Finally got an Explorer, Love it but need some help

[BobinSouthVA]

So I finally broke down and bought a new explorer SE pro with the stock 11 in DD coil. At first I was running with the default settings, but have been slowly trying to learn how to tweak the various settings for max depth. Still trying to master the tones and ID's but that will take some time to learn and remember.

I prefer inland, colonial sites. but my few locations to hunt atm are early 20th century and the beach. I have found some deep coins on the beach and a few items at the inland locations, however the inland locations are filled with junk and I think I'm at a disadvantage with the larger coil. I hope to get a smaller one for these locations as money provides.

however my problem is Pinpointing. Its only been a week but I just don't seem to be able to do it. I've tried the wiggle method, but if I think I've pinpointed the target, I can move the coil and inch or two to the right or left and I get the signal there too. As I swing over the target I get usually 2 or 3 sounds that I'm trying to learn and understand. If I move at a different angle to the target where I've narrowed it down to the center of the coil, I still seem to get hits if I do the wiggle thing all up and down that strip.

So I try to use the pinpointing mode instead, I'll try to slowly shorten my swing until I think I've narrowed the target down to within the bar in the middle of the coil, switch to pinpoint and nothing, move the coil around a bit outside the deteted area and get hits in spots that are not the target I'm looking for.

Any one have any pinpointing tips that might help me get a better grip on narrowing in on targets?

Thanks

 

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[godisnum1]

Yep, that's been the same problem I've been having with my Explorer XS... I still don't completely have it figured out yet. I've had all of the "wiggle the coil" suggestions and everything else, but it just doesn't seem to be helping. Maybe some of these elite Minelab guys can make a YouTube video or something for us, so we can figure it out. I won't lie, I kinda miss pinpointing with a concentric coil.

Bran <><

 

[Iron Patch]

It's pretty straight forward... You will get much better at pinpointing many of the targets, but there will always be the ones that have you scratching your head and needing to cut out the side of the hole to track it down. Now you know why Sunray sells so many X-1 probes! I can tell you after ten years of using an explorer you should get yourself a probe sooner than later because you will regret waiting. I hunt fields and dig big plugs so can get away without, but where you have to try and be neat it would be a must have for sure. Heck even digging craters in the fields I still find myself having to chase targets because it's in the side of the hole. You might ask yourself why such an expensive detector doesn't pinpoint better, but you have to consider some of these targets probably wouldn't even be seen by other units. To me that's a good trade off, actually a great one because the Sunray probe eliminates the problem.

 

[Keppy]

Yep, that's been the same problem I've been having with my Explorer XS... I still don't completely have it figured out yet. I've had all of the "wiggle the coil" suggestions and everything else, but it just doesn't seem to be helping. Maybe some of these elite Minelab guys can make a YouTube video or something for us, so we can figure it out. I won't lie, I kinda miss pinpointing with a concentric coil.

Bran <><

You mean the Minelab wiggle..................................

 

[BobinSouthVA]

It's pretty straight forward... You will get much better at pinpointing many of the targets, but there will always be the ones that have you scratching your head and needing to cut out the side of the hole to track it down. Now you know why Sunray sells so many X-1 probes! I can tell you after ten years of using an explorer you should get yourself a probe sooner than later because you will regret waiting. I hunt fields and dig big plugs so can get away without, but where you have to try and be neat it would be a must have for sure. Heck even digging craters in the fields I still find myself having to chase targets because it's in the side of the hole. You might ask yourself why such an expensive detector doesn't pinpoint better, but you have to consider some of these targets probably wouldn't even be seen by other units. To me that's a good trade off, actually a great one because the Sunray probe eliminates the problem.

Some good points there IP. I also hunt woods and farms where I can dig bigger holes and just have to fill it back in. However I don't think I'll be back to the few manicured lawns where I have permission until I get a better understanding of the machine.

It did come with a pinpointer, Kelly Co purchase with the Automax pinpointer, but it's gigantic and pretty worthless. This probe pretty much has to be touching the target to get a signal. Is the sunray probe the same or will it give a signal with some distance between the end and the target? Never used a probe with my concentric coil machine due to the better pinpointing. I'll have to set aside some cash to get a better one after I get the detector paid off.

