New Member/1266 User

BuckleBoy

Gold Member
Jun 12, 2006
18,123
9,688
Moonlight and Magnolias
🥇 Banner finds
4
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hi, and WELCOME! ;D ;D ;D


I have used my 1266-X since I was 13 years old. Now it's 16 years later and still no repairs. Did you have any specific questions in mind? I have a few tips about the machine though if you'd like or need them...


Regards,


Buckleboy
 

Hill Billy

Bronze Member
Jun 3, 2007
1,766
76
Detector(s) used
Whites XLT
Primary Interest:
Other
I hunt with a 1266x and totally love it.It's the only one i have ever owned but it finds the goodies.BuckleBoy on this site also uses a 1266 and his posts say it all.Welcome to the forum and good luck with your machine. HB
 

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FisherMan_1266X

FisherMan_1266X

Jr. Member
Feb 18, 2008
69
0
Thanks for the welcome!

A little history to begin: I started hunting in 1986/87... I had a 1265 first, and then got a 1266 for a little bit after that (and had to sell it) - and I just recently got another 1266... I primarily look for old silver coins, but I won't pass up any clad if I walk over it... so, on to my questions...

One of my favorite places to hunt is a lot where house(s) have been demo'ed - but the bad part about those places is that they're usually a junkyard, and the 1266 just makes *so* much noise... I understand about using sensitivity to cut down on the noise, but I was just wondering how you handle extremely trashy areas with it? Do you utilize the dual-disc at all? Would it be better to turn Disc 1 *down* rather than up to accept more targets?

Now, I can and do find coins in the middle of really trashy stuff, but it gets to be intolerable after a while of listening to all the discrimination noise...

Basically, I just want to get the *most* out of my 66, and although my methods have been mostly successful in the past, I am positive there are many things I still don't know about the machine, and just want to keep on learnin'!

Another thing is how to better distinguish between tiny, shallow objects (can slaw, grommets, pencil erasers, etc.) and deep, coin-sized objects - as they both give a very similar weak, sometimes broken tone... What I usually do is use the pinpoint mode - I've found that a deep coin will pinpoint more quietly than a small, shallow object (and will usually give the same signal "footprint")... does that sound correct?

My regards,
Robert
 

BuckleBoy

Gold Member
Jun 12, 2006
18,123
9,688
Moonlight and Magnolias
🥇 Banner finds
4
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
FisherMan_1266X said:
Thanks for the welcome!

A little history to begin: I started hunting in 1986/87... I had a 1265 first, and then got a 1266 for a little bit after that (and had to sell it) - and I just recently got another 1266...  I primarily look for old silver coins, but I won't pass up any clad if I walk over it...   so, on to my questions...

One of my favorite places to hunt is a lot where house(s) have been demo'ed - but the bad part about those places is that they're usually a junkyard, and the 1266 just makes *so* much noise...  I understand about using sensitivity to cut down on the noise, but I was just wondering how you handle extremely trashy areas with it? Do you utilize the dual-disc at all? Would it be better to turn Disc 1 *down* rather than up to accept more targets?

Now, I can and do find coins in the middle of really trashy stuff, but it gets to be intolerable after a while of listening to all the discrimination noise...

Basically, I just want to get the *most* out of my 66, and although my methods have been mostly successful in the past, I am positive there are many things I still don't know about the machine, and just want to keep on learnin'!

Another thing is how to better distinguish between tiny, shallow objects (can slaw, grommets, pencil erasers, etc.) and deep, coin-sized objects - as they both give a very similar weak, sometimes broken tone...  What I usually do is use the pinpoint mode - I've found that a deep coin will pinpoint more quietly than a small, shallow object (and will usually give the same signal "footprint")...  does that sound correct?

My regards,
Robert

Robert,

I will say this... the 1266-X is not an adept coin cherrypicking machine--especially in light of some newer machines that have ID numbers and a depth meter...  It can and will do well in trashy areas, but it will always give partial signals for the discriminated targets.  (This is VERY handy in finding CW sites and old housesites though, and I wouldn't have it any other way!). 

