Tried a Minelab for the first time today..

[MNCoinhunter]

I had a chance to try out a 4 or 5 year old Explorer II this afternoon. As I worked through the basics I managed to find a '35 Mercury Dime. I was quite impressed with it, but struggled with the Fe/Co numbers a little. I've got the dimes figured out, but would anyone mind posting specific numbers for other coins. Very much appreciated..

And I'm thinking that a new Explorer SE Pro may be in my future.

 

[brissietex]

I highly recommend getting ahold of Andy Sabisch's Explorer/Etrac Handbook. A copy came with my Explorer II and I found it by far the best reference for using the Explorer. One thing I found over time using the Explorer that its use is more or less an inexact science and just knowing the FE/CO numbers of objects isn't at all very helpful due to so many conditions. My main recommendation if any is to use the 2d graph instead of memorising #s. Much quicker and much less prone to misjudging targets due to possible bouncing #s. Oh and start out by using the default iron mask/filter and dig anything that doesn't bounce out of the 'white' zone. I mainly only filter out the crown tops (lower right) because I have never seen anything good come out of that zone. I usually keep a very low iron mask to go after the deep, deep stuff (my coil of choice is a 15" WOT coil, btw, and mostly do beach detecting since targets at coil+ size depth seem to gravitate to the left of their more shallow depth readings.

http://www.losttreasure.com.au/2009/04/17/andy-sabisch-the-minelab-explorer-e-trac-handbook/

Hope that helps...Keith

 

[dewcon4414]

Anyone used to using digital screens on other detectors start out by .... what are the numbers? BUT to truly learn the explore you need to use the smartscreen. There is so much more information it tells you. On deep targets the digital screen jumps around and may only show the correct numbers once during your swings because of the averaging of targets and minerals in the ground. The smartscreen is the difference in TID that makes these machines better than most. Jumping numbers drive me nuts. Start out by digging everything in the upper right quarter of the screen. It wont take long to learn good from bad targets.... then check the digital reading if it makes you feel comfortable. Start out by getting some of those targets you want to find and running them across the coil... check the smartscreen. Keith... some of those old nickels do fall in the lower right cornor. It depends on how deep and cruddy they are. Id recommend starting out by staying in factory setting, but increase the sensitivity a bit and hunt in factory IM.

Dew

 

[DirtFlipper]

I don't know what the numbers are for anything - I go totally by sound, followed by a glance to the smart find graph and cursor. The audio carries the most information of all.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Three edged sword......Audio, numbers and cursor movement on the screen gives you 3 ways to determine to dig or not......sure the numbers are a good guideline but next to junk, tilted, worn coins etc. may be off a number but using all three in conjunction is what its all about..Certainly takes times but after a while you will know just about what you have and some takes day, months or even a season to become proficient. Again if you go out with an experienced Explorer user it will cut down on the learning period..
As an example got a solid 28 reading on my XS but the audio just wasn't there( hard to explain) and the cursor movement was strange to say the least..Yep you guessed it was a large badly rusted screw so indeed the numbers don't tell it all....

 

[Southwind]

As you can see it varies from person to person. I personally have found the Smart Screen to be useless. In fact I would say the jumping numbers and Smart Screen location are tied together which would cause both to have the same response. The only difference is one shows numbers and the other a cross at a location. A false/jumpy FE/CO would also mean a false/jumpy Smart Screen. I've found the CO alone to be the best source of usefully information. The FE is pretty much worthless on anything below 4" which would also make the Smart Screen location worthless below 4". The CO, however, is very accurate and dependable even on very deep targets.

 

[Hotcz70]

to watch cursor action.

The flashing numbers of the digital display simply can not duplicate cursor movement..."bounce" and "flutter"...which is critical when ID'ing deep silver on edge...or in the 10" depth range.

Once a person learns the explorers...you realize that the machine actually is ID'ing coins in the 10" depth range...and that cursor bounce and flutter are a critical way it does so.

#1 is sound though...100% sound alone. Cursor movement and flutter are just another tool to help aid in ID...as is the all metal pinpoint mode on the SE which ID's in that mode.

 

[Dan-Pa.]

Certainly tells me a lot and imagine does so for a lot of explorer users so opinions do differ but again can't hear well but have excellent tonal interpetation which is certainly a plus. Numbers are just a excellent guideline but put the three all together and you have the best in the business to dig or not. And of course nothing is perfect but is an aspect of life and some just do it better than others...

 

[kozyman]

I was hunting a plowed field this past week and ended up with 10 IH in two days, most of the numbers were pretty close but 3 of the ten were nothing even around the typical ones that you would dig from. Numbers a lot of the time don't tell the true story. Watch the smart screen and listen.

 

[dewcon4414]

Sorry Mcdave i was trying to help... try going to this post: www.findmall.com/read.php?10,922673 Magicman put together a pretty good list hope this answers your question.

Dew

 

[MNCoinhunter]

Thanks. I will hang onto that list and use it for cross-referencing. And thanks to all the other advice that was offered up...much appreciated.

 

[niterider_58]

Go for the sound and the rest will come to you in time