Explorer users?

[damz68]

Got a question.

I bought Explorer SE less than a month ago. It did not take me long to understand and feel comfortable using it. I have found 16 wheats, 3 mercs, a barber dime and an indian head in just 5 times out. All of those coins were found at a site that had a school. I have searched that yard 4 times prior with my xterra 30 and managed to pull out 18 wheats. So it is hitting a better depth than the xterra. But the X was only hitting 4".

Now I have read were some folks have found a penny at 2 feet. I find this real hard to believe. I have 4 pennies barried in the yard at 5, 6, 8, and 9 inches deep and it will not lock onto any of them. It will beep on all, a single beep or a non pin pointing type random beep. The same thing happens when I have it set to other users programs, including fast, deep on and sens at 32. So far the deepest coin I have hit has been at about 6". So my question is, what the heck am I doing wrong. I guess it has to be me. I constantly complained about my xterra only getting 4" deep, when others got 7" to 8". Either people dont know what an inch is, my ears are not working right or I got two bad minelab machines.

Could it be the soil? I live in the piedmont of SC with a red clay type soil. Anyway I am real happy with the finds just not happy with the 6" max. depth. Oh, it hits at a good distance on an air test, right around 10"+.
Anyone got any ideas?

 

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[Farmercal]

In south Alabama with the XT70 and EXII I haven't found anything deeper than 6-8 inches yet. Even a 1909 penny wasn't that deep. Perhaps in the area you are searching the coins don't sink that deep. I have found good coins with both detectors but nothing that deep yet. I could be me.

 

[damz68]

I did think about that, it is posible that there just aint nothing deeper. But it still aint hitting my barried coins, or should I say not locking on to them in any direction. Dont know. Southern Alabama is sandy right? I think the piedmont of Bama is similer to SC with that red clay soil. I have heard it goes deeper in sandy soil.

 

[TheSleeper]

I have always heard the soil dictates the depth u`ll hear.

On a beach i can hit 6-8 easy, factory settings, if i set her to const, all metal and deep i have hit pennies at 12 one nickle was a tad deeper but i didn`t measure it. At that depth u got to listen closely, cause the signals aren`t long or real loud. I haven`t heard of a penny at 2 feet.

If u want max depth, set her to:
Const, one sound for everything, but the se process`s targets faster
All metal, watch your screen to see what the target hits, then decide to dig or not
Deep on

I usually only use this when i`m on a beach that has really been worked and want to hit the deep targets others have missed. I do not know how these settings will work on red clay, i have always heard that is one of the toughest soils, other then black sand to work. I usually dig alot more trash with this setting, but u hit deep targets.

 

[hollowpointred]

it may have to do with the type of soil in your area. i just got an SE myself, and on the first day i dug two Wheaties one at 8" and one at 7" respectively. they were "iffy" kind of signals, and i was detecting very slowly at the time. try slowing your swing time down to about 4 seconds per swing. maybe you're just going too fast? i suppose that mineralization could be making it harder for your explorer to get down super deep. i don't really know how to remedy that one.

 

[jeff of pa]

Your Coins are Freshly Buried. This will effect depth also.


along with speed of swing.

However, Penny at 2 Feet ?

12 to 14 inches on a long buried one yes.

 

[bazinga]

A penny at 2 feet is somebody seriously fabricating a story.

It is possible under perfect conditions to get one at 12-14 inches like Jeff said, but that is a rarity and not common. At the beach you may get 16" I remember digging quite a few foot deep holes for pennies the last time I was in Florida with my explorer.

As for the 5, 6, 8, 9" deep pennies you have. Try different settings.

How is your machine currently set up?

 

[relikhunter]

Man !I figured you explorer users would be getting alot more depth than that.Hell shoulda been using a dfx!!!

 

[damz68]

A penny at 2 feet is somebody seriously fabricating a story.

It is possible under perfect conditions to get one at 12-14 inches like Jeff said, but that is a rarity and not common. At the beach you may get 16" I remember digging quite a few foot deep holes for pennies the last time I was in Florida with my explorer.

As for the 5, 6, 8, 9" deep pennies you have. Try different settings.

How is your machine currently set up?