With regards to your question, I am familiar with the sensitivity "trick," but I wouldn't turn the sensitivity down--it changes the quality of the tone (makes the tone "flatter" and less distinguishable from the background "chatter") as well as having the side-effect of losing depth.  I have never liked that method personally.  What I do in trashy areas--if I'm only out for coins--is to use the dual disc mode and switch back and forth.  You'll still dig some large aluminum and iron, but that's par for the course with the machine.  Pinpoint's overload "whine" will tell you when you have a large target rather than a small one, and I agree with you about using the pinpoint mode to distinguish the difference between two similar "footprints" in disc mode on a deep coin vs. shallower target.  I use this ALL THE TIME for extending the depth of the machine--even if I get a broken signal that I wouldn't normally dig, if the depth (pinpoint) checks out, I dig.  You probably already know that you get a "fuzzier" signal on a deeper item in general, and a nice sharp onset to the beep itself when you have a shallower target or a coin.  Now, that said...if I were cherrypicking coins with this machine, I would CERTAINLY have missed my two oldest coins for the year so far (1700's Silvers) because of how thin they are.  You might also miss half-dimes, brass relics, lead items, pewter, and tombac.  So you pretty much have to dig in trashy areas.

As sites get thin, I coax more depth from the machine (at least a foot of depth total on coin-sized targets) by turning the Disc 1 knob down into the nail range and riding the Disc 2 just below 5.  When you lower the operating disc. mode on the machine, you will hear more, and you'll have the power of making the decision on digging the target.  Coil orientation, orientation of the item in the ground, surface features like cornstalks, and other factors will affect your depth as well--so you have to make sure that more than the usual conductivity range of desirable targets sound good in order to make sure you get everything.  This means that I dig targets that I wouldn't normally dig--in order to get the maximum depth out of the 1266!  I have dug, MANY CW bullets at a foot or more using this method.  I wish it were easier on trashy sites, but yes the machine can drive you a little nuts.  You just have to clean it out.  You *could* just hunt the area with Disc 1 set at 8 and only dig non-overload, small-pinpointing signals.  You'd get coins, but likely miss deep IH's and wheats, an occasional small silver coin, all nickels, all gold, and all small brass. 

What the 1266 lacks on cherrypicking it more than makes up for on CW relics and housesite hunting.  And another reason I don't turn down the sensitivity is this:  In CW relic sites that are *thin*, having this sens. maxed out allows me to get a raise in the threshold tone during a sweep where I am not quite over top of a minieball hiding below a bush, fallen log, or other obstruction that I can't get a direct swipe over.  If you lower the sensitivity, you miss this feature--and in worked out sites, there are more goodies hiding in spots like that than in the easy-to-hunt areas. 

I hope this helps you, and feel free to keep the questions rolling.  I love the machine too, so I'm happy I get the chance to talk about it. 


Regards,


Buckleboy     
 

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FisherMan_1266X

FisherMan_1266X

Jr. Member
Feb 18, 2008
69
0
Y'know, I've only used one other machine for any real length of time (Bounty Hunter Pioneer 101 - yeah, I know... but it finds clad and jewelry like a champ...) so I don't really have a lot to compare my experience with the Fisher to... I have, in the past 4 years, gotten to know the BH very, very well, but I'm so glad I found another 1266...

Just yesterday I went out to a school I've pounded with the BH (that has produced a silver quarter and a few silver rings) and just as I expected, I started getting those sweet, week, weepy signals that i just KNEW were coins, and were, indeed - Wheaties unfortunately, but I just haven't walked over the silver yet.

From my past experience with the '65, I know that it a) loves iron - to the point of hitting nails at Disc 7 down about 8"...), b) loves tiny things - I don't know how many deep, deep pencil erasers, buttons, grommets, beavertails, wads of foil, etc., that I have dug thinking it was a deep coin... c) has a great recovery time (and as well seems to handle nested targets well (trash with a coin)...

My main deal though is dealing with really trash areas... and having been doing this for too many years, I completely understand you gotta dig the crap before you get to the good stuff... Question: do you find that a faster swing speed helps ignore some trash? I've noticed that myself, thought maybe it was just me...

I guess I need to do some air-testing and reacquaint myself with where stuff falls and is disc'ed out... Another question: How would you suggest handling an over-abundance of screwcaps? (disc'ing them out is really not an option, I know...) I have noticed that screwcaps, for whatever reason, seem to give off more of a "square" sounding signal - one that's kinda clipped on either end, and "bangs" rather than having a normal audio level... whereas a coin will have a "rounded" or smoother-edged signal...

Also, and this is more of a general question, does the order of nested objects necessarily matter to the '66? In other words, if you have, say, a rusted iron screwcap a couple of inches above a silver dime, is the machine "seeing" either one of them first, or is it more of an averaging of the 2 objects?

Anyway, sorry for all the questions - I just love hunting with this machine, and I haven't really had the opportunity to yak with anyone else that has much experience with it...

Appreciate ya, bro!
 

