(03-09-2016 11:32 PM)Ohio Dirt Fisher Wrote: [ -> ]It's good you two can get out when you can. Two detectorists that know what they're doing is a real hunt. Ya know Joe, I know a wheat when I dig it with the SE. Just the dirt around here. Congrats Gerry on the Merc and the Gold ring! Upper end Minelabs are a real thrill when you are in the zone.
Ed/ODF
It's not the dirt that's the issue for me, Ed, it's the depth.
Minelab's i.d. is rock solid down to about 8", after that, all bets are. On any machine, the deeper you go, the more the numbers will be off.
Almost 95% of what you see me dig in my videos are literally little squeaker hits, with a signal barely breaking through. And when something is at that depth, the numbers, while still
decently accurate in a general range, are only good as a guide. So...
While I have a pretty decent idea if something might be a wheat or silver, on those 8+" targets, I'm relying more on sound/tone, target size & repeatabilty of the signal as indicators, versus the numbers.
On super deep 8 or 10"+ signals, it's generally going to be a wheat, Indian, silver, or yes, even iron that I get fooled on, which happens often.
On the easier, shallower signals, say in the 1 to 7" range, I can tell fairly easily the difference between a penny, dime, Indian, etc., but after 8 or 9", all bets are off
What you and Gerry have on the SE's, which I don't, is the crosshairs cursor, which is another form of information to rely on. And I'm sure it helps a lot. But after seeing him call many, many targets that were in the 9 or 10" range over the years, the crosshair cursor too is not really 100% dependable after a certain depth, it stands a greater likelihood of calling it wrong.
That's why you even hear of guys (not me) who will dig straight iron signals that are on the fringes of a detectors depth, because sometimes detectors will call a very deep coin iron/junk. And if this is true, how accurate can a unit be in finely separating one coin versus another at extreme depths? If it's deep, JUST DIG IT!
Joe
