New to me Explorer SE - Questions

[KirkS]

I just got my new-to-me Explorer SE (with the 11" pro coil) the other day, and took it out for a spin last night, and I have a couple of questions I'm hoping the explorer users can help me with.

I was using Ferrous Sounds, based on what I've read, and I was okay doing so. I learned quickly where pull tabs and screw caps show up on the Smartfind screen, and I have a pretty good handle on where coins show up. But, where does gold come in on the Smartfind screen? I was at the beach, and was getting tired of digging pulltabs at 10", but then I was worried I may be 'discriminating out' gold if I didn't dig them.

After the beach, I went to a park that is located where an early (late 1800's) hotel had been, and the park was littered with pulltabs and screwcaps. I managed to pull out a few coins, but there were signals every 6", and it made it nearly impossible to find something worthwhile to dig. I would have needed a bulldozer to really find anything I think.

I was using the Smartfind 95% of the time, as the Fe/Co numbers I'm still getting a grasp on, and the find made it that mush easier to get a handle on what's below. Do most of you use the Smartfind, or the numbers when hunting?

I found the pinpointing to be a little difficult, or confusing. I'm used to the sound getting louder as I'm closer to being centered above the target, but it seemed as though the machine nulls out when I'm directly above the target. Am I correct in that? There were 2 times where the signal became stronger where I expected the target to be, but the other times it seemed to null out above the target.

For the abridged version:

1) Where would/does gold fall on the Smartfind screen, or could it be anywhere?
2) What's the best way to handle high trash areas?
3) Which is the preferred screen for hunting? VDI's, or Smartfind?
4) How does the pinpointing feature work on the SE?

Thanks!

P.S. - Andy Sabisch's book is in the mail, and should have it by the weekend.

 

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[MrMikeJackie]

1- Everywhere.
2- Get a small coil and go slow.
3- Neither...... listen instead.
4- Very well actually, practice.
Good luck!

 

[KirkS]

Thanks MrMikeJackie.

On Q 3, I forgot to add that I primarily listen to the tones first, then look at the screen to potentially see what the target is. I read that the display is somewhat slow/delayed.

On Q 4, the questions is more of which way is it supposed to work; null out over the target, or get louder? That's where I'm confused based on my very limited use.

Also, in regards to the pinpointing, is the depth scale and screen (Smartfind or numbers) still showing accurate info? On my other machine, the target info is not valid during pinpointing.

 

[MrMikeJackie]

Go with the numbers instead, louder until right over it, still accurate.

 

[IDXMonster]

Kirk....you have to move the coil off the target,engage pinpoint,then come back over the target for the feature to work as designed. If you engage pinpoint while over the target,you will get just what you're experiencing.
Now...some guys will say to just dig everything that makes a sound to get a feel for what things read as. I'll take a minute here to save you from yourself if you're thinking about walking that road. You have a 1300.00 dollar discriminator. Nobody will ever sufficiently explain to me WHY,as a COINHUNTER,I would want to shoot anything that moves. To start with,personally I would black out everything on your screen except the upper right quadrant, this is where the majority of the 0-8" coins live,with the exception of nickels. Deep coins,coins next to garbage,coins in iron,coins riding unicorns...they can be somewhere else,but you are learning. You don't learn trigonometry before you learn algebra,let's not try to. Coins have a certain QUALITY in the sound most of the time-not the sound or tone itself,but the quality. They ramp up and down in a certain way,and over time your ear will get it. Other things will fool you....aluminum screw caps,bolts,nuts,washers....it's just the way it is,dig them up. They read as coins.
Gold? There are so many configurations and alloys that they are all over the place. Gold is a location thing,more so than coins. At the beach,if you're after gold,you have to dig about everything that's Conductive. Or so I hear...

 

[KirkS]

IDX, thanks. That makes sense about the pinpointing, and it'll certainly help. I'm going to a park tonight that I've had good luck at with my other machines, and it isn't too trashy. I'm going after coins, with hopes of jewelry also being thrown in there. I'll disc out all but the top left 25%, and see how it goes.

Interesting thing about last night, I only dug one bit of foil. Previously, it seemed every third target was foil.

 

[MrMikeJackie]

I'm warning you, don't use too much discrimination with that machine. Unless you're a snail and want to move like one. Explorer based machines have horrible recovery speeds. Learn to open up the screen and LISTEN. It will be frustrating at first but it will save you much needed sanity.

 

[KirkS]

Ok.... I'll try both ways, I'm just not looking forward to digging pulltabs at 12"! LOL

 

[MrMikeJackie]

It's simple really. You have one of THE DEEPEST detectors for coins ever made. But it has a trade off. You have to go slower than most machines. It needs time to search deep into the ground. If you have high discrimination it's not going to search anything, just keep nulling while you wait for it to recover. Literally, wait.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

KirkS,

IMHO, I run mine for most hunts with a wide open (if small iron is around I will introduce some discrimination through iron mask) screen, in ferrous and key in on the audio. The Explorer series are audio machines and will require some time to learn. Using the smart screen is easier to understand, just dig everything where the items you seek can be found. Yes, you will dig your share of trash, but being a relic hunter I dig almost everything anyway. For coin shooting you can set up the machine to find “only” US coins if you have them to use in the programming phase. But even then, you will be digging some trash. The SE is a very powerful machine and can reach some very impressive depths…swing the machine slow and keep the coil low.

As for pin pointing, once learned you will be dead on the target.

Regards,

Doc

 

[KirkS]

I went out last night for about 3-4 hours in a park near me. It's a park I've been to a few times, and thought it wasn't too trashy. With the Explorer, it's trashy. This thing is deep and sensitive! I did admittedly pick a poor area for trying to avoid trash, as I decided to do the bleachers. But I managed to pull a couple of bucks out from among the trash, and was able to avoid *most* pull tabs. I did dig what I thought would be pull tabs to see if I'm learning, and it appears as though I am, as they were pull tabs. I started off in ferrous sounds, but switched to conductive tones as I was tired of hearing all the pull tabs. I do prefer ferrous though.

I did get my first 'foreign' coin, a 1974 Canadian one cent at roughly 10". That was cool.

I'm going to re-read the manual. I was going to try different disc patterns last night, but it didn't seem to be something you can do on the fly. I ended up using the previous owners pattern. The pattern he had was the upper right third, and lower right third were discriminated out, but the middle third of the ferrous side was open. As I'm new to MD, not just the SE, I'm not sure what that open area would relate to. I'm thinking gold maybe?

I haven't even figured out how to get to a fully open screen yet.... man I can't wait for Andy's book to get here....