First Hunt with Signum 7272M

I got a new Signum 2 days ago and got out with it today for 4 1/2 hours. It was quite an adjustment using Putin (That is what I named it.)
My first dig was a coin at 5", so a good first sign. I also dug a French coin at just about 9". That is as deep as I ever dug a coin with my E-Trac/CTX.
It was a bit of a noisy hunt for the first 4 hours, but I slowly got him under control and a bit quite via adjusting the ST (beep side) and RT (threshold sid) and a low iron volume.

It is a VERY interesting detector to use. As you all know from reading here, the Signum operates in mixed mode (mostly). The ground where I was searching is signals non stop, so it is a bit much to hunt in mixed mode.
But, you can lower the threshold side to zero and that doesn't seem to impact the "beep" side. I adjusted to that later in the day. Also, you can adjust the metal low tone side to a volume down to 1. Those two adjustments
really made for a HUGE difference. I still like the mixed mode, but only in certain cases. You have four user programs so you can mix things up.

It really is a different detector. You can tell it is from another country in a sense. Just like the American detectors are a bit different from the European ones, this one has some hard to describe qualities.
It feels really well built. The balance is SPOT ON.

I should say, one of the obvious things about it, is it appears very very deep. I am a bit shocked that I got that 9" coin today, I have dug many at that depth with the CTX and just a few with the E-Trac. That is their limits with a crackly "beep".
But none with the Deus and I used that for a few weeks before returning it. I had an Omega and that got down to 7" or maybe 8" but rarely. I just feel what they say about the Signum is true regarding depth.
I have to adjust the setting for volume at depth, because even at 6 (of 9), it hits hard at 6".
I was mostly running the gain on 7 of 9, and the ST (beep side) at 11 of 14 and RT (threshold side) at 7 of 9. It was chatty. Note - If I was using a mixed mode, then I turned the threshold to zero for quiet. If I was using a threshold mode, like the RT-M mode (tone mode), then it was at 7.

Another obvious thing is, it likes an exact ground balance. And it is a bit finicky there. And that makes sense as it appears deep. The great thing is you can do the automatic bobbing method and then from there go into manual (it shows you a horizontal line and you try to get it exactly horizontal moving the coil side to side.) My ground seemed to like the 24 or 25 setting. I'm curious how that compares to your ground and what that means my ground is (Igor, etc.) I say medium mineralization or a bit lower.

The VID is very jumpy I notice. Nothing like an E-Trac. More like a T2. I focused on the sound and dug many lower VID targets, most of which were pull tabs.
In the video below, note at the end, out of the ground the VID was all over the place. I think my ground balance was affecting things, but am not sure. Any ideas?

I was lucky enough to get that deeper coin on video. I'll upload some more videos with my slow internet connection and post them here, so check back.
Here is the deeper French Coin: [youtu.be]

Hope that was helpful,
Albert

Fantastic. 9" is a deep dig for a coin, in my book. Albert, just a thought on the air test of the coin, do your gloves have any metal on them?...like a clip or a snap.

Here is a rusty bottle cap just to give you some idea on the responses. [youtu.be]

Ozzie - It sure looked like that but no it didn't. I just tested the coin and it hits about like a silver quarter here at home. But it is VERY inconsistent.
I really wonder if the small metal zipper part that I also found in the hole was a part of the reason I found that coin? It did not air test with the same settings at 9" in my house (It was stable).
Regardless, the detector is deep, you can tell by the response on 6" targets (I dug a few).
The coins composition, according to something I found online is Nickel.

Albert

Albert, did you balance the detector to a red brick, first, before you did the air test