Help with digging

[gobblesandgrunts]

I've been getting really high signals low 90s in an area but mostly all I'm comung up with is old pieces of iron or metal. How do you tell the difference in a good signal or not?

 

[BLK HOLE]

I can only speak about my machine (Garrett PRO/MAX) both have iron audio to help screen out the iron. Also the size of the target is a good indicator, I also will pick my coil up about a foot over the target and if I am still hearing it I am pretty sure it's a big piece of junk. Now if I am on a site that should produce good stuff I just dig it all, as the junk gets pulled out then I can find good stuff. Hope this helps.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

The harsh answer to that is "by learning to use your detector". All a detector of any price can tell you is the relative conductivity of what is under the coil vs. the soil you initially ground balanced it to. They don't "know" anything. They just respond to the parameters programmed into the unit based on reactions from the search coil. The way to learn is to note the detector's reactions. Sweep in perpendicular directions, raise and lower the coil when sweeping, listen (coins are smooth tones, junk clicks or sputters with analog audio). Not so useful if you just get an alarm signal for targets.

If you ask about a specific brand and model you may get better information.

Best start is to find a clear area of soil (no hits or interference with the detector) out in the yard and bury several objects at known depths. Junk and good targets. Then practice over them.

Iron, unless huge, reads low and many detectors can mask it out if you set them up to do so. A coin will read consistently if yo sweep the coil close to the surface but gradually sweep higher and higher away from the surface. It just stops reading at some point. Junk or odd shapes will read inconsistency, sound different or give different display readings. Dig it all and keep notes of what the IDs were. Eventually you'll learn which responses to ignore - but you'll miss good stuff as well because gold and small/old coins read as junk very often.

 

[gobblesandgrunts]

I can only speak about my machine (Garrett PRO/MAX) both have iron audio to help screen out the iron. Also the size of the target is a good indicator, I also will pick my coil up about a foot over the target and if I am still hearing it I am pretty sure it's a big piece of junk. Now if I am on a site that should produce good stuff I just dig it all, as the junk gets pulled out then I can find good stuff. Hope this helps.

Ok so the closee to the ground when your detecting is not always good, the longer the beeps the lsrger the target? I have a simplex +

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Not a unit I'm familiar with but someone here will be.

As close as you can sweep without falsing (from bumping ground or weeds) is the best for depth. But once you get a target then you start the variations to guess shape, depth, composition, etc.

Things like cartridge brass, when laying level, will give two "bips" - one for each end. If you sweep again from 90 degrees different approach in may be a single "bip". Those kind of clues can help in areas where there is a specific trash item you want to avoid.

 

[gobblesandgrunts]

Not a unit I'm familiar with but someone here will be.

As close as you can sweep without falsing (from bumping ground or weeds) is the best for depth. But once you get a target then you start the variations to guess shape, depth, composition, etc.

Things like cartridge brass, when laying level, will give two "bips" - one for each end. If you sweep again from 90 degrees different approach in may be a single "bip". Those kind of clues can help in areas where there is a specific trash item you want to avoid.

Wow this helps, thanks! And its basically an entry level detector from nokta. Its supposed to be a pretty good one though with the features it has.

 

[CarsonChris]

Are you using an AT Pro? Waggle the coil back off the target. Iron gives an audible grunt. Tin is a little bit more tricky. Raise the detector above. If you are still getting a signal high off the ground, big iron or tin can/ aluminum can

 

[CASPER-2]

i was hunting a farm field years ago and kept getting signals in the 90s
i try and dig it all and just kept digging them up - most were large can parts
kept yelling to my partner - hey...i got another half dollar signal ...hey ...i got
another silver dollar signal - dug about 12 hunks of mud filled twisted plow hit pieces of can
or so i thought - when i finally cleaned out my pouch - i found one bent and twisted
piece seemed heavier and i unbent it a little and knocked all the mud out of it
i noticed a pattern etched on it and continued to pry it open - it turned out to be an old
sterling compact - huge one - bigger than my hand - went thru
the other pieces and found the other half - lot of silver there - glad i dug everything

another time - another field was hitting a field with old friends - went back to
our cars to take a break - i hunted near side of the road while others snacked - i was getting tons of signals
can slaw all over the place - guys were saying i was wasting my time - i said that trash might be masking a good find or two
since they pass over the area near the road because of all the trash - i got a silver dollar signal and even told them that
this one sounded better than the rest - knelt down and stuck my knife in and popped up a sterling silver spoon
boy should have seen their faces - five shocked ones but they were right there when i popped it
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.flickr.com/photos/casper-1/10533874943/[/FONT]
have had many other times over the yrs that would swear i had trash but pulled out a keeper
here was one that went off like a can
[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Tahoma,Calibri,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.flickr.com/photos/casper-1/2409381706/
[/FONT]

 

[gobblesandgrunts]

Yeah I plan to get back out there as soon as I can, this weekend was busy though. Going to try it again and just keep digging the trash

 

[gobblesandgrunts]

Are you using an AT Pro? Waggle the coil back off the target. Iron gives an audible grunt. Tin is a little bit more tricky. Raise the detector above. If you are still getting a signal high off the ground, big iron or tin can/ aluminum can

I'm using a simplex +

 

[pulltabfelix]

It is a very good detector. I have the Simplex+ along with my 800. But I have very little time on the Simplex. When you get a questionable signal like that raise your coil while swinging. coins and rings will fade out as you raise the coil 6-12 inches above the ground. Big iron or cans will not as much. Also use the heel to toe method to determine size. Swing the top part of the coil (toe) until you lose the signal. Do the same with the bottom of the coil (heel). Thus you can bracket the target size. Coins and rings should be a matter of an inch and bigger stuff like tin cans will be several inches.

Like any good detector it takes experience to learn these things. Info from the forums, youtube videos and practice, practice, practice on actual hunts.

Better to keep digging all signals and getting to know the tones of the simplex. After you dig a junk iron signal, swing over the hole again. Iron will mask (or hide) non-ferrous targets. Don't leave a hole until all signals are dug and removed.

Have fun and don't get frustrated. We have all been in your shoes before.

 

[RTR]

IF IT makes noise...dig it !

 

[gobblesandgrunts]

Yeah what I'm doing lol just a tonnnn of signals at our farm! But still doing it