BuckleBoy

Gold Member
Jun 12, 2006
18,123
9,688
Moonlight and Magnolias
🥇 Banner finds
4
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Whites DualField PI, Fisher 1266-X and Tesoro Silver uMax
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
FisherMan_1266X said:
From my past experience with the '65, I know that it a) loves iron - to the point of hitting nails at Disc 7 down about 8"...), b) loves tiny things - I don't know how many deep, deep pencil erasers, buttons, grommets, beavertails, wads of foil, etc., that I have dug thinking it was a deep coin... c) has a great recovery time (and as well seems to handle nested targets well (trash with a coin)...

You're right about the machine loving  both tiny things as well as iron.  The machine's ability to pull coins or other "keepers" out of trash is quite exceptional.  I have had an XLT user try some of my signals on nested targets, and he didn't get a signal worth digging on the XLT.  I have found though, that with nested targets, it is absolutely important to grid the area in at least two different directions.  Sometimese these keepers are so cluttered up with iron that there is only a diggable signal at one specific sweep orientation.

FisherMan_1266X said:
My main deal though is dealing with really trash areas...  and having been doing this for too many years, I completely understand you gotta dig the crap before you get to the good stuff...  Question: do you find that a faster swing speed helps ignore some trash? I've noticed that myself, thought maybe it was just me... 

Well...I don't know how fast you sweep versus how fast I do, but I actually slow down a little in trashy areas--not really to help the machine's recovery time (which is excellent anyhow), but to help my ears differentiate between the chatter and a good target.  I've found that when I sweep faster my ears and brain don't have time to make sense of it all.  I've always thought that learning to separate a good target from the background iron chatter was one of the most difficult things for a newcomer to learn about the 1265, 66, or 70-X.  (I know you have a good bit of experience with the 1265, but I just wanted to throw that out there.  Newbies frequenly slow WAY down and focus in on one of the chatter signals and ask "Is this a good one?")

FisherMan_1266X said:
I guess I need to do some air-testing and reacquaint myself with where stuff falls and is disc'ed out...  Another question: How would you suggest handling an over-abundance of screwcaps?    (disc'ing them out is really not an option, I know...) I have noticed that screwcaps, for whatever reason, seem to give off more of a "square" sounding signal - one that's kinda clipped on either end, and "bangs" rather than having a normal audio level...  whereas a coin will have a "rounded" or smoother-edged signal... 

Depending on your discrimination, you can get the screwcaps to be slightly broken signals without tuning them out all together.  This might work for your site, but as you know that disc. level is fairly high, unfortunately.  I also notice a difference in the signal type...but it's the opposite for me.  Most coins I tend to hear as a quick and sudden onset in the "beep" itself, rather than a fuzzy or crackled "edge" to the signal.  Deeper signals tend to be "fuzzier" around the edges, or softer, or both.  That was the case with the Militia Belt Plate from one of my recent hunts--I knew it was deep before I dug.  Funny thing about this great machine is that even though it has no depth meter or ID numbers, you still get a lot of similar information from it if you're perceptive.  So long story short--if you hear this difference in tones--and I agree with you that it's there--it doesn't matter "how" you hear it, or what words you use to describe the differences in the edges of the beep.  Those edges ARE different, and you can use that to your advantage on your site.

FisherMan_1266X said:
Also, and this is more of a general question, does the order of nested objects necessarily matter to the '66? In other words, if you have, say, a rusted iron screwcap a couple of inches above a silver dime, is the machine "seeing" either one of them first, or is it more of an averaging of the 2 objects?

I know that with a nails, you can change the orientation of your sweep on a nested target to get the nail sideways instead of longways--the detector will fail to "see" such a strong signal on the nail, and you'll get more of a sense of the object below it.  Screwcaps will be tough--since they're round, changing the orientation of your sweep might not be as useful of a technique for you.  In my experience, the machine seems to average the signal out.  Of course, this throws the comments above about the sound of the "edge" of the beep out the window.  So I'm guessing that digging more and thinking less about it would be your best bet--if you want to get everything you can out of the site.

And to echo what I said earlier about sensitivity...I always ride mine as "hot" as possible (knob pushed in and all the way to the right).  If you're hunting with it backed off, you'll get less chatter, but for me it seems to lessen the amount of difference between a good target and the background chatter--everything seems to sound more "flat."  The pinpoint mode is an excellent tool in areas with aluminum cans.  You'll always recognize them--unless they're deep--by the overload "whine" on pinpoint.  I dig even these when I CW relic and housesite hunt (I don't wanna miss that U.S. belt plate!), but other than a coin on top of the ground (which should give a double beep in regular disc mode) there was only once that I got an overload signal at a site and it was a coin.  It was at an old sawmill and someone had hunted it before--a Morgan Dollar and a Barber Half in the same hole.


By the way, I use a 1265 12" coil on my 1266.  It's a great CW relic coil.   8)


Regards,


Buckleboy
 

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