Help with Treasure Hunter XJ9

[Fishingsoftballnut44]

I purchased a Treasure Hunter XJ9 metal detector about a year ago. I bought it for vacations. Is there a trick to syncronizing? It seems to work sometimes, but is not consistant. Am I doing something wrong? Please help. I am new at this. Thanks

 

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[Tom_in_CA]

"syncronizing" what do you mean by that?

 

[Old California]

Sure thing,

Here are some pointers on (Synchronizing) Proper adjustment with the Treasure Hunter XJ9.

I've heard about the unit you recently purchased, It is also sold under different brand names which is common for the lower to mid range detectors from china.

Your unit is a simple to use detector, It doesn't have the features found on Hi end detectors but for the most part does a decent job...Your two basic adjustable features are Sensitivity and Discrimination, Depending on which coil yours has (Smaller or open spider coil) you'll need to run your sensitivity a bit lower with the larger open spider 10" coil.

Use the left hand arrows for increasing or lowering the sensitivity, Arrow down in trashy areas or if the unit is falsing (false signals) due to mineralized soil. And of course increase the sensitivity (arrow up) if the ground allows when the detector is operating with good stability....I believe the sensitivity will reset back to it's original settings when turned back on but please don't quote me on his, If not you'll need to reset the sensitivity level when first turning on the detector or as ground conditions change.

If you're after coins....With pennies, dimes and quarters you'll need to increase the discrimination level (arrow up) to knock out certain targets. However, Using too much discrimination will knock out gold jewelry and nickels as well.

Plus, Increasing the discrimination will reduce the number of tones you will be hearing.

Supposedly, The unit has Auto Ground tracking but I feel it has a fixed ground balance. Which is ok for most ground conditions, Just operate the sensitivity at a proper level and not too high which may be the reason you're experiencing radical behavior.

Plus, You need to keep the coil in motion (side to side) to determine the location of the target.

Please keep us posted with the outcome, It's a great hobby so please have persistence and have fun

Plus, Tom (Tom_in_Ca) is one of our greatest treasure hunters in Ca. If you ever need advice with detecting older settlements he would be one of the few to get in touch with.

All the best, Paul (Ca)

 

[metalman1]

JUST A FEW NOTES TO CHECK BELOW,

BE SURE YOU ARE USING BRAND NEW ALKALINE BATTERIES (THE BIGGEST MISTAKE USERS MAKE)

BE SURE YOU ARE NOT USING IT INDOORS BECAUSE LIGHT BULBS, MICROWAVES, CELL PHONES, CORDLESS PHONES AND MANY OTHER HOUSE HOLD ITEMS CAN CAUSE INTERFERENCE WITH THE UNITS MAGNETIC FIELD BECAUSE THESE ITEMS HAVE A ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD OF THERE OWN CAUSING THE METAL DETECTOR TO "CHURP" OR BEEP ERRATICALLY.
MANY USERS PUT A QUARTER ON THE FLOOR OF THERE HOUSE AND FIND THAT THEY RECEIVE FALSE READINGS. THIS IS DUE TO THE ELECTRICAL LINES UNDER THE FLOOR (METAL AND MAGNETIC FIELD PRODUCED), NAILS IN THE FLOOR CROSSING THE MENINGITIC FIELD OF THE METAL DETECTORS SEARCH COIL.
DO NOT USE IT AROUND POWERLINES OR ON CONCRETE, CONCRETE HAS REBAR IN IT, A METAL THAT WILL CAUSE THE DETECTOR TO BEEP. ALSO KEEP THE DETECTOR CLEAR OF CHAIRS, WALLS AND TABLES AS THESE OBJECTS CAN ALSO CRETAN METALS (EVEN THE SIDE OF THE COIL CAN GIVE A READING, THAT IS WHY THE PART HOLDING THE COIL IS MADE OF PLASTIC).

IN ORDER TO TEST YOUR UNIT, HAVE SOMEONE HOLD THE UNIT NO LESS THAN 3 FEET OFF OF THE GROUND, TAKE ANICKEL IN YOUR HAND AND MOVE IT IN A CONSTANT MOTION ACROSS THE SEARCH COIL (AGAIN, DOING THIS OUTSIDE THE HOUSE AND OUTSIDE OF ANY INTERFERENCE). BE SURE THAT THE NICKEL OR QUARTER IS FLAT WITH THE SEARCH COIL, THAT IS HOW YOUR NEW TREASURE HUNTER METAL DETECTOR IS PROGRAMED TO DETECT THOSE OBJECTS. IF AN OBJECT, SUCH AS A NICKEL, IS MOVED OVER THE SEARCH COIL IN A POSITION OTHER THAN FLAT, IT CAN CAUSE FALSE READINGS AS WELL (THE MOTION MUST BE CONSTANT, AGAIN, A FELL THAT IS DEVELOPED OVER TIME). BECAUSE OF THE PROGRAM GIVEN TO THE DETECTOR TO DETECT THAT OBJECT. IN THE FIELD, THAT IS HOW THE OBJECT WILL BE FOUND 99% OF THE TIME.

