Disappearing signals

John Madill

Elite Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2020
Messages
1,431
Location
SW MI
Yesterday at the beach (a freshwater beach) i got a 77-78 signal that read steady from all directions.

i was sure it was going to be a dime on my Simplex+.

I scooped it and the scoop came up empty. And then the signal was completely gone.

this happens once in a while and i wonder if there is some explanation.

i continued hunting, rang up pennies and tent stakes, every thing normal.

thanks!
 
Keep digging and kick around the pile of sand and recheck. More then likely it went vertical.
 
"And then the signal was completely gone"


mine does too - sometimes I look for a tree trunk close sometimes! [sorta-LOL] I hope your right OBM thanx
 
It

Happens , tip >dig a couple more scoops , I have that often , try that , I check the piles , spread the sand , check the hole nothing , take another scoop , than it appears beep beep , reminds me of a magic trick , I am sure the pros here will chime in & give you the science explanation behind this result , I would like to know myself , Earl
 
This has happened to me as well several times with The 800 in soil and Simplex when I have a friend come check it. Its always that oooooooohhhh vdi and tone as well.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
With my Nox, I often hit on very small metal...bb's, small earrings, rivets, etc. that are so small, they fall through the scoop.
 
I have had that happen several times at the beach. I always use the pinpointer on the piles and still sometimes the signal is just gone. More digging doesn't seem to help either. Just Voodoo I guess.

Cliff
 
All good advice, i like OBN'S idea. If it was someting small slipping thru the scoop i assume it would show up when i ran the coil over the scoop pile.

Hopefully it is a dime on edge.

I have made progress in judging targets, pretty good at determining pennies, dimes and quarters. Nickels not so much as they ring in within the numbers of many other items.

And i dig a LOT of foil wrappers from chewing gum!

I rarely bring the pinpointer to the beach, will start packing it.

Thanks all.
 
Water hunters

It's called chasing foil. Bits of foil are every where. Swooshing the coil may send it away. If not foil BBs or split shot.
 
This just happened to me last week at a freshwater lake I go to. It has been happening since I can remember, not alot at all but it happens and it is frustrating to say the least. Started detecting in 1980.
 
I've found these can be those foil juice bottle tops. When flat they give a gold tone, and when you dig they can go vertical and disappear. Small items can do the same.

If you're in the wash sometime it's small foil that escapes the scoop and washes away leaving you searching for it.
 
Just a couple of thoughts on this. Coin on edge seems most likely but many times a target will fall back in the hole and wind up deeper than it originally was and be out of range of the detector. Also, if you are hunting in the water lightweight targets, especially pull tabs, will flutter away as you try to scoop them and can wind up several feet away.
 
I have had it happen a number of times on the beach. Usually another scoop or two and the target will emerge from the hole. Was detecting with my son and he had a target disappear. He walked to where i was and wanted to know what had happened. We walked to where he had been and i took one big scoop of sand out of the bottom of his hole and when i dumped the sand there was a dime in the pile.
 
Could be disintegrated iron that’s only a halo of residue.

I was thinking along this same line. Could of even been copper that was corroded to the point of crumbling when you disturbed it. Or speared it with the scoop. I have had a few ghost signals with the equinox too.
 
We have all had those types of signals. Even THE KOB ! But THE KOB has NEVER let those escape. If it is a signal , I gotta find it. 99% is usually trash. But on the rare occasion , it has been a small earring or a small heavy gold tooth that falls through the scoop holes. I have only used a hand held pinpointer maybe 5 or 6 times and determined it is a waste of time. Kick and thin down the sand pile , narrow it down with my coil. Expand the hole , dig deeper until it comes up. When in the water , take the bucket of sand up to where you can spread it out effectively. Crashing surf , hole caving in faster than you can dig is a different ballgame. You can be S.O.L ! But from what I'm reading here , I have a question for some of you that would eliminate alot of this and is obvious to me. Don't you guys have a magnet in your scoop ?
 
I agree... I was going to post that but you beat to it... I learned about that from Mr.Bill...
Seems like iron would not read as a dime?

Yesterday at the beach (a freshwater beach) i got a 77-78 signal that read steady from all directions.

i was sure it was going to be a dime on my Simplex+.
 
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