Nail signals

Is it just me or does this happen to you also? Sometimes when I get a high signal off a nail it rings high in two directions causing me to dig only to find it is a nail. This happens on smaller nails or deep nails. Is this normal? I have my Explorer SE Pro set at 26 auto sensitivity and 22 or 23 iron mask. I usually use my 6X8 SEF coil. If there is a way to avoid these false signals I would appreciate knowing how. Thanks in advance.

Yes all the time! but you will learn the nail has a more of a Dead high sound to it compared to the fuzzier legitimate hit...

High Ohms phones help alot...

Best I have ever put my hands on is the Timberwolf's....

But they are not made anymore sadly...but alot of the high ohms like Killerbs and sunray golds etc will help you....

The Timber's are 150 Ohm so look for that...it makes a difference at least to me it does on the sharpness and roundness of a target..

Keith

Coinseeker --

Yes, it happens to me! Not as much as it did when I started, but I still dig nails at time...it's one of the most frustrating aspects of detecting in general (and in using the otherwise superb Explorer). That being said, I had an Explorer guru tell me once that if you are digging NO iron (like deep, rusty, curved/bent nails), you are missing coins...

Keith is (of course) exactly right, regarding the fact that some of the nails offer subtle clues that you can learn to listen for. Over time, you will learn to ignore MANY of those "iron false" high tones. They do often have a "hollow" or "airy" sound -- even though it is otherwise a coin-type high tone. Despite the same or similar "pitch," this is a slightly different tone than the more "meaty" high tone of a coin. Silver in particular often has a "tinkly" and "tight" high tone -- it sounds "round," whereas a nail will often sound just a bit different, sort of "hollow" often times, and sometimes somewhat "smeared."

THAT BEING SAID, some nails STILL sound DARN good. I still get fooled, at times. USUALLY, I don't get fooled from the perspective that I say "I feel very certain this is a coin;" it's usually somewhere farther down the "certainty" scale -- such as "this might be a nail, but it sounds like it has a CHANCE of being a deep coin, so I better dig it..."

Over time, I dig fewer nails, but will still get tricked at times. Square nails I find to be more difficult, as they sound "good" more often. Bent nails, too...they also sound better than most.

A few things you can try -- and I'm sure you know this...

1. MAKE SURE the high tone is coming from the VERY SAME SPOT on the ground, not moving around in location AT ALL.

2. USE YOUR PINPOINT! "Roundness" has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread; hearing "roundness" is sometimes easier (for me, at least) in pinpoint mode...if you get a very nice, short "whoop" sound in one direction, but a more drawn-out "whoooop" sound when crossing the target at 90 degrees from the first sweeps, that's a clue (unless, of course, you are dealing with two coins side-by-side). Really "interrogating" those iffy targets that give you inconsistent high-tones -- interrogating in both in "regular" mode and then in "pinpoint" mode, can help alot...rotate slowly around the target with short choppy sweeps, and REALLY listen and concentrate (and of course, DIG if you are not sure).

3. Also, you say you are hunting IM 22 or 23. I use 22, so what I'm about to tell you should work for you (clearly, this tip depends entirely on how you are running your discrimination/iron mask)...when circling the target, if you get an "interesting" high tone from one angle (say east), and then as you rotate towards south, your tone VERY QUICKLY turns to a null -- or, sometimes, very briefly takes on an increasingly-high pitch through a narrow sector, and THEN becomes a null (as your iron mask begins discriminating it), and then it STAYS a null through south, then through southwest, and then as you get around towards west -- i.e. roughly 180 degrees from where you had the high tone before, if you start getting the same high tone again...and then as you continue rotating toward north, it again very quickly goes to a solid null, (or again, maybe briefly goes higher in a very narrow sector, and THEN turns rapidly to a solid null as you rotate toward north)...that behavior is almost ALWAYS iron.

Finally, though, NOTHING beats good-old experience. I have been using an Explorer for almost 3 years now, and I still learn new things...I know I'm nowhere near a "guru" with it, when I compare myself to some guys I know who have been using them much longer than I.

I am sure I didn't tell you very much that you don't already know; in fact, I hope I didn't "insult" you by telling you things that you may consider blatantly obvious. My overall message simply is that "I'm with you;" the nails are a problem -- more with some coils than others, but a problem nonetheless. I'd say the Pro coil is "medium," in terms of making some iron sound good; the SunRay 5", while a REALLY nice coil, gives me more nail problems than the Pro coil, so I'd call it "higher" on the "makes iron sound good at times" scale; the 6x8 is "medium," maybe a TAD better than the Pro coil (but like you said it will high tone on small, thin nails more than the Pro coil will), and -- surprisingly, though I only have limited experience with this coil, the 4.5x7 Excelerator coil does the best, in terms of not making as much of the iron sound "good."

I hope something here helps. In the mean time, I understand your dilemma...when I hunt an area that has been HAMMERED and there's not much left, and I make up my mind to dig more of the deep, "iffy" high tones in hopes of sneaking out one more keeper, I will INVARIABLY dig more nails than normal. Point being...you can "dial up" or "dial down" the "discriminator" in your brain, and eventually, through experience with the Explorer, learn to "set" your mind's "discriminator" at an appropriate place for the spot you are hunting, and for your desire on that day -- i.e. do you want to just "cherry pick," or do you want to really listen for the subtle, deep oldies?

Steve

Steveg has it nailed down pretty good (no pun intended)...

We all have issues from time to time with "iron" -- I don't use the explorer but do use an etrac

I'm not sure how similar they are in sound/tones

but

the most obvious way for me to tell if I'm dealing with an iron/rusty nail on the etrac is with the sharpness of tone (while using 2tf or 4tf anyway)
they high tone almost to the level of being ear piercing -- that's my 1st indication -- 2nd is the VID as the #s tend to jump
3rd is the way they pinpoint -- if it makes any sort of crackle or uneven tone/pitch at all while pinpointing it usually is iron/junk (I've proven it myself time and time again)
the etrac is very good at identifying iron/junk in pinpoint mode and at the same time - it works the direct opposite way too -- if it's something good - it'll be a smooth solid non changing signal/tone while pinpointing

HH and keep at it!

Michigan -- the E-Trac and Explorer are very similar, BUT...

An important point which you made, and I didn't...you said you hunt 2-tone or 4-tone ferrous, which the Explorer's don't have. But, you CAN hunt with either "conductive" or "ferrous" sounds, on an Explorer, which would be basically a "multi-tone ferrous" mode, not a 2-tone or 4-tone ferrous as on the E-Trac. That being said, though, I almost always hunt in conductive sounds, and my description of rotating around a piece of iron and how it sounds, was from the perspective of CONDUCTIVE sounds. So -- Coinseeker, if you are hunting in conductive mode, what I said should apply. If you are hunting ferrous sounds (i.e. keying off the ferrous numbers, not the conductive numbers), then the behavior/sounds as you rotate around the iron target will be different than what I described.

THANKS for your comments, Michigan, as what I posted was in need of clarification!

Steve