Bounty Hunter Tracker IV initial thoughts...

[the.silver.standard]

There are a few topics on the the Tracker IV, and while they are helpful, I am still curious about a few things.

My first metal detector was an Ace 250 (which I had for 1 month before selling it) and it seems like the IV finds a disproportionate amount of pennies compared to other clad change. The Ace had no problem finding quarters, dimes, and sometimes nickels. (of course, I am not complaining about my first Indian Head find today!) Anyone else find this? I do most of my coinshooting in "tone" mode, and also want to know if depth or sensitivity is affected by using 'coin' or discrim. mode.

Like I said, I previously used a 250 which has 'beeps,' 'boops,' and 'pings' that are very clear. With this detector, is it normal at times to get merely a 'click' or static like sound? Does this indicate depth or something else?? Thanks, all. Merry Hunting!

 

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[the.silver.standard]

I have taken the machine out a few times since the last post, and am finding that this machine is really good for coinshooting. The discrimination is pretty accurate; when you get a large, strong ding on 'tone' mode you have a quarter or dime. The penny is a bit of a conundrum, though, as it will sometimes give a mixed signal and sometimes a straight one.
I have found larger items (iron relics or al. cans) as deep as 10-12 inches, but have yet to find a coin deeper than 6 inches (which I am not unhappy about for a $110 machine).

I was SEVERELY disappointed when I took my Tracker IV to the beach today, as EVERY PIECE of seaweed, lump of sand, or twig that I hit caused the detector to sound off. I tried it in all three modes with different sensitivity levels and got the same result. Before I bought the detector I read a number of reviews saying this detector was not the best in wet sand, and that is why I avoided the wet stuff today. But the dry stuff is where the crap has been deposited, and I was screwed.

I previously had an Ace 250 and used it much on the beach, with this rarely happening. I live near the East Coast, and may have to get a new detector for this reason alone... as great as coins in the dirt are, gold in the sand would be perfect once the beach bums head out in the spring.

Battery life is great- I have probably used it a total of 30 hrs and still have the first ones in. The thing seems sturdy, too.

I'll try to keep more insightful observations coming.

 

[the.silver.standard]

Oh, the comment about this machine finding a disproportionate amount of pennies was probably due to the area that I was detecting... this MD is a clad beast. The tone for a quarter is a loud PING in 'tone' mode; so loud and covering such a large area (sometimes a 6" radius) that at first I ignored them thinking that it HAD to be a large can or trash under there. IT IS NOT- Find the CENTER of the sound and dig there.

Once again, the pinpointing on this thing is AMAZING, though it is not officially a 'pinpointing' machine. If you are going to dig pull tabs in all metal mode, at least the machine can make life easy for you by requiring only a small hole.

 

[frieguy]

I use a IV also, though I didn't own a ace before hand as this is my first and only detector. I have been using it about a year now, and so far the only Penny's that I have found have been Penny's that I could have probably found just by kicking the sand up. I don't use on dry land. only beaches, scared to go out in the jungles or parks (Guam) as after talking to alot of the eod guys there are still land mines all over the island. infact the found a charge off the coast not to long ago that was covered in choral. anyway that is beside the point. I have just used it on the beaches here.

as far as locating how deep the coin is I usually run on all metal mode. I will start the sensitivity to the max then move it down until I don't get a hit anymore. then you know to turn it up to the right sensitivity. and if the sensitivity is down all the way just before turning it off, pinpointing usually tells how deep it is. if its still reading all over the place and its not a large chunk of metal its right on the surface. during this point I usually move the coil really slow to locate the objects position, as the IV is a motion detector.

the deepest coin I have found thus far would be about the same as you. 5-6" down. the detector does sound off if you bump the coil against a piece of debris, I am to the point now that I just wave it over the debris and if it doesn't sound kick the debris away the go over the area the debris was at. I know the frustration in this, being I go behind alot of the rocks here on the beach thinking they will prevent the ocean taking what is in the beach. it makes getting close to the rocks hard. when around them though I just turn sensitivity up high as I can and move slow. for me its hard to dig areas near the water because I use just a little garden shovel to dig with.... the holes fill right back up with sand because of the moister. but other than the areas that fill back up with soupy sand I don't have any problems with wet sand. as long as its dry enough to stick together it works. it will beep if you touch water as thin as this "debris" might be. I don't think there is a way around it sounding off when you bump something. if you find out I would like to know lol.

battery life is great. but its hard to tell if its acting up because of the battery's so I just switch them out if I think it is and save the other one in case its not the case. it seems it will sound off more on the bumps if the battery is low. I know what you are talking about on the static and clicks. and when that happens it is picking something up. I usually go over the area really well until I get a better signal and pick it up. most of the time it is something really small so I keep expecting a necklace or ear ring to come out of this type of noise. come to think about it when I dig these noises and nothing is there I usually just fill the hole back up. could be that something is deeper and the coil is just barely picking it up. I will have to dig deeper in the near future to find out.... if not for you just for myself. but I will keep you posted if I find anything deeper in the ground.

