Words of Wisdom- learning from my mistakes/ Explorer II learning curve

[sodapoptop]

I have owned my Explorer II for only 4 months and still feel overwhelmed some days.... but other days I feel very confident. The overwhelmed feeling comes from extremely TRASHY yards. Learning curve: It has been a progression, and I am getting better with each hunt, but recently I went over two sidewalk areas after reading "why I should be hunting in ALL METAL MODE", Ok better use politically correct minelab lingo.. "Iron Mask" set to -16 on the EX II equals ALL METAL... I had been hunting at -6 thru -10 and never realized how much I was missing or was being nulled out. My coil swing speed....I drastically slowed that down. So, after two hunts over previous hunted areas by ME, I found two wheats, a buffalo and a merc dime that I had previously MISSED.
All the extra noise bothered me ALOT at first, but now I am OK with the sometimes steady drumbeat.... I hunt in Ferrous, IM -16, Gain at 9 or 10..which may cause falsing? I get alot of 31/31 (ferrous/cond) signals now that I never used to, that sound like silver?? And I am not understanding why....could this be some type of falsing or Hot rock? I still get alot of rusted 100 year old nails that give me semi copper/silver digital reads...but are not consistent... I dig em anyway as I have dug rusted nails from the same hole as Wheats etc... My EX II has the stock 10.5" coil which is very difficult to Pinpoint..... And as of lately the coins I find are at least 4-5 inches deep. So I cannot use my Sunray Probe from the surface... NOW this is GREAT..as it means I will find an older coin (deeper usually means older) but 1/3 of the time I am 3-4 inches off pinpointing...and I have GOUGED two coins in my last two hunts. And ohhhhhhh how that hurts. Perhaps I need to replace my stock coil.... But which is the best one to replace it with.?
I hear great things about the Pro 11" coil, and the SEF sounds equally impressive. Do any of you dig all High Pitch sounds regardless of digital IDs?? As of lately I have been hunting private property/front yards and I hate digging a target if I am not confident that it is a good target for fear of leaving too many scars in the grass.

If anyone has any words of wisdom, I would welcome them. Any tips or what works well for you regarding settings etc... Life changing experiences after changing coils...??

So what I have learned so far about the EX II... Go VERY Slow, Hunt in All Metal and listen for the high pitches, dig the iffy targets cause you never know. And it is One Heck of a GREAT machine.

Thanks for reading and for any advice you may give!

Happy Hunting.

 

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[mastereagle22]

If you are hunting trashy areas go with a small coil I use an 8 inch Exclerator but wish I had a 6 inch coil.

I do tend to dig all high signals regardless of what the graph shows. Have been suprised a few times by doing that.

Otherwise I keep my gain around 7 and I usually have deep on. Sens with the small coil between 15 and 20.

 

[LI Tom]

On my XS I use the Sunray X-8 almost all the time.It is much easier to pinpoint and better in trash and still deep.I use Sens 24-26,gain 5-6,deep on ,fast off,Conduct and iron mask -6.I find plenty with these settings but I've only had this machine just over 2 months.I will try opening up the iron mask and see how it works out.

 

[mastereagle22]

Oh yeah forgot, Iron Mask at -15, sometimes -16. Just depends on how long I have to hunt and what I am looking for.

I find that around here in my soil I lose threshold tone around 20 due to the iron in the ground. To me that is a big deal so I usually back it down to get the threshold back.

 

[lostlake88]

I would suggest buying an 8" coil. I have the stock and the 8" and use my 8" 99% of the time. It really depends on where you hunt. I find that most private yards don't hold anything deeper than 9" and the small coil on my ExplorerII will hit targets this deep. Even in local parks I use the small coil more. I play around with my settings quit abit, but this is how I am running my machine lately. sens: 25 (manual), Gain: 7, Iron mask: -10 (seems to eliminate the frustrating rusty nail better), I don't like the ferrous mode that much ( I have tried it but can't get used to it). I run my sensitivity as high as I can take it, sometimes up to 29 if i can. The stock coil is hard to pin point, the 8" is a snap (no need for a pin pointer).

