Iron Descrimination w/ Whites Classic 5-ID

Johnnysan · Jan 21, 2009

This is a 'Am I doing something wrong?' question. I've gone out to a couple of local parks that obviously have iron pipes for the sprinkler system (or iron sprinkler heads), and of course I'm getting lots of iron indications. But, several times I've had some hits that indicated in the silver and gold range (1 cent to 1 dollar), which I proceeded to X, then pinpoint. Then after digging a bit it appears to be deep, so I use the detector again to make sure I haven't already dug up whatever it is--and then I get an iron-only reading on that spot.
I have tried adjusting the descrimination between the coin range and ring range (and even higher and lower than these settings) and I still get this problem sometimes.
So, is this a limitation of the Whites Classic? Or, is there something good down there next to pipes? I've had hits on quarters and dimes and the display shows these correctly. Thanks.

Tom_in_CA · Jan 22, 2009

Sounds, repeatabilility (or lack thereof), tones, etc... are things that can only be felt/heard. Nothing that can be diagnosed in print. Ie.: how do you ask someone "please describe the note of c-minor in print"? It can't be done. It has to be heard. So you either need to go out with an experienced user and cross-compare flagged targets, or you have to dig each target and look at it.

You might have to continue to dig and ultimately look at each elusive signal, even if it switches to an iron signal. Ie.: if it continues to give a signal (albeit turning to iron), then continue to pinpoint to find out what's causing the signal. Retrieve it, and attempt to know learn by virtue of swing speed, broke-open holes, etc... that caused it to shift in signal ID's. The swing speed and direction (ie.: turn 360* degrees slowly over the spot, "x-marking" the spot, meaning go up and back to make sure you're not over a larger object, and are merely on the fringe/edge of it).

It all boils down to: there's no substitue for 100 holes (false signals or otherwise) to learn what your machine is telling you, unless you have an experienced (not just a sandbox/clad hunter) to compare/trade-off signals with.