WE HAVE A QUESTION

[earl&patricia]

We have noticed that when we come across a lot of things, that the detector will sound off pretty nicely when we swing back and forth over the target, but if we leave the coil sitting over it, the sound completely disappears, and the screen shows nothing. Does anyone have an idea what that means. I did try looking it up, but came up with nothing. Any help would be appreciated. We have the AT Pro

 

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[G.A.P.metal]

yes you have a motion machine means you have to swing it to make it work !
It`s working perfect.
Gary

 

[earl&patricia]

Well I didnt mean for it to sound like it wasn't working property, I thought maybe it ment that there was nothing worth looking for. ( didnt have to dig)lol

 

[Tom_in_CA]

yes you have a motion machine means you have to swing it to make it work !
It`s working perfect.
Gary

Reminds me of a guy I ran into, who sent his XLT (which is the earlier generation fast-swing machine) into the factory "3 times" because of "disappearing signals". He'd get a beep, slow down to "hear it better", only to have it "disappear". He'd move on, get another signal, slow down to "hear it better", only to have it "disappear". Only the very shallowest of signals could he get. All others "disappeared" when he tried to isolate and hone in on them.

The factory sent it back each time saying "fixed" or "nothing wrong" or whatever. So he'd go back out, ONLY to have the problem re-occur ! Finally he called the Whites West Coast rep. to personally complain about the "lousy product" and "lousy repair service". The Whites rep. told him he must be "operating it wrong" and should "read the instructions". To which the md'r was INCENSED and insulted. Because he'd read the instruction manual 4x over, and considered himself an intelligent smart person. And it appeared as if they were calling his a dummy or something.

FINALLY he found out (via bumping into other users of similar machines), that whenever he'd slow down to "hear it better", his swing speed would decrease, causing the signal to "disappear" (because on the XLT: the faster you swing, the deeper you go). FINALLY he figured it out.

Later, when he told me the story, I asked him: Didn't you read the instructions where it said "motion required" ? He said "Yes. I read that part many many times in my effort to figure out the machine". So I asked: "Then why didn't that answer your question, instead of sending it in 3x for "repairs"? To which he said "When I saw the part about 'motion required', I thought it was saying that you must swing the coil side-to-side, as you walk. As opposed to holding the coil still-on-the-ground. And I thought 'That's a stupid instruction'. I mean, .... duh ... how ELSE is anyone ever supposed to progress through the field, and cover any ground, if they stand still in one spot w/o swinging the coil in motion' ?"

So you see, NO amount of printed instructions (via instruction manuals, reading forums, etc...) is EVER able to convey certain things like this. And especially when it comes to "sounds" (since no amount of printed text can ever convey "sound" things). This is why, when I read of people on forums complaining of "disappearing signals", I know it's fruitless to try to explain to them, in the limited ability that printed text on a forum has. And that the ONLY way for a lot of problems to be solved, is to go out with someone proficient, and flag signals to compare. Watch how they swing, listen to what they're listening to . Ask them why or why not chase a certain signal, etc...

 

[beerguy]

I loved my XLT for it's fast sweep requirement. I put a Bigfoot coil on it and I could detect at a normal walking pace.

Great for finding 'hotspots'.

Today I use the CTX with the 17' coil for that function.

A little slower but a whole lot deeper.

 

[earl&patricia]

Trust me when I say, I'm going to find someone to go out with us. I have been trying to find people since I ordered this thing. I cant catch on to much by reading, but hands on training, I catch on very fast. Very good article, funny too....

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

I know on my AT Gold there is a pinpoint button and if you hold that down while swinging back and forth it will show on the screen.There are bars that will raise as you get closer to target and decrease as you move away from target if you have a pinpoint button try doing that with a target you bury so you can see how that works.That should help you.You can go forward and back then side to side and the bars are at the highest point when target is in center of your coil.When you have pin pointer button pushed the detector will sound off even when not moving if you are on target.

 

[miboje]

YouTube has a vast number of videos to help you learn detecting.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=metal+detecting+for+beginners
Moving over targets is how you pick them up. Pinpointing is used to "zero in" on the exact location.

 

[SD51]

I think someone mentioned this before in a previous post... Create a test plot in the ground with various coins and trash and note what is where so you can practice what they sound like, etc. Also note what the depths are because soon you will be wondering how deep you can detect objects. Try putting a coin next to a pulltab or other trash items to see how the detector responds. Good luck!

 

[Carolina Tom]

The double D coil's detection zone is like a blade running from the tip of the coil to the tail. When the target passed through the "blade" it makes a tone on the machine. If the coil is stationary, then nothing will pass through the "blade" and set the machine off.

The "blade" is a magnetic field, when a metal object passes through the field, it cause a disturbance, that the machine identifies as a tone.

I hope that this helps.

A test garden is a must! This will give you practice on real targets and help you to ID the sounds. Put trash in the test garden too. You need to be able to ID good and bad targets.

If you get near Charlotte, let me know, and I will take you out and teach you the AT Pro... it'll cost you a chicken biscuit from Bojangles though!

I hope that this helps. Best of luck to you!

 

[earl&patricia]

Yes, I am working on all that. Yes mine has the pin pointer as well. Been working on that, getting better at it. We enjoy this thing though.

 

[ChampFerguson/TN]

When I first started this hobby, one of my basic questions was "how fast do I swing the coil?" NOwhere could I find an answer. Even today, I rarely see it addressed by manufacturers. It really isn't that hard to say "swing the coil in an arc over 180degrees in 3-5 seconds" or whatever speed is optimal for that brand/model.
Noobs sometimes don't know and manufacturers should stop assuming that they have a basic understanding of all aspects of the hobby if they want to grow it.