non visual id detector

[nuggetbuster]

I have a mxt and every beep i get i eye ball the display, how do you guys operate the detectors that have no display that is guesstimating whats in the ground? Im thinking about trying a vaquero or tejon and when i hear a beep from it and eyeball the control housing im gonna be staring at knobs!! which do you guys like better? displays or no displays?

 

[BamaBill]

All last year I was using a Tesoro. This year I'm using an MXT. After a while with the MXT I'm starting to only look at the display when I get a positive sound. The real difference to me is that you can run the MXT with the threshold turned up to an audible level, which helps hear the really deep signals and the Tesoro runs with a silent search, where if you're batteries are having problems you won't know. Last weekend I was relic hunting and in a real trashy spot and I think the MXT helped me not dig some iron that I probably would have dug with the Tesoro.

 

[deepskyal]

My whites 6000 di series 2 has a vdi which I rarely use except for depth. I depend on the sounds and after some experience you'll understand the various blips, screeches and what-nots.

Sure, I dig a fair amount of junk...but..you read enough posts to discover that treasures lie UNDER some junk.

A good example, I was demonstrating detector use to some folk at a church picnic and got a typical pulltab crackle.
Just to prove to them it was a pulltab, I dug it. It was a 1964 AND a 1965 quarter, side-by-side at the base of a tree..
I told them that's why I dig everything...

They were fairly shallow so I think even a detector with the modern VDI's would have got some kind of erratic signal when you could only swing the detector one way because the tree was there.

I had a 6000di pro years back, (sorry I got rid of it)..but the capabilities wern't much different than that of the series 2, even tho it had the better vdi. I still like "hearing" what I'm finding.

Al

 

[hsjrev]

I like the dual disc knobs on the Tejon for rapid searching. I set the main disc to screen out small nails and then check any signals with the second disc usually set to screen out foil or crackle on pulltabs. The trigger switches between the two disc levels quickly for a check of a signal.

 

[SC_hunter]

About the only comment I can make is that if you plan on digging almost every signal, you don't need a display. I for one used a Tejon a couple of times and had no idea what I was digging and no clue as to the depth...Never again....but thats just my experience.

 

[ivan salis]

training your ear to "know" the sounds that your machine makes when it finds various metals is one of the best things a detectorist can do --a combo of a trained ear and vdi together will allow you to greatly cut down on digging duds (non relic type junk iron) -- sadly many folks today start with a vdi machine and never seem to learn the old adage "not all beeps are the same" --- many old timers --who did not have vdi type machines were very good at "listening" to their machines and what it was "saying" to them--- they could often tell you what they were going to dig as far as it being clad / silver/ gold / iron --- your machine can tell you a lot if you listen closely and know what its saying --

my take is if your not "relic" or iron hunting -- if the ear says iron and the vdi says is iron --- then 99.9 %of the time its iron -- so don't bother.

its that or basically dig it all ---which in a trashy area (iron -- foil -- pulltabs) gets old real fast - Ivan

 

[SC_hunter]

Ivan, you are right...I have pretty good hearing and could tell the difference in the sound...But to heck with digging a swimming pool size hole and not having any idea whatsoever as to how deep it was. That was the most frustrating part of no visual indication. I don't use the vdi scale exclusively but I do use the depth indicator and that is right on the money most of the time. Just keeps me from getting frustrated to the point of boiling over..lol

 

[JOE(USA)]

nuggetbuster,

Basically the visual and tone ID detectors are best for coinshooting and the non IDs are usually set up for relic hunting. The Tesoro Tejon is a good crossover detector because it allows you to read the audio signal from two different settings,and it does it very fast because of the trigger switch. It is also a killer relic hunter. Alas no visual, but you can't have everything unless of course you pay top $. (I'm not so sure you will get it then either.) You can buy a couple of crossover machines that will do it all or you can buy four or five machines specifically for each task. By the way, ivan salis was right on with what he said. Joe

 

[Dan B]

I find that using the VCO mode with my Tejon, I get a pretty accurate idea of depth just by the tone. Low tones are deep, and high pitch tones are shallow.

Dan

 

[JOE(USA)]

Dan B,

Thanks for reminding me of that! That is another big plus for the Tejon. You get such a much better audio variation with the VCO.
You get a "true" volume and pitch change with that feature enabled.