I read a post on another site (oh no say it isn't so Tony) and it was about testing your machine in the field for depth.
Long story short - Dig a hole and use a ruler - (get one of those wooden rulers form furniture store and cut it off at 12 inches). Then thrown in a clad dime and cover it.
Try to read it with your machine. If you can't change the settings and see if you can read it. Then try a silver dime and do the same exercises.
The thing is this - are we truly able to detect at depth with our machines in the soil where you detect?
I will probably try this in the fall but I thought I should put this out there now and see what folks comes up with.
And we all know that Minelabs have a hard time detecting fresh drops targets.
I'll try this out but I don't think my pro or Cassandras g2+ will go 12" on a dime! I'll report what I can get though. I'll guess 8"ish?
I've had the opportunity to try out the ctx3030 and I loved it. So many settings and great stuff...! That's my dream machine as of now. Next to a f75 and racer 2
I should have said try nine inches first then test. Then add depth for the next test and so on.
I've tried that a few times over the years, and the method worked well for me. Some guys will argue that the test isn't truly accurate though, as many coins in the ground have halo's, and a freshly buried coin won't register as deep, but how much of a difference that would make is the question. I think it would be minimal, but who knows.
Joe
Yeah, fresh drop is a tough thing but this test is about learning learning more about your machine and the area where you are detecting.
I can't wait to try this as soon as we get some more rain.
I think it's a valid test. You could learn more about your machine. However, in my circumstances, with heavily mineralized ground, such a test would have to be performed for learning experience in about every area I detect. So I have learned that you simply have to dig iffy signals, but, know what parameters the signals give you. And the only way to know that is to dig the iffy's as much as you possibly can and see what you have. I did it just today with a War Nickel. I tossed it off as a pull tab but the tone intrigued me. I was more surprised than I thought I would be. This is another reason why I'm not a believer in a tool shed of machines. Although I realize there is a reason for having them under certain circumstances, (like I could use an XP Deus or T-2 in all the iron and mineralization), but, with my SE Pro, I know how to get around the problem. Mostly from experience with the machine and the finds. But a lot of you guys out there aren't as able to detect as often as you like whereas I'm out there almost every day. After you pound all that information into the gray matter for such a long time, you simply become the machine. Really, no BS. I know what this machine is telling me upside down and backwards, and yet I am still surprised by my digs. There in that sentence is the human issue. Believe what the machine is telling you, it's nuance's and quirks. Although it's a detecting machine, it's trying to tell you what's there. Don't misunderstand it. See what it is. Dig it.
Ed
I have done this test at about 8" on the last few detectors I have brought. And then tested the new detector to the older one to see now much more /less depth I could get from the new machine.
Ed, it sounds like your a machine. Only kidding I know what you mean. The more you use it the more you know about what it's telling you.
Bob, glad to hear that you used this method, I can't wait to do it myself.