Tricks to the cibola??

[erbdigger]

Does anyone have any tips or tricks for the cibola? What settings do you hunt in? Lately I feel like I can't get a coin any further down than 3 inches or so. It kind of irritates me. I am going slow, but my sounds sound good and I end up digging a can of larger iron or even smaller but squarish iron pieces even though i set my disc just under the nickle.

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[Terry Soloman]

Headphones: not too much sensitivity, (between 7-8); discrimination just below nickel

 

[jld66]

dont think you are doing anything wrong. i use a vaquero, which is the same, except for the ground balance. i get most of my coins in the 3-4 inch depth. if the coins are not not deeper, of course you wont get any. i usually turn the disc knob to see where it disc's out at also. cans and bigger size iron will bury the disc knob on it too. large washers sound good as well. but cans and other stuff do have a slightly different tone. hitting the pinpoint button and it really beeps loud, like overloading it. i find is a big piece of junk though. it is still a much better unit than that ace 250. i run my threshold at about 1 o'clock position. if it is up over 3 o'clock, i think it lessens the tone differences a bit. i am no expert though and am sure someone will say so. haha. i just do it as a hobby. it is not my life...

 

[tabman]

3 inches or so on a coin isn't right on a Cibola. Make sure you have the threshold set to a soft light hum before switching over into the discrimination mode. I run my sensitivity wide open.

Big iron is pretty easy to ID, once you get enough hours in on the Cibola. I get fooled every once in awhile when I get into a rush.

You might have bad ground and may do better with a DD coil. If that's the case get the Tesoro 5 x 10 DD coil over my personal favorite, the NEL Sharpshooter coil, because the stock Cibola doesn't have a ground balance and may need to be sent in to Tesoro to be calibrated to get the best performance.

Tesoro is not going to do any calibrations to a NEL coil. There's not that much difference between the two coils.

Terry is right about the getting a good set of headphones. My personal favorite is the Killer B Wasp headphones.

tabman

 

[erbdigger]

Ok guys, so I went out in my yard tonight with a gold dollar, merc, and wheat and dug a 3 inch, 5, and 7 inch hole and buried each. I know this doesn't prove much since the soil and all hasn't settled and such. But I played with my settings and found that at 5 inches with threshold at 1 O'Clock and sens between 7-8 I couldn't find a merc. So I jacked the sens over ten. And put the threshold at 2.5ish position and got it easily. Same at 7 inches. Lost the wheat at 5. I was not falsing at all and even tested it around my yard and found multiple coins I had looked right over. Any one else had this or can explain. I live in Indiana and have decent soil most places. Had the cibola about a year and put a lot of hours into it, but I guess I've never really "learned" it to the fullest!

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[eyemustdigtreasure]

Tricks? Like raising up your coil near coil dimension, as you swing over the "good" target, and see if it is still there. If so, its likely a big item. Pinpointing should discover the size and shape of mass, too. Is it linear or big?
Sounds of iron and steel slap my ears, as coins and other good stuff sound sweeter, or more mellow, and repeatable....
Only with more time, you will be able to tell difference between junk and treasure....
Expect to continue digging trash - we ALL do!

 

[crazy4coins]

Ok guys, so I went out in my yard tonight with a gold dollar, merc, and wheat and dug a 3 inch, 5, and 7 inch hole and buried each. I know this doesn't prove much since the soil and all hasn't settled and such. But I played with my settings and found that at 5 inches with threshold at 1 O'Clock and sens between 7-8 I couldn't find a merc. So I jacked the sens over ten. And put the threshold at 2.5ish position and got it easily. Same at 7 inches. Lost the wheat at 5. I was not falsing at all and even tested it around my yard and found multiple coins I had looked right over. Any one else had this or can explain. I live in Indiana and have decent soil most places. Had the cibola about a year and put a lot of hours into it, but I guess I've never really "learned" it to the fullest!

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Like you said yourself, this test is not nearly representative of what the Cibola is capable of. I performed a similar test with my F2. With sensitivity maxed out, disc at 0 a dime at just 4 1/2" would ID as iron. Now compare that to the real world where I have dug mercs at 7 inches with a repeatable high tone.

I actually believe that a standard air test has more to reveal about a machine's performance than a fresh bury test. It by no means reveals in-ground depth, however it reliably shows how your particular detector stacks up to the rest of its kind. What are you getting for air test results?

 

[WhiteTornado]

Others have given some good tips. The one about raising the coil up above the ground and still seeing if you're hearing a loud sound is a good one. Often if I am hearing a loud signal with my coil 6" off the ground, chances are it's a large piece of junk (large iron, soda can, etc).

I normally have my sensitivity at around 6-7, threshold at about 2:00, discrim just above iron. Obviously, each will need adjustment due to soil conditions, temperature, etc. Play with it a bit and go with what works for you. Happy hunting

 

[eyemustdigtreasure]

me again....

...anyway the discrimination marks/settings on the face of the machine, are just approximate - use your (air tests) on all kinds of new and old coinage, and find the happy spot for each, and remember them as an imaginary spots on the old discrimination dial.
Remember too, all the sounds that Cibola gave you..., was it "small-ish-sounding, or are they "bigger", with some pzazz behind it...?!
On an unknown target, give it at least two opinions, and lots worrying over it, until you are SURE to dig - but be SURE to guess what it is, first, and you'll learn from that.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting, to you!