 

[mainer]

Get a sunray, as IP said you wont regreat it. The sunray will give a signal a couple inches away on a coin. But the best part is it comes through your headphones. No more carrying around a pinpointer.

 

[Iron Patch]

Get a sunray, as IP said you wont regreat it. The sunray will give a signal a couple inches away on a coin. But the best part is it comes through your headphones. No more carrying around a pinpointer.

Yep... different league all the way.

 

[godisnum1]

You mean the Minelab wiggle..................................

Haha! If that's the "Minelab Wiggle", I already do that... so I guess I'm good in that regard.

Bran <><

 

[stasys]

However I don't think I'll be back to the few manicured lawns where I have permission until I get a better understanding of the machine.? BobinSouthVA you have best possibility to learn quickly with big shovel in woods and pasture. dont stop and imagine that this is something special to pinpoint with explorer, but pinpointer you need! in the market now only to decent pinpointer: sunray and Garrett propointer. for start buy second hand propinter its less complicated. good luck Stasys from far away

 

[Texcavator]

So I finally broke down and bought a new explorer SE pro with the stock 11 in DD coil. At first I was running with the default settings, but have been slowly trying to learn how to tweak the various settings for max depth. Still trying to master the tones and ID's but that will take some time to learn and remember.

I prefer inland, colonial sites. but my few locations to hunt atm are early 20th century and the beach. I have found some deep coins on the beach and a few items at the inland locations, however the inland locations are filled with junk and I think I'm at a disadvantage with the larger coil. I hope to get a smaller one for these locations as money provides.

however my problem is Pinpointing. Its only been a week but I just don't seem to be able to do it. I've tried the wiggle method, but if I think I've pinpointed the target, I can move the coil and inch or two to the right or left and I get the signal there too. As I swing over the target I get usually 2 or 3 sounds that I'm trying to learn and understand. If I move at a different angle to the target where I've narrowed it down to the center of the coil, I still seem to get hits if I do the wiggle thing all up and down that strip.

So I try to use the pinpointing mode instead, I'll try to slowly shorten my swing until I think I've narrowed the target down to within the bar in the middle of the coil, switch to pinpoint and nothing, move the coil around a bit outside the deteted area and get hits in spots that are not the target I'm looking for.

Any one have any pinpointing tips that might help me get a better grip on narrowing in on targets?

Thanks

I have the E-Trac with that same coil and am getting the pinpoint down pretty good.
Something you can do to help is get a 12" piece or so of small diameter PVC to help your self improve.
When you pin point stay in the pinpoint mode. Locate your target in one direction then lay the PVC
inline with the center bar of the coil now turn 90 deg, somewhere along the PVC is the target so locate in
that direction. If you are picking up on a target beside the one you are after dont turn 90 deg, you can stay inline with the PVC
starting at one end or the other and use the toe of the coil, with the center bar of the coil inline with the PVC
and move along till you get a response, at that point you have your target at the toe of the coil. you will have to figure out
what part of the toe it is actually at but when you do it gets easier.
Thats just the nature of the DD, not like the concentric at all.
Hope that made some sense. I dont have to put anything on the ground now and can usually nail it.

 

[godisnum1]

I have the E-Trac with that same coil and am getting the pinpoint down pretty good.
Something you can do to help is get a 12" piece or so of small diameter PVC to help your self improve.
When you pin point stay in the pinpoint mode. Locate your target in one direction then lay the PVC
inline with the center bar of the coil now turn 90 deg, somewhere along the PVC is the target so locate in
that direction. If you are picking up on a target beside the one you are after dont turn 90 deg, you can stay inline with the PVC
starting at one end or the other and use the toe of the coil, with the center bar of the coil inline with the PVC
and move along till you get a response, at that point you have your target at the toe of the coil. you will have to figure out
what part of the toe it is actually at but when you do it gets easier.
Thats just the nature of the DD, not like the concentric at all.
Hope that made some sense. I dont have to put anything on the ground now and can usually nail it.

