A
Anonymous
Guest
I ain't been hanging out over here for a long time. I have read through some of the posts but not all of them. A lot of stuff I am going to say has probably been said many times over. Just thought I would add my perspective on a few things. Like I said, if you guys have already said some of this sorry, I just am months and months behind on posts over here and I see quite a few new names. These are of course only my opinions.
First of all I want to slam patterns. Sorry but it must be done. As a new user it is overwhelming the amount of signals you get per swing and then trying to decipher a hit that you are not really 100% sure is even a hit. Been there, done that. So what do most do? They get frustrated and just want to find something, anything. They switch to a tight disc pattern and hunt with a null most of the time from what is being rejected but it is so much easier to pick out the non-ferrous signals. Does that sound about right? Well, it is a deadly trap. Sure, you are going through cherry picking a few coins and more than likely a few deep coins. But, I promise you are walking over more coins than you want to even think about. Using a tight pattern prolongs the learning curve and gets you into bad, bad habits. I will get into that in a second, or hour, whichever comes first. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/biggrin.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="
">
You may see someone claim to have found a 10" dime on the forums. Those are few and far between but it is entirely possible. Some do knock coins off the side deeper. Some are used to limited depth of other detectors and dig a 7" or 8" dime and it blows them away over how deep the hole was, so it had to be at least 10". That is to be expected. Then there are the ones that know what they are doing and if they say they dug something at a certain depth you can bet money they did. A lesche blade is 7" long. The X-1 probe is 9 1/2" long to the cord. Either one of those can be your tape measure. I have seen people post pictures in the field and say this dime was 9" deep but the probe is sticking out of the hole 3" or more in the picture. Take depth figures with a grain of salt. It will do it but 75% of the many "big dog's" finds on the main forum are done in areas where there is so much trash that any other brand of detector user would not even consider turning their machine on. That <b>is</b> what the explorer is all about! I love depth but the trash is where the old coins are still at. Wide open clean ground a 12" quarter is a cake walk. But I will tell you what, wide open ground and no trash a lot of older detectors had/have very respectable depth. They get in the trash and fall flat on their face. A super clean area you can count on the majority of coins being long gone. Is this starting to tie in to the above yet? It will.
So now what? If you want to find the good coins in heavy hunted areas you have to seek the trash, not encounter it. So you get into the trash where you know the coins are and just can not function and you switch to a pattern to calm your nerves. Now the important part. <b>Deep coins and coins in trash will NOT lock on the screen!</b> If you are passing over bouncers you are walking by coins, period. A deep coin or a coin near trash will very rarely visually lock on in one spot like that 4" silver dime in clean ground does. So what I am saying is that it is easy enough to read a post about a 10" dime from someone you trust on the forums. But are they saying that it was a lock on solid silver hit that gives you a woody? Are they saying it was scrappy signal but they worked on it till they decided it was a good enough iffy to dig? Chances are, they never said either way. So some of you new users are going out and not digging the deep coins yet like some others are and that compounds your frustration. Do not let it. You just don't know what a deep one sounds like yet. You have to learn that. We can try all we want in type to explain it but it is not going to click for you till you start digging them or at least hear them when someone else finds them. I am rambling but I am trying to get in a few points I feel are important.
Being a knob jockey does nothing but confuse you even more. I do not change my settings, at least very rarely. I used Audio 1 for two years and deep on all the time and this year I switched to normal audio and fast and deep both on all the time. The performance didn't change I just decided to try something different to see if I liked it and I did. Other than that, I change my sens for the area I am at and that is it. I have probably noise canceled 3 maybe 4 times this year. Probably less than ten times all of last year. All of the settings are about personal preference. No setting is going to have 3" more depth than another setting. (Not counting if you turn your gain or sens way low)
Ok, a pattern will make the bouncers null some of the time and sound like garbage. Iron mask -10 or less iron mask will make the bouncers repeat audibly, at least better than they can with a tight pattern. If you only go by the screen and you use a tight pattern you will not get the deeper coins or the ones in heavy trash. You will only be digging the signals that are shallow enough to lock on. You get that ingrained into your mind it will be a hard habit to break later. Dig more trash now learning, less later. Not the other way around. You got to learn and you will never if you disc out everything and just go for the easy signals.
