Puzzled - good repeatable detector signal - but no response from pinpointer

[El Cheapo]

Could have been a piece of small foil. Your detector sees it but, your pinpointer doesn't always because your pinpointer has PI circuitry.

Seconded - small foil near the surface can sometimes give a solid-sounding 4" high tone to my detector - but usually only from one direction. Swinging over the target from another angle goes a long way to seeing if a signal is truly repeatable.

 

[MidTN]

Had a similar circumstance happened to me several yrs ago. Good, clear signal next to a home but no matter how much I dug...absolutely no target UNDER the coil.

Hold on...you're going to laugh.

Finally realized I was swinging the coil under a gutter's 'down spout'. Had forgotten, coils emit signals in two directions...below AND ABOVE. Anyone want a down spout?

And I thought I was the only one known to do that.

 

[GKL]

Seconded - small foil near the surface can sometimes give a solid-sounding 4" high tone to my detector - but usually only from one direction. Swinging over the target from another angle goes a long way to seeing if a signal is truly repeatable.

Thanks, and I usually do try swinging again from a different angle before digging, but I'll try that when I get back there just to be sure I didn't forget swinging from another direction on the first try.

I was going wait till another day to check the motel permission again, but with all these suggestions I might see about heading over there shortly

If I do I'll post any new results when I get back.

And I thought I was the only one known to do that.

 

[Martin_V3i]

I have always found that there was a large big piece of trash, maybe even a septic tank at a few feet deep. Point is...if my machine says it is shallow and I still don't get any handheld detection at all after the suspected depth reading...I leave it.

 

[jimther]

I have always found that there was a large big piece of trash, maybe even a septic tank at a few feet deep. Point is...if my machine says it is shallow and I still don't get any handheld detection at all after the suspected depth reading...I leave it.

All the more reason to raise your coil several inches above he ground and then re-scan..

 

[CTCurt]

Gary
When you return to that hole, find the signal again, then raise your coil 4-6 inches off the ground and scan again. If you still get a signal, it’s probably LARGE and deep. Raise coil another 4-6 inches and scan again to confirm this theory.

Have you tried a much smaller coil to see what it does on this target?

Good luck.

What he said^^^....

 

[GKL]

I have always found that there was a large big piece of trash, maybe even a septic tank at a few feet deep. Point is...if my machine says it is shallow and I still don't get any handheld detection at all after the suspected depth reading...I leave it.

All the more reason to raise your coil several inches above he ground and then re-scan..

What he said^^^....

Thanks everyone, I went back there, results in next post !

 

[GKL]

First I want to thank everyone for all their tips, good to be reminded as it's easy to be in too much of a hurry to dig what you think might be a good find and forget those things

Anyhow, I was going to wait till another day to go back there, but after everyone's replies it motivated to go ahead and recheck it today.

.....and yes, the "forgot to raise my coil and rescan before digging" was it

realizing I forgot to do that the first time at that spot was a "Doh" moment !

Here are pics of rescanning in both directions with the coil raised about 4-6 inches, the reading was sometimes 38 and sometimes 39 and still read that even with the coil raised 4-6 inches




......hey, it was a good lesson, I'm now more likely to remember to rescan with a raised coil now before digging

......on another positive note, since I was there I decided to make a hunt out of it anyhow besides trash got 3 finds, 2 somewhat interesting, I'll post about them a little later.

So thanks again for all the replies, it motivated me to go back today which resulted in a couple interesting finds !

 

[jimther]

Thanks for the follow-up based on your return trip Gary. Glad that suggestion worked out for you.

 

[GKL]

Thanks for the follow-up based on your return trip Gary. Glad that suggestion worked out for you.

Thanks, just wanted to show the actual results from following the suggestion.

The thing is I knew about the raised coil idea, but forgot to do it on the first time at that spot, I think I was in such a hurry to dig after seeing such a good signal and just forgot to rescan with a raised coil before digging

 

[GKL]

Back on my post at 6:29pm I said I'd post about my finds today a little later, well, it's more than a little later but I didn't forget

Anyhow, after rescanning that spot with a raised coil and seeing it was likely a large deep trashy object, I figured since I was there anyhow I might as well hunt for a little while (actually about 2 hours including time to rescan that spot several times to be sure )

Of course I found the usual expected amount of trash, also a penny, a neat "North Dakota" state quarter, I wish the 1889 was the mint date, but it's really a 2006 ......and I actually found my first ring ! I've only done dirt fishing and my locations so far simply never yielded any rings till now.

Now at the dig I had the impression the ring might be silver, but after getting it home and cleaning it some and looking real close it seems to simply be silver plated, while that was slightly disappointing I was still quite happy just to find my first ring ! (anything is better than pull-tabs )









Below is just a part of the area I was focusing on today, the grassy area outside the fence that surrounds what used to be the motel pool (now filled in) and years ago when I worked there and the pool was still used it would be closed at dark and the gate locked, but I'd occasionally have to chase people out that would hop over the fence to use the pool after the gate was locked, so today I was thinking maybe those fence hoppers had dropped some stuff in the grassy area outside the fence when hurrying up to hop over the fence

(the building beside the pool used to be rented for group events, now on hold)

 

[GKL]

Another quick question:

Using a Nox 800 what tone numbers are more likely be gold ?