Wow, great tip! And one I've never heard before... and it makes complete sense (and is even pretty simple to understand!) Thanks for the advice!

Bran <><

 

[Texcavator]

I have the E-Trac with that same coil and am getting the pinpoint down pretty good.
Something you can do to help is get a 12" piece or so of small diameter PVC to help your self improve.
When you pin point stay in the pinpoint mode. Locate your target in one direction then lay the PVC
inline with the center bar of the coil now turn 90 deg, somewhere along the PVC is the target so locate in
that direction. If you are picking up on a target beside the one you are after dont turn 90 deg, you can stay inline with the PVC
starting at one end or the other and use the toe of the coil, with the center bar of the coil inline with the PVC
and move along till you get a response, at that point you have your target at the toe of the coil. you will have to figure out
what part of the toe it is actually at but when you do it gets easier.
Thats just the nature of the DD, not like the concentric at all.
Hope that made some sense. I dont have to put anything on the ground now and can usually nail it.

Wow, great tip! And one I've never heard before... and it makes complete sense (and is even pretty simple to understand!) Thanks for the advice!

Bran <><

Something else to remember is that the field that the coil is penetrating the ground with goes straight down into the ground
90 deg to the coil and as you approach the depth limits of the coil the field at each end of the bar on the coil will taper back towards the center, which could mean at or near depth limits the actual pinpoint of the target is a little further up under the coil from the toe as opposed to shallower depths.

 

[Willee]

Pinpointing with my E-Trac or Explorer II can uasualy be done without going into pinpoit mode.
Not always ... but most of the time.
It takes a little mental imaging as to projecting a line on the ground with your mind's eye.

You need to picture that the coil is only sensitive down the center line of the DD coil.
The part where the two windings overlap.
Think of your sweet spot as a sheet of paper extending down from the center line of the coil and into the ground ... edgewise.
As the target passes thru that sheet of paper you get the tone or beep.

Find a target and see where that tone or beep happens.
The target is somewhere down that center line of the coil.
To find out where just sweep again from about 90 degrees around and where the two lines cross ... X is the spot.

I still carry a Garrett probe for those hard to pinpoint targets and to find them in the hole.

 

[teleman 2525]

i caught on to pinpointing pretty quick se explorer use the wiggle most of time hunt in all metal alot pinpoint mode picks all the iron plus the target making hard to pin point use wiggle find the tone between bad tones wiggle back till you lose nice high tone use tight tiny wiggles half inch left right till tone stops target should be right at tip of your coil works well for me in most cases but like ip says there is always one hardy out there i also have a garrett pro pointer and love it no extra weaight on detector but thats just me good luck

 

[Steve_Stonewall_Brigade]

I have found that I can pinpoint really well with my SE Pro using the pinpoint mode. I also use that mode as an additional tool to help identify the target and whether to dig since the SE will ID in pinpoint mode. You have been given some good suggestions as to how to improve pinpointing. What I have used in the past is to use index cards or a large piece of cardboard and tape coins on one side and turn it over and try pinpointing. When pinpointed turn it over and see how close you are.
HH

 

[R2D2andMe]

