First out with Explorer II

fikys · Feb 27, 2010

I might move to UK for some time and thought that I might need a better detector than my Whites Prism III. So, I sold it and got used Minelab Explorer II from ebay for $635. I did read the manual and what people say about this machine and today was my first day out...Well, I spent about 40 minutes in a simple mode and got clad quarter and several cent coins (no wheat). Then I took several silver coins I brought with me and started teaching the detector to react only to US silver coins... Eventually I was able to build a custom mask that reacts only to a silver half, silver dime, silver quarter and clad quarter. No cents and clad dimes. What I still can not understand, is how to distinguish a clad quarter from silver one? They sound the same to me and seems like I can not discriminate a clad one on my mask. Iron and conductivity also seem to be the same or very close, especially when the coins are underground. Do I miss something simple here? It should be a way... Anyway, I started to detect again using this custom mask and have got several good signals, but when I dig I can not find anything and the detector indicates that the target is still in the hole. But the holes are deep and still I do not see anything. Is pinpointer mode good in Explorer II? I never had such issue with Prism III. Well, at the end I was able to find my first silver coin with Explorer II and it was... 25 centavos, Salvador, 1953. Very common coin here in Illinois

). Here is the picture I found on e-bay: http://cgi.ebay.com/El-Salvador-195...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item5d27f80051

Mr Tuff · Feb 27, 2010

good finds :icon_thumleft:

keep at it i have had digs like that... 14 in deep hole to find big rusty chunk a tin. :P MR TUFF

Knightwalker · Feb 27, 2010

Nice find. IT hard to say why you wasn't finding the object. There times I've done the same thing. I think it got to do with the ground condition. I have found them just off to the side a little after digging a deep hole. There are times when a dime gives me fits to pinpoint. The signal never in the same place when I move the detector towards me, then away from me, come in from left then from right. So I have to cut a large plug and hope I don't hit what I'm digging. I'm not sure how the detector tells what is what. I know I have dug washer when it showed a coin reading. Mine has meter that reads scrap/foil - nickel - pull tab - S cap - penny - dime - quarter - half - dollor. Then it says gold from scrap to S cap and Silver is from penny to dollor. From what I figure it can't tell difference between silver and clad, because it reads the size and that it is round. That explains the washer reading as coin. I've even dug some pull tabs with the round ring as a coin. And I can't figure why you don't want to dig clad. Just think. That is money you can spend and uncle sam doesn't know about. :laughing9:

Good luck

HH in 2010 :hello2:

LI Tom · Feb 27, 2010

It is a mistake to use those those custom programs ,especially as a beginner,that really limit what you hear.You will miss a lot of finds.Last year with the Explorer I found 243 silver coins,mostly hunting in Iron Mask -6,which blanks out 25% of the left or iron side of the screen.It is almost impossible to tell a clad Quarter from silver.Good luck with your Explorer,if you learn it,it's the best silver shooter there is.

fikys · Feb 28, 2010

Thank you for your replies. To those that criticize my use of custom mask need to understand that right now we still have freezing weather here and if I'm going to break through this ice I need to be sure I'm getting a good target. When the weather is better I'll learn how to deal with other targets. I don't view this hobby as profitable but I do think I can get extra coins for my collection using MD. In the same park I found over 80 silver coins with my Prizm detector (but lately my finds went down) and if I can find extra with Explorer this will convince me that Explorer is better. But probably I had a wrong impression that Explorer II can discriminate silver from anything else. Seems like it can not or I did not learn it yet and it will come later.

Another problem that I had with Explorer is that some times the digital screen will not update fast enough and I still get readings from an old target when what I hear in the headset is coming from a new one. Sometimes the screen with fer./conduction readings will stay blank. Then I need to put a coil on the ground and after that the screen starts showing these numbers again. Is this a problem of this unit or a common feature?

Eu_citzen · Feb 28, 2010

It can not tell silver from everything else, but from some things there is to much scrap around to ignore everything but silver.
Also expeirence with the explorer is worth its weight in gold...
Meaning its important to understand what the machine is telling you.. :coffee2:

Especielly the sounds tell a story, use it with the screen to pick out silver.
The sounds though rank #1 when your going to choose to dig or not! :headbang:

But dig always when uncertain, that's the only way to get experience. :read2:

fistfulladirt · Feb 28, 2010

I have an Ex II, I use a 25% iron mask also. I use the screen with the crosshair viewfinder. Yes, clad quarters and silver q's peg the same. Silver dimes on the other hand, are pegged fully into the upper-right corner of the screen. Clad dimes slightly lower. There is no guarantee with deep silver 8" or deeper. My second year with this detector, I dug 65 silvers.