Masked Target Beside Large Trash?

[McKinney_5900]

I have been using the 10x5 NOX coil for about a week, every day, trying to milk the missed masked targets in my old spots. Maybe this is one of my general faults but, once I've decided that it's worth the digging, the signal passes my general sizing routine of raising the coil and watching the depth meter and the excessive height with larger targets(trash)...I then get down 4-6 inches in my first dig only to have my pinpointers blast big, not small. I just fill in the hole and move on.

I got to wandering though. If the 10x5 coil can separate the best of the coils, or for that matter if it was the 6" coil, how likely is it that the target was really masked by a crushed can or much bigger junk? The natural answer is to do the work and dig the trash, but it is so much work in my ground conditions, and frankly demoralizing to only find what was expected, a big piece of trash.

Do you have a system to go on for actually filtering out that there is really a coin or jewelry sized target there, without digging the bigger signal? I may just be walking away from targets which the Equinox DID say, "it's here" with these coils. I use a TRX, tip only pointer, so when it ring out a big target, I trust it is really a big target. A missed old coin could still be there though.

You have a system besides digging all of the big trash?

 

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[Tpmetal]

you have to dig it out to see if anything is being masked. the only way is to do the work and remove the big trash to see what signals may show up after. No magic detector or settings are going to tell you that there is a silver coin next to or under that wood stove door, or piece of cast iron, or horse shoe, or piece of tin roof, and so on.

 

[McKinney_5900]

you have to dig it out to see if anything is being masked. the only way is to do the work and remove the big trash to see what signals may show up after. No magic detector or settings are going to tell you that there is a silver coin next to or under that wood stove door, or piece of cast iron, or horse shoe, or piece of tin roof, and so on.

This where the CTX would maybe come in handy, with its display of the targets and sizes. I wish I had stored the locations of the "passed up" dig spots, but I do recall one at least. My plan now, besides doing the work in this dry black, hard Texas clay, is to use the discrimination tonal signal while doing the Minelab wiggle until the conductive signal disappears, and dig on the forward end close to the big target I see after I crack the first hole. Logically if there is a good target that the machine is seeing, it couldn't be right next to a large junk target, else the conductive numbers wouldn't be showing. This is assuming the conductive tone and numbers don't appear in any other direction around the larger signal.

If I could map out these locations I've chosen to walk away from until ground moisture was good instead of terrible, I'd return then and dig the big targets. I wonder if there is an app for marking a specific spot? Thanks.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

I rehit my pounded old cellar hole sites with the 6? coil, very slow swing rate and tried various modes and sensitivity levels. Basically i didn?t find many targets masked by big iron, but I did find several amazing finds I had missed because the stock coil could not get in and around some areas.

 

[GoDeep]

It's like dating a girl you know is out of your league, you have to bring your "A" game and put in the extra effort to bring home a trophy! NO doubt you've left some nice scores in the ground, right next to a big 'ol chunk of iron!

 

[smokeythecat]

You have to dig it. I have a small place on a farm I dig called the aluminum can breeding grounds. Well, TWO Confederate buckles have been found out of that infestation so far. You never know.

 

[bigscoop]

I "live in the trash" the vast majority of the time, a huge difference in trying to pinpoint targets that are somewhat masked by iron VS those that are somewhat masked by other types of nonferrous metals. Note I said "somewhat masked" because if it's completely masked then you're not going to detect completely masked targets. This generally leaves you with just those initial chirps and barks and with the right coil (a small one) and the right settings you can often isolate the source to "a very-very tiny" spot. But you really have to know your machine and the tones that it offers and you also have to understand how your machine's search field is configured, all of this helping you to isolate those very-very tiny, but consistent returns. Too much sensitivity can kill you because it can have the same effect of making the targets appear larger then they are, not a good thing in a crowded field. Too much recovery speed can also kill you because the machine will often filter out those seemingly insignificant and/or weak/faint returns. Your best bet is to make yourself hunt nothing but the worst of these trashy environments until you can identify those potential chirps and barks. But bottom line, the only way to know for sure what the source of these returns are is to dig.

