A newby Question, Be easy on me....

[Retired Fire]

I am a little confused at some hits I am getting from my Ace 400. I searched an area and was getting a good many hits. The problem is I am not understanding what my machine is telling me. I will get a hard sharp hit up in the 90-96 range. But all of them (Multiple sites) seem to be 8 inches or deeper according to my machine. Also they seem like large targets. Guessing 6-12 inches long. I want to dig them but this area is full of huge thick roots and it is very difficult to dig deeper than 2-3 inches. Any ideas what I might be looking at here? Thanks

 

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[marjam]

My guess is big iron. A fast way to tell is to raise your coil off the ground and continue to swing, keep raising the coil while swinging. If it goes away it is something small. If you still get a signal, then it is something large. Metal detectors depth readings are calibrated for coin sized objects, so this is the best way to tell the size of an object without digging it.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

 

[TroutBumDave]

Beer cans...

Hold your coil 6 inches above the ground; is it still hitting hard? 12 inches; still? If so, it's a can or old flat iron of some kind.

Been a while since I used an ACE and I am currently swinging an AT Pro, but that's my guess. (and I'm only guessing because nobody else is!)

 

[Indian Steve]

How high are you holding your coil above the ground? If you are swinging 6 inches above the ground and your machine says the target is 8 inches deep, it is actually 2 inches deep or so. Big targets will throw everything off. I had a late 1800s house site that had been bulldozed about 30 years ago and you would not believe the big chunks of wood cook stove, plow points and a whole model T that was buried there. Good Luck.

 

[Retired Fire]

My guess is big iron. A fast way to tell is to raise your coil off the ground and continue to swing, keep raising the coil while swinging. If it goes away it is something small. If you still get a signal, then it is something large. Metal detectors depth readings are calibrated for coin sized objects, so this is the best way to tell the size of an object without digging it.

Sent from my LG-H910 using Tapatalk

Oh that's great information. I will try that next trip out. Thanks!

 

[Retired Fire]

Beer cans...

Hold your coil 6 inches above the ground; is it still hitting hard? 12 inches; still? If so, it's a can or old flat iron of some kind.

Been a while since I used an ACE and I am currently swinging an AT Pro, but that's my guess. (and I'm only guessing because nobody else is!)

That's kind of what I was thinking but I'm hoping I am wrong. I just don't want to waste time hacking through huge thick roots to find a can! loL Thanks

 

[Retired Fire]

How high are you holding your coil above the ground? If you are swinging 6 inches above the ground and your machine says the target is 8 inches deep, it is actually 2 inches deep or so. Big targets will throw everything off. I had a late 1800s house site that had been bulldozed about 30 years ago and you would not believe the big chunks of wood cook stove, plow points and a whole model T that was buried there. Good Luck.

I typically swing about 1" off the surface or brushing the grass. I try not to scrape the ground but get as close as I can. So it may really only be 6 or 7 inches down? OK, I will keep that in mind. Thanks

 

[Indian Steve]

When I first started detecting, I dug almost two feet deep to find the top of a wood cook stove. It is still there. Learning takes time and will continue for as long as you detect.