silver umax how deep

[rey914v8]

Hi all, I have a silver umax and find coins at 2 to 3 inches. pinpointing is very easy with the umax. but I also use a pro pointer, just help with the recovery faster and don't have to dig a big hole.

Since were talking about the silver u max what depth can I expect to get out of it? I seem to find a good chunk of iron easy at 5 to 6 inches but what about a dime size coin how deep can it detect ? I feel I should get better depth what do you all think.

I also have a 12 x 10 coil but hasn't been out much. anyone out there that can give testimonial.

[Sandman]

You should be able to get the depth as the dia of your coil in the center of the coils field. Items in the ground a long time can be detected deeper because of a "halo" effect. Lots of hunters are hungry for more depth but then can't deal with the instabiliy. A lot of times there are no coins deeper than where your hunting.

[rey914v8]

Thanks sandman, yeah I think you are right,fairly new park.
But what about air test what information dose that give in the sense of depth?

[oldcoon]

Air tests? Welp I've been metal detecting over forty years and I have yet to find a single coin in the air. Every coin I have ever detected came out of the ground. Imagine that! I must not be living right or something. When I hear the words air test I can't help think smoke and mirrors. "Test gardens" are a little better but not by much. When I want to see what a machine will do I want to see it in the field under field conditions.

[rob.s]

Air tests? Welp I've been metal detecting over forty years and I have yet to find a single coin in the air. Every coin I have ever detected came out of the ground. Imagine that!

[rey914v8]

Thanks Oldcoon for you wise and in depth responce. I see you have used a Silver umax MD in the past at some point in your 40 years of experience. So how about sharing your knowledge with a person who only has little experience. I have been reading a lot on this sight as much as I can and a lot of posters here say good things about the Silver umax. I know that it may not be the best,but really how deep can It detect a dime size coin on average.

[thrillathahunt]

Read this article by TNET member Doug (Modern Miner) in W&ET mag, Detecting Help for Newbies, I think you will like it!

http://www.treasurenet.com/westeast/

[rey914v8]

Thanks for the support, nice article thrillathahunt .

[oldcoon]

I run a common stock SilveruMax. Employing no special tricks except to keep the discriminator set no higher than "iron" and the sensitivity set between 9-10 I can expect to hit a dime at 7 inches. A quarter goes a bit deeper, maybe 8-8.5 inches. I swing my machine on a moderate speed and listen for the slightest blip. When I get some noise I go back and slowly swing my coil over the spot looking for a repeatable signal. If I can get the signal to repeat, I dig, even if it's basically a one-way signal. Sometimes when a coin is on edge or you have a fine piece of jewelry such as a chain or delicate gold ring you will only get a one-way signal.

I feel the key to successful metal detecting is not covering the most territory but covering the most territory effectively. It does little good to whip through an area flippantly ignoring signals because you think they are junk. Maybe, maybe not. There's only one way to find out.

The road to success is paved with a lot of sweat.

FYI, the Silver uMax is a very underrated machine and performs as well as many machines costing twice or three times as much.

[rey914v8]

Thank you, Oldcoon. one more question please.
What good dose a 10x12 do for the silver umax? How much deeper on the dime and quarter? or is it mainly to cover more ground faster?
Thanks again

[bingbong]

i have a alu beer can buried at 24 inches in my test garden and it finds it with the sef coil on.
10x12 coil. but it might need recalibrating as mine has gone titsup so going back for repairs ,maybe due to the sef coil .

[Smudge]

One thing you need to be careful about with larger coils: the risk of masking good targets goes up. Even Tesoro points this out on their website.

Another truism about larger coils is that the extra depth is usually applied to finding larger objects deeper, so its a great thing when relic or cache hunting, but I have to wonder about coin and jewelry hunting.

Does anyone out there have any experience with this?

[rey914v8]

Thanks Smudge, What do you mean ?masking good target? why would a larger coil do that? I can understand if it sounding like if a coin were at the surface,double beep, but mask? not make a sound? Isn't the larger coil for depth" why dose it have to be larger target why not a coin deeper.
I'm still new at this so please bear with me.
Thanks again

[Smudge]

Masking occurs when the coil (or detector) can't recover quickly enough after finding one target that it ends up bypassing another target sitting right next to it.

So if a nail and a silver coin were close to each other, if you hit the nail first, would sound off or null on the nail (depending on your discrimination) and the coil may not recover in time to find the silver coin next to it, so it would bypass the silver coin altogether.

A big coil, covering a lot of ground, is ok in areas of little trash. But if there is a fair amount of trash, your big coil might be hitting 6 or 7 targets in one sweep because of the area it covers, and its trying to ignore the bad stuff and sound off on the good. But if the coil can't recover quickly enough, it starts to mask targets. That's why you need to be careful about using larger coils in general hunting situations.

[rey914v8]

I set my detector at the o in foil and When I get a signal I adjust the disc all most past 5c and 1c and if it were silver wouldn't I still get a tone ?I know its a dime or better. So doesn't a large coil work the same way? I agree that big coil in trash area would be a problem.

[Smudge]

I set my detector at the o in foil and When I get a signal I adjust the disc all most past 5c and 1c and if it were silver wouldn't I still get a tone ?I know its a dime or better. So doesn't a large coil work the same way? I agree that big coil in trash area would be a problem.

It can work that way, but not in a masking situation. Remember, your detector might give you no signal at all if the large iron nail is right next to that silver coin and the detector can't recover fast enough to indicate to you the difference between the two targets.

[bingbong]

the reality is its a design more than 10 years old so it has its limitations on depth compared with later designs .but still good for the price and works well .

[rey914v8]

thanks,Smudge and bingbong,and all others that have replied.

thanks for providing the information. I'm considering moving up to a vaquero would it give me the depth I seek? good 8" on a dime and 12" on quarter? No mater what soil condition. The extra money is not the problem,I just don't want to spend $1000 to $1500 on a MD. I don't think Ill ever see a pay back. I do this for the fun,I I just want a little more depth and a beep and go machine. Don't get me wrong I like the Silver Umax.
May be Tom is right the coin aren't there that deep.

[Smudge]

Another option for you to consider, whether you get the uMax or the Vaquero, is purchasing a smaller 5.75" coil to go with the stock coil on your unit.

The stock coil will give you good depth, but for trashy areas, use the 5.75" coil as its recovery time is mcuh faster and it helps you to avoid those masking issues we were discussing.

Good luck on your final choice and just remember, no detector is perfect. Neither is its user.

[Sandman]

Smudge gave you good advice......If you are in it for the "fun", why are you expecting a payback? If you crave depth at the extreme you need to move up from the Vaquero to a Tejon. It is the deeper of the two. Both the Vaquero and Tejon have a manual ground balance that is easy to set and this alone is worth the depth you'll get. But depth isn't everything as you need that smaller coil too so you can move between the trash and "Snipe" the coins.