Brand new to MD, question on all the different knobs.

[Jfri247]

I was given this relatively cheap metal detector, but I've always been interested in this hobby. The person that gave it to me has lost any instruction manual it came with (they have had it for a few years). In any case can you guys please briefly explain what the knobs are for?

Mode: VLF, TR1, TR2

Ground: Basalt vs Normal

Discrimination: Min vs Max

Sensitivity: min vs max

Tuning:


Please help me learn what these are, and how to best use them. Thanks all

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[NOLA_Ken]

You need to post the brand and model but here's a bit of info....

Mode.... VLF stands for Very Low Frequency (3-30 kHz). TR stands for Transmitter/Receiver, but usually indicates a “non-motion discriminate mode” of operation.

Basalt vs Normal I think has to do with the mineralization in the ground, I believe that basalt can be rich in iron.

Discrimination tunes out different metals, lowest for iron, middle range for foil and lead (you'll also miss nickels and gold)

Sensitivity controls how much of a signal you send out, too high and you'll get false signals, too low and you'll lose depth, best to keep around mid range til you get the hang of it.

You may be able to find the manual online somewhere, but posting the brand and model here will help people help you. I can't remember seeing a detector with the Basalt / Normal knob.

[Jfri247]

Hey thanks for the response. Like I said, I think it is a pretty low end detector, but since it was free I figured I can get started with it. It was bought at Big 5. The brand is "Famous Trails" model 7030 I believe.

Can someone explain the mode a little more? Thanks Ken for all that help, and telling me what the different modes stand for, but I'm still curious what the benefit is of using "very low frequency", and "Transmitter/receiver 1 and 2".

Another question. My MD is pretty dusty (has sat in a garage for a couple years). It works (buried a rifle casing in a few inches and it found it, also found a paper clip) so I think it is still working ok. Is there a special way to clean the coil though? Do I need to take off the plastic covering to do so? Thanks for any help guys!

[NOLA_Ken]

Go to this page, there's a link to a pdf file with the user manual, just below the picture. Hope that helps.

MD7030 Discriminator II Metal Detector

[U.K. Brian]

Basic old metal detectors often had two discriminating levels (TR1 and TR2) so you could detect at a lower discrimination level, say rejecting small nails and switch to a higher level (often foil reject) so you could compare the target audio and better decide to dig or not. More expensive ground rejecting machines but still in a low price range did the same with ground rejection (G1 or G2).
With your detector to get the best depth on land you should use the VLF all metal mode. You then check the target in one of the TR discriminate modes to help with the dig decision.
On wet sand you have to balance out the positive salt effect so in this case TR discrimination will help and would be the better mode to search in.