 

[Tpmetal]

This where the CTX would maybe come in handy, with its display of the targets and sizes. I wish I had stored the locations of the "passed up" dig spots, but I do recall one at least. My plan now, besides doing the work in this dry black, hard Texas clay, is to use the discrimination tonal signal while doing the Minelab wiggle until the conductive signal disappears, and dig on the forward end close to the big target I see after I crack the first hole. Logically if there is a good target that the machine is seeing, it couldn't be right next to a large junk target, else the conductive numbers wouldn't be showing. This is assuming the conductive tone and numbers don't appear in any other direction around the larger signal.

If I could map out these locations I've chosen to walk away from until ground moisture was good instead of terrible, I'd return then and dig the big targets. I wonder if there is an app for marking a specific spot? Thanks.

Problem with that is large irron targets can often give what sounds like a good signal right next to it, in reality it is often not. The only way to effeciently deal with this is not to stand around swinging for 5 minutes trying to figure out is there a good signal there. Simply dig the big piece of trash and rescan the area for more signals. Otherwise you end up standing there far too long wasting time wheb you could have both targets out of the ground in a similar time frame.

 

[McKinney_5900]

Problem with that is large irron targets can often give what sounds like a good signal right next to it, in reality it is often not. The only way to effeciently deal with this is not to stand around swinging for 5 minutes trying to figure out is there a good signal there. Simply dig the big piece of trash and rescan the area for more signals. Otherwise you end up standing there far too long wasting time wheb you could have both targets out of the ground in a similar time frame.

Exactly. That was a lot of the reason I've bailed so quickly after getting the pinpointer swamped after the first dig. Case in point, I drove to the one spot today where I'd left after getting the iffy high conductor signal. It was a hunk of metal, maybe cast iron.

Back to square one. This was the junk object.

***I think I need to update my own thread*** I have concluded that I have already milked the so-called hunted out spots, so the 10x5 coil ain't going to manufacture any hidden masked treasure. I read an article about hunting for missed, masked targets, where the main recommendation was to judge targets by whether you got 2-way detection signals. I'd already worked my various hunt areas over time, with multiple other detector models, picking two-way signals, and digging some good things. I have changed to selecting even decent one-way signals with this new 10x5, and not limiting myself to decent 2-ways, and honestly? As much as people hit the soapbox and say, "No place is ever hunted out"...places can be 99% hunted out.

Thanks for all the advice. Until new technology comes to give us x-ray vision of everything below the coil, there just ain't a coil made which can see masked targets, within public spots after being hammered for decades by tectors better than I. Ground shifts might happen, but mainly, places can certainly be hunted out for all practical purposes.

Two way signals will get me digging.

 

[pulltabfelix]

I have been using the 10x5 NOX coil for about a week, every day, trying to milk the missed masked targets in my old spots. Maybe this is one of my general faults but, once I've decided that it's worth the digging, the signal passes my general sizing routine of raising the coil and watching the depth meter and the excessive height with larger targets(trash)...I then get down 4-6 inches in my first dig only to have my pinpointers blast big, not small. I just fill in the hole and move on.

I got to wandering though. If the 10x5 coil can separate the best of the coils, or for that matter if it was the 6" coil, how likely is it that the target was really masked by a crushed can or much bigger junk? The natural answer is to do the work and dig the trash, but it is so much work in my ground conditions, and frankly demoralizing to only find what was expected, a big piece of trash.

Do you have a system to go on for actually filtering out that there is really a coin or jewelry sized target there, without digging the bigger signal? I may just be walking away from targets which the Equinox DID say, "it's here" with these coils. I use a TRX, tip only pointer, so when it ring out a big target, I trust it is really a big target. A missed old coin could still be there though.

You have a system besides digging all of the big trash?

I have been using a brass probe much like a screw driver. It is about 9" long. Brass will not scratch a coin. Tin cans you can easily determine them if not too rusted. Same with lids. First you probe gently because rusted cans will let the probe pass through with a little resistance. But experience will allow you to tell the different. big cast iron is also easy to tell and it is a little different from a rock. Hope this helps.