Find settings you can live with and leave them be. You have other things to worry about right now. I recommend 10 gain or at least higher than factory default. It makes it hard to tell the deep ones from the shallow ones audibly. But IMO it will get your attention on deeper coins that a lower gain might not give you enough of a blip to stop and get your attention. I am not saying a higher gain goes deeper. I am just saying that a higher gain <i>can</i> get your attention on some signals that can easily be missed otherwise. Run 32 auto sens if you can keep a threshold most of the sweep and lower it if you can't. 32 auto gets as deep as manual or at least pretty darn close. Switch to manual later if you like, I use both. I just think there are many more important things to worry about right now for newbies other than if 32 auto is getting them as deep as they can. Golddigger only uses 32 Auto sens.(or lower auto if the ground is bad). Big Mike uses manual only. They both found over 600 silvers coins each last year. Auto VS Manual has been debated many times here and there. But are any of you going to tell Golddigger he is missing coins because he only uses Auto? Are any of you going to tell Big Mike he is missing coins only using Manual? I think not in both cases. Proof that neither manual or auto is superior. That is not what sets those two apart from the rest of the pack. What's between their headphones is almost as important as what detector they are swinging. Not quite but it is definitely the combination of the two more than just the detector.
If you just have to black out your screen at first I recommend starting at iron mask -8 but if you just can't deal with it maybe -6. That is pushing iffy barber hits though. A deeper barber or one in iron trash will bounce over high left quite a bit, more so than an iffy merc, IMO. But the key to both hits is they sound good and repeatable <b>audibly</b>, for the most part.
I saw someone mention that they get a signal to repeat one way back and forth and then turn 90 degrees and get it to repeat back and forth and dig nails. I bet they do! Picture your coil as a clock. If you set the coil on the ground where the target is, the front of the coil is noon and the back is 6. You sweep back and forth over the target and decide what you think there. Then you stop, ever so slightly move to where your coil top and bottom is 1 o'clock and 7 o'clock. Sweep back and forth over the target then stop. (couple times, dozen times, whatever) Then slightly turn to 2 o'clock and 8 o'clock. Do this all the way around a target. Just turning 90 degrees, then 90 degrees, etc does not give you enough information. Sometimes that first <i>slight</i> turn can make a world of difference. If you turn ever so much and it goes from a possible iffy hit to a solid null, something is up. At the very least there is a nail close to it. An iffy coin may break up more at that slight turn but going into a hard null is a good clue. Just one turn is not enough to make a final judgement though. Moving a whole 90 degrees before you sweep over a target again will make anything sound different unless they are at shallower depths. But if you work your way around to that 90 degrees turning a little at a time will give you much more of an idea what is going on. A coin with a nail laying directly on it even in the air will null one way and sound good at 90 degrees. So if you have a good signal back and forth one way then a complete null at 90 degrees and you move on, well, you get the picture. A coin with a nail close to it will sound like crap but most of the way around it will go tingle tingle then start to work into a null then start to tingle tingle again as you go around it and then back into a null, etc. No set degree this happens or order, you just have to go all the way around it. One thing that is a big factor in if I will dig or not is if I get back around to the exact same spot I got a repeatable signal and it repeats again. Coins will do that. A nail a lot of times will not. That is of course not written in stone but if I get back to square one and the signal sounds the same as before I circled it, I am usually digging. I dig nails, yes. Don't think Mike and Golddigger don't, they do. I have seen them dig some big iron. If you do not dig a few nails once in a while you are missing coins. Spring and wet ground nails sound better and fool just about everyone once in a while. Dry summer heat kills the iron halo and you don't get fooled as much. Don't forget that. If some of you are digging more nails than you think you should be just remember this is spring and the ground is moist most places. Iron falses this time of the year can sound so good sometimes at some places.
If you have read this far and got nothing out of this post, fine. But what I am going to say next is what I feel is the most important that can benefit seasoned pro to newbie. You absolutely have to stay focused and in control of your emotions. If you start to get frustrated, your finds will reflect it. If you can stay confident, calm and patient you will overcome all roadblocks. You can not learn it all in a few hours, don't think you can. Let it happen, don't force it. Just relax and hunt. I know all about frustration and battle it every time I hunt. I am the world record height and distance explorer throw holder, with witnesses. That is my weakness. Don't let it be yours.
Sorry I didn't write more than this. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/wink.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=""> I am sure there is a nuff stuff to keep you confused a while. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/biggrin.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">
If anyone that reads this and would like to add to it or has differing opinions, feel free. After over two years I am still always learning on the Explorer. I don't expect I will learn everything there is to know about it anytime soon. But that is plenty fine by me cause after two years I still am amazed by the Explorers capabilities almost on a daily basis.
