The Dug Plug - Lost Target

[Dennis1209]

Hey All,

I've previously owned Minelab's, Garrett's and Whites metal detectors. Recently I've gotten back into the game and purchased both the Etrac and Equinox machines. Originally, my Explorer 2 acted the same way I'm going to describe. Generally for deeper targets and plugs unearthed, those that are still too deep inside the plug or still under the hole for the pin-pointer to sound off. Sweeping the Minelab coil over the unearthed plug and hole generally will not read the target that it originally indicated. Sweeping any other brand of machine will easily pickup if the target is still located in the ground or the plug. I have heard what makes Minelab such a good machine for deep coins, is its ability to also sense the 'Halo' that eventually surrounds the coin / target. Putting it in pin-point / all metal mode sometimes helps to locate, other times not.

Is this normal? Anyone else notice the difference in this between Minelab and other manufacturers? Or is it just me?

Thanks.

 

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[cudamark]

My Explorer and Etrac do the same thing.......as do some other machines I've owned. Good signal, flip plug, now no signal, dig deeper!

 

[Roger Mn.]

I have lost a couple of targets before.
And a couple of times I flipped over the dirt and no target.Than I seen the impression of a coin in the plug and found it about a foot away.
A couple of times the coin was stuck to the shovel.
Some of the old square nails will show up in the side of the hole after the plug has been removed.
An other thing that happens is there might be a aluminum can just below the surface a foot away that the etrac picks up and when you pinpoint
it you think the target is under the coil and it's not.

 

[smokeythecat]

That would drive me nuts. I tend not to lose any targets for more than a few seconds.

 

[Roger Mn.]

I had a good sound on the Etrac today and after iI dug it I lost the sound.
I could see it in the dirt.
I think the ground might have been full of rust and this is all that was left.
I knew it wasn't a coin.
Than I see it in the dirt. Passed the coil over it and nothing. I have iron set at 3.

 

[marjam]

Sometimes it is a very small target near the surface, and the detector interprets it as a deep coin, especially if it is a small round object. Take your pinpointer and check the surface of the ground where you pinpoint the object before you dig. Sometimes it saves you from popping the plug out and searching around in vain. I have did this just like you all have described, and it turns out to be small and near the surface.

 

[Willee]

Sometimes it is a very small target near the surface, and the detector interprets it as a deep coin, especially if it is a small round object. Take your pinpointer and check the surface of the ground where you pinpoint the object before you dig. Sometimes it saves you from popping the plug out and searching around in vain. I have did this just like you all have described, and it turns out to be small and near the surface.

A very good tip!

 

[smokeythecat]

I dug what I think is a tiny meteorite from an area there is a known "fall" yesterday - 1/4" long. Deus nailed it at 6" and had no problem recovering it. I think it's how the Minelabs are wired.

Each brand of machine has its own quirks.