Sweep Speed

Newfiehunter

Hero Member
Oct 20, 2007
742
342
Newfoundland
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Currently own: Fisher CZ5, Eurotek Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Cortes, Vibraprobe 560, Vibradetector 720, Garrett ProPointer. Makro Pinpoiinter Used: Whites Liberty2, Garrett Freedom3, Garrett GTA 1
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hi everyone! Got a simple question. What is the appropriate speed for each sweep? Ive been detecting for years and since there are no fellow detectorist in my area, so Ive had to learn basically everything on my own with success.

Anyway, I've watched demonstrational videos and some of these guys are swingin their machines as if they are in the Indy 500 with very sloppy form, not very methodical and not even overlapping their sweeps! When they make one pass with the coil, they walk a couple of feet before they make the next sweep. Arent they missing things? Not only that, they are going so fast it seems like the detector doesn't have a chance to repond over a target! You're probably going to say these guys are professionals and they are extremely good but it doesn't coincide with what Ive read in books from reputuable MDist.

When I make one complete sweep, it is with slow sweeps, making sure there is overlapping with the searchcoil and it takes about 2 to 3 seconds so that I don't miss anything deep. Am I going to slow or should I pick up the pace? Any advice here would be appreciated. Thanks a million!
 

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TORRERO

30+ YEARS, XP DEUS I & II ARE MY GO TO MACHINES
Nov 17, 2004
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I would like to reply to this topic, for several reasons...
one is that there is a big difference between SWING SPEED and WALKING SPEED
and what I mean by that is if you walk fast you will not overlap your sweeps and you will certainly miss
targets.....

but SWING SPEED is how fast your moving that coil over a given object...
I have learned from long years of experience that the faster you swing the coil over a given target the
better the response to that target will be, this is related to VLF MACHINES ONLY Pulse induction
machines are designed for slower swings...

(this does not work in "all metal" of "pinpoint mode")

If you think you can swing these machines too fast, consider this, that these are really no more than radio
transmit and receive units... Radio waves travel at the speed of sound ? or light ? or a lot faster than I can
swing.... They transmit a signal at a high rate of speed and receive an inbound signal at a high rate of speed,
and then they have a computer processor to see and analyze what is coming back...

All this happens in less than a second....

A VLF detector puts out a frequency at a high volume, (I don't know what it is but like 200 beats a second)
far to fast for even superman to outswing......

but if you move it too slow then the machine has a hard time "seeing" the target and will not likely give you
a clean response....
(test this and see which sounds better, a coin that you swing fast over or a coin you swing slow over)
I was at the beach this weekend and went to a dealer to see a machine, I wanted to see if this beach machine
would pick up small gold chains, so he took a chain and moved it slowly over the coil, but I could not
hear any response or reaction from the machine....
So then I took the chain and rapidly swing it over the coil and now I get a clear if not slightly broken up sound...
He said, "your swinging it too fast" but I told him that these being "Motion Detector" it actually picks up
better with a faster swing... He did not believe me....
But on VLF machines, I have learned this from years of experience..

For those here that want some good advise, if you get a signal and you are not sure if its really good or not
increase your swing speed over the target and see if the signal gets better or worse....
If it gets better, you should clearly dig it....
if it gets worse, more broken up or scratchy, then its more likely to be Iron.... or trash..

anyone with a standard VLF can test this....
Richard
 

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Newfiehunter

Newfiehunter

Hero Member
Oct 20, 2007
742
342
Newfoundland
Detector(s) used
Currently own: Fisher CZ5, Eurotek Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Cortes, Vibraprobe 560, Vibradetector 720, Garrett ProPointer. Makro Pinpoiinter Used: Whites Liberty2, Garrett Freedom3, Garrett GTA 1
Primary Interest:
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So Richard, you think that I am going too slow?I'll try that technique to see how well it works. Always open to new ideas. Thanks.
 

TORRERO

30+ YEARS, XP DEUS I & II ARE MY GO TO MACHINES
Nov 17, 2004
1,620
1,011
NC
Detector(s) used
XP DEUS I & II
Primary Interest:
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Newfiehunter said:
So Torrero, you think that I am going too slow? Don't you think that the detector isn't getting a chance to respond when you pass over a target too quickly? I'll try that technique to see how well it works. Always open to new ideas. Thanks.

I don't know how fast you swing your machine,
But I updated my response so take a look and re-read what I said and it will give you a better idea of what I am
talking about...

speeds on these processors are so fast that we could not move these fast enough not to detect something..

I think I normally try to get 2 swings for ever step I take forward...
Like back and forth - step - back and forth...
 

greydigger

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Mar 28, 2008
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Aloha, Orygun
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wishing stick
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Just for info, speed of light and close enough for electricity is about 186,000 miles per second.
Depending on the processor, it will be much less than that.
Am I wrong in remembering some units work at like 17 khz.?
Gosh, that's only like 17,000 times per second. Really slow...?
But then you have the processing time which may cut that a bunch, say down to 500 times per second.
I am probably wrong there but wrong on the safe side.
Now speed of sound, what they call mach 1 in flying aircraft
( and I remember when folks said it would explode the aircraft )
is somewhere around 600-700 mph.
I would hope signals would reach your ears in a very short time.
But I have been wrong before. I remember my first wife.. but never mind.
 