I too have been where you are at. As a matter of fact, this is why I chose the user name "R2D2 and Me", it constantly chatters. I have actually become accustomed to it and expect it now, and he keeps me company in the wee morning hours on the beach.
I Bought my se pro about 2 years ago (I really wish I had more time to use it) and I have really only used it about a dozen times since.
My advice to you is to stick with it, I initailly had a few regrets with such a huge hit to my wallet and I really haven't had "great" finds. But one of the best days a couple of months ago happened. When I approached a beach that normally is dead empty at 6:30 or 7am. I get on to the boardwalk and witnessed something amazing. There were like 25 people on the beach metal detecting! I live about 2 hours from the beach, and had already paid my parking fee at the meter so I wasn't about to let this send me packing.
I casually joined in the "Picket Line" - as this is what you could imagine that these guys detecting looked like- marching in a large oval swinging their machines. Well, believe it or not, after about 30-30 minutes of nothing but my little "chatterbox" chirping away, I got a "WAAAHow" sound that only a quarter could muster from R2D2! I am slowly learning over the years what each sound and on screen number combo represents.
Sure enough, three quarters popped out at about 8 inches down! Not the "pay-off-the-charge-card" recovery, but nicer than having to be at work that day.
Here's the kicker though, 25 plus detectorists all in a row, had a chance at that find and NONE of their machines caught it! I wish I had my camera for the look on the face of the last guy (in front of me by about 20 feet! LOL). He looked at me, then his machine, at me -digging, at his machine. Man, he looked like he had just bit in to the sourest lemon! I kinda felt bed, but then I also felt like the proudest father when his child makes the winning shot, or brings in first place.
Sorry for such a long story, but I feel it was important. Stick with your little machine because perserverance really does pay off. You'll get it when you least expect. And I hope this is the day that your investment pays off, and you feel as proud as I did the day my R2D2 out performed everybody elses.
Keep swinging, and leave nothing but footprints

 

[BobinSouthVA]

I too have been where you are at. As a matter of fact, this is why I chose the user name "R2D2 and Me", it constantly chatters. I have actually become accustomed to it and expect it now, and he keeps me company in the wee morning hours on the beach.
I Bought my SE pro about 2 years ago (I really wish I had more time to use it) and I have really only used it about a dozen times since.
My advice to you is to stick with it, I initially had a few regrets with such a huge hit to my wallet and I really haven't had "great" finds. But one of the best days a couple of months ago happened. When I approached a beach that normally is dead empty at 6:30 or 7am. I get on to the boardwalk and witnessed something amazing. There were like 25 people on the beach metal detecting! I live about 2 hours from the beach, and had already paid my parking fee at the meter so I wasn't about to let this send me packing.
I casually joined in the "Picket Line" - as this is what you could imagine that these guys detecting looked like- marching in a large oval swinging their machines. Well, believe it or not, after about 30-30 minutes of nothing but my little "chatterbox" chirping away, I got a "WAAAHow" sound that only a quarter could muster from R2D2! I am slowly learning over the years what each sound and on screen number combo represents.
Sure enough, three quarters popped out at about 8 inches down! Not the "pay-off-the-charge-card" recovery, but nicer than having to be at work that day.
Here's the kicker though, 25 plus detectorists all in a row, had a chance at that find and NONE of their machines caught it! I wish I had my camera for the look on the face of the last guy (in front of me by about 20 feet! LOL). He looked at me, then his machine, at me -digging, at his machine. Man, he looked like he had just bit in to the sourest lemon! I kinda felt bed, but then I also felt like the proudest father when his child makes the winning shot, or brings in first place.
Sorry for such a long story, but I feel it was important. Stick with your little machine because perserverance really does pay off. You'll get it when you least expect. And I hope this is the day that your investment pays off, and you feel as proud as I did the day my R2D2 out performed everybody elses.
Keep swinging, and leave nothing but footprints

HaHa that's a great story R2D2.

I have to admit I had a "bought the right detector" moment today. Recently obtained permission to hunt a 1805 built house that has been hunted pretty hard from what I'm told. I have dug a bunch of shallow pull tabs and bottle caps but there is a ton of junk and sometimes the threshold will disappear for large areas of my gridding near the house. Two half hour trips at lunch have not yielded much of anything old.

However I did have my "oh yeah" moment today confirming the awesomeness of the machine. I got a signal 4-6 inches deep that was actually pretty good sounding but the numbers were jumping around a bit. Dug down to find 2 nails after removing the plug and some dirt. Swept the coil over the hole and got a nice 00-29 and there was the quarter in the hole the nails were covering.

Getting my pinpointing down pretty well too. Between the wiggle and pinpoint mode I was able to dig some nice neat plugs today with the target being in the hole 9 times out of 10. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[Jimmy(PA)]

haha great name for a detector, I use an XS and they do chatter sometimes. I just bought a F75, still haven't used it but I hear they chatter a lot too.