SIZE, SHAPE AND OXIDATION CAN CAUSE THE PROCESSORS PROGRAM TO READ CRETAN WAYS. RECENTLY BURIED COINS MIGHT NOT RESPOND THE SAME AS COINS BURIED FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME BECAUSE OF OXIDATION.
SOME NAILS, NUTS, BOLTS AND OTHER IRON OBJECTS OXIDIZE AND CREATE A "HALO" EFFECT. A HALO EFFECT IS CAUSED BY A MIXTURE OF NATURALLY OCCURRING ELEMENTS IN THE GROUND AND THE OXIDATION CREATED BY DIFFERENT METALS. BECAUSE OF THE METAL MIXTURES, TARGETS SIGNALS MIGHT NOT BE N A "FIXED" POSITION THAT THE COMPUTER PROGRAM GIVEN YOUR DETECTOR IS PROGRAMED TO "SEE" OR DETECT THAT KIND OR SHAPE ITEM.

WHEN USING YOUR TREASURE HUNTER METAL DETECTOR TO IDENTIFY OBJECTS SUCH AS GOLD, OR SILVER, USE THE STRIP ACROSS THE TOP. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE STRIP GOES FROM IRON TO GOLD TO SILVER. YOU MAY ALSO NOTE THAT THERE IS A COIN LISTING ON THAT STRIP AS WELL, HOWEVER, THE COIN STRIP IS ONLY A SIZE INDICATOR, DO NOT USE THE READINGS ON THE LCD AT THIS POINT EXCEPT FOR A REFERENCE BETWEEN THE IRON, GOLD AND SILVER.
GOLD CAN REGISTER ANYWHERE ON THE LEFT SIDE DEPENDING ON ITS SIZE AND PURITY. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN READING A LARGE WATCH, THE DETECTORS PROGRAM WILL READ NAIL, PENNY, QUARTER, ETC., THAT IS BECAUSE THE PROGRAM OF THE UNIT IS READING THE GOLD, SILVER AND OTHER METALS IN THAT OBJECT, THAT IS WHY THE INDICATOR WILL JUMP AROUND SPORADICALLY. THE SAME THING WITH A GOLD RING. A GOLD RING WILL READ GENERALLY BETWEEN THE IRON AND GOLD DEPENDING ON HOW PURE THE GOLD IS AND WHAT ITEM IS MIXED WITH THE GOLD TO MAKE IT (FOR EXAMPLE 14 K) THE PURITY IT IS, 24K BEING SOLID GOLD AND 14K BEING THE LESS AMOUNT OF GOLD MIXED WITH OTHER METALS (SOME PRECISE, SOME NOT). THE LARGEST READING FOR GOLD WILL BE .05 TO .25 IN THE CORRECT IRON TO SILVER STRIP AT THE TOP WITHIN THE GOLD. THE READING OF THE LCD HAS LITTLE TO DO WITH MATERIAL, BUT WILL GIVE SOME IDEA TO SIZE.

THE PINPOINT IS THE 2 LINES YOU SEE COME CLOSE TOGETHER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE LCD READ OUT. THE CLOSER THE LINES BECOME, THE MORE ON TOP, OR ON TARGET YOU ARE.
WHEN YOU FIND THE OBJECT, IT IS A GOOD IDEA TO STEP RIGHT AND SWIPE THE COIL IN A "X" MOTION. RIGHT TO LEFT (SOUTH TO WEST) AND THEN RIGHT TO LEFT (NORTH TO EAST). THIS WILL HELP IN PINPOINTING AS WELL.
SWEEP THE DETECTORS SEARCHCOILHOLDING THE SEARCH COIL LEVEL (DO NOT USE LIKE A PENDULUM RASING AT THE END OF THE STROKE, USE MANY ANGELS TO BETTER PINPOINT THE TARGET)


WHEN IN THE FIELD, SWIPE THE COIL IN A CONSTANT MOTION, BE SURE THAT THE COIL IS SWINGING LEVEL (SEE MANUAL). THIS IS A FEEL THAT TAKES SOME TIME TO DEVELOP.

