My 1st Day With the Explorer

[Michigan Badger]

NOTE: This is an UpDated post!

Okay, my Explorer XS arrived a couple days ago and I've been reading "Mastering the ME XS & S" by Sabisch.

I started this morning at a site that produces wheats and lots of copper trash. My count as of (3) hours hunting and 17+ holes is (1) large square nail.

Lots of holes with nothing. I'd get screaming solid signals so I dug the holes wide and deep and sifted the soil...nada.

Finally up from the depths of 4 inches came my big nail.

-----------------------

I went back to my land fill area where new coins can be very deep. It's due to snow removal and plows pushing dirt with the snow.

This time I learned something.

The Explorer will sing-out sometimes with a constant repeatable signal over certain ground (give a 30+ readings) but it may not be a diggable target.

The targets one is looking for may be weaker but they have a certain quality that one must learn by doing.

It's hard to explain in words but the two signals are very close but there is a difference between the false and true signals and sensitivity settings don't always help. I ran mostly in Quickstart at 14 sensitivity and dug better than 20 empty holes with the detector screaming and reading 24-32. After sifting the dirt I came up with nothing. A classic case of falsing over mineralized soils.

So, I began to listen for more solid signals in at least one direction. After passing up a few dozen screams and high readings (but false signals), I came upon a weak but smoother signal. It sounded just one way. I dug the plug and the signal greatly improved. Down 8-10 inches was a memorial penny. My 1st Explorer coin!

I continued along and dug an old dime-sized zinc bottle cap at a good 6-7 inches deep. The reading was about 24 as I recall and the signal was loud and solid.

Next I got a good signal near the old sidewalk. It was only good one way and broke up the other. It was very deep. I dug down a good 10-12 inches and found a shotgun brass.

Okay! So at least now I know it works!

I had hunted this very site over many times before with other machines and none detected these things.

I can see already the Explorer truly is very deep and it does get the stuff others miss.

But due to it's power it's also prone to extreme falsing. But with a little effort the false signals are somewhat easy to sort out.

The secret in part is the quality of the sound of the signal. But I'm not really surprised; that's the way it is with all machines

So the bottom line is this, the Explorer guys are NOT windjammers.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[rmptr]

MB, how you doin' on the sweep speed?

Try fast, or slow, for better results?

Thanks
rmptr

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Treasure of Victoria Peak - Grab it through Amazon!

[Michigan Badger]

MB, how you doin' on the sweep speed?

Try fast, or slow, for better results?

Thanks
rmptr

rmptr I've tried them all. The Minelab Explorer is much like the Tesoro's in this regard. A very slow search and swing speed is necessary if you want the deeper finds.

The challenge in learning the XS will be in learning the sounds made by good targets masked by iron. I now know that clean coin tests are not worth much to me due to our extreme amounts of iron. By clean coin tests I mean simply placing a coin on the ground and checking its sound. They must be buried near iron to more closely emulate actual hunting conditions.

So I've been testing coins beside larger iron nails and that has told me a lot. Most one-way signals are nonferrous metals near iron. This is what a lot of THers mistake for coins on edge. They get a good signal one way but not the other so they assume the coin dug was originally on its edge. When in fact it most likely was masked on one side by iron.

As for target separation I still have to learn that. At this point I don't have it with the Explorer and coins have to be about 4 inches from a large square nail before I can pull out a signal with the 10 1/2 inch coil. This is unacceptable in our area due to iron about every 2-4 inches.

I'm planning to experiment more with nonferrous tones and low iron discrimination to see if the old Nautilus trick works with the Explorer.

With Nautilus one hears both the iron and nonferrous at the same time. Iron signals go to one ear and nonferrous to the other via stereo headphones. This is called DMC technology and is what has kept Nautilus in business. It almost totally eliminates iron masking. But obviously no detector can see through a large hunk of iron and see a silver dime under it. This fact is why a shovel and screen are still the ultimate detectors

I'm thinking the Explorer should be able to sound iron but at the same time pull out the nonferrous signals. We'll see.

 

[Don in SJ]

Sound files are at the bottom of the page.

http://www.geocities.com/treasureport/charts.htm

Thanks much for the link!