Just my two corroded zincs worth! <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">
First of all I want to slam patterns. Sorry but it must be done. As a new user it is overwhelming the amount of signals you get per swing and then trying to decipher a hit that you are not really 100% sure is even a hit. Been there, done that. So what do most do? They get frustrated and just want to find something, anything. They switch to a tight disc pattern and hunt with a null most of the time from what is being rejected but it is so much easier to pick out the non-ferrous signals. Does that sound about right? Well, it is a deadly trap. Sure, you are going through cherry picking a few coins and more than likely a few deep coins. But, I promise you are walking over more coins than you want to even think about. Using a tight pattern prolongs the learning curve and gets you into bad, bad habits. I will get into that in a second, or hour, whichever comes first. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/biggrin.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="
">You may see someone claim to have found a 10" dime on the forums. Those are few and far between but it is entirely possible. Some do knock coins off the side deeper. Some are used to limited depth of other detectors and dig a 7" or 8" dime and it blows them away over how deep the hole was, so it had to be at least 10". That is to be expected. Then there are the ones that know what they are doing and if they say they dug something at a certain depth you can bet money they did. A lesche blade is 7" long. The X-1 probe is 9 1/2" long to the cord. Either one of those can be your tape measure. I have seen people post pictures in the field and say this dime was 9" deep but the probe is sticking out of the hole 3" or more in the picture. Take depth figures with a grain of salt. It will do it but 75% of the many "big dog's" finds on the main forum are done in areas where there is so much trash that any other brand of detector user would not even consider turning their machine on. That <b>is</b> what the explorer is all about! I love depth but the trash is where the old coins are still at. Wide open clean ground a 12" quarter is a cake walk. But I will tell you what, wide open ground and no trash a lot of older detectors had/have very respectable depth. They get in the trash and fall flat on their face. A super clean area you can count on the majority of coins being long gone. Is this starting to tie in to the above yet? It will.
So now what? If you want to find the good coins in heavy hunted areas you have to seek the trash, not encounter it. So you get into the trash where you know the coins are and just can not function and you switch to a pattern to calm your nerves. Now the important part. <b>Deep coins and coins in trash will NOT lock on the screen!</b> If you are passing over bouncers you are walking by coins, period. A deep coin or a coin near trash will very rarely visually lock on in one spot like that 4" silver dime in clean ground does. So what I am saying is that it is easy enough to read a post about a 10" dime from someone you trust on the forums. But are they saying that it was a lock on solid silver hit that gives you a woody? Are they saying it was scrappy signal but they worked on it till they decided it was a good enough iffy to dig? Chances are, they never said either way. So some of you new users are going out and not digging the deep coins yet like some others are and that compounds your frustration. Do not let it. You just don't know what a deep one sounds like yet. You have to learn that. We can try all we want in type to explain it but it is not going to click for you till you start digging them or at least hear them when someone else finds them. I am rambling but I am trying to get in a few points I feel are important.
Being a knob jockey does nothing but confuse you even more. I do not change my settings, at least very rarely. I used Audio 1 for two years and deep on all the time and this year I switched to normal audio and fast and deep both on all the time. The performance didn't change I just decided to try something different to see if I liked it and I did. Other than that, I change my sens for the area I am at and that is it. I have probably noise canceled 3 maybe 4 times this year. Probably less than ten times all of last year. All of the settings are about personal preference. No setting is going to have 3" more depth than another setting. (Not counting if you turn your gain or sens way low)
Ok, a pattern will make the bouncers null some of the time and sound like garbage. Iron mask -10 or less iron mask will make the bouncers repeat audibly, at least better than they can with a tight pattern. If you only go by the screen and you use a tight pattern you will not get the deeper coins or the ones in heavy trash. You will only be digging the signals that are shallow enough to lock on. You get that ingrained into your mind it will be a hard habit to break later. Dig more trash now learning, less later. Not the other way around. You got to learn and you will never if you disc out everything and just go for the easy signals.