BE SURE YOU ARE DETECTING AN OBJECT OF ONE KIND OF METAL, FOR EXAMPLE, A WATCH OR A PIECE OF GOLD JEWELRY CONTAINS MANY KIND OF METALS GENERALLY. THE DETECTOR IS PROGRAMED TO DETECT CRETAN KINDS OF METALS, BUT WHEN A PIECE OF METAL CONTAINS SEVERAL KINDS, IT CONFUSES THE DETECTOR WHEN "SNIFFING" THE METALS AT ONE TIME. A PENNY MADE BEFORE 1982 IS MADE OF COPPER, A PENNY MADE AFTER 1-82 IS MADE OF ZINC (A LESS EXPENSIVE METAL) AND WILL READ DIFFERENT FOR EACH OF THE POST AND PRE 1982 PENNY'S.

BE SURE THE DISCRIMINATION KNOB IS NOT TURNED ALL THE WAY DOWN, IF EVERY METAL IS DISCRIMINATING, IT WILL NOT BEEP EVEN IF IT IS MOVED OVER METAL. THAT IS THE JOB OF THE DISCRIMINATOR.

BE SURE TO TURN THE UNIT OFF, TURN IT ON AGAIN (IN A PLACE WITH NO INTERFERENCE AND FAR FROM THE HOUSE) HOLDING THE COIL 3-4 INCHES FROM THE GROUND SO THE DETECTOR CAN GROUND BALANCE ITSELF. EVEN WITH THE GROUND BALANCE FUNCTION, IF THE SOIL IS HIGHLY MINERALIZED, IT IS DIFFICULT FOR THE MACHINE TO BALANCE ITSELF.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO SWING THE COIL PARALLEL (DO NOT LIFT AT THE END OF THE SWING LIKE A PENDULUM). KEEP THE COIL IN CONSTANT AND CONSISTENT MOTION THE WHOLE TIME AS YOU SWEEP THE GROUND. THE Z-PROCESSOR IS MEASURING THE SOILS CONTENT AND AVERAGING ITS CALCULATION OVER TIME CONSISTENT COIL SPEED AT A CONSTANT HEIGHT HELPS THE Z-PROCESSOR IN YOUR DETECTOR SCAN ACCURATELY AND DISCRIMINATE AGAINST THE EARTHS NATURALLY OCCURRING MINERALS. (REMEMBER TO ADJUST THE DETECTORS SENSITIVITY WHEN BEEPING "OUT OF CONTROL").

THE OUTSIDE LOOP OF THE SPIDER COIL CREATES A MAGNETIC FIELD. THE INSIDE RING OF THE SPIDER COIL. DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF METALS, SIZE OF OBJECTS DISRUPT OR REFLECT THE MAGNETIC FIELD GIVEN OFF BY THE OUTER RING.
THE INNER RING (THE INSIDE LOOP) DETECTS THE LCD READING. THE OBJECT MUST PASS OVER THE RANGE OF THE SMALLER INNER RING OF THE COIL.

BECAUSE YOUR DETECTOR IS EXTREMELY SENSITIVE, TRASH-INDUCED SIGNALS AND OTHER SOURCES OF INTERFERENCE MIGHT CAUSE SIGNALS THAT SEEM CONFUSING. THE KEY TO HANDLING THESE TYPES OF SIGNALS IS TO DIG FOR ONLY THOSE TARGETS THAT GENERATE A STRONG, REPEATABLE SIGNAL. AS YOU SWEEP THE SEARCH COIL BACK AND FORTH OVER THE GROUND, LEARN TO RECOGNIZE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIGNALS THAT OCCUR AT RANDOM AND SIGNALS THAT ARE STABLE AND REPEATABLE.
TO REDUCE FALSE SIGNALS WHEN SEARCHING VERY TRASHY GROUND, SCAN ONLY A SMALL AREA AT A TIME USING SLOW, SHORT, OVERLAPPING SWEEPS.

DETECTION HINTS:
1. ALWAYS CHECK THE BATTERIES, ONLY USE A NEW QUALITY ALKALINE BATT.
2. THE ANGLE AT WHICH THE OBJECT IS POSITIONED IN THE GROUND.
3. DEPTH OF THE OBJECT
4. THE AMOUNTS OF IRON (OR OTHER METALS) COMBINED IN THE TARGET.
5. SIZE OF THE OBJECT.

THERE ARE MORE THINGS, BUT THESE ARE THE BASICS, I HOPE THIS HELPS, LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED FURTHER ASSISTANCE AFTER TRYING THESE THINGS. UNDERSTANDING METAL DETECTING OR YOUR MACHINE IS NOTHING THAT CAN BE DONE IN A FEW MOMENTS, IT IS A HOBBY OF GUESSES, AND MUST BE USED IN THE FIELD TO BECOME FAMILIAR WITH YOUR MACHINE AND THE SPORT.