Questions Ive always wondered but never asked

[lisfisher]

Questions I've always wondered but never asked

Here are some things that have been plagueing me but I've never asked:

When speaking of coins , what does the term "bust" mean?

Why do I sometimes get strong signals like a coin, and all of a sudden it is nowhere to be found and the signal has mysteriously dissapeared?

Should I ever touch the ground rejection adjustment on my classic 3 sl?

When hunting with someone else, which one of us should adjust the frequency control, me or them, or both of us, and do you lose depth if you play with the freq knob?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

"Bust" coins are USA silver coin types 1838 and earlier. As for the rest of your questions, you've asked 3 or 4 questions that, in my opinion, go to the core of your basic experience, in general, with detecting. Like, about disappearing signals: Probably no way to diagnose something like that in print. I mean, how does one describe a "sound" with printed text? There's just no way to teach someone to detect, unless they are in-person, face to face, trading off signals, so the experienced guy can actually see/hear what the newbie is doing. So you're best bet is to join up with someone who is experienced (not just a sandbox hunter, but someone who's actually bringing in the old coins to each month's meetings 8) ) and go out and compare signals. Even if it's just clad in a modern place, so you guys can see what each other's hearing and doing.

Example: One time a person rented a machine from a dealer friend of mind, because they suspected that their recently deceased spouse had buried caches of coins in their backyard. They were getting ready to sell the house, and wanted to check the yard, to see if any buried stashes existed. The person brought the machine back to the dealer the next day, complaining that it squeeked and sqauked everywhere. Non-stop chatter, noise, signals or whatever. So once again, my friend went over the operating instructions with the person. They insisted they were doing every step correctly, and suggested that my friend was renting them a piece of junk that actually didn't work in-the-field. So my friend suggested maybe HE could accompany this person to their house and hunt the yard for them.They agreed "10% finders fee for any items recovered". Well my friend got to the ordinary-looking backyard, turned on the machine, and sure enough, signals everywhere! So much, that you couldn't pinpoint or make out individual sounds. BUT, since my friend was an experienced hunter, it only took him 10 seconds to figure out what was going on: There were SO many silver coins in the yard, that there was not a speck of ground that didn't contain coins. You see, the coins had been buried in socks, but the socks had corroded away over the years. Then rottotillers had gone through the yard, and spread coins EVERYWHERE. Now you can see in that illistration, that there was simply no way for my friend to diagnose the problem, without actually being there.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

Here are some things that have been plagueing me but I've never asked:

When speaking of coins , what does the term "bust" mean?

More showing than just the head and a bit of neck. Some of the early Libertys showed some . . . charisma.

Why do I sometimes get strong signals like a coin, and all of a sudden it is nowhere to be found and the signal has mysteriously dissapeared?

Sometimes the coil will give you an average reading of what is under it. When you remove the scrap of foil and bit of wire unnoticed there is nothing left in the hole. To eliminate some of this try "X" ing a target with the coil sweeping in different directions. Helps you interpret the false signals and trash . . . sometimes. That's one of the things practice with your machine, diging everything, practicing, listening to your machine and practicing will help.

That or it's stuck to the back of your trowel.

Should I ever touch the ground rejection adjustment on my classic 3 sl?

Every time you change ground & regularly even when you don't. Ground balance is critical for depth or small targets.

When hunting with someone else, which one of us should adjust the frequency control, me or them, or both of us, and do you lose depth if you play with the freq knob?

It should not effect your depth. Change yours if you are getting interference, and also is your buddy can't change his enough to eliminate (or has no adjustment feature) it as a courtesy . . . or move 20 feet away.

 

[Sandman]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

Exactly as Charlie said.

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

charisma...

 

[lisfisher]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

Thanks everyone. As far as the disapearing signals it is more of instances where I do not get chatter, beeps and flutters { I do ok deciphering trashy sounds from good sounds} , but is more of a case where I get a "coin" signal, meaning both edges are sharp and crisp swinging the coil back and forth. Then I dig the target and periodically swing the coil back over the area and the signal has completely dissapeared. Sometimes I figure well maybe in removing the dirt, the coin got moved and is now standing on edge, so then I kick the dirt around a bit and nothing. I also go over the entire area a few times but the signal is gone. This happens to my buddy with his xlt as well.

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

The disappearing Target question... it's not just you.

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,57361.0.html

 

[Cynangyl]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

That is a good thread there, thanks for reminding us of it Jim. Love the Easter Avatar too!

 

[lisfisher]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

Posted by Charlie:

"Every time you change ground & regularly even when you don't. Ground balance is critical for depth or small targets. "

Can you explain to me how to do this? All I know is there is a hidden trim adjustment knob inside the box, accessible with a tiny screwdriver.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

Posted by Charlie:

"Every time you change ground & regularly even when you don't. Ground balance is critical for depth or small targets. "

Can you explain to me how to do this? All I know is there is a hidden trim adjustment knob inside the box, accessible with a tiny screwdriver.

Well, I don't know a Whites Classic 3SL specifically, but I can give you a general guess. Hold the coil 2" off the ground and lift it rapidly to about 12". Repeat this while turning the knob until it does not give an audio reaction. Then, starting at 12" push it fast to about 2" and make any fine tuning so it barely gives a "blip" or nothing. My Musky works this way.

It takes a half-minute but will pay off big time in most conditions. Some units have a "Fixed GB" setting at one end of the dial and this is better than having a bad setting. Used to be a lot of fixed GB units were advertised as "automatic GB". Automatic like a dead cow automatically stays where it is.

On my F-75 I push the trigger and wag the coil as above a few times until it gives a GB readout. Thereafter it tries to compansate but has limitations; so I FASTGRAB every five minutes or so. I distrust fully automatic GB units as, depending on soil changes and trash, they are forever trying to play "catch-up" with whatever is passing under the coil and may null out faint targets.

They're all a little different.


PS - is you're having problems . . . move. If there is any trash or metal in the coil's field you'll never get there. Finding a clear spot can be difficult in some sites. I guess guys with a lot of black sand end up mumbling to themselves and using a "best guess" preset.

 

[Cynangyl]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

Sometimes you can get a ghost signal that sounds like a coin, or something else worth digging, and when you dig it there is nothing there - it rusted away and left only a halo, which your detector picked up as solid.


Here are the most common reasons I don't find the target after I've dug for it:

The target gets flung far away due to my wild digging technique.
The target (usually a pulltab) is stuck on the end of my digging tool and I didn't notice it for several minutes. (That one always ticks me off. )
The target is small and the same color as the soil, so I can't spot it.
The cable that connects the coil to the box is hanging too loosely and the detector is reading it as a target.

I am not embarrassed to admit these slip-ups in my metal detecting experiences because I am sure most detectorists have had similar snafus in their careers.

I thought it was just me!!

TT gave you a few very likely reasons for what is happening. Keep working with the detector and as you become more familiar with it you might have LESS of these instances but they will still plague you occassionally! Hang in there!!

 

[cosmic]

Re: Questions I've always wondered but never asked

bust

NOUN:

A sculpture representing a person's head, shoulders, and upper chest.

A woman's bosom.
The human chest.

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