Find settings you can live with and leave them be. You have other things to worry about right now. I recommend 10 gain or at least higher than factory default. It makes it hard to tell the deep ones from the shallow ones audibly. But IMO it will get your attention on deeper coins that a lower gain might not give you enough of a blip to stop and get your attention. I am not saying a higher gain goes deeper. I am just saying that a higher gain <i>can</i> get your attention on some signals that can easily be missed otherwise. Run 32 auto sens if you can keep a threshold most of the sweep and lower it if you can't. 32 auto gets as deep as manual or at least pretty darn close. Switch to manual later if you like, I use both. I just think there are many more important things to worry about right now for newbies other than if 32 auto is getting them as deep as they can. Golddigger only uses 32 Auto sens.(or lower auto if the ground is bad). Big Mike uses manual only. They both found over 600 silvers coins each last year. Auto VS Manual has been debated many times here and there. But are any of you going to tell Golddigger he is missing coins because he only uses Auto? Are any of you going to tell Big Mike he is missing coins only using Manual? I think not in both cases. Proof that neither manual or auto is superior. That is not what sets those two apart from the rest of the pack. What's between their headphones is almost as important as what detector they are swinging. Not quite but it is definitely the combination of the two more than just the detector.
If you just have to black out your screen at first I recommend starting at iron mask -8 but if you just can't deal with it maybe -6. That is pushing iffy barber hits though. A deeper barber or one in iron trash will bounce over high left quite a bit, more so than an iffy merc, IMO. But the key to both hits is they sound good and repeatable <b>audibly</b>, for the most part.
I saw someone mention that they get a signal to repeat one way back and forth and then turn 90 degrees and get it to repeat back and forth and dig nails. I bet they do! Picture your coil as a clock. If you set the coil on the ground where the target is, the front of the coil is noon and the back is 6. You sweep back and forth over the target and decide what you think there. Then you stop, ever so slightly move to where your coil top and bottom is 1 o'clock and 7 o'clock. Sweep back and forth over the target then stop. (couple times, dozen times, whatever) Then slightly turn to 2 o'clock and 8 o'clock. Do this all the way around a target. Just turning 90 degrees, then 90 degrees, etc does not give you enough information. Sometimes that first <i>slight</i> turn can make a world of difference. If you turn ever so much and it goes from a possible iffy hit to a solid null, something is up. At the very least there is a nail close to it. An iffy coin may break up more at that slight turn but going into a hard null is a good clue. Just one turn is not enough to make a final judgement though. Moving a whole 90 degrees before you sweep over a target again will make anything sound different unless they are at shallower depths. But if you work your way around to that 90 degrees turning a little at a time will give you much more of an idea what is going on. A coin with a nail laying directly on it even in the air will null one way and sound good at 90 degrees. So if you have a good signal back and forth one way then a complete null at 90 degrees and you move on, well, you get the picture. A coin with a nail close to it will sound like crap but most of the way around it will go tingle tingle then start to work into a null then start to tingle tingle again as you go around it and then back into a null, etc. No set degree this happens or order, you just have to go all the way around it. One thing that is a big factor in if I will dig or not is if I get back around to the exact same spot I got a repeatable signal and it repeats again. Coins will do that. A nail a lot of times will not. That is of course not written in stone but if I get back to square one and the signal sounds the same as before I circled it, I am usually digging. I dig nails, yes. Don't think Mike and Golddigger don't, they do. I have seen them dig some big iron. If you do not dig a few nails once in a while you are missing coins. Spring and wet ground nails sound better and fool just about everyone once in a while. Dry summer heat kills the iron halo and you don't get fooled as much. Don't forget that. If some of you are digging more nails than you think you should be just remember this is spring and the ground is moist most places. Iron falses this time of the year can sound so good sometimes at some places.
If you have read this far and got nothing out of this post, fine. But what I am going to say next is what I feel is the most important that can benefit seasoned pro to newbie. You absolutely have to stay focused and in control of your emotions. If you start to get frustrated, your finds will reflect it. If you can stay confident, calm and patient you will overcome all roadblocks. You can not learn it all in a few hours, don't think you can. Let it happen, don't force it. Just relax and hunt. I know all about frustration and battle it every time I hunt. I am the world record height and distance explorer throw holder, with witnesses. That is my weakness. Don't let it be yours.
Sorry I didn't write more than this. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/wink.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="
"> I am sure there is a nuff stuff to keep you confused a while. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/biggrin.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="">If anyone that reads this and would like to add to it or has differing opinions, feel free. After over two years I am still always learning on the Explorer. I don't expect I will learn everything there is to know about it anytime soon. But that is plenty fine by me cause after two years I still am amazed by the Explorers capabilities almost on a daily basis.
Just my two corroded zincs worth! <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT="
">