define "dig it all"

[re-tek]

define "dig it all"

ok.. dig it all.. fine!
i heard this many times here but i have to ask..

do you dig anything that sets your machine off or do you dig everything that gives you a solid hit?

case in point, those items that dont give you a solid hit and mess with your detectors ID system as you sweep from different angles. do you dig?

 

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[dahut]

Re: define "dig it all"

Dig it all means what it says. A metal detector is just that, an instrument to detect the presence of metal. Things like "solid hits" or "good ID" are just conditions we establish and are really ways to keep us from recovering what our instruments detect. It certainly is a long way from dig it all.

That being said, I dont recommend that you spend the next 100 hours in all-metal, either. These are good times and the detectors of today are really excellent. I suggest that you discriminate iron and perhaps foil and THEN dig it all.

One exception to that is to occasionally run in all metal or zero DISC mode and get to know how iron affects your efforts. THAT can be enlightening.

 

[CodyCat Borat]

Re: define "dig it all"

All metals produce a radio frequency or a number of cycles or sound waves per second. Different materials will produce different sounds. That said, a metal detecter will discriminate these waves into different sounds.
When somebody says dig everything they are refering to the fact that some materials although on different frequencies, are so close that they will sound very much alike. An example of this would be gold. Gold falls into the same "area" as nickel and somethimes foil. So if you have numbers on your MD indicating that a bad target such as a pulltab or foil is below your detecter, there is a possibility that it might also be gold.
Another words, you have to dig up the junk in order to get the good stuff.
I hope I explained this OK.
Good Luck..
C.C.

 

[lFoundlInlOhiol]

Re: define "dig it all"

ok.. dig it all.. fine!
i heard this many times here but i have to ask..

do you dig anything that sets your machine off or do you dig everything that gives you a solid hit?

case in point, those items that dont give you a solid hit and mess with your detectors ID system as you sweep from different angles. do you dig?


Do you have auto notch mode ? thats what i set mine on...I always dig solid signals myself...some times you may get a faint signal then you go back to that spot then you hear nothing.I would just pass them kind of signals up...Low batteries got me one time>>mder was giving good sounds but really its because the batteries were bad..lol..

Hint.....Practice and dig holes drop coins/whatever in them run your detector over them.. Thats kinda how i learned !! Good luck.......

 

[re-tek]

Re: define "dig it all"

i understand how the detector works. let me rephrase the question in a different way...

you found a target, you swing and get a reading, you swing on the same target from a different angle and get a very different reading, do you dig? according to what i read in my manual, this situation would mean that you are more than likely digging up trash of some sort.

 

[CodyCat Borat]

Re: define "dig it all"

i understand how the detector works. let me rephrase the question in a different way...

you found a target, you swing and get a reading, you swing on the same target from a different angle and get a very different reading, do you dig? according to what i read in my manual, this situation would mean that you are more than likely digging up trash of some sort.

yes, I agree with that especially if the sound is clipped. If it is a solid sound i would still dig it. Many pulltabs sound the same as nickles, but the sound would be crisp, full toned with no clipping.

 

[lFoundlInlOhiol]

Re: define "dig it all"

i understand how the detector works. let me rephrase the question in a different way...

you found a target, you swing and get a reading, you swing on the same target from a different angle and get a very different reading, do you dig? according to what i read in my manual, this situation would mean that you are more than likely digging up trash of some sort.

Oh yes that happins to me alot...most of the time it ends up being a penny!for me that is

 

[mastereagle22]

Re: define "dig it all"

The only thing I have found not to dig is when my machine is in all metal mode and I get a ferrous signal at less than 10. If I am relic hunting I dig every signal even the crazy ones. Today I was running in AM mode and got a little hit, just a small bip, and the meter said 7 inches, no other VID. Dug down and it was a little silver plated ear ring. It didn't even register as a ferrous target just a little bip, you never know what you have found unless you have it in your hand (and even then sometimes you cannot figure it out).

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Re: define "dig it all"

"Dig all" means "all above iron"

About the only hunters I know that would even include iron in that "dig all" recipe, would be maybe some beach hunters, or CW relic hunters, who ... yes, literally dig even nails, in their quest to strip-mine a site. But for most usage of the "dig all" saying, is "all conductive targets". yes, that can mean a one-way signals, since a conductive target (coin, pulltab, or whatever) could be a one-way target if partially masked. Unlike an iron target that will null, or give the low tone or whatever, depending on the machine you have. Iron on some 2-filter machines (certain tesoros, the Whites Classics, etc..) give chirps off iron, but you learn right away to discern the difference between those, and conductive targets.

 

[Gribnitz]

Re: define "dig it all"

Start with high discrimination....just under pull tab let's say. Dig all those signals that you are sure are a good, and those that you are pretty sure are junk, but need to find out. Relic hunting is a LOT harder. You have turn the disc waaaay down and dig darn near everything. I turn the disc to just tune out rusty nails, so just about everything sounds good.

 

[mastereagle22]

Re: define "dig it all"

One other thing to think about is that a ferrous object could mask a good object. I have dug several nails out of a hole because of a crazy signal only to find a coin after getting the ferrous out of the way.

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: define "dig it all"

"dig it all" is sometimes used in reference to PI machines. They really have no discrimination so to learn what signals mean, you have to "dig it all." My PI machine drives me crazy in a high trash area and the "dig it all" will kill you.

Daryl

 

[dahut]

Re: define "dig it all"

If you get a good, repeatable signal in only one direction, then yes dig it up. I have dug silver next to rusty nails - good signal one way, bad the other.

