How to tell the difference in the sounds of metal detecting.

Myth legend

Jr. Member
Aug 15, 2016
67
89
Lost in space
Detector(s) used
Bounty Hunter Tracker IV Metal Detector, now an At Pro.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Aluminum cans ring up as dimes with my Ace 250. I can usually tell the difference because of the size of the target. Unless it's a small piece of can slaw, you should be able to figure out if it's a coin or a can by the size.

I pinpoint the target and hold down the pinpoint button while slowly moving the coil away from the target. You can usually get a good idea as to the size of the target by doing this once or twice. Practice is the key. I still dig a deep can once in awhile. Better to do that, than miss out on a silver dime. When in doubt, dig it out...
 

Some models of detectors there's no difference in sound between trash and treasure, never used a tracker 4 so you might ask in the bounty hunter forum section. I know some cheaper models of those don't even have a pinpoint mode, some detectors are better than others on sound with trash being broken tone at the beginning or end of the sweep while treasure will be nice and solid sound throughout your sweep. HH
 

The truth is, no matter what machine you use, time on the headphones and targets dug are the only way to learn the machine's language. Tinny, fuzzy, ragged, sharp, bell-like.. the descriptors go on and on for tone qualities. After 300-hours and a thousand targets dug, you'll begin to hear the slight differences and judge depths. :skullflag:
 

The type of metal in question plays a dominant role, of course, but size matters. Sizing the target is probably the most underrated way to make a determination regarding whether to dig - anything big enough will probably sound good if not discriminated. For example, can slaw is at the low end, but big can slaw (the can) is at the high end. Raise the coil, draw it out in pinpoint mode, etc. and pass by the big stuff unless cache hunting or something similar.

*or dig it out and see if it's hiding anything
 

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