Smartfind
Sensitivity-32
Threshhold-16
Iron mask off and set to 22

Select
Coins-on
Fe coins-off
jewelry-on
foil-on
pull tabs-on
crowncap-on
screwcap-on
nail-off

Audio
Response-normal
Volume-10
Gain-8
Th.tone-5
Varibility-8
Limits-10
Sounds-conduct

Options
Noise-5
Recovery-Fast and Deep
Contrast-10

I often see "advanced on", but no where on my machine have I seen an advanced button or setting. So I figure advanced just means when you set the machine to your liking. Please correct me if I am wrong. I also think that the indian head I found may have been at 7" deep, one thing I do remember is that it was underneath a 2" diameter root! I will try to get you a link to that 2' deep story.

 

[bazinga]

A penny at 2 feet is somebody seriously fabricating a story.

It is possible under perfect conditions to get one at 12-14 inches like Jeff said, but that is a rarity and not common. At the beach you may get 16" I remember digging quite a few foot deep holes for pennies the last time I was in Florida with my explorer.

As for the 5, 6, 8, 9" deep pennies you have. Try different settings.

How is your machine currently set up?

Smartfind
Sensitivity-32
Threshhold-16
Iron mask off and set to 22

Select
Coins-on
Fe coins-off
jewelry-on
foil-on
pull tabs-on
crowncap-on
screwcap-on
nail-off

Audio
Response-normal
Volume-10
Gain-8
Th.tone-5
Varibility-8
Limits-10
Sounds-conduct

Options
Noise-5
Recovery-Fast and Deep
Contrast-10

I often see "advanced on", but no where on my machine have I seen an advanced button or setting. So I figure advanced just means when you set the machine to your liking. Please correct me if I am wrong. I also think that the indian head I found may have been at 7" deep, one thing I do remember is that it was underneath a 2" diameter root! I will try to get you a link to that 2' deep story.

Ok, for starters, turn that sensitivity down a bit. Is your threshold stable all the time with it that high? I have never had mine above 24 and in parks I rarely ever hunt above 19 and have gotten several coins in the 10" deep range.

One trick I also learned was to have Fast on, but Deep off. It reacts a lot more quickly in trashy areas to deep coins.

I leave the screen wide open except for the iron mask setting. I don't turn coins on, caps off, or any of that junk. The more you discriminate the more depth you lose.

I only use ironmask at about -13. I use an XS and I believe the #'s are different. The max on mine is -16.

The rest seems ok.

 

[damz68]

Man !I figured you explorer users would be getting alot more depth than that.Hell shoulda been using a dfx!!!

Hey, I really did my homework on what was the better machine and it came down to the DFX and Explorer. No offense but the Explorer won me over pretty easy. A lot that I went by was from members of TreasureNet. The only thing I dislike so far is having to slow my swing speed down. If you swing to fast it will miss the target completely.

 

[damz68]

Hey bscofield,
Im confused, you say that my threshold is to high at 16 and you normally hunt at 19, is the lower number higher? If I crank mine over 16/17 it is just too loud and it gives me a headache. Also, can you tell me what advanced means? I here it should be on but can not find a setting for it. When you are in the detect mode and hit that middle arrow button where the sensitivity setting is, what is that?

 

[damz68]

I have always heard the soil dictates the depth u`ll hear.

On a beach i can hit 6-8 easy, factory settings, if i set her to const, all metal and deep i have hit pennies at 12 one nickle was a tad deeper but i didn`t measure it. At that depth u got to listen closely, cause the signals aren`t long or real loud. I haven`t heard of a penny at 2 feet.

If u want max depth, set her to:
Const, one sound for everything, but the se process`s targets faster
All metal, watch your screen to see what the target hits, then decide to dig or not
Deep on

I usually only use this when i`m on a beach that has really been worked and want to hit the deep targets others have missed. I do not know how these settings will work on red clay, i have always heard that is one of the toughest soils, other then black sand to work. I usually dig alot more trash with this setting, but u hit deep targets.

Hey, I will try that. It will probally take me some time to get use to that since I really go by the tones I hear. It does make since though.

 

[damz68]

it may have to do with the type of soil in your area. i just got an SE myself, and on the first day i dug two Wheaties one at 8" and one at 7" respectively. they were "iffy" kind of signals, and i was detecting very slowly at the time. try slowing your swing time down to about 4 seconds per swing. maybe you're just going too fast? i suppose that mineralization could be making it harder for your explorer to get down super deep. i don't really know how to remedy that one.