 

[neilo]

When detecting at depth the digital meter will fail to give you an accurate reading. You can only go by the sound, if it sounds good dig it. You will also benefit by running your machine in FAST mode this will help to seperate targets in trashy areas. But make sure you listen carefully as your signals are shorter in length. I do not like to run within the setting of minus 16 this will increase your ground noise and you will also lose targets . Remember do not overpower your machine. When you initially start using your machine noise cancel then set the sensitivity setting to manual mode. Put your sensitivity to highest setting and see if the machine signal is falsing, if it is gradually reduce your sensitivity until it runs smoothly with no falsing and constant threshold as you move the coil across the ground. By running in manual mode the machine will be operating at its maximum depth. When the machine is set to auto sensitivity the machine tends to over compensate for ground conditions and it will reduce its sensitivity to a much lower setting. A better coil for your machine is the Coiltek Platypus coil, this is better balanced, easier to pin point and gives sharper signals at depth. Take note of where the targets are showing on the screen set your iron mask setting just to the left of these, this will eliminate a lot of your unwanted high signals from pieces of iron etc. numbers like 31 31 are iron, remember that every time the detector blanks out and goes silent the coil is momentarily turned off. If there is a good target under the coil when it has blanked out because it first went over a discriminated target, you will lose the good target as well. You will find that sometimes you start to dig a deep target it vanishes,this is caused by breaking of the halo of corrosion around the target. Put your machine in pin point mode and it will find your target again. seeya Neilo

 

[Captn SE]

I think everyone has their own Explorer settings that they feel confident with when they go out detecting. You need to have a lot of hunting time with your desired settings to start to feel comfortable with them. And the only way you're going to feel comfortable with your settings is to use them for hours and hours. It takes time to master the differences between iron targets and good, deep coin targets. Even the best Explorer hunters will dig iron...some pieces based on how they are lying in the ground will give a good enough signal that make you want to dig. 31/31 signals are typical hot rocks/highly mineralized ground conditions. Those tones are very annoying. I even hear those tones in some of the parks I detect at, because a lot of ground here in S. CA is highly mineralized. A friend of mine told me how to deal with that signal. I blackened out the one, tiny pixel in the upper right corner of my smartscreen. Just make sure you choose the smallest pixel size when you blacken out that pixel. You can add your iron mask to this custom discriminate pattern if you like before you save it, or if you're hunting in All-metal, nothing else. This will silence the 31/31 signals, without sacrificing any deep silver coins. You will get occasional nulling, but I hunt slow enough around the null zones to listen for good targets close by. You will perfect this over time.

I use a Minelab SE Pro, and for the places that I detect at (old, trash-laden parks), I have the most confidence with Conduct. sounds, Manual sensitivity(23, 32 is the max on the SE), Iron mask around 27 (32 is all metal), gain 8, FAST/DEEP both OFF. These settings have given me the best results for the areas that I detect at. I have tried other settings on my machine, but nothing else performs better for the areas I detect at. I have used a Sunray 8" coil with much success in trashy areas before. Ever since purchasing the SE Pro coil, I haven't needed to put the smaller coil on. It pinpoints much better, has better target separation, and gets amazing depth. It's a better coil than the Exp. II 1050. However, the SE is a better pinpointing machine (VCO pinpoint capability) than an Exp. II is.

I'm sure you would benefit from a smaller coil, without sacrificing very much depth. Spend more time listening to the tone, rather than looking at the screen is the key to success with any Explorer.

Good Luck!

CAPTN SE
Dan

 

[Eu_citzen]

Wow! Excellent Info lads, from now on I'm also a Explorer II owner..
So back to the drawing board to learn a new machine.

Regards,
Eu

 

[dewcon4414]

I hunt a little different than most. In areas with trash i reduce my sensitivity and if i feel the area may have been gone over a lot i hunt a pattern. The nulls in a good coin pattern that you develope seems to recover much quicker than ALL METAL settings. I use fast, slow down, and pick thru the trash. It will really increase your dime and nickel ratio as well if you set your threshold tone on 9. The more sensitivity you are cranking up in these areas the deeper and more overwhelmed the machine gets. Doesnt take much sensitivity to go deep, but throw in deeper iron, minerals, and EMI along with the trash and your machine gets bogged down.

