ghost target

[Fishtanks]

Why is it sometimes when I'm out MDing. I will locate my target, dig the hole and it turns out nothing is actually in the hole. Does this ever happen to you guy's? What is going on here??

I'm a newb to this site and metal detecting.

 

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[Iron Patch]

You are being fooled by a bad target (one you have disc'ed), then when you dig the detector's discrimination kicks in and and blocks the target making it seem like it disappears. That is the most likely cause, and you can find the target if you go into zero disc.. Salt or mineralization can also have a similar effect.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

You need to hook up with someone who's proficient, and show them one of these "ghost targets". Hopefully before you start, and after it "dissapears", etc... My experience with beginners, when they complain of this, is that it's usually always something silly simple, but that there is simply no way to diagnose in print, or in talk on the phone, etc... It simply has to be done in the field, since things like "sound" are subjective, and can not be described in text, print, description, etc.... They have to be heard, seen, etc...

For example: A fellow complained on the phone to me about "dissapearing signals" on his XLT. I told him the obvious steps, like re-read the instructions, etc... He sent the machine in for repair to Whites. They sent it back saying there was no problems with it. So he goes back out, and experiences the same "malfunction", so he sends it back to the factory a second time. They again return it saying there is no problems. He was starting to get really ticked, and figured Whites Co. was a lousy brand company, etc... He was quite offended that they suggested that he was operating it wrong (ie.: "what do you think? that I'm a dummy or something?")

Eventually, after hooking up with me for an actual outing, I spotted the problem right away: Each time he'd be swinging along .... and get a signal, he'd "slow down to isolate it, hear it better, etc...". Well you can guess what happened: since it's a motion machine in disc, the target would "disappear". Doh! And when I asked him "I thought you re-read the instructions several times??" he said that yes, he read the part about "motion required when sweeping/swinging". But no amount of printed text can really tell a person what that means. It has to be shown. Because when he read that, he naturally thought "well duh, how else does someone progress through the field, unless the coil is moving/swinging? "

This is just one example, so don't get "lost in the example". There are many more humorous examples of dissapearing targets I could give, that ....... in each case ...... got solved when persons traded off marked signals, so that you can see things that can't be described in print or talking about it.

 

[luvsdux]

Tom has a good point. Other things to consider, sometimes the target is small, has taken the color of the soil and unknowingly been flipped far enough that the machine then doesn't detect it. I often use a screwdriver to pop shallow coins and several times they've flipped 3 or 4 feet from where I'm searching and having taken the color of the soil (not shiny at all) makes them difficult to see. I've seen instances where the target was iron rusted completely and when the soil is disturbed the rust gets separated so much that the detector no longer responds. Other times the target may be a very small piece of wire or lead shot or similar, again taking the color of the soil and very hard to see and is at the edge of the soil removed from the hole. I've had small targets of this sort so difficult to see that I might not have found them if it weren't for my hand held pinpointer. Eventually it dawned on me at this point that if I'm coin shooting it's obvious that there's no coin so I don't put much more effort into that one. Occasionally one will encounter a ghost target that is so elusive that one isn't sure just what has happened. I've had single beeps that seemed pretty solid that never repeat. In those cases I think the discrimination kicked in after the first beep. Just my impression and I think then it is nearly always trash. Hope this is helpful.
HH
BB

 

[Fishtanks]

Thankyou for all your replies. They are most helpful. I will have to get together with a friend that has been mding for many years. And show him what is going on, and have him show me a thing or two.
Steve

 

[Sandman]

Tom, that was a great post. You showed by example with humor tossed in too.