Olegrumpy
Full Member
- Apr 28, 2009
- 132
- 47
- Detector(s) used
- Sov GT-Explorer II-Goldbug Pro-Eurotek Pro-Classic III-Golden µMAX-1212-x-SH MKII-
- Primary Interest:
- Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Hi fellow Bounty Hunter users.
Amongst my detecting gear, I own 3 BH units, one of them being a Time Ranger, the one with the Prospecting mode, said to be the "V4".
This unit has an ID scale where, just between Zn1c/Scaps and 10c, there is that famous "DEEP TARGET" indication.
The only other BH unit offering this indication is, correct me if I'm wrong, the Land ranger.
What does the manual say about it? Not very much, something like "indicates the target is out of ID range". I remeber something like that on an older Garret Master Hunter CX I ever used for a while.
Strange is, and maybe some of you have experimented that, when you get a signal that lits both a random ID AND the Deep Target arrow, it's almost impossible in 95+% of the cases to find the signal back.
Now I am not a MD engineer, and can just guess that indicator lits whenever a weak signal is registered.
Reasons for weak signals can be very different. : deep target indeed, or minerals, trashy (iron) part of the site, good shallow target just outside the magnetic field (I mean you just swept NEAR a target), and certainly more reasons I can't figure out.
When I started using the BHTR, I did not pay very much attention to that feature, until a few months ago when, remebering a technique I used with another older MD offering both motion and no motion modes, I decided to check the "Deep Target" signals with the NO MOTION smart trac mode.
To my surprise, almost each time the deep target indicator was lit, there was a target in the neighborhood.
Faint signals in the no motion mode revealed them, sometimes loud signals just near your last sweep, or loud signals indicating an iron target, and of course some "keepers".
So I decided to test it as it should be tested and spent three hours yesterday at a very remote part of my local beaches here, and see what would happen. I had the standard 8" coil mounted.
When I say very remote, it's a place that does not see a lot of sunbathers/tourists, being far from the most active parts of the beaches, like playgrounds, bars, swimming areas, and so on.
I resisted digging shallow targets as it was not the purpose of that particular outing, although, flesh is weak, I grabbed two recently dropped coins that gave the unmistakable good "locked" signal on the display and were not even an inch deep.
The technique is easily understandable, and also easier to practice in soft sand : the dept indicator lits, you switch to AM, listen for a signal around your last sweep, remove a bit of sand with shovel or foot, switch back to disc, and listen for the signal. No signal means of course iron or foil, the other signals are not trustable at these depths, because I noticed that the unit over-evaluates the conductivity. In Other words, it might lit the "quarter" arrow and give the high coin tone, while you dig up a screwcap, two segments and one tone lower.
BUT : the deep targets are there !
To convince yourself, just have a look at the picture. I had the sensitivity at "7", sometimes checking targets with sens at 8 (in air tests, there is a difference of 25% in depth between 7 & 8 !!, of course not that much in the ground), and 95% of the targets shown, trash and cash, came from over the 7" mark.
The toy cars ontop of the dirt pile were around 12", the pendant, quite large, 14", the larger coins between 7 & 11".
Not bad, eh, for "just" a Bounty Hunter unit fitted with a 8" coil?
After a while, you really get a feeling of what the targets will be, even if the ID isn't reliable before starting to dig. The beavertails for instance gave coins signals (which for our beloved €uro is medium). Screwtops were quite deep too and gave the high coin pitch.
I like the Time Ranger very much. It's fun and productive. It's probably the ancestor of the later digital models by FTP, it has many interesting and usable features.
FTP still produces the unit under another brand name, and it is most certainly a good alternative to other detectors in the same price range.
HH
Grumpy.
Amongst my detecting gear, I own 3 BH units, one of them being a Time Ranger, the one with the Prospecting mode, said to be the "V4".
This unit has an ID scale where, just between Zn1c/Scaps and 10c, there is that famous "DEEP TARGET" indication.
The only other BH unit offering this indication is, correct me if I'm wrong, the Land ranger.
What does the manual say about it? Not very much, something like "indicates the target is out of ID range". I remeber something like that on an older Garret Master Hunter CX I ever used for a while.
Strange is, and maybe some of you have experimented that, when you get a signal that lits both a random ID AND the Deep Target arrow, it's almost impossible in 95+% of the cases to find the signal back.
Now I am not a MD engineer, and can just guess that indicator lits whenever a weak signal is registered.
Reasons for weak signals can be very different. : deep target indeed, or minerals, trashy (iron) part of the site, good shallow target just outside the magnetic field (I mean you just swept NEAR a target), and certainly more reasons I can't figure out.
When I started using the BHTR, I did not pay very much attention to that feature, until a few months ago when, remebering a technique I used with another older MD offering both motion and no motion modes, I decided to check the "Deep Target" signals with the NO MOTION smart trac mode.
To my surprise, almost each time the deep target indicator was lit, there was a target in the neighborhood.
Faint signals in the no motion mode revealed them, sometimes loud signals just near your last sweep, or loud signals indicating an iron target, and of course some "keepers".
So I decided to test it as it should be tested and spent three hours yesterday at a very remote part of my local beaches here, and see what would happen. I had the standard 8" coil mounted.
When I say very remote, it's a place that does not see a lot of sunbathers/tourists, being far from the most active parts of the beaches, like playgrounds, bars, swimming areas, and so on.
I resisted digging shallow targets as it was not the purpose of that particular outing, although, flesh is weak, I grabbed two recently dropped coins that gave the unmistakable good "locked" signal on the display and were not even an inch deep.
The technique is easily understandable, and also easier to practice in soft sand : the dept indicator lits, you switch to AM, listen for a signal around your last sweep, remove a bit of sand with shovel or foot, switch back to disc, and listen for the signal. No signal means of course iron or foil, the other signals are not trustable at these depths, because I noticed that the unit over-evaluates the conductivity. In Other words, it might lit the "quarter" arrow and give the high coin tone, while you dig up a screwcap, two segments and one tone lower.
BUT : the deep targets are there !
To convince yourself, just have a look at the picture. I had the sensitivity at "7", sometimes checking targets with sens at 8 (in air tests, there is a difference of 25% in depth between 7 & 8 !!, of course not that much in the ground), and 95% of the targets shown, trash and cash, came from over the 7" mark.
The toy cars ontop of the dirt pile were around 12", the pendant, quite large, 14", the larger coins between 7 & 11".
Not bad, eh, for "just" a Bounty Hunter unit fitted with a 8" coil?
After a while, you really get a feeling of what the targets will be, even if the ID isn't reliable before starting to dig. The beavertails for instance gave coins signals (which for our beloved €uro is medium). Screwtops were quite deep too and gave the high coin pitch.
I like the Time Ranger very much. It's fun and productive. It's probably the ancestor of the later digital models by FTP, it has many interesting and usable features.
FTP still produces the unit under another brand name, and it is most certainly a good alternative to other detectors in the same price range.
HH
Grumpy.
