explorer se vs cz-3d on old coins

Wondered how explorer compares to 3d on looking for old coins at old sites. I have been detecting for 2 years and have only found 3 silver coins, 1903Barber quarter and 2 mercury dimes. All were from different locations and all only 2 inches deep. Have found several clad each year at 2-3inches average. am using the explorer now, but was very interested in the fisher after watching your DVD.

I had a CZ3d (now have F75) and they both would see the coins. The 3D just alerts you that it is a coin where on the explorer you probably would have passed it up on and old coin target, for instance like an IH penny thinking it was a pull tab.

When coin hunting at an old site I now always dig a positive repeatable (at different angles) signals. If a target is 6" or more and seems like it can be anything but iron, I dig it. I use other techniques to determine if it is a coin or not, like raising the coil and checking the all metal width of the target, but I pretty much dig it anyway if it has depth and sounds close to a good target.

These deep "different" sounding targets is where I usually find a coin spill or a coin next to iron or near a junk target. When it is deep it always gets my attention. Digging up the junk targets gradually "unmasks" the deep silver you are trying for, especially at a trash infested site. I usually start at a small patch of promising ground and dig everything and then go back over it a time or two to remove the masking and then to see if it provides likely targets.

But the Explorer or the CZ3D will both see and report a good target at 6+ inches with ease, even in the fairly difficult ground here in East Tennessee. The 3D might report it in such a way as to cause you to dig it better than the Explorer, but both will sound off on it.

HH Alton

On any CZ...... especially the CZ-3D, old coins audibly stand out much greater as compared to the Explorers audio. (Audio intelligence is simple & more so user-friendly w/CZ). Both detectors have nearly the same capabilities. Now..... if mineralization is severe, I'll take the Explorer. If mineralization is zero-to-fairly bad..... I'll take the CZ (this is most cases). The word "severe" is interpretive; so, I will say this = If a U.S. dime can be PROPERLY ID'd to depths of 4" or less,,,, then mineralization is 'severe'...... and Explorer is needed. KNOW YOUR DIRT!

H.I.H.

Tom

Alton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When coin hunting at an old site I now always dig
> a positive repeatable (at different angles)
> signals. If a target is 6" or more and seems like
> it can be anything but iron, I dig it. I use other
> techniques to determine if it is a coin or not,
> like raising the coil and checking the all metal
> width of the target, but I pretty much dig it
> anyway if it has depth and sounds close to a good
> target.

> HH Alton

Someone's gonna have to come and show me some things on my 3D! lol
I've had it for 3 years. Alton or Tom, could you explain how you use this technique, raising the coil and checking the all metal width?

No one around me uses a 3D. They're stuck on the DFX or the Minelab Explorer II or SE. You have NO idea how bad I wanna crush their finds. I'm definitely a loner with my 3D around here. I was going to save my pennies and buy an M6, then changed my mind to the SE, then changed my mind again and I'm set on trying to get more coils for my 3D. I'm still running the stock coil.

My forum members are meeting my husband and I for a group hunt on Sunday and all those DFXs, M6s and Minelabs will be there. I get so frustrated sometimes because I don't know my machine well enough yet. My detecting time is limited and I want to do well here. It's been hit pretty hard but still has plenty to give up. It's an old site and was a park-type area with benches, etc. 100 years ago. Lots of silver in there still, but lots of trash in some areas.

BTW .. getting my sens to 4 is tough. Above that and it's real chattery. Has been since I got it.

Any suggestions?

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Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.

Hi Snowy,

What I meant by raising the coil is that coin sized Iron usually loses it's response faster than a good target when the coil is lifted. By lifting the coil a foot or more and still getting a solid reading can help you determine if the target is a coin sized object too. If I start finding cans, this is the way I check to see if it is another one

Also iron can give itself away because it usually has a broader response as the coil is passed over it in pinpoint.

So if I hit a repeatable target with a small tight respone and it doesn't deteriate too fast like iron or fast enough for a coin sized object when I raise the coil and it has a positive (not iron) reading, then I dig.

Now, I admit that what I wrote sounds confusing, and it is. It is even more confusing when you are tired and have to think of all those things each time you hit a target. I had to train myself to slow down and think before I dug.

I have also used a Periscope that helps confirm my guess as to whether a target is iron or not before I dig. But they no longer make them so in the future I will have to be better at determining the targets contents by just using the detector.

I'm going to revisit this tomorrow night, but I've got a question for now ...

You've got a good target. Perhaps it's deep. You are holding the pinpoint button directly over the center of the target and raise the coil while holding the pinpoint button? If you've got a deep targer, say, 8 inches ... can it still detect the target with a foot of air in between?

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Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/26/2007 08:53PM by Snowy.

If it is a huge target it will still get it with the coil raised one foot. For instance a coke can will probably still hit it that high. Coin sized iron probably will not, but I haven't tested that. But then, a coin probably won't either.

When I say raise the coil, I'm talking 2-6" in pinpoint. If you think you have a can then raise the coil while still in disc. If it is still there then you know it is not a coin sized object.

Thanks for the info. Seems logical enough. Today wasn't my day, but I'm hopng for a better day tomorrow. I barely detected because my hip was killing me. I think I'm getting out tomorrow and will give this a shot.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2007 10:38AM by Snowy.