explorer 2 settings, opinions please

[tokens70]

Hey everybody, could some of you explorer users give me your opinions on which are the best settings for this machine for general hunting to maximize depth without getting a bunch of false signals. I normally run it on what the pics show. I have not had this detector very long, so any advice would be helpful. Also i normally hunt in very trashy areas and the detector goes crazy on the iron junk with high pitch signals, which silver also sounds like
Thanks for any help, Chris

 

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[Iron Patch]

If you list all you settings it will help. But for starters you're on the right path, but it seems like you're closer to my settings which I don't think anyone new could use in iron because it is very noisy. What is probably contributing to your problem is running at the max sens., even if it is in auto.. With your detector at 100% sens. and constantly adjusting in auto, it is probably adding a little to the noise. In a trashy area it is definitely not operating at anywhere near 32 so you'd be better off dropping down lower, maybe around 20 man. sens. and getting used to it that way. You probably won't stay in auto forever so might as well make the change now. If you have your gain set high it would also add to the noise, but I am very big on keeping the gain at max, and think you'd be better off making the detector stable around that. Your Ironmask setting looks like it's about -14 which is pretty low disc., and good, but will make noise, so it's a matter of how to best deal with it. Raise the IM, or change the other things like the sens. to quiet it down some.

PS... I also started at 100mph and dug many empty holes and got very frustrated. But once I realized I wasn't going to conquer the world of detecting and made little changes it slowly started to sink in.

 

[stasys]

lower your sensitivity down down down, your sensitivity for hunting in iron to to high, switch sensitivity in manual and lower it till 24 after 22 after 19 and some times till 16 or lower. yes you will loose depth but you will hear clear target signal near iron. I usually go up sen.then is open going down when is crowded by iron and I think most of the people do this. just from me --reed IP posts and you will see what ells. good luck and lower your coil down down down till you scratch the ground. Stasys

 

[tokens70]

Thank you IP & STASYS for your input on my concerns about the EXP 2 I will try to lower the sens, & see how that works. I have been detecting for years, but usually hunt with tesoro or fisher 1266x & never had a tone I.D. or target display detector before, so i suppose it will take some time to get used to Thanks again, Chris

 

[Iron Patch]

Thank you IP & STASYS for your input on my concerns about the EXP 2 I will try to lower the sens, & see how that works. I have been detecting for years, but usually hunt with tesoro or fisher 1266x & never had a tone I.D. or target display detector before, so i suppose it will take some time to get used to Thanks again, Chris

Forget the ID and just use it the same way as your other units. (sound only) With the Explorer you can't get away with a long sweep as much as you could with your previous units. The rule for the explorer is.... the more trash the shorter your sweep length, and if the iron is heavy then you're going to be down to nothing more than a pinpoint motion.... aka the "Minelab wiggle". The wiggle from many directions and catching the little blip of a low tone (conductive mode) is how you work those tough targets out. Eventually you'll be able to run the detector similar to your screen above and all the noise will make sense, but it will take a while.

 

[iron_foot]

here is the setting i am using on my explorer xs if anyone is interested. the machine setup this way ain't for the faint hearted but you will winkle out thoughs small finds, hammered coins etc. plus the recovery speed of the machine is better setup this way. be prepared for a lot more noise this way mind but once you have trained your brain to recognize what noise's to dig and what to ignore it's like second nature and all great detecting from their.
like i said to the mate the other day when he said how the hell can you use your explorer setup like that. i said its a bit like listening to 3 different peoples conversations at once and deciding which conversation sounds the more interesting. i can hear the good stuff next to the rubbish not like when you use iron mask which like it says mask's the iron and often to much of the good stuff at the same time.

i started of using iron mask set at say -10 then went down to -12 then went down to -15 and after a few weeks as i got used to the machine set this way i went from using iron Mask on to using it off and using the nails reject pattern, which was quit noisy to use at first because of not using a great deal of discrimination but i persevered with this setting and done really well with it and my finds rate went up. now i am using the settings mentioned below and i am having some great success with.

ADVANCED MODE (bare minimum discrimination)

Display_smart
Sensitivity_22 or stable as possible
auto Sensitivity_off
Threshold_8
ion mask_off
Sounds_conduct
Response_audio 3
Recovery_deep
th tone_1
Variability_10
Limits_9
volume_max
volume_gain 9
noise_5

(STEP 1) set the above settings into the explorer then go back in to the menu and press the setting button. then select to save either in (user A or B) then OK. now press the detect button to go back to the main detect screen.

(STEP 2)
go in to the menu and then press the select button. now press the clear button and you will now notice that the small screen in the top left corner has completely cleared. now press the detect button 4 times or until you get back to the advanced edit screen. now push the top left shift button till the small black cursor shows. now move the cursor up to the top left corner of the screen. now press the left middle shift key till you see a cross appears. then press the detect button to come out of the edit screen and you should mow have a small square in the top left corner of your smart screen.

(STEP 3)
now this bit is important: if you don't do this part, when you switch the machine off then back on again the screen will go back to the pattern you were using previously: now go in to the menu and press the save button and save in one of the save slots. now press the detect button till you are back to the advanced smart screen.
i find this program hears the smaller good targets a bit closer to iron targets than the nails reject pattern does but the machine may be a little bit more noisier to search with and you will hear smaller bits of iron as well.
because you are searching using conduct sounds sometimes a iron signal can be mistaken for a silver/copper signal if say the smart screen wont settle in one spot because of say ground conditions etc. so a great way of testing to no wether a signal found is just iron or not, if your not that botherd about not being able to use the smart screen, is to detect on sounds alone and display the (audio / sounds) screen on the machine all the time and if you get one of those tones that your not sure about, quickly switch from conduct to ferrous sounds and if the tone changes from a high tone to a low growl tone its just iron. if it stays a high tone or mid tone dig it. you are still able to use the pinpoint this way as well.

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my new settings

nails reject pattern

my latest find. a Middle Bronze Age Palstave Axe head
[youtube=425,350]wTYCB4P6foA[/youtube]

 

[tokens70]

Thanks again IP & also thanks to I_F for the program settings. I did lower sens to manual 16 to 12 depending on the trash & i actually come up with some more keepers, so thanks again!!!! Chris

 

[Iron Patch]

Thanks again IP & also thanks to I_F for the program settings. I did lower sens to manual 16 to 12 depending on the trash & i actually come up with some more keepers, so thanks again!!!! Chris

Like I said, just bump your Ironmask and sense a notch here and there and one day you'll be able to pretty much run it wide open and all the noise will make sense. But it's not a thing you can rush to do because it doesn't work that way.

 

[iron_foot]

like Iron Patch says take it step by step, train your ears to recognize the good sounds and day by day all the noise will make sense and your finds rate will in prove. it has took me quit a wile taking it step by step to get to the way i am using my machine now and i have never looked back or gone back to older settings. persevere with each advance settings you make and you will be glad you did.
the best advice i can give if you are fairly new to using the explorer is to stay with using iron mask set at say -10 for a wile and get used to the way the machine responds etc for few weeks, then drop it down to -12 then down to -15 and as the weeks go by, and by this time the machine should make more sense. then you can move on to maybees the nails only pattern but it will take some getting used to because of all the extra noise you will get but as before stick with it and over the weeks it will all make sense and become like second nature. the more you detect the quicker each time you will (train your ears)

 

[black_cat]

Hi,