Fresh Tip for DeLeon Users

[Shortstack]

I'm still experimenting and getting to know my DeLeon which I've had for only about 2 months. Today, while MDing my local hight school, I discovered a different technique for IDing targets. After hitting on a few pennies and a dime, a particular target gave some seriously random hits and smears on the bar graph; with full bars jumping from the 5 cent notch to the zinc notch and back again; with smaller bars thrown in. The ID number was jumping, too. From 28 to 36 or 38. I was thinking "nickle", but wasn't sure. I dug the target and brought up a 1937 Buffalo ( Indian Head ) nickle from less than 3". Yep, 3 inches. Well, I'd been hunting with Disc at the mid-foil point and the Sens at '6' and to have the indicators jumping around so much was puzzling. Even though there were NO "Lift Coil" messages, I decided to lower the Sens to '3', put the Buff back into the hole and see what would happen. The bar graph cleaned up and only full bars were jumping from the 5 cent to the zinc and back to 5 cent---no more smearing and the ID numbers calmed down and flipped from 28 to 36. I lowered the Sens to '1' and the numbers settled some more and showed 28-32.

So, to clarify, here's the tip-- Running at high Sens. is not always necessary. If the target indicators are "restless", calm them down some by dropping the Sens setting. TRY the lowest numbers. If the target is good, the lower (lowest) settings on the Sens can allow the DeLeon to ignor those annoying pops that translate to smears and jumping numbers. A 1937 Buffalo nickel at a 3" depth taught me that.

Oh, and my '37 is a NMM and had 4 legs----DANG IT.
It isn't my first Buff, but it is the closest I've come to that beautiful $500 piece. That's $500 in only G4 condition at that. Maybe he has a brother over there waiting.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

DR.ÖTEK Metal Detector, Waterproof Gold Detector, Pinpoint & Terrain Modes, Professional Metal Detector - Grab it through Amazon!

[relikhunter]

Thank's for your post!I think i run the sens.at 7-8 and sometimes that's to high.Tesoro's are very sensitive machine's .I need to work that sens. knob a little bit more......hh rh

 

[Sandman]

Most detector users run the sensitivity to high thinking it always results in more depth when the opposite is often true. The higher sens. lets the detector "see" the ground more easily and a deep coin can be lost in the extra mineralization the detector "sees."

 

[Michigan Badger]

Most detector users run the sensitivity to high thinking it always results in more depth when the opposite is often true. The higher sens. lets the detector "see" the ground more easily and a deep coin can be lost in the extra mineralization the detector "sees."

Excellent post and thanks for the thread Shortstack. I had to learn this one the hard way mayself.

I hate to open the old can of worms but like I've written many times before our digs aren't nearly as deep as we think they are. There can be times when coins will be very deep but generally 4-5 inches is where most really old items are at. They are easily within the reach of an Ace 250.

Last year I dug (2) 1865 Indian cents at 2 and maybe 3 inches. Back in 2005 I dug a 1750's era French Trader knife and cannon ball at about 3 inches deep. This was at an old lumber camp location. The signals where so loud I thought they were Memorial cents or beer cans LOL!

Watch the coin hunting videos on YouTube and you'll see people digging Colonial and ancient coins/relics at 2-6 inches max.

Like Sandman wrote, over powering a detector (too much sensitivity) only causes more confusing data for the detector to sort through.

Did I ever tell you about the coin I dug at 17 inches when my detector only air tests at 9? hahaha! LOL!

Badger

 

[mastereagle22]

I also learned this the hard way. Went detecting with a friend that has an XLT and I passed over what I thought was junk and it turned out to be a 1920 Wheat is excelent condition and missed two nickels from the early 50's the same way. My problem is that I often wear gloves when detecting and digging and I keep bumping the knob and it gets turned up sometimes to maximum. I wish there was some way to make it harder to turn the knobs.

As you described the bars were all over the place but kept bouncing between nickels and tabs and we only had a short time to detect so that trip I was only digging "good" signals.

Thanks for the tip!!!

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

Shortstack,

thanks for an excellent post.

have a good un......
SHERMANVILLE

 

[Copperhead]

mastereagle,
I'm not a Tesoro owner (hope to be one soon), but I remember reading about pulling off the knob and putting a small rubber grommet over the shaft... that should help reduce any "play" in the control....hope this helped.

