Question for you Pros!

[BULL]

I have a Treasure Hunter XJ9 and I know that it is not one of the premiere detectors out there. I have been finding stuff with it so I am not unhappy with it but still trying to learn it. Someone on here is one of the threads had said that if you are not finding quarters at 9" + that your dectector wasn't any good. SO... that got me to thinking what this one I have would do.

I dug a hole 18" deep and placed a quarter in it, I got NO signal. Then filled the hole up till it was 9" deep and got a signal but my machine was kind of blinking at me. Now I have a graph of 4 bars and when you get a strong signal or shallow item the bars are all lit up and when it is a small item or a deep item you only get maybe 1 or 2 bars lit up. This time with the quarter at 9" the bars did not even light up but yet I got a small signal "I think". Because of the icons blinking I could not pinpoint it. So I dug up the quarter filled in the hole to about 6" and put the quarter in place. This time I got a good signal and the bars lit up with 2 of them.

Based on this can any of you tell me if I should throw this machine away or is it worth keeping for a while or what? I would hate to think I am MISSING things.

I tried the same thing with a beer can at 9" and got a signal with 2 bars.

Appreciate any help you guys could give me here.

 

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[jeff of pa]

Based on what you Say, I.d say your Detector is working Fine. You Got A tone Signal on a freshly Buried Quarter, at 6" , Right ? that means a Coin Or other Object that Has Been In the ground, long enough to get a Halo, will give a Signal at , atleast 8". you also said you got a Meter Reading on a freshly Buried Quarter at 9" so there is a posability of getting a Tone at 9" on a Long time Buried Quarter.
Learn Your Machine & Enjoy it. It Works

Jeff

 

[mrmark55]

You are definitly on the right track. Sounds like you will do just fine. Enjoy it for the fun and don't worry about what detector you are using. If you are finding goodies that is all that matters.
Mr Mark
8)

 

[red]

Howdy there.
I have been MDing for a long time and I have dug silver quarters,1860 half dimes, and 1827 Mexican Reals at 4 inches.
So if your getting a signal on a quarter at 6in. then your doing fine.
Maybe after you have been hunting for a while you might want a more powerful detector,but for now have fun with the one you have and dig everything whether a good or faint signal.

HH Red

 

[stoney56]

Bull, it sounds like you're doing OK wiht your machine. What they're telling U is learn what you're machine can and can't do. Try at different settings, set up a test garden like you did with the quarter and leave the stuff buried in the garden. They'll eventuallly build up a hola effect like Jeff was talking about. As you get more familiar with it, the better you'll get and then you'll have enough experience to decide if you want to upgrade. In the meantime, get out, enjoy the hobby, and have fun while you can. HH and best of luck.

 

[BULL]

Thanks for the encouragement and the guidence. I think once I find my first ring I will be happy.

 

[mvSWAT]

Bull, I started off with a Treasure Hunter 3030, I was doing well finding all kinds of stuff (rings/coins) and having a great time. I had always wanted a White's XLT and once I had enough money I bought a used one. I'll admit that it's better than my 3030, but I think it's all in how much you want to put into it...you don't have to have the very best equipment to be a good player if you know what I mean.

 

[minelabex1000]

First off, to say a metal detector is no good because it can't detect a quarter at 9 inches depth is getting carried away. A beach detector should be able to do that, but not all types of hunting environments require it.

I find the vast majority of my coins at 2 3/4 inches depth. If there's sod the old coins will be about 1 to 2 inches deeper than the base of the sod (roots).

Two land places where old coins are extremely deep are landfill and beach situations.

Don't take depths reports too seriously. Many people dig way past the object and then guess the depth by looking at the hole they made. Or, the target is really on the side of the hole and they suddenly find it as they widen it. Some people then assume the object was at the bottom of the hole.

In many ordinary situations, depth is important mainly for ground coverage area. The greater the depth the more coin depth area you're covering with each swing of the coil.

 

[bakergeol]

Well the truth is YES your depth sucks. So What?
You were quite happy detecting before you saw that 9 inche depth post and somebody made you have doubts about your machine. Just use your machine and have fun. Remember, entry level detectors are simply designed to introduce new folks to the hobby and not be compared to high end detectors. We don't expect a $150 detector to have the same performance as a $1000 detector.

Is deep depth that important? Well it depends on where you detect and where you are in this hobby. A lot of folks on this forum use low end machines and visit readily accessible modern areas such as parks and schools? where recent clad and jewelry drops provide plenty of fun. End of story. For those folks who want to specialize in finding 19th century coins or CW relics well they upgrade to better detectors. Yep I have found a lot of 100 year old coinage near the surface, however I have also found a lot of old coinage which was barely detectable with my high end detector(makes me wonder what I missed). Yep soil conditions vary from area to area. In Florida(not the beach) 30 year old coins are commonly found at 12 inches. Actually the ability to detect coins around trash is just an important feature as depth is for a high end detector.

It is kind of funny when you think about it.? You take a $1000 detector to a area and find 2 mercs and an IH which were deeper or were masked by trash and were missed by low end detectors. It is a big victory- post them proudly on a forum. Here? is proof why you buy high end. Well thats 93 cents worth of coinage for an afternoon's work which will not pay for your gas. No wonder my parents thought that my hobby was nuts.

George

 

[stoney56]

Remember too that the key to older coins is location. If you go to areas that have not had people around for 40-75 years, there's a good chance that you'll find old coins on or very close to the surface. Depth is a mental factor as well-if you tell yourself that you're machine isn't good enough, then you've already put yourself in a frame of mind that says what's the use. Myself, I only worry about depth on a DEEP competition hunt. I'm only reinterating but if you really notice, most finds are at about 4-6". Too a lot of coins found are in the bottom of a hole, which sometimes indicate that when dug they are dislodged and fall to a lower depth-thus it's proclaimed that it was 9-12" down. JMO. HH

 

[diggit 65]

BULL

Most of your diggin you will find good stuff within that 6" range just diggit and have fun with what you have .If you feel the need later on, upgrade .My first detector just beeped and I dug .It's all treasure if you find it.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? DIGGIT

 

[omnicognic]

What I didn't see mentioned is the fact that your depth will be governed by more factors than the make and design of your machine! You have to concider the soil composition(minerals that can throw off your detector), sweep speed, battery strength, and the objects orientation in the ground. Your experience with your machine is the best tool you have! Plant a coin garden and watch your experience grow! 8)

 

[BULL]

Thanks for all the replies, I really appreciate them. I'm gonna keep digging and up grade down the line.