Difference in frequencies

[dirtydude]

I am fairly new to md'ing and was wondering what the difference is in different frequency in different detectors. The DFX from whites says it has 3 kHz or 15 kHz or use both together.The Tesoro Tejon is a 17.5 kHz frequency and is said to be a good relic hunting machine. What I don't understand is, is a higher frequency better for hunting relics and why if so, and what are lower frequency detectors good at finding? Or does it really matter? Thanks for any help

 

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[bakergeol]

I really hate it when no one responds to a thread. Here is my 2 cents.
Don't worry about frequency unless you are gold nugget hunting.

The following below is by Steve H.

"The higher the operating frequency of the detector, the more sensitive it will be to small gold, but with the penalty of also being more sensitive to iron minerals. This can result in more false signaling and difficulty of operation in highly iron mineralized areas. Lower frequency detectors are generally less sensitive to small nuggets, but handle iron ground better. Frequencies on today's nugget detectors range from a low of 6.4kHz to a high of 71kHz. Pulse induction (PI) detectors are a special type of unit that act like they are extremely low frequency detectors. PI detectors main strength is in ignoring the worst ground mineral conditions and finding large gold nuggets at maximum depths."

High frequency detectors are more sensitive for very small metal(50-60 kHz) whereas lower frequency detectors have better depth for larger objects.

Do not get caught up in the frequency hype. Looking at a frequency( or frequencies) of a unit is not going to tell you about the performance of that unit for the uses you want. Just rely on the reputation of the unit you are looking at. The Tejon is a PROVEN great relic hunter with great depth like the Nautilus( What VLF can touch a Nautilus in depth?).

George

 

[gldhntr]

minelab explorer ex 2 supposedly operates on 27 frequencies at once...while i have no complaints with mine i think i would just as soon have my old garrett gmh cx 3 back with its 1 or 3 freq......gldhntr

 

[Sandman]

On some of the detectors you have a frequency knob where you change the frequency yourself. An example is the older Fisher 1235. These excel at club hunts and competition hunts.

HH,
Sandman

 

[Michigan Badger]

bakergeol already posted the important stuff.

But to add my half cent to this I'd agree with bakergeol and say don't get hung-up on the frequency thing that's been blown way out of proportions today. bakergeol's post covers what we need to know.

For most coin/relic hunters, the important things are as follows:

1) good depth
2) good stability
3) good target separation
4) good discriminational abilities
5) good durability
6) and it isn't a pain in the butt to listen to..pop! snap! crackle! chirp! etc., etc. gosh I hate those machines!

Yes, some brands are noisy, kill your arm, don't pinpoint worth a crap, and can in general drive you crazy. Now, this is what you want to avoid. You'd be surprised how much money people will spend on a machine to drive them nuts!

Badger

 

[TomNWMI]

I don't mind the snap - crackle & pop

My first discriminating VLF was a Fisher 1236X2 and I never used the silencer! In between the noise of the partially disced out iron responses the clean beeps come thru nicely. Great little iron hunter! One of my all time favorites.

In answer to the original question... for coins stick with detectors that operate under 10 Khz, other than that MI Badger and the others pretty well covered it.

Tom

 

[dewcon4414]

I use the DFX and its all about discriminating trash as well as depth. Raw 15 Khz seperates the lower VDI numbers so you can discriminate say bottle caps from nickels easier as well as being more sensitive to gold. Raw 13 Khz seperates at the higher numbers and reduces wrap around when the soil has a high mineral reading and is more sensitive to silver. 15 Khz also works best between the two frequencies if you are getting a lot of EMI. If you are looking for gold get a high Khz machine.

 

[Willy]

One thing to keep in mind is that the frequency is just one aspect, another is how much gain is applied to the signal and how it's processed. Take, for example, prospecting detectors; the signal is often amplified to an extent that could very well be impractical in a coinshooter. Thus, a detector running at a lower frequency might hit harder on small low conductive targets than a higher frequeny detector if the signal is really ampe'd up. Just because a detector operates at a lower frequency doesn't mean it can't do a good job on low conductors. Also, there's the built in rejection of some makes/models. Zero disc. is not necessarily such. Often there's an amount of iron rejection at the lowest disc. setting. This can cause small/deep/low-conductive targets to be disc'ed out. Tesoro comes right out and states this as being ED160,120 etc. on some models.. as well as ED 180 (full acceptance) on others. Sometimes it's a bit of a chore to filter through the doubletalk advanced by manufacturors re. certain detectors. Take that ol' euphemism 'automatic ground balance'. Sounds good, eh? Well, all that generally means is that the detector is preset, at the factory, to a fixed ground balance point. There's nothing automatic about it. Took me a while to figure that one out when I first started to get seriously into detecting.. some never do. ...Willy.

 

[Jason in TN]

Lower freq are better on coins and metals that are high conductivity (copper silver).
High freq are better for low conductive metals (brass Lead) and also small targets.
Relic hunting. The DFX will do both at the same time or you can run one at a time.

 

[Willy]

The DFX actually illustrates my point somewhat. Operating at essentially the same frequency (maybe even a bit higher) as the MXT and sharing coils, the MXT (from what I've read) blows it away on small gold. I've used the MXT extensively and will find nuggets down to 1/3 grain. Supposedly, the MXT has a higher loop drive voltage as well as a different OS. Goes to show that there's a lot more than operating frequency determining what a detector will find. ...Willy.