the pro coil. Sensitivity usually at manual 27 or 28. I think I can hear signals and tone difference better with conductive sounds. I've dug minie balls as deep as 12" a couple of times, but usually in the 8" to 10" range.
I use the SE to relic hunt, almost exclusively. With the 10x12 SEF coil, I'm finding stuff at 13-14" at times. No problem with 8-10".
If the area is extremely trashy, the slow recovery speed gives the SE problems. The F75 LTD I use at these areas have trouble as well, with the constant iron grunting that becomes tiring to listen to. In a clean area, the SE is great.
If the area is extremely trashy, the slow recovery speed gives the SE problems. The F75 LTD I use at these areas have trouble as well, with the constant iron grunting that becomes tiring to listen to. In a clean area, the SE is great.
ihuntrelics!
New member
I have had a lot of luck with them at finding relics. My settings always depends on soil conditions, the amount of trash and nails present and the amount of time I'll have digging a particular spot. I guess my most used settings would be..........
nail disc. pattern
deep on
sensitivity generally around 20-28 manual
gain around 7-9
threshold barely audible
conductive tones
volume max
limits max
variability max
tips to pass on would be not to only dig targets that read only good digits or cursor positions and try digging some of those iffy targets from time to time to get a better feel of what your detector is trying to tell you. Case in point.....I took various coins and relics and scanned them with my Explorer and wrote down the ferrous and conductive digits and made a list of all these good digits. I went and applied all that I had learned from the experiment out in the field hunting cw relics. Well as it turned out I wasn't diggin' as many of those good digits as I had hoped for. Then I started digging the odd numbers and the iffy and bouncy digits and realized that I was leaving a lot of good targets behind by being selective of the target id's being dug. There are many factors that come into play here like soil conditions{dry, wet, highly mineralized etc.etc.} depth of target, how it's lying in the soil{ on edge, next to other targets, next to iron and so on}. If I can hunt the same pc. of property many times I will try different settings and coil sizes. I will hit the area from different angles and different weather conditions. { when the ground is wet or dry}. It amazes me at how many times others have hit the same pc. of property and I have hit it and I can still go back and find something occasionally that we've walked over many many times. Now if I hit a spot that I can only hunt once or twice I will use more discrimination and use my time wisely to cherry pick the better targets. One thing to keep in mind is that low and slow is the way to go. I hope this helps out some.
nail disc. pattern
deep on
sensitivity generally around 20-28 manual
gain around 7-9
threshold barely audible
conductive tones
volume max
limits max
variability max
tips to pass on would be not to only dig targets that read only good digits or cursor positions and try digging some of those iffy targets from time to time to get a better feel of what your detector is trying to tell you. Case in point.....I took various coins and relics and scanned them with my Explorer and wrote down the ferrous and conductive digits and made a list of all these good digits. I went and applied all that I had learned from the experiment out in the field hunting cw relics. Well as it turned out I wasn't diggin' as many of those good digits as I had hoped for. Then I started digging the odd numbers and the iffy and bouncy digits and realized that I was leaving a lot of good targets behind by being selective of the target id's being dug. There are many factors that come into play here like soil conditions{dry, wet, highly mineralized etc.etc.} depth of target, how it's lying in the soil{ on edge, next to other targets, next to iron and so on}. If I can hunt the same pc. of property many times I will try different settings and coil sizes. I will hit the area from different angles and different weather conditions. { when the ground is wet or dry}. It amazes me at how many times others have hit the same pc. of property and I have hit it and I can still go back and find something occasionally that we've walked over many many times. Now if I hit a spot that I can only hunt once or twice I will use more discrimination and use my time wisely to cherry pick the better targets. One thing to keep in mind is that low and slow is the way to go. I hope this helps out some.
For those of you that relic hunt with an Explorer, can you tell us WHY you choose the tones (ferrous or conductive) you do? If you hunt ferrous do you tend to ignore higher iron (lower tone) sounds? Are most of the relics not going to give you the iron tones? My impression is that "relics" are going to be all over the scale as far as ferrous and conductive. Am I right about that? Is there anything out there to help beginning relic hunters who use the Explorer?
I don't think there's a big advantage to choosing ferrous over conductive, or vice versa. It's all about what you are used to. I've never changed it from the default conductive setting, and I'm comfortable with it that way. If I changed it to ferrous, I'd have to relearn the tones...
dewcon4414
Well-known member
There is advantages to changing from cond to ferr. Especially around old homes where there have been numerious roof tare offs. I prefer cond tones but will make the changes based on conditions. You dont really notice when relic hunting the tone differences... just because you are concentrating on everything but really low tones. Sometimes we spend too much time trying to NOT dig a target. The great thing about relic hunting much like beach hunting is you can concentrate on digging more targets with a little less trash. Because of the bounce you get on deep targets some people just concentrate on the cond number regardless of which they use. I noticed we have been concentrating on the digital screen why might that be? just easier to explain the targets?
Dew
Dew