Still no depth!

[Anonymous]

Fifth time out with the Explorer II and still no depth. Tried everyone's set-up, plus factory settings and still can't find anything deeper than 4 inches. Have talked to many people and tried all's suggestions but no goodies. I am finding tons of clad but not much fun. Would like to talk to someone on the phone as I have many questions and can only type so fast. THANKS

 

[Anonymous]

Jim, I'm not sure what everybody else has said. And it's possible that you have a problem with your machine. But depending on what machines you have used in the past and how they have behaved, I will offer this. Hunting with Minelabs, as with other machines that have a proven reputation for going DEEP, often require an adjustment on the part of the user to sweep the machine slow enough to let the information process and the machine to make the lock. Minelabs do need to be swept slower than a lot of machines in order to get the deep ones. They generally have a slower "recovery" time between targets and are also processing a lot more info, a lot more frequencies. So if nobody has told you to go SLOW, try that. And of course pumping up the sensitivity a little can't hurt. Seems like a lot of folks like 22 on the Explorers. I imagine you've tried that. And the #1 thing you need to do: Wave that puppy over something deep. <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">
After all is said and done, if you aren't getting any joy a trip to the factory may be in order. Although I would highly recommend that you get together with somebody that knows the Explorer first and have them check it out. Local club maybe? Somebody on the forums that lives somewhere near you? Or the phone. I'd be glad to talk to you but so far my minelab expertise is with the Sovereign Elite and more recently the Quattro and the Excal. I've not had an Explorer yet but will likely be getting one down the road. So you need somebody that has mad hours under their belt with an Explorer II. They'll be able to fire it up, do a little testing, and tell you if it's right or not. Good luck.

 

[Anonymous]

Jim,
You are the 7012th person to make the same complaint. If you hit the archives you won't feel so lonely. Bottom line is check what is posted on the explorer forums as opposed to any others. It is a very good machine but it takes time to learn.
You will not get deepies on your first few outings, unless you are very lucky. The only setting you need to worry about now is the ON button.
chris

 

[Anonymous]

Hey Mike, you think a Garrett guy like me could learn to enjoy the Minelab as well? Do you really think you find more than other brands? Have you detected with anyone with the Garrett 2500, and found that it would not make a sound over a find the Minelab made? Just curious, as I am thinking of trying an Explorer, but would sure like to hunt with someone here in Kansas City before I bought one.

 

[Anonymous]

It depends. Are you getting good depth now with your Garrett? Does it excel at the kind of hunting you do? I have only hunted with somebody that had a Garrett 2500 once and I didn't have any Minelabs yet at the time. I thought the 2500 was a little "gimmicky"...I know you can turn off the voice telling you "You have found a quarter, you have found a dime" etc. But I also knew somebody that bought one and promptly sold it because he was primarily a relic guy and it was poor at finding deep bullets. So he bought a CZ-7a pro. Do you do any beach hunting? I'm thinking the 2500 is not so good in the wet salt sand. The Minelabs kick butt there. The Explorer is a far cry from your 2500. The Sovereign would seem primitive you you after your talking detector with 3D Imageing and all that techno-stuff. You might like the Quattro or the Explorer, it's hard to say. Or you may hate them. So I like your idea of trying one out before you buy.

 

[Anonymous]

with my Explorer XS. One quarter at 7" & it was clad as at a beach where they get deep fast. Also, at a 1947 park in a grassy area, I got a 1942 wheat cent down 6". Part of my problem is I hate to dig trash, so I only dug if crosshairs stayed in upper right corner. With the sensitivity at around 22, it air tests about 10" on a dime, in the living room, with lots of electrical interference. I'm not sure if I ever got beyond 4" my first 5 times. I tried the Explorer at a 100+ acre 1800s park & all coins found were new & within 4" of surface. Horrible ground minerals, trash, "detected out", or relandcaped, so many things not in our favor. I also liked to sweep faster than is generally recommended for the Explorer, & rarely used it for long periods as it made my arm sore. I prefer another detector, for reasons other than depth. There must be a club somewhere near Cincinnati? Hope you can find some in person help, if that is what is needed. George (MN)