 

[Shortstack]

Most detector users run the sensitivity to high thinking it always results in more depth when the opposite is often true. The higher sens. lets the detector "see" the ground more easily and a deep coin can be lost in the extra mineralization the detector "sees."

Excellent post and thanks for the thread Shortstack. I had to learn this one the hard way mayself.

I hate to open the old can of worms but like I've written many times before our digs aren't nearly as deep as we think they are. There can be times when coins will be very deep but generally 4-5 inches is where most really old items are at. They are easily within the reach of an Ace 250.

Last year I dug (2) 1865 Indian cents at 2 and maybe 3 inches. Back in 2005 I dug a 1750's era French Trader knife and cannon ball at about 3 inches deep. This was at an old lumber camp location. The signals where so loud I thought they were Memorial cents or beer cans LOL!

Watch the coin hunting videos on YouTube and you'll see people digging Colonial and ancient coins/relics at 2-6 inches max.

Like Sandman wrote, over powering a detector (too much sensitivity) only causes more confusing data for the detector to sort through.

Did I ever tell you about the coin I dug at 17 inches when my detector only air tests at 9? hahaha! LOL!

Badger

I've used Tesoro's for years and their sensitive has always been tops. I bought a White's Spectrum XLT and learned to hate ID machines because I began to depend too much on IT and not on my experience. After selling the XLT, I used only detectors WITHOUT target indicators. A couple of months ago I decided to update with another Tesoro. My Bandido II is still top notch, but the idea of a turn-on-and-go unit for quick hunts was sounding good and the DeLeon / Cortes have basic ID circuitry without all of the computer crap.

I learned a long time ago to turn down the Sens. on the BD II; so turning down Sens. on the DL came naturally. My experiment with the Buff nickel was to see just HOW low the DL can be set and still do a good job. Even set at "1", it was still hitting hard on that nickel and the display cleaned up good.

Shallow "old stuff" is the rule around my hometown. At several different locations around town, I've found a 1906 Barber dime at 2 inches; an 1888 Indian head penny at 2 inches ( 3 feet over from the Barber ); silver war nickels as well as Buffalo nickels less than 3 inches; and wheat pennies from the 30's and 40's barely under the surface of the soil. This was also normal over in Bossier City, LA. years ago-- Standing Liberty Quarters less that 2 inches deep with silver war nickels and Buffs at the same average depth. I don't believe frost-heaving ground buries coins and artifacts. The 4 inches and less rule held up when I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska; 1976-1979.

Detector users hunting parks, schools, old home places, etc. should take a good look at the condition of the soil an try to determine if the area has been sodded or filled in in the past. Two indicators are the roots of any trees in the area and the way any sidewalks look. Examples: The roots of older trees will be at or above the surface of the soil/turf. If they aren't, then the area has probably been filled in or re-sodded in the past. If the sidewalk is an old one, and is no more than a couple of inches below the level of the surrounding grass or, as in the case of the walks at my local high school, the walks are ABOVE the surrounding lawn, then it's a good bet that the area has never been sodded or filled. Of course, this is only a basic guide, but I've personally found them to be reliable in Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma, California, and Alaska.

One final bit of info--these tests and finds with the DL have been accomplished using the stock 9x8 coil. I haven't tried my 5.75" coil yet. Once I've gotten a good handle on my machine with the stock coil, then the 5.75" one will be brought into play. For now, I'll be using a new Sens. setting of "4" to start and see how things pan out.

 

[stoney56]

I too have learned that too much sens. on the DeLeon causes erratic operation especially if there's a lot of small iron or tiny bits of junk near the surface. I haven't tried turning the sens. that far down but have been running about 4 with the 5.75 esp. in razed areas. The 9X10 is just a bit much in that it picks up too many adjacent targets and then the DL tries to analyze and reach a happy medium. Today was a good example. I got a reading of 68 which is on the high side of pull tabs on mine (usually upper 50's/lower 60's). I got a brief glimpse of 95 but never got it back. I dug and at about 5", I popped out a ring tab w/o a tail. I checked the hole again and then the 95 showed up clean. It turned out to be a 1913D wheatie. The same thing happened with a sterling silver pen knife. It was reading the iron/steel of the blades as well as the silver sides of the knife. It would hit 95 but wouldn't lock on.