 

[Gretchen]

I have a Radio Shack Discovery 1000 with the 7inch enclosed coil which is a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV. I use it in the mountains at altitudes of 5,000 to 7,000 feet. It reads in all types of soil. Parks, school grounds with sand or chips, sledding areas, fresh water lake beaches up to the control panel. I also took it up to Washington and used it in the Puget Sound. Wet sand, fresh water or salt water doesn't seem to faze it. I run it on tone, unless I am looking for relics. We are in an historical area here. I bought the 4 inch coil to use to get closer to rocks and playground equipment. In the Spring I may use it to find small pieces of gold when the snow melts. We had a drought several years ago and when one of our recreational lakes was at its lowest level I found plenty of silver coins. The oldest a 1900 Morgan Silver Dollar. Many of the coins were just laying in the water. Also hundreds of old soda pop bottles. This area has been a resort for a long time. Movie stars in the past. Many large homes of the 1920's and 1930's. I am even more happy that I only paid $10.00 at the local swap meet.

 

[the.silver.standard]

$10!!?? OMG, found that much in clad today! Well, congrats on your STEAL of a DEAL... I paid $110 and am as jealous as one can be.

 

[the.silver.standard]

Well, today I took my IV out for about 5 hours and found over $10 in clad, which is ok, but I found no silver. In fact, I have nearly given up on silver with this machine as I RARELY get a coin deeper than 3". Silver, of course, is likely to be found much deeper than that, unless you have a thin layer of topsoil above clay or such.

I used to hate just coinshooting, but this machine is AWESOME for it in modern areas, if that is really what you want to do. If you listen to the 'ding' of the coins, the penny will 90 % of the time crackle to the low tone during a second or third sweep. The dime and quarter WILL NOT DO THIS; I have found they ALWAYS have a consistant, strong 'ding.' Today, during my $10 day, only 40% of the coins were pennies, and that was after I started using this discrimination method halfway through the day.

I buried a 14K ring of my fiance's in the dirt about 4 inches down today and BARELY got a signal in all metal mode... I am going to try it in different soil at different depths tomorrow, and hope that this was a fluke.

 

[Bick]

I too find alot more pennies than anything else but have come to accept it as.....they are much harder to see in the dirt or grass than a shiney dime nickle or quarter and after all they are pennies! I know if I dropped change out of my pocket I'd worry about finding the bigger demonations, just my opinion though. If it is the machine I would love to know also, than I could start looking for another detector!

 

[Driftking102]

I too use a Bounty Hunter Tracker IV and I found found many of the same things happen to me while using it as they did to the.silver.standard. For one the Tracker IV does not go very deep and only gets pennies and dimes mostly for mine at least. It does get silver rings which I am happy about. Now unlike most people, I do go on wet sand and I seem to be fine. Even though the detector does not detect anything in the wet sand. I have had my Tracker IV for two years now and have been really happy with it. But within those two years, I have been to old places and have only found one silver ring and one wheat penny. Kind of odd don't you think for a place that was built in the 1900's? You would of think there would of been a silver quarter or silver dime.

For $110 it is a good machine for a beginner. I am upgrading to the Minelab explorer SE and going back to all of the places that I have hunted to see if I missed any gold rings or silver coins and/or really old copper coins. I must say for the money the Tracker IV is really good little machine. But its time for an upgrade!

 

[Larsmed]

guys

its all about how u use it

 

[relichunters]

I accidently ruined my Tracker IV by slipping on mud and tossing it in a river and sunk to the bottom. I was very dis-pleased with the Tracker IV, after losing it, I bought the BH - Quick Silver. I am very happy with this. I find most items within 60 seconds, no more then 4 scoops is needed. Found my first 1936 Mercury Dime with it, also a .925 stering silver charm, and an earring. I recommend this one.

 

[MD Dog]

I have gone from a whites dfx to an ace 250 and now i use the BH tracker IV. I still have the ace, but the tracker IV are very camparable. I like to call it my muffler on a stick as one member here referred to it. As far as weight it's tops, as for price it's tops, as for usefullness it's tops. The trick to finding the goodies is not in the detector you use. People who promote this theory are just people who don't do the other work of researching good sites. It's true that if your going to hunt sites that have been hunted since the sixties you'll be needing a detector that can find a merc at 12". But have you ever tried diggin a tartget at twelve inches in a heavy clay soil ? I'd much rather find lotsa silver at really good unhit sites that are most often found in the top three inches of soil. It's so much easier to dig ten coins at three inches than 1 at twelve. The BH Tracker IV is all the modern detector most of us will ever really need if your willing to do the research. So learn your machine at the school grounds or beaches or backyards. But also learn about researching good sites and you'll find a whole lot more with allot less work.

 

[pshaw54]

Anybody ever use a 10" coil on their tracker IV? is it worth buying? planing on using it in the dry sand. Thanks!