Got my Tejon and have a question

[Tony (Michigan)]

I put the Tejon together after work. It looks pretty much unused.

I took it out back, ground balanced it, set both discrim knobs so only copper and silver would hit. Ran sense just to where the detector was stable.

I got a really good repeatable signal going 360 degrees around it. Dug it, iron nails. kept checking the hole till
I dug all the crap out. Put the plug back, no signal.

Went further, and repeated the above.
Dug the hold, pulled out some nails, a small piece of iron hardware, no coins. Put plug back and re-scanned the plug area with detector, nothing.

Why even have a discrimination knob if I'm digging iron nails?

 

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[steve1357]

A detector's discriminator circuit is calibrated for coin sized objects disrupting the coil's field.

Rusted nails can create the same signal as the coins you're looking for.

Detectors cannot tell the difference between silver, gold, or steel, or rust, only their assumed measurable amount of disruption of the coil's field.

I can probably take a pair of scissors and a coke can and make any coin signature you're hoping to find.

 

[HighVDI]

The signal you're hearing is not a coin signal. Id bet it is a "flat" one. Coins have a softer, tighter sound to them. Once you get the ear for it....it is unmistakable. Remember too that they're more geared for relics so any deep rusty nails or flat iron will slip through that disc.

 

[Peter67]

The signal you're hearing is not a coin signal. Id bet it is a "flat" one. Coins have a softer, tighter sound to them. Once you get the ear for it....it is unmistakable. Remember too that they're more geared for relics so any deep rusty nails or flat iron will slip through that disc.

I also find it difficult to get information out of the tones of the Tejon. The Tejon goes much deeper then my Lobo Super Traq but i get much more information out of the tones of the Lobo Super Traq. You can hear clearly the difference in tones but for me (personaly) there is not much difference in the tones of the Tejon. So i dig much more garbage with the Tejon then the Lobo. I only use the Tejon when depth is an issue and places i cleaned out with the Lobo.

 

[Tony (Michigan)]

Thanks everyone. On this old farm I live on it is probably a relic paradise with many thousands of old rusty nails in the grounds. I can probably pick any spot in any of the yards, dig a hole and pull at least three nails out. When, in 1920, they took apart the old house and re-used the beams and other salvageable wood, they tossed anything not needed into the yards. It's a nightmare for a coin hunter. Maybe someday they will come up with a detector that actually sees through nails rather than around them. But I won't hold my breath on that one. :-)

One other thing, even with the disc set high to accept copper and silver I was getting a good hit on aluminum foil. I'd dig the target and it was aluminum. The foil was about an inch wide and thin. What's up with that? Could it be my discrim is bad on the detector? I just purchased it used but it is in cherry condition. Why even have two discrimination pots if they let in what you are trying to disc out?

 

[HighVDI]

Thanks everyone. On this old farm I live on it is probably a relic paradise with many thousands of old rusty nails in the grounds. I can probably pick any spot in any of the yards, dig a hole and pull at least three nails out. When, in 1920, they took apart the old house and re-used the beams and other salvageable wood, they tossed anything not needed into the yards. It's a nightmare for a coin hunter. Maybe someday they will come up with a detector that actually sees through nails rather than around them. But I won't hold my breath on that one. :-)

One other thing, even with the disc set high to accept copper and silver I was getting a good hit on aluminum foil. I'd dig the target and it was aluminum. The foil was about an inch wide and thin. What's up with that? Could it be my discrim is bad on the detector? I just purchased it used but it is in cherry condition. Why even have two discrimination pots if they let in what you are trying to disc out?

From my understanding the current market offers no "see through" on iron. Fast recovery speeds help for sure along with tiny coils. All detectors get fooled on aluminum and anyone who says they don't dig trash is full of it.

Your spot sounds like a detectorists paradise but it also needs lots of labor to remove those other masking targets. Steak off a 10ftx10ft area and grid it removing all signals and if you don't eventually find a coin I'll buy that tejon off you! Kidding of course.....unless you want to sell.

That aluminum does give off a different tone though. Shallow coins do sound similar to trash, but deepies sound nice and smooth. Soft sound. My iron nails I dig are almost always with a pop or tick that's out of place when I switch over to alt. Disc.

