I have a whites eagle spectrum. Got it for father's day and found lots of clad and two rings. But not one silver coin. Also found lots of wheaties also. Am I doing something wrong? I go out for like 2 to 6 hours at a time. If anyone can help me with any suggestions I would greatly appreciated.
If you are finding wheats, then there is silver in the area. First, ensure you are getting a proper ground balance. This cannot be over emphasized. It's not difficult to do, but many people just slop their way through it, assuming the spot they choose to balance over is "fine". After you turn on the detector, blow through the ground balance routine and select any program you wish. Which one doesn't matter. Flip the trigger switch forward to pin point locked, then sweep the ground slowly, listening for ANY change in sound (headphones are a good thing to have, too!). Once you have selected a spot with NO indication of metal, go ahead and load the program you intend to use (I recommend Jewelry & Beach), then initiate the ground balance function. Some people endorse balancing twice, rather than once. I'm not entirely sold on the idea, but, it doesn't hurt anything if you do it twice.
I have listed the ground balance procedure first, because it is the single most important thing you can do to enhance your detector's performance, however, it is also the
last thing you do. When you are preparing to hunt, here are some settings to check, and my recommendations:
1. Ensure you are accepting VDI's for the silver range
2. Set your threshold so that you can barely hear it - too loud, and deeper target's weak signals can't punch through it, too quiet, and the volume of the weak signals is also reduced
3. AC & DC Sens - the default settings are fine for now, but soon you will be bumping these values up. Increase them a bit at a time until the detector becomes unstable, then back of a few notches
4. S.A.T - on to start. As you gain proficiency, you may want to turn it off. As SAT maintains the threshold, there is a risk it is blocking out the very weak signals as "noise"
5. VCO - on. This makes it easier to pin point.
6. Modulation - off. Later you may want to turn it on to search for whisper signals and null signals. But for now, having all targets respond with equal amplitude will help.
7. GEB Auto trac - if you have this on, then turn on Trac View, so you know what's going on with your ground balance, and turn Trac inhibit on, as well.
The final thing you can do to improve your luck is practice. Then practice some more. Study your manual with detector in hand. Understand each of the settings, then go outside and practice what you have learned.
Hope this helps!