cosmic

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Dec 31, 2006
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All good advice... Jim is right on as usual go out and swing at various speeds to find on your machine likes..I figure it out in a discriminated mode how fast I can go and still have each signal come through.. If I sweep to fast they kinda bleed together and mask some of them.. Just fast enough to get individual signals..
 

thompy

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Feb 19, 2005
1,271
7
Menominee, Michigan
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T-2,
i had the whites QXT and when disc. thing out you could here the processor working and had to slow it down, after a while i ran no disc and set it up with 2 tones to hear it all, i could pick up the swing speed, and used the tones as my disc,
 

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Newfiehunter

Newfiehunter

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Oct 20, 2007
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Currently own: Fisher CZ5, Eurotek Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Cortes, Vibraprobe 560, Vibradetector 720, Garrett ProPointer. Makro Pinpoiinter Used: Whites Liberty2, Garrett Freedom3, Garrett GTA 1
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I had the opportunity to go over my manual for my CZ5 and it stated moderate sweep speed was the best for recovering deep targets. I think that is about my speed in which I make my sweep. Like Richard stated going super slow you will lose depth. Ive done air test with sample items and the faster the items is passed under the coil, the greater the distance it can be detected. But conventional wisdom does say "Haste makes Waste" and by taking your time, and concentrating on overlapping you'll find the deeper targets. Just my opinion.
 

TerryC

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Jun 26, 2008
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It would be my opinion, for what it's worth, if your walk and sweep speed "feel good", do it. If the sweep speed seems too fast for your gait, you'll know it and it won't feel good. Slow your sweep speed to match your gait or slow your gait to match your sweep speed. When you have them matched, you'll know it.... you'll start finding more. TTC
 

The Beep Goes On

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Jan 11, 2006
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According to their respective manuals, for instance, the DFX recommends a 2 second swing and the SE recommends a 4 second swing. With some of the multi-freq detectors the processor needs time to analyze the target and provide a response and a slow sweep speed is advantageous, if not required. Each machine is different...set up some test scenarios to see what works best for you.
 

CanUDigIt

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Oct 1, 2007
594
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Chester County, PA
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Minelab X-Terra 30
Hey Newfiehunter! How have you been buddy! I am glad you asked this question! I was at a couple club hunts and some of the experienced guys seemed to swing like their arm was on fire and they were trying to put it out. I couldn't figure out how anything could register on their machines. They found more targets than me so it must be effective. Good luck to you and take care!
 

toolman61

Full Member
May 31, 2008
249
1
What about the old coinmaster 6000/D (whites from the mid 70's) Someone said you should go with a fast swing? I'm new and haven't had time to hunt with shoulder oper. recovery but am about well enough now. Any advice would be appreciated very much! Thank you and HH Tom
 

toolman61

Full Member
May 31, 2008
249
1
thank you Thompy, I thought I had read where you pointed that out somewhere. I'll definetely try this out. HH Tom
 

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Newfiehunter

Newfiehunter

Hero Member
Oct 20, 2007
742
342
Newfoundland
Detector(s) used
Currently own: Fisher CZ5, Eurotek Pro, Tesoro Vaquero, Tesoro Cortes, Vibraprobe 560, Vibradetector 720, Garrett ProPointer. Makro Pinpoiinter Used: Whites Liberty2, Garrett Freedom3, Garrett GTA 1
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Hey there Canudigit! What's up? Good to hear from ya.

It is a good idea to experiment to determine what sweep speed is the best. The next time out i'll experiment with a little faster swing to see what happens. I'll let you know the results. Thanks everyone for your imput.
 

Ricardo_NY1

Bronze Member
Oct 24, 2006
1,330
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Bronx, NY
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Explorer XS/II & Garrett ACE 250
As far as sweep speed is concerned........and this applies only to my use of the Explorer........Sweeping slower will bring in targets that you would miss if you were swinging at a moderate pace. This mostly applies to the deeper 5" + targets. I'm not talking out of a book, this is based solely on very recent experience, and it may be attributed to the slower response of the Explorer. There are signals that you can pick up with a very, very slow sweep. When I get these, they are short and quick, and you can usually bring them out by trying out another angle. But if you were to go over them with a moderate swing, you wouldn't hear them at all.

My advice for an individual brand of machine is.............try to find an area that produces multiple targets in one sweep. Try different sweep speeds over that same area and take note of which speeds bring in the same targets and which speeds leave them out. I totally agree that speeding up the swing speed at times not only helps with the Target ID, but also gets you better depth.
 

liquid1

Jr. Member
Apr 29, 2008
67
0
lake norman NC..
Detector(s) used
Fisher F75, Ace 250, Titan 2000 Xd
mick56, yes the Ace 250 is VLF and I have found it likes an almost snails pace swing, this is proven by 2 seperate machines I bought for my family....james
 

CanUDigIt

Hero Member
Oct 1, 2007
594
4
Chester County, PA
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Minelab X-Terra 30
I've tried both ways and think it is just me. I am convinced that I just suck. I pinpoint, then dig and the target seems to drift. I pinpoint again and it drifts again. I've spent 15 minutes digging a target at a seeded hunt only to give up since I was wasting valuble time. The targets are less than 2" deep! The kicker is that someone saw another guy walk up and find it right away. It was a half! My wife finds more targets than I do and her machine was 1/3 the price. At least my plugs are getting nicer.
 

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