 

[WaterScoop]

I can’t tell you how many times I got a signal with my (INSERT MACHINE HERE) and it sounded like the bees knees
And it was a nice pice of rust. Notice I said rust not just iron.

You will tune your ear for that slight scratch in sound and the slight jump in your VDI if you machine has one.

Dig everything, I know of someone who almost walked past a foil signal and dug a Roman Gold coin instead in Europe..

 

[HighVDI]

I agree. If you got an old site you gotta dig any repeatable signal or you will miss something rest assured.

 

[Ammoman]

Your not alone with the Tejon...its a great machine and very deep. Yes the sounds are much more difficult to distinguish when compared to my Compadre but with patience i have done better with it over time.

 

[HighVDI]

I also find it difficult to get information out of the tones of the Tejon. The Tejon goes much deeper then my Lobo Super Traq but i get much more information out of the tones of the Lobo Super Traq. You can hear clearly the difference in tones but for me (personaly) there is not much difference in the tones of the Tejon. So i dig much more garbage with the Tejon then the Lobo. I only use the Tejon when depth is an issue and places i cleaned out with the Lobo.

I notice that too on my tejon vs my conquistador. I go out for clad with the tejon to keep my ear tuned for shallow coins. If you pay attention to the end of the signal that seems to be where the difference is IMO

 

[Tony (Michigan)]

From my understanding the current market offers no "see through" on iron. Fast recovery speeds help for sure along with tiny coils. All detectors get fooled on aluminum and anyone who says they don't dig trash is full of it.

Your spot sounds like a detectorists paradise but it also needs lots of labor to remove those other masking targets. Steak off a 10ftx10ft area and grid it removing all signals and if you don't eventually find a coin I'll buy that tejon off you! Kidding of course.....unless you want to sell.

That aluminum does give off a different tone though. Shallow coins do sound similar to trash, but deepies sound nice and smooth. Soft sound. My iron nails I dig are almost always with a pop or tick that's out of place when I switch over to alt. Disc.

That is good to know about about the pop or tick when switching over to alt. disc.
Is your Alt. Disc. set up higher than your other disc? What are your disc. settings?

 

[HighVDI]

That is good to know about about the pop or tick when switching over to alt. disc.
Is your Alt. Disc. set up higher than your other disc? What are your disc. settings?

My usual settings now are disc at foil and alt. disc at scap.

If I'm at an old site I'll just dig everything above foil. I really listen closely to the fainter smooth signals. These are usually good ones.

If park hunting clad I'll just turn up my main disc. and then dig. Usually things are shallow in these spots.

 

[Tony (Michigan)]

My usual settings now are disc at foil and alt. disc at scap.

If I'm at an old site I'll just dig everything above foil. I really listen closely to the fainter smooth signals. These are usually good ones.

If park hunting clad I'll just turn up my main disc. and then dig. Usually things are shallow in these spots.

What size coil do you usually hunt with at an old site?

 

[HighVDI]

What size coil do you usually hunt with at an old site?

I use the 12 x 10. dd. I pulled an 1877 seated quarter, 1918 walker half and a holed matron head from a spot I went over with my f75. Believe it or not, the tejon with that bigger coil still weeds through the iron pretty darn well considering. I never thought in a million years those coins would be in there. Also pulled some deep wheats from a spot I cleaned out with the f75. The tejon when super tuned with the big dd coil is deep. Accurate at depth too from my experience.

 

[Tony (Michigan)]

I use the 12 x 10. dd. I pulled an 1877 seated quarter, 1918 walker half and a holed matron head from a spot I went over with my f75. Believe it or not, the tejon with that bigger coil still weeds through the iron pretty darn well considering. I never thought in a million years those coins would be in there. Also pulled some deep wheats from a spot I cleaned out with the f75. The tejon when super tuned with the big dd coil is deep. Accurate at depth too from my experience.

That is really good to know. I know when I used to have the Tejon years ago, in this one area of the school yard I hit it a lot with the Minelabs. Then I took the Tejon over that area and popped up a deep Walker half. I was so amazed. Yea, it can hunt deep. I just need to relearn the sounds in iron trash. Even my other detectors will fool me from time to time. But if you don't dig the iffy signals, I guarantee you are missing some goodies.

 

[HighVDI]

I hated my tejon at first. Seemed finicky and didn't air test well so I figured it was junk. Glad I never gave up on it.