 

[Eu_citzen]

Yes setting down sensitivity in trash is a good idea. For more or less all machines.

I run threshold where I can barely hear it.

I tried all metal w/ ferrous sounds and LOVED it. I think I'm in love!! LOL
(Iron mask -16)

It works great to pick out none ferrous trash, now combine it with the Fast recovery and you should be able to pick out some goodies in trashy areas and of course slow down!!
I think I made my homework...

Regards,
Eu

 

[slhinkle]

Re: Iron Mask

ok....... relative beginner with the minelab...... but long time hunter......what does the Iron Mask do? I havent used it or at least not where i knew what i was doing. Ive hunted a 1900 house along one of the canal beds in Indiana....... ground is not mineralized..... found two gold rings...one at about 4 inches and one about 2 inches.....I think the same person lost both...the 2 incher was the same size as the one found deeper.....anyway, I have hunted the yard 3 or 4 times mostly when it was dry ....then once when it was wet... i havent found any old coins.....its stock with the 10" inch coil and I have used the 8 inch coil........ Ive cranked the sensitivity.....turned sensitivity all but off....... so helppppppppp

 

[Eu_citzen]

Hello mate!

Iron mask discriminates out iron/ferrous, the lower the more iron you are accepting. (meaning it will give a signal)
-16 on the Explorer is all metal, meaning it will give a signal on ALL targets it can "see".

How many settings have you tried?

I would recommend to hunt in all metal mode (iron mask -16) with ferrous tones, this gives iron a "special" signal.
All none ferrous gets a higher pitched sound. Simply dig all none ferrous if you can stand it.
For hunting old home sites this is one of the best things I've found.

Also set sens after the amount of trash, if much trash run around 10-18 or there abouts.

Set gain at around 5-8. Deep on.

For me that works.

It will help to go SLOW with this one, it makes it easier to separate ferrous from none ferrous.


A simple answer is also that you simply haven't gotten your coil over some old coins, or thought of them as trash.

Oh and use a coil depending on conditions for example a trashy site it is easier to use a small coil while on a beach with few targets it is better to use a bigger coil.

Hope this helps,
Eu

 

[mastereagle22]

Hey what EU is saying is totally correct.

Last night was the first time I EVER used fast on. We were hunting a really trashy area and even with my small coil I just couldn't get the Explorer to calm down enough to detect with. So I kicked it into Fast On and oh man what a difference!!!!

 

[Eu_citzen]

Of coarse it is Eagle, I'm a quick learner!
Had my Explorer for 2 or 3 weeks now, I love it!

I prefer to post on my own experience when I can.

And I still need to try fast on, might do that next time I am out. I know a good spot for it.
When I do I will report back.

When really trashy it can help to turn down Gain to around 5 so not many TINY pieces of foil will register on the machine. (TINY= 1 to 3 mm in diameter)

I really think that depth is one of the last things you can get in a really trashy site.
So why run the machine full bore when you can run it "weaker" yet pick out the good stuff from among the trash?

Good Hunting!
Eu

 

[Tony (Michigan)]

Iron sometimes should like a deep silver. How do you figure it out?

Of coarse it is Eagle, I'm a quick learner!
Had my Explorer for 2 or 3 weeks now, I love it!

I prefer to post on my own experience when I can.

And I still need to try fast on, might do that next time I am out. I know a good spot for it.
When I do I will report back.

When really trashy it can help to turn down Gain to around 5 so not many TINY pieces of foil will register on the machine. (TINY= 1 to 3 mm in diameter)

I really think that depth is one of the last things you can get in a really trashy site.
So why run the machine full bore when you can run it "weaker" yet pick out the good stuff from among the trash?

Good Hunting!
Eu

I have an Explorer XS and SE and on this one farm there are lots of old square cut nails.
Sometimes they are bent. Sometimes there are really small square cut nails as well. Normally iron nails sound off with a deep tone.
But a lot of these kind of nails make me think there is a small silver dime deep in the ground. How do you keep from digging
these kinds of signals? The nails are usually about 6 to 8 inches deep.
Tony