First Dime, Sorta & How Deep Is Too Deep?

[SonjaMarie]

First Dime, Sorta & How Deep Is Too Deep?

Hi all,

Went out for a bit.

Found part of a allumnium can. Then I had good signal I thought and I dug and dug and dug and I still couldn't find whatever it was supposed to be. The machine couldn't seem to decide out deep it was. How deep do you dig before you give up if you can't find it?

I did find a dime right next to the house, it was sitting out on top of the ground. I waved the machine over it and it couldn't seem to decide what it was and how deep it was, of course it wasn't any depth really. That drove me a bit nuts.

Any advice on both things?

Sonja Marie

 

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[slow sweeper]

Re: First Dime, Sorta & How Deep Is Too Deep?

You betcha! Just don't want anything made of metal touching your detector. Want to make sure there is no kind of interference. Just read a post where the writer popped out a wheatback cent that was 5" down with his Prizm II. Your Prizm can do that. And more. If you want to try it tonight you can do the bench test indoors but again you have the risk of electrical interference.

 

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[SonjaMarie]

Re: First Dime, Sorta & How Deep Is Too Deep?

Ok, I had to improvise. I used a cardboard box and had my niece wave things slow in front of the MD. I would watch the screen and it was pretty consistent. It would recognise nickels, quarters, pennies as such. We tried 2 different rings, the smaller one showed up as a pull tab, the larger one as a ring. A medal Harmony was given for something as school came up as a quarter. A hairpin and tweezers came up as a nail. The Depth indicator was a bit inconsistent cause Harm had it a little bit in front of it.

So it seems to work on various things.

Sonja Marie

 

[Jim Cal]

Re: First Dime, Sorta & How Deep Is Too Deep?

Sonja, I glued several different targets to the wooden paint sticks used to mix paint. My local hardware store gave me 6 of them for nothing. I have a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, pull tab, and bottle cap on them and that way I can wave them in front of the coil while watching the reponse on my detector. You may also want to make sure your batteries are good because weak batteries can also cause erratic behavior. The fact that you are continuing to work at learning your detector means you will get better and better. Good hunting! Jim Cal

 

[slow sweeper]

Re: First Dime, Sorta & How Deep Is Too Deep?

Hey Sonja! Sounds like your Prizm is working just fine. Don't worry about testing the depth indicator with a bench test. If you want to test the depth you need to find some clean ground. An area that is free of any kind of metal. Then bury a coin at a known depth and pinpoint and check depth. My guess is that it's working just fine too.
You're not going to learn what your detector is telling you over night. Keep at it. Rely on the audio indication first. You want a solid, repeatable beep. Step around 90 degrees and swing the coil over the target from a different angle. If you're still receiving a good audio signal THEN check your visual ID meter. If your VID is locked on a target icon it's pretty sure what it is. If the visual ID is dancing all over the meter it's probably trash. But before you move on, pinpoint and check the depth. If the target is deep it still may be a good target buried too deep for the visual ID to lock on.
My advice is to forget about the iffy signals for now. Concentrate on a good solid sound and ID lock. If you're not finding any coins where you are after an hour or so go to another park or school yard or
You want to start finding goodies so you don't get discouraged. There is plenty of stuff for you to find out there.
Also be sure not to swing the coil too fast. One swing should take about two seconds. So count. One thosand one, one thousand two. You'll get it. Once you start finding goodies you'll know what to listen and look for. Have fun and keep me up to date.