 

[Anonymous]

Jim,
I'd like to personally welcome you to the "Why cant I find anything deep with my explorer" club. We offer several levels of frustration. I personaly have held a seat at the "cant break the seven inch deep" barrier for ten months as an Explorer xs user. We post to this column every so often when the sedatives wear off and swear words begin to fly. There are many users who do not join our club either they arent worried about it, or they somehow have learned the secret to finding deep coins. The advice I personaly recieve has been fantastic with one major flaw : I STILL CANT FIND ANYTHING DEEPER THAN SEVEN INCHES !! Oops, sorry abouot that, must be time for my medication again. Actualy, the level I'm at can be pretty rewarding in that I've found some really nice treasures propaply worth aruond half what I've paid for the machine. If you wish to move up to the "cant break the seven inch deep" level you need to experiment with settings, spend many hours swinging the thing, spend a month digging only what you feel confident is a coin at least half way down your meter then start digging iffy signals. but most of all, DONT DIG ANY COINS DEEPER THAN SEVEN INCHES !! Feel free to e-mail me to find out some things that didnt work!
HH -Todd

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the input Mike. Just kind of looking for a detector that uses sound to indicate what you have detected. Garrett does not do that, but it is a very easy one to use.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not Mike but I have hunted with people who used Garrett machines alot. Garrett's are decent machines but don't do that great in mineralized soil when compared to the Explorer. The 2500 may not be too far behind in tame soil. I have talked to people who own the 2500 and hunted with people that own the 1500. My buddy has a 1500 and switched to the Explorer. He says the Explorer is a bit deeper than his 1500. But, he did say the 1500 is good machine. A couple of times when my buddy was using his Explorer called his wife over (she used a 1500 and now uses a CZ-3D) to see if she could tell if a deep target was a coin (by imaging size). There were times that the 1500 couldn't even get a signal or was very broken and not even considered a 'signal' by his wife. If you like sounds, the Explorer is your machine... <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt=""> People IMHO tend to over complicate the Explorer. It has a learning curve but if you take your time it's not too bad. I am definitely not bashing any Garrett machines just passing on what I have seen first hand. I talked yesterday to a 2500 user that just bought an Explorer. He detected a site with the 2500 until he couldn't find any more coin signals. He bought the Explorer and redetected part of the same site and found 16 coins the first time out.... two being 10 inch deep quarters. Out of all of the detectors I have owned or hunted with the only one to compare in depth to the Explorer is the Fisher CZ-3D (I haven't tried a Nautilus yet!). I currently own the Explorer and CZ-3D. I have heard the Fisher CZ-70 Pro is right there in depth with the 3D too although I've never used or hunted along side one. My hunting buddy owned a DFX and didn't do good with it here in my part of PA. As with anything in detecting YOUR results may vary from my area due to mineralization, etc. HH!
-Bill

 

[Anonymous]

Jim,
Have you hunted different sites each time??? I have detected places where EVEN the Explorer didn't seem to get down as far as other sites I have hunted. It's just a fact of detecting and mineralization. That's the only thing I can think of that hasn't been mentioned.
-Bill

 

[Anonymous]

Since you said you are digging tons of clad, I would have to guess you are digging too much clad and not properly focused on the deep signals (assuming you're in the right area). When I hunt for deep coins, the clad gets bypassed just other garbage signals like pulltabs. Most times I'd characterize my detecting as sifting (not swinging!) looking just for the specific sound of a deepie. Those signals can be rare, especially if there are other Explorers in your area. For example, I might spend an hour detecting before my first dig. I have no problem leaving 50 modern coins for other guys before I dig a deep signal.

 

[Anonymous]

like the other guys said, just too much iron/junk in the ground, or a detector problem. I have a couple sites around here that are really old but I can't get over 4 inches deep at them. The main problem is just too much iron. Try some different sites and see what happens. You can always try burying a coin at a new site and see if the detector will pick it up at depth.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Bill, good info! May just have to try a Minelab!