Another thing I've noticed is that in all-metal the #'s seem to lock on better and not bounce around as much.

In any case, I'd recommend that if the #95 shows, take the time to investigate.

 

[Shortstack]

I too have learned that too much sens. on the DeLeon causes erratic operation especially if there's a lot of small iron or tiny bits of junk near the surface. I haven't tried turning the sens. that far down but have been running about 4 with the 5.75 esp. in razed areas. The 9X10 is just a bit much in that it picks up too many adjacent targets and then the DL tries to analyze and reach a happy medium.

In any case, I'd recommend that if the #95 shows, take the time to investigate.

I agree, Stoney. Everytime I reread the owner's manual, I'm reminded by it's statement that targets are represented for the WHOLE sweep. (of course, I highlighted that sentence, so it's hard to miss. ) If there's a lot of good sounding hits in any swing arc, then I slow way down and sweep that arc again and try to isolate each target. That technique brought in 2 quarters and a dime in a nest of pop-tops. On that particular hunt, I ran Sens. at "8" because it was a very old homesite and I was going on my, previously wrong, idea. NOW, I'll be using Sens. at "4" to start, with my normal midpoint on the "foil" for Disc. Of course, if I'm looking for a cache of "milk money", the Disc. will go to Min. and the Sens. to Super-Sens.

 

[stoney56]

OK shortstack. I run my disc. abut midway up from iron. When you make a sweep, try this ------ instead of ________. I make a lot of the slow sweeps about 5-6" when using the 5.75"(concentric).
In the razed homesites, the bulldozer tends to mix things up pretty good and you'll have targets on top of targets, chunks of pipe (galvenized and copper) next to coins which can be damm hard to separate. Digging can be tough esp. if there's chunks of concrete and brick involved.

True enough. Super sens. is like the sniper coil or Cleansweep. It takes the right conditions and mineralization for it to work in your favor.

 

[Shortstack]

Say Stoney:
I see from your signature that you live in the general area of OKC. Have you ever hunted Trosper Park? I retired out of the Air Force at Tinker and stayed in the area for a few years. Some hunting buddies and I hit Trosper quite a bit. It's one looooong park. We usually went in the lower area where we found out that an outdoor boxing ring had been located several decades ago. That's where I brought up an Old Folks Home tax token from about 8"---and that was with an old Silver Sabre. That old SS was hot. It brought me a one-ounce 14 kt. yellow gold necklace "drop" carrying 10 diamonds from 2" deep in one of the middle school yards. The really neat fact was that I'd BORROWED that old machine from Wayne at Wayne's Detector Sales. At the time, I was between jobs and between machines. Wayne about choked when I showed him that piece. The "drop" had been made to resemble a large gold nugget and the diamonds were mounted about the "face" of the "nugget". Man it was beautiful and was the best find I'd ever made--- and still is.

 

[stoney56]

Say Stoney:
I see from your signature that you live in the general area of OKC. Have you ever hunted Trosper Park? I retired out of the Air Force at Tinker and stayed in the area for a few years. Some hunting buddies and I hit Trosper quite a bit. It's one looooong park. We usually went in the lower area where we found out that an outdoor boxing ring had been located several decades ago. That's where I brought up an Old Folks Home tax token from about 8"---and that was with an old Silver Sabre. That old SS was hot. It brought me a one-ounce 14 kt. yellow gold necklace "drop" carrying 10 diamonds from 2" deep in one of the middle school yards. The really neat fact was that I'd BORROWED that old machine from Wayne at Wayne's Detector Sales. At the time, I was between jobs and between machines. Wayne about choked when I showed him that piece. The "drop" had been made to resemble a large gold nugget and the diamonds were mounted about the "face" of the "nugget". Man it was beautiful and was the best find I'd ever made--- and still is.

Actually I never have, sorry to say. We're about 125 mi. north of Tinker and about 50 mi. from Vance and McConnell both. I did have a run-in with a about a half dozen AP's down at Tinker many years ago but that's a long story. LOL
That's one awesome drop. 8) I would imagine that the weight probably broke the chain. I can just imagine how sick the owner was when they discovered that missing. I'm still looking for a friend's $10 gold coin and bezel he lost while jogging in a park a couple of years ago.