cant make the "X"!

[hed11877]

I went out today and had a little luck, some clad, anyway I would keep gettings hits, I would pan left to right and bing bing bing over the same spot, so when I tried hitting it at anohgt angle it eould go away. Is this normal?

[hollowpointred]

fairly normal. what was probably happening was the target may have been on edge a little bit, and your coil just got a better read on it coming from one direction as opposed to another. i think it happens to everyone from time to time, no matter what machine you use.

[hed11877]

so when that happens should I just dig where I get the beep from?

[hollowpointred]

can you pinpoint it using the pinpoint feature on your ace?

[NH Bob]

Try two things. If the coil cable is real loose then snug it a bit and put a piece of elec.tape to hold it .
One other thing to watch for with the Ace 250 is run the senativity one click below max. To run it at max will cause falsing in some areas.
Just my thoughts.

[hollowpointred]

Try two things. If the coil cable is real loose then snug it a bit and put a piece of elec.tape to hold it .
One other thing to watch for with the Ace 250 is run the senativity one click below max. To run it at max will cause falsing in some areas.
Just my thoughts.

do you think his machine is falsing? if so, sorry, my advise is not correct. if you are talking about repeatable signals that dont always read from the same direction then that is something different. if your machine is falsing, bobs advise is dead on. the only thing i would do differently would be to set the sensativity as high as you can until it begins to false, and then back it down a notch or two until it stops. sometimes different soil conditions will require a different sensativity setting.

[Montana Jim]

This happens to me routinely while discriminating... sometimes it's the angle/slant of a target like hollowpointred said. For me... usually, it's an iron (small nail for example) signal throwing me off, and sometimes a good target. The ONLY way to get through that learning curve to practice, dig, learn... repeat! I always think long and hard when digging targets that are not sharp and repeatable. (I do NOT use an Ace)

[BuckleBoy]

If it sounds iffy like that, I usually go ahead and recover it. Why not? And if you leave it, chances are you won't hit it the same way with the search coil later on if you pass over it again. If it sounds good from one direction, that's enough for me. I've dug some great items from iffy signals. Sometimes I find that it's old iron, and if it disappears after I cut the plug and bust the item's halo I know it is probably iron. I usually shift the dirt around several times afterwards just to see if the signal reappears though (I know I lost several coins when I first started detecting by failing to do this. Probably left em in the hole on edge.)

Those are my thoughts anyways.

Buckleboy

[NH Bob]

The Ace 250 is known to false at Max sen. which is 8. Most 250s will run fine at 8.
Of course soil and ele interference make their own rules.
This may not be the solution but its something to know if you want knowledge about your machine.

[hed11877]

I have the Ace 150, sorry for the confusion. I dont have the pin piont feature. I'll figure it out,, thanks

[hollowpointred]

hey hed, check out this link to the garrett site. a little helpfull info on pinpointing with the 150.
http://www.garrett.com/hobby/techsup...npointing.htm#

[AxeMan]

I know I'm posting on a old thread. As a newbie too I've been having a hard time making the "X" I've been away from the hobby for over 20 years. My last MD was a Radio Shack and it had a solid "Coil" and a meter on it, all I would do was find a target then move the MD till the meter pinned it self then dig where the center of the coil was. I was real good with it my plugs were so small it was funny. Well last year I dug the old Radio Shack out of the closet late last summer and took it out in the yard. Time and dust had gotten to the "Dial Controls" and all it did was make cracking sounds everytime I tried to adjust it and would not hold a setting. So over the winter I camped out ebay watching Bounty Hunters Quick Draw II's (I was working with a small budget) Just got a deal on one last month $75 and missing a battery cover (Got a replacement from BH so now it's complete) So I take the BH out in the yard get a target and I wound up making a plug the size of my coil, I said to my self I can't be digging hole this size everytime. Well surfing on the web I found this site, and learned how to make the "X" but I still was having a hard time making small plugs.

Here is a technique I came up with that seams to work good for me I like to share. You will need two sticks (or something straight) something that the wind will not blow and your MD will not detect. Find a target buy making your "X". Now drop one of your stick on what you think is the center. Now take your MD and as the same direction as your stick is laying and scan just above that stick with the bottom of your coil and see if you get no hits. Now scan just below the same stick in the same direction with the top of you coil and See if you get no hits. Now if you have to move the stick up or down till you get no hit on the top or the bottom of the stick, the idea is to have the stick down and scan the top and bottom of it and have no hits. Go over the center of the stick now and make sure you get a hit.

Now turn your self at a right angle and do the same thing to make the second part of the "X" Lay the stick down over the other (Careful not to move the last one you just set) Scan and move the second stick until you get no hits moving the new stick if needed till you get no hit just like you did on the first stick you set.

So now you should have two stick on the ground that make an "X" Scanning above or below anyone of the two stick you do not get a hit. Scanning the sticks with the center of your coil in any direction and you get a hit on both stick......."X" marks the spot, take about a 4 to 5 inch plug and you should have it.

For targets that I only get in one direction I try to get somewhat of a angle on the second stick even if it's just a little and take a bigger plug, but for the most part all the targets I've dug with one stick have come up crap. Using this technique I was able to dig over $5.00 in clad at a prime site, making small plugs.

This is what works for me with my Bounty Hunter QD II, for the higher end model MD I don't know how good it would work because the coil may detect more of a area

Now the next question I have is Pinpointers. I know what they are, and I'm planning on getting one. But how are they used? Do you find a target with your MD then use the pinpointer and take a plug and scan it, or do you take a plug and then use the pinpointer. Pinpointer seem like a no brainier but would like to hear the technique on them.

Thanks in advance

[Ima Swinger]

Hey Axeman, I'm a newbie and don't yet have a pinpointer either but I hunt with a guy who does. He uses the pinpointer in both ways that you discribed, and I have to say that he finds his targets much faster then I do. He uses a VibraProbe 560 that he bought for $99. The thing to remember is that they only penetrate 1 to 2 inches. so check the plug, then the hole.
I hope this helps !!! Happy hunting.
Ima Swinger

[newbieprospector]

Same problem here with the QD II and after digging and digging and digging I've discovered that 90% of the time it's an old smashed can or pull tab of some kind....however, I can't help it...I still dig them because of that other 10%

[luvsdux]

Most often signals that are good one way, but not the other or iffy are junk. Not always however - that's why you see the advice to dig everything so often. The more you dig everything, the better you will get to know your machine. Then, hopefully, you will be able to increase the percentage of questionable signals that are worth digging. There are enough strange variables that the only true discrimination is your eye after digging.
Have fun,
luvsdux