No doubt you have to slow down with this machine.

 

[TheSleeper]

damz68, personelly i think the best thing u can do at this time is turn her on in the factory presets, hold "on" for 4 seconds, until u know her inside out and backwards. The minelabs are different then other machines, slower sweep speed is #1 . Don`t get in the habit of trying this and trying that, you will only get frustrated and loose interest in her. <<<< Speaking from experience.

The lower your threshold the more able you are to hear those faint unclear signals. BUT to low and u loose the difference in pitch`s targets make. Think it was Andy sabisch that said people with bad hearing used a lower threshold then people with good hearing.

Anyway set her to factory, then experiment with only one setting til u find what works great for u, write it down, then move to the next setting and experiment with it, wash rinse repeat. Changing to many settings at one time can really mess u up. By doing it this way u know what settings work the best and which ones are best left stock, then u can set her that way save it and go.

 

[DetectorBase]

This thread is great. My new Explorer SE should be in my hands early next week! I'll definitely bookmark this.

DB

 

[shootist]

If you are new to Explorer I would suggest you spend sometime here http://www.findmall.com/list.php?10
If you are having trouble understanding what advanced means then you need to read the manual again/some more,in addition the video will help a lot. You can also find more Explorer videos at youtube. Advanced is the mode yo are running in. here are only 2 modes 1)Quickstart;basically the factory presets or 2) Advanced;you have to be in advanced to change 90% of the settings on the machine.
The most important thing to learn are the sounds. Deep coins will make a little bitty sound and it might be all broken up and all mixed in with 20 other sounds but when it makes that sweet pretty little sound there is almost always a coin down there. When your brain really cues on that sound you will start digging more coins. You cant always be looking for this perfect sound it rarely comes,its usually never like that,its always ten different sounds with the one good one thrown in.
Next thing you have to turn that sens down there is no way that thing can be running stable at 32 unless maybe you are running a 5 inch coil, I use an 8inch minelab coil almost exclusively and in a very clean place I may be able to run 24 tops most of the time Im at 19-20. You have to keep a threshold,even if it nulls out almost the entire time, when you stop swinging you should hear a steady threshhold. Which leads me to your threshhold setting. You want the threshhold setting as low as you can get it and still hear it mine is probably around 2-3,I turn it up when Im around busy roads,but rarely any other times. Those little bitty sounds will sometimes just break the threshhold and if its too high you simply wont notice them.
Because I use a smaller coil logic dictates that Im not going to dig coins a foot down,I do pull them from 7 inches though not all the time but its becoming more common. The guys who really dig the deep stuff use the great big coils I would say most of them use the WOT coil,Ive no dount it will pull those deep coins out if you really know what you are doing. Ive only been at this machine for about 5 months but I use it alot I try for an hour or two everyday if I can. Its a beast I swear every single time I take it out I learn something new about it. In the last month Ive really learned that coins over 4-5 inches sound/behave different at different locations. A lot of it is dependent upon the soil.
Well I hope this helped/confused you some. You have to really get to know this machine to get the best out of it and that simply cannot be accomplished in less than a month....Shoot

 

[Don in SJ]

ST

Gads, all these settings, My 6+ year old original Explorer XS is run in Iron Mask -14 most of the time, Ferrous Tones, (Conductive is lousy for me telling coin from iron) Sens in Auto at 32 most of the time. Gain 8-10 depending where I hunt and FAST ALWAYS OFF and DEEP always ON.

If you are a former Whites user, than I guarantee you swing the Explorer too fast and must, must slow down. The is one reason Explorer users in Parks still find stuff, they do take their time and go slower, since it is human nature that when you swing faster you will also walk faster and miss ground coverage whether you realized it or not. Besides the Explorer being just a tad better than that ABC detector

True, I hunt in mostly sandy type soil, but not all is, lots of places in my area are gravel and clay laden soils and I still have not trouble with depth, ever. Most finds are still in the 4-8 inch range and occasionally I will get a Large Cent or Colonial in the 8-11 inch range. My Explorer is a turn on and go detector, do not need the "special settings" With special settings you will not dig a lot of great targets, period......................

The red clay soil might be a problem, but ask around from others who hunt the same areas and see what they say...............

But again, slow down, I know the SE is a bit faster processor than the original, however, it is still an Explorer.....

JMHO

Don in South Jersey