I just learned something new. Coins can register far left with the crosshair. Somebody told me coins are always on the top right (or near it).

Oh boy! Yesterday I passed up a dozen high tone far upper left signals.

Much to learn!

I disagree with those who say coins can register far left on crosshairs. That discussion did come up just last week and I do believe those who said it does were SE users, not XS users on that forum. Eight years of use and never have had a coin register far left unless iron was near it. Just don't happen, I trust the crosshairs, they even can help distinguish a counterfeit coin if it is made of more base metals in lieu of silver or copper.

Don

 

[Michigan Badger]

Sound files are at the bottom of the page.

http://www.geocities.com/treasureport/charts.htm

Thanks much for the link!

I just learned something new. Coins can register far left with the crosshair. Somebody told me coins are always on the top right (or near it).

Oh boy! Yesterday I passed up a dozen high tone far upper left signals.

Much to learn!

I disagree with those who say coins can register far left on crosshairs. That discussion did come up just last week and I do believe those who said it does were SE users, not XS users on that forum. Eight years of use and never have had a coin register far left unless iron was near it. Just don't happen, I trust the crosshairs, they even can help distinguish a counterfeit coin if it is made of more base metals in lieu of silver or copper.

Don

Yes, I agree with your disagreeing.

A clean coin not by iron will always register on the right side on my XS.

But, in our ground a coin or ring by itself is a rarity. The last few indians and silvers I dug were in nail city.

Therefore the crosshair can be most anywhere when hunting our areas.

I think for high trash sites the whole ballgame is picking out those off-sounding coin signals due to iron masking.

I see this all going the same way that it went with all other detectors I've owned. That is, mostly I need to dig all solid signals.

Due to the excellent Explorer electronics I'm hoping to better distinguish the unlikely targets from the more likely.

In the future I'll use the nonferrous tones setup listed above and dig all signals that hold or lock on better.

 

[Iron Patch]

Sound files are at the bottom of the page.

http://www.geocities.com/treasureport/charts.htm

Thanks much for the link!

I just learned something new. Coins can register far left with the crosshair. Somebody told me coins are always on the top right (or near it).

Oh boy! Yesterday I passed up a dozen high tone far upper left signals.

Much to learn!

I disagree with those who say coins can register far left on crosshairs. That discussion did come up just last week and I do believe those who said it does were SE users, not XS users on that forum. Eight years of use and never have had a coin register far left unless iron was near it. Just don't happen, I trust the crosshairs, they even can help distinguish a counterfeit coin if it is made of more base metals in lieu of silver or copper.

Don

But not all masked coin signals come out as coin signals. Any coin that's a coin signal will probably register close to where it should, but if it's deep and surrounded by junk all bets are are off. I don't use the screen but every once in a while when i know I have a very masked target I try the get a good reading on the screen for fun, and I have had times where it was left side and would not move no matter what I did. As I said above some of the small masked targets I find don't even come on the sceen because it's just a speck of a low sound mixed in the mess of sound around it, which is the iron.

I'm surprised when you get a really masked deep coin in ferrous mode that only gives a hint of a higher sound it never registers on the left side. But I know we hunt a different way because my threshold tells me a lot and I'd be lost by not using one. Different strokes for different blokes.. I'll have to save that one for Crusader.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I'm surprised when you get a really masked deep coin in ferrous mode that only gives a hint of a high sound it never registers on the left side. But I know we hunt a different way because my threshold tells me a lot and I'd be lost by not using one. Different strokes for different blokes.. I'll have to save that one for Crusader.

You're way more advanced in this than I am so you've lost me.

One big problem I have here is a shortage of deep old coins. I do have lots of deep old piecces of copper/zinc/tin/iron trash.

I wish back in the old days they had used silver sheet as roofing material and gold for nails

You old pros with the Explorer know what you're doing and sooner or later (probably later) I'll figure it out too.

But! We're having fun learning

 

[Iron Patch]

I'm surprised when you get a really masked deep coin in ferrous mode that only gives a hint of a high sound it never registers on the left side. But I know we hunt a different way because my threshold tells me a lot and I'd be lost by not using one. Different strokes for different blokes.. I'll have to save that one for Crusader.

