greenwyvern, any time questions of one-way signals, disappearing signals, tones, etc.... come up on the forum, you have to figure that questions like this are almost impossible to answer in printed text. It would be like saying "describe the sound of C minor in printed text". It can't be done. It can only be heard. And no one reading that see the way you are swinging, and the exact meaning of "signal" and "ding" and "one way", etc.... Hence the only way is to hook up with someone proficient (preferably who uses the same machine as you), who routinely brings in the good stuff (ie.: not just a sandbox hunter). Flag signals for each other. Watch the way he tries to isolate. Listen to the signals he's trying to "bring in", Watch the way he swings. Notice what he'd pass (and don't be afraid to ask why or why not, etc...)
I'll give you a humorous example of what I'm talking about. There was a guy on the forum one time who was complaining of "one way signals" and "disappearing signals". He assumed something was wrong with his machine, so he sent it back to the factory for "repairs". It was an XLT. They sent it back saying nothing was wrong with it . So he went back in the field, and it kept doing the same thing! He read the instruction manual several times, cover to cover . He was fit to be tied, and assumed Whites had a terrible product. He even called the west coast Whites rep. personally, and described the problem over the phone. The rep. said "you must be operating it wrong". Which only made the md'r madder, because it seemed to insinuate that he was a dummy, incapable of reading and following simple instructions!
This fellow lives about an hour from me, so I agreed to meet up with him. In 1 minute, I figured out his problem: Whenever he'd get a signal, he'd slow down his sweep to "hear it better". But since the XLT is a fast motion machine (the faster you swing it the deeper you go, in disc. mode), his slowing down would cause the signal to start to break up, and/or disappear. Thus with his "slowing down" method over targets, he could only get the shallowest of signals. Everything "disappeared". Once I showed him the "motion" necessity, the lights went on and his problem was solved.
But I asked him:
"I thought you said you read the instructions. Didn't you see the part about "motion required" ? He said that, yes of course he'd seen that instruction. But thought they were talking about swinging the coil from side to side as you walk and move. And he had thought "That's a stupid instruction. I mean, duh, HOW ELSE is anyone supposed to ever progress through the field and detect, UNLESS they were moving the coil side to side in motion?".
So you see, no amount of printed instruction could see or assess his problem. It was something that had to be seen and heard for someone else to diagnose. So too might yours be the same, where you're not centering, where your controls perhaps are set up wrong, where you're confusing "flutter" with signals, or your swing speed variations over suspected targets will immediately reveal info, etc..... All things that can only be assessed by either A) hard knocks, or B) hook up with someone proficient in your area for flagged signals comparing.
I have had hunting partners have it happen and just as perplexed as myself.