I like Gribnitz's strategy, too: Cherry pick first, then come after in lower DISC. You will be surprised, I guarantee it.

Iron really is the enemy... everything else is potential.

 

[Monty]

Re: define "dig it all"

Unfortunately the only way to ever learn your detector is to dig it all. I'm sure you have heard many preach to learn your detector and what it is telling you. It won't lie to you if you are listening for the truth. Someday you will be able to distinguish good targets from "junque" targets with enough experience and practice. I have been at it for nearly 3 years and I am just a baby in this wild activity. I have never dug it all and perhaps that is my problem? What I have learned is that if in doubt, dig it. Even with all that you will still develope instincts and some inner voice will tell you to dig when the detector doesn't necessarily tell you to. You'd be surprised at how often you are right if you trust your instincts. Heck, I'm always surprised! Monty

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Re: define "dig it all"

i understand how the detector works. let me rephrase the question in a different way...

you found a target, you swing and get a reading, you swing on the same target from a different angle and get a very different reading, do you dig? according to what i read in my manual, this situation would mean that you are more than likely digging up trash of some sort.

If you ignore the above target you could be missing a very old & relatively deep coin or a gold necklace. Or, a nail or other metal around the target is causing a null or partial null in one direction. Dig it all means digging everything. You'll reach the point of discustipation that will cause you to skip some, or maybe all iffy signals, but by then hopefully you've learned your detector enough to interpret the specific signal/situation. I get tempted by some I am sure are trash . . . and they usually are. And I dig some trash that fooled me completely.

The only way to know what a signal is is to dig it. Otherwise you're just guessing and assuming based on your detector's output.

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: define "dig it all"

Readings is just readings. Charlies right, you might miss something nice unless you KNOW what the signal is telling you. In my experience, if the signal is "crusty" and changes values in both directions, it's crape. If it's good (meaning clean, clear, repeatable) in one direction and not in the other direction it's worth digging. You have to get used to what the target sounds like, not what the reading is. Once you get a good signal, you can use the numbers, graph, etc to help figure out what it might be and how deep it might be but only after it has passed the sound test.

Daryl

 

[luvsdux]

Re: define "dig it all"

I'm coming at this from using and learning on beep and dig machines with no tid. I recently picked up an MXT and do like the advantages offered by the display. HOWEVER, I quickly discovered that I do better with the sound first, then check the display. I can see where too much dependence on the id can cause one to pass the occasional good target that may not display well for whatever reason. Bottom line - get to know the audio responses on your detector. Believe it. You will increase your over all recovery.
Swing often, dig deep,
luvsdux

 

[cillosis]

Re: define "dig it all"

On the beach, most of the jewelry I find shows up as Iron or Foil so I just dig everything...lots of corona caps come along with that (seems to be the beer of choice on the beach) and lots of gum wrappers...but in the end, I take home the gold <--That is with a White's Prizm V by the way.

 

[MonkeyBoy]

Re: define "dig it all"

I the case of some one who digs a lot of Civil War camps... Dig it all.. means anything that makes a sound. Outside of iron relics.. gun tools, barrel worms.. pocket knives etc.. you still end up digging plenty of other good items that did not produce a great audio signal... iron back buttons.. tin pieces.. and relics that were just deep.. or in bad soil. This is much more applicable to the older machines.. white' 5900 and 6000 then it is with the DFX.. but it still applies. I remember hunting one camp that was producing well.. had lots of inconsistent.. "ratty" signals.. finally dug one and it was a .69 roundball!! Unless they were only 4 or 5 inches in the ground.. they were weak, broken signals.. I dug hundreds of them there... in fact.. not knowing what to do with them... I filled old mason jars with them and use them for doorstops in my house! This past year.. I was re-hunting an old camp with my DFX and a DD1400 and the signals were better.. but I was digging .69 three ringers at 14"+ and some of them were ratty.. even with the big head! This was a smaller camp.. and we had dug the crap out of it over the years..1/2 fields 1/2 woods.. and I ended up digging 54 .69 3 ringers out of the woods.. plus a bunch of regular 3 ringers.. a large cent.. 6 War era IHs.. a sutler's token.. a bunch of buttons.. all really deep.. if it beeped.. I dug it! My habit has always been.. when I am "fresh" i.e. just starting out on a dig... before the back starts killing me!! I dig almost everything, if the site permits it.. not a yard... and then scale back to better signals as the day progresses or based on what I am finding.. but again... camps... Dig it.. dig it all... it also helps because if they are farms.. it keeps iron and trash from being turned back into the ground.. and you end up digging it anyway! Also, get it out of the ground when you dig it.. we use to hunt this one camp.. tons of stuff... and someone dug down to he object.. hit.. saw it was "iron" and left it... well.. my brother came along and hit it... he ended up digging it out.. it was a Sword Plate that had a iron and tin front rivetting to the front with the Soldiers name on it!!! but the way it was in the ground.. it looked like iron. I have dug two Eagle plates out of other people's holes.. both times.. if they had just gone another few inches they would have found them! Heck, I can't begin to describe how many things I have dug in other peoples holes.. with a few of the camps we use to hunt being well know.. and lots of people went.. I learned really fast that just because there was a "fresh" hole... that didn't mean anything.. I dug lots of trash that way.. but a ton of relics too.. lots of times.. it would be items on the sides of a hole... not ringing that well on the machine... or just deep... OK.. I've rambled on about this long enough... ;-)

MonkeyBoy

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: define "dig it all"

case in point, those items that dont give you a solid hit and mess with your detectors ID system as you sweep from different angles. do you dig?

Last time I was out some of these
type signals Produced Mercury Dimes
with trash.

I dig it All