Explorer II Test Bed Results

[ohmygato]

Hello All,

I created a test bed in typical soil for my area with coins at 6" up to 12" about 2 months ago. I have found that with the stock 10" coil on my Minelab Explorer II I can easily get the 6" coins but it struggles to get 9" coins and cannot get anything deeper. I have also tried the WOT 15" coil and it does a bit better, barely picking up the 9" and 10" coins. However this coil also picks up a lot of other junk around the coins, so it's hard to tell good from bad. I have modified my settings in many different ways and have not had any success getting the deeper coins. However, I regularly find coins at 9" and deeper in the field.

I am curious to know others' experiences with test beds and how the Explorer II performs. I have heard from others that getting an Explorer to perform well in a test bed is nearly impossible since the conditions are nowhere like in the field (due to lack of halo, etc.).

Any comments are appreciated, of course the more thoughtful the better!

-Dan

 

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[Jeffsh]

I owned the exploxer ii, and I was running at semi auto 14 and used the Sunray 12" coil. I was finding coins smaller than a dime at 14" deep. But I also had it set up to find sliver and jewelry in the program. Listen for faint signals that produce tones on the pass over the target both directions. If there is a tone in one pass and no tone when you pass over it again. Don't waste your time. I hope this helps.

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

Hello All,

I created a test bed in typical soil for my area with coins at 6" up to 12" about 2 months ago. I have found that with the stock 10" coil on my Minelab Explorer II I can easily get the 6" coins but it struggles to get 9" coins and cannot get anything deeper. I have also tried the WOT 15" coil and it does a bit better, barely picking up the 9" and 10" coins. However this coil also picks up a lot of other junk around the coins, so it's hard to tell good from bad. I have modified my settings in many different ways and have not had any success getting the deeper coins. However, I regularly find coins at 9" and deeper in the field.

I am curious to know others' experiences with test beds and how the Explorer II performs. I have heard from others that getting an Explorer to perform well in a test bed is nearly impossible since the conditions are nowhere like in the field (due to lack of halo, etc.).

Any comments are appreciated, of course the more thoughtful the better!

-Dan

Great idea on the test bed! To get real results you need to have them planted for at least a year for full results. Ground needs to be packed and watered a few times.

 

[Ky Ed]

I also have a test bed in my yard. The 10 In coil is about 9 inches or so. The 15 in. WOT goes about another inch deeper. I find a lot of 10 inch coins with the standard coil and then nothing over 9 inches. Strange in the same area too! The 15 inch coil doesn't seem to get a great deal deeper but it does bring the iffy targets back over to the good side of the smartfind screen. I have to increase the gain by one number so the depth marker will be more accurate as well. I notice the depth scale goes to about ten inches with a different coil besides the standard coil. My test garden is several years old so it is more like untouched ground. Minelab machines don't do well in disturbed ground. That is, when you dig a target and then re-cover it with dirt so someone else can listen to the signal. Hope this helps. Ky Ed

 

[Detector Wars]

Interesting results, I've been getting mixed results testing my Explorer 2 with different coils. I've been using my WOT until recently, changed to stock and am on a silver streak. At the end of the day, the coil that finds you the most stuff is the best coil. Best test is going on hunts and tallying up which coil finds what.