Calibrating a metal detector for certain metal?

[StevenEleven]

Hi,

Is it possible to calibrate metal for a certain metal?

The story: I have fisher f75 special edition. I found a couple of golden coins with it. To my knowledge. Most the treasures in my areas. (The ones worth the trouble) have the same coins in them. Now, is there a way to tweak my detector so I will know when I found a similar coin? For now, it identifies it as zinc. When it's too deep, it switches between zinc and tab. Sorry if it's a silly question. I just realized that there is more coins in the same are. I want to know if there is a way to get optimum performance from my detector.

Another question, is there any way protect my metal detector from electromagnetic fields while working under an electricity pole?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. the coins could be a bit deep

 

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[RobRieman]

Hi,

Is it possible to calibrate metal for a certain metal?

The story: I have fisher f75 special edition. I found a couple of golden coins with it. To my knowledge. Most the treasures in my areas. (The ones worth the trouble) have the same coins in them. Now, is there a way to tweak my detector so I will know when I found a similar coin? For now, it identifies it as zinc. When it's too deep, it switches between zinc and tab. Sorry if it's a silly question. I just realized that there is more coins in the same are. I want to know if there is a way to get optimum performance from my detector.

Another question, is there any way protect my metal detector from electromagnetic fields while working under an electricity pole?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. the coins could be a bit deep

You can notch out everything but the range you do not want to hear but tabs=gold there is no getting around that.
Lowering sensitivity will help with EMI or changing filters if your machine is so equipped.

 

[cudamark]

You can tweak your machine to only pick up targets of similar conductivity. That won't narrow it down to a specific metal but will get you closer to your goal.

 

[Terry Soloman]

I'm still trying to get over you finding "a couple of golden coins" Can you post photos?! Congratulations!!!

 

[StevenEleven]

Thanks everyone

Thanks guys. You've been very helpful. I appreciate it. The findings are my friend's, truth be told. I'll make him take pictures and post it for you. You deserve it. As for your answers, singling out the sought after range seems to be a great idea. He should be digging the whole place up. The problem seems to be that the land owner isn't back in town yet. Waiting never been harder.

 

[StevenEleven]

Thread with the photos as promised. More info in the thread.

 

[mikeraydj]

Did you send in your F75 for the free software upgrade? It addresses the EMI problem and makes it a lot quieter in those areas.

 

[ARC]

Just remember... the more you cal/discrim... the less you find... in ALL areas of metals.
The best calibration you can ever do in metal detecting is... calibration of your ears.
There is no "just find gold" mode...
and I am sure I am not alone when I say "I wish".

Although it would be a great new feature on any make or model of new detectors coming out.
I would be first in line to buy one. heh

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Yes, you can calibrate a detector for a specific item. But you'd have to crack the case and play with the potentiometers.

From the controls you can notch out certain ranges.

Better is to put it in all metal or discriminate at a low level and keep your eye on the display and only dig the range you know your target is in.

I made up a chart of what I commonly find so I could notch. But as it turns out in practice I don't use any notch at all. I just know when I get a hit to "X" the area and decise case-by-case what looks attractive enough to dig.

 

[ARC]

Yes, you can calibrate a detector for a specific item. But you'd have to crack the case and play with the potentiometers.

From the controls you can notch out certain ranges.

Better is to put it in all metal or discriminate at a low level and keep your eye on the display and only dig the range you know your target is in.

I made up a chart of what I commonly find so I could notch. But as it turns out in practice I don't use any notch at all. I just know when I get a hit to "X" the area and decise case-by-case what looks attractive enough to dig.

View attachment 1100953

Charlie ... do you think that this has improved "yield" and productivity to the point of "worth it to do" ?

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

"Worth to do it"

Which? The chart or the method of setting discrimination low and deciding based on each target's response.

Yes, the chart was worth doing because it taught me a lot about my detector when I was learning it. i dug everything and will have days I still do. My original intention was to see where I could notch (a novelty to me as my prior detectors did not have a notch ability). But in the past few years I only set masks and notches if I am in an extremely trashy picnic area with little hopes for older coins.

Is it worth anything to someone else, especially if they have another make/model? Maybe not so much. But it does show the relative signal of commonly encountered coins and I keep adding to it as I find additional coins or gather more data.