I read a couple older threads on the forum and one said 14 while another said 11 and I realize gold can be more than just one number but is there a number that makes it more likely ?

 

[Dan B.]

Another quick question:

Using a Nox 800 what tone numbers are more likely be gold ?

I read a couple older threads on the forum and one said 14 while another said 11 and I realize gold can be more than just one number but is there a number that makes it more likely ?

Pick a number any number. I have a 9 g 14 carat gold Ring that rang in at a 21, a 2g. 10carat gold ring that came in at 11. Here is a video by gigmaster That explains what he gets on his machine.
https://youtu.be/oDGZskI53f0

 

[IDXMonster]

Great thread and great replies Gary. It’s a lesson in digging by method, and a piece of that method for me is the “coil lift test”....a form of 3D sizing. I know how the coin SHOULD react from a certain distance given a certain coil...does it? A depth indication of 6” and still getting a good signal 6” off the ground doesn’t add up, and you know this. It’s easy to get in a hurry and skip a step of the analysis! BTDT! But you wound up doing just fine with the rest of the hunting, I would say that a straight nickel signal is also a good indication of the common 14K medium men’s wedding band. For ME...and it took me just a couple of rings to notice this...the signal itself seems “tight”...”compact”...VERY solid yet abrupt. This is true on my IDXPro, Explorer AND CTX. I have a nice selection of rings and to the best of my recollection, most, if not all, had this characteristic.

 

[GKL]

Pick a number any number. I have a 9 g 14 carat gold Ring that rang in at a 21, a 2g. 10carat gold ring that came in at 11. Here is a video by gigmaster That explains what he gets on his machine.
https://youtu.be/oDGZskI53f0

Okay, thanks, I was getting the impression gold numbers might vary based on different factors.

I was hoping there might be a number where you might much more likely say "that is likely gold !"

 

[GKL]

Great thread and great replies Gary. It’s a lesson in digging by method, and a piece of that method for me is the “coil lift test”....a form of 3D sizing. I know how the coin SHOULD react from a certain distance given a certain coil...does it? A depth indication of 6” and still getting a good signal 6” off the ground doesn’t add up, and you know this. It’s easy to get in a hurry and skip a step of the analysis! BTDT! But you wound up doing just fine with the rest of the hunting, I would say that a straight nickel signal is also a good indication of the common 14K medium men’s wedding band. For ME...and it took me just a couple of rings to notice this...the signal itself seems “tight”...”compact”...VERY solid yet abrupt. This is true on my IDXPro, Explorer AND CTX. I have a nice selection of rings and to the best of my recollection, most, if not all, had this characteristic.

Thanks, good points ! and also what you said about very solid signal for gold I had read something similar earlier on an older thread doing a forum search where the person said pull-tabs tend to have signals that are more jumpy whereas gold is a more steady solid signal.

I realize we'll likely dig some pull-tabs no matter what, but it'd be nice to reduce that amount some

 

[Sven]

Some insight on rings

 

[GKL]

Some insight on rings

Wow, neat, informative display, thanks for sharing that !

One question, would those Minelab X-Terra numbers be the same on an Equinox 800 ?

I'd like to find (or compile myself) a complete list of all the numbers you get on an Equinox and what you likely will find for each number. I have seen a few nice lists but the ones I saw don't seem to cover all the numbers, or at least in enough detail. But maybe those lists are simply covering most of what the average person might find and are all we need ?

In a very trashy area you tend to ignore some numbers thinking you'll just be digging more trash, but I think with what I am learning I might be willing to try digging some of those numbers just to be sure

.....and with what I am learning I can't wait to try digging some of those numbers I avoided before, but we are going thru an extended period of greater rain chances so I'll have to see what days I might be able to squeeze in a quick hunt in between periods of rain, but I don't want to get to a hunting spot and 15 minutes later I have to pack up but I'd like to at least have a good hour rain-free in the field but preferably 2 hours or more

 

[GKL]

(Posting this while still waiting to hear if the Minelab X-Terra numbers from the chart posted earlier would be the same on an Equinox 800)

Just did an image search online for Equinox number charts, and there were quite a few, some seem more hand made from someone's personal experience, but I'll post 3 of what seems to be the better examples of what I found.

Are any of these pretty much all the Equinox TID number info I need or are they not as complete or as detailed as they could be and are they fairly accurate overall ?

(any additional charts or extra TID info welcome !)







Edit to add another chart:

 

[duggap]

Gary
When you return to that hole, find the signal again, then raise your coil 4-6 inches off the ground and scan again. If you still get a signal, it’s probably LARGE and deep. Raise coil another 4-6 inches and scan again to confirm this theory.

Have you tried a much smaller coil to see what it does on this target?

Good luck.

I agree. When I have experienced that it is usually big iron and quite deep. Big iron will give you a false positive on your machine.