Question on PIs

Im about to ask what i feel like is a dumb question. Ive been at this a day or two but have never used a PI machine. Is the reason they go deeper the same as any machine being in true AM or pinpointing? In other words they dont go thru a processor that gives us our disc, TID, multi tone and filtering which seems to reduce depth. Dont the PIs still have the same problems ANY detector has in that that piece of iron or bobby pin or staple they run into pretty well eliminates finding the good target until it removed? Did i just answer my own question lol? Now another dumb question. I use an Explorer SE... to me AM is NOT AM. Pinpoint seems to be, but AM is still being processed giving a TID and multi tones so it still dont seem to get the AM depth my DFX did. Am i Wrong?

Dew

Do you use AM on Iron mask window?

Can't answer all your questions but PIs send a strong series of transmissions
into the ground a certain number of pulses and then it shuts off.
Next the coil listens for signal from any target.
So it transmits and then shuts down and receives.
This is unlike VLF which is always transmitting and receiving at the same time.
VLF has a balanced transmission and any signal whether from a metal object
or even the ground minerals will cause a disruption in the transmission flow.
So in short VLF transmissions can suffer depth loss because the flow is
bent or flattened when in the presence of minerals.
This is the way I understand it and technically it may not hold up but
should be close enough for common folk.
Since pulse works like it does, up to this date there hasn't been any
good working discrimination circuit made for them.
Maybe one day but not now.

While the P.I.s do run in threshold based all metal mode the P.I. is using a different transmit system and if the ground is mineral free the VLF and the P.I. would be about the same depth wise but the vlf will loose depth quicly in mineral while the P.I. stays pretty much just as deep as if it where in neutral ground...

The P.I. by design just ignores the mineral through pulse delay while the Vlf sees it and has to cope with it...Yes targets are masked just the same but with no real discrimination that is very hard to relate because it will report on everything metallic...Its a dig all machine....

the newer Ground balancing P.i's can suppress targets with the G.b manipulation causing target's to report High or low tone low conductor's being high tone and high conductor's being low tone..all based on conductivity...and iron can report anywhere high or low......gold can be high or low ...all depends on size of target.....

Small gold and small iron can read high tone big silver and big iron can read low tone....

but masking can still happen if you dont DIG IT ALL....

Yes Explorer is not a true single channel all metal type mode the DFX uses..The pinpoint on the explorer is but is a non motion mode...

I have simplified what I know so there is holes in my answer...but maybe it will help..P.I.s are fun to play with and offer alot and in the future will offer more...I believe the P.I.s are the future of detection...been around 40 year's and in the last decade have become real eye opener's with more coil voltage and ground balance ....

Keith

looks like to me they could make a pulse detector with an onboard computer that could
set a tracking ground balance for high/low tones or more tones, have it optimized and then provide tone/id
for different conductivity, perhaps measure signal strength and signal length.
From what I have read, GB control is altered for tones but maybe a computer could analyze all perimeters
and calculate optimum settings and adjust then send info to used for ID.
Hmm, maybe star wars stuff but some engineer needs to think outside the box to take it further.

Sounds like a job.........for Super Tom..............lol

Thanks guys. Steve... didnt know you were on here. Well i have a pretty good idea of the difference now.

If you have severe minerals.....or......you hunt the wet salt beach a bunch; a high-powered PI is recommended.

Tom... what can you tell me about a processed signal? Ive read a few of Jeff Fosters books on some of the Whites machines. He implies that a processed signal will loose depth over a true AM in that in AM when not processing the machine just has to give a tone, id, or picture. It knows something is there, but doesnt have to try to correctly ID it. Me and Steve talked a bit and he had a valid point in that he didnt want a machine... especially in a park that wouldnt ID a target. Pinpointing or AM made no sense in those condition.... obviously thats a no brainer. I noticed on the Explorer the pinpoint on the SE didnt seem very deep. I was wondering if it was because it provided a TID/digital reading while pinpointing?

Dew

A processed signal....is run through more electronics...including filters.......and a lot of the signal is attenuated during the process. A weak signal may be 'processed' to such a weak/low-strength signal.....that, it becomes no longer intelligible; subsequently, the detector reports nothing. And YES, you definately want a detector with ID in MOST ALL places that we hunt!