You're way more advanced in this than I am so you've lost me.

One big problem I have here is a shortage of deep old coins. I do have lots of deep old piecces of copper/zinc/tin/iron trash.

I wish back in the old days they had used silver sheet as roofing material and gold for nails

You old pros with the Explorer know what you're doing and sooner or later (probably later) I'll figure it out too.

But! We're having fun learning

When you hunt in ferrous mode and very low disc. at iron sites there are lots of low sounds and the idea is to dig the higher tones. If the target is very masked the sound might only be slightly higher than the low tones, just enough for your ears to tell you to dig. In those cases I'm surprised Don would not get left side screen readings.

 

[Michigan Badger]

When you hunt in ferrous mode and very low disc. at iron sites there are lots of low sounds and the idea is to dig the higher tones. If the target is very masked the sound might only be slightly higher than the low tones, just enough for your ears to tell you to dig. In those cases I'm surprised Don would not get left side screen readings.

Oh I see, it was directed most toward Don. I thought for a minute I had written something profound and was curious as to what it was.

What you wrote helps me a lot.

This is much like when I used the Nautilus DMC IIb. The really deep nonferrous stuff in between shallower iron trash would give a little peep or tick high tone along with the stronger low tones of the shallower iron (I loved Nautilus for this). But, there were other things I didn't like about Nautilus so I left the brand. For one their coils crap out way too easily.

 

[Iron Patch]

When you hunt in ferrous mode and very low disc. at iron sites there are lots of low sounds and the idea is to dig the higher tones. If the target is very masked the sound might only be slightly higher than the low tones, just enough for your ears to tell you to dig. In those cases I'm surprised Don would not get left side screen readings.

Oh I see, it was directed most toward Don. I thought for a minute I had written something profound and was curious as to what it was.

What you wrote helps me a lot.

This is much like when I used the Nautilus DMC IIb. The really deep nonferrous stuff in between shallower iron trash would give a little peep or tick high tone along with the stronger low tones of the shallower iron (I loved Nautilus for this). But, there were other things I didn't like about Nautilus so I left the brand. For one their coils crap out way too easily.

I like the Nautilus too! If we were to rewind the clock about ten years it's definitely what I would be using.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I like the Nautilus too! If we were to rewind the clock about ten years it's definitely what I would be using.

I hear ya. Everyone has tried to tell Nautilus they must seriously upgrade but it all falls on deaf ears.

If Nautilus were to take up where they left off 20 years ago and move into the year 2008, Minelab would have a serious compeditor.

But I fear they're doomed. There will always be those few devotees to the brand and a few who will jump in and back out. But that brand could rule if they would only complete what they started.

Nautilus reminds me a lot of Michigan's automotive industry. They're drifting along to ultimate shipwreck.

 

[Iron Patch]

I like the Nautilus too! If we were to rewind the clock about ten years it's definitely what I would be using.

I hear ya. Everyone has tried to tell Nautilus they must seriously upgrade but it all falls on deaf ears.

If Nautilus were to take up where they left off 20 years ago and move into the year 2008, Minelab would have a serious compeditor.

But I fear they're doomed.

I don't really have a problem with the detector, I'm just too used to the explorer to make a change. There was a lot I liked about the IIB.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I don't really have a problem with the detector, I'm just too used to the explorer to make a change. There was a lot I liked about the IIB.

They're still very good and I do miss the IIB. But, they need to upgrade the coil design to make it hold up better. The no.1 problem in returns to the factory has to do with coil failures.

I owned 2 Nautilus IIBs and both had coil problems. When they worked I'd put them up against any brand.

They finally did something about the shaft. They simply took the idea their customers came up with. This is a step in the right direction.

Now if they make it lighter and made a more durable/stable coil---well, I'd buy another like real fast

The Nautilus is 10 times easier to use than any Minelab yet it's unbelievably deep. And it can pull out coins from trash like nothing else. But what good is it if the coil has to be returned to the factor every other month?

I had to return a brand new 15 inch coil and when I got it back they cracked it badly and just covered the crack with epoxy. It didn't work any better and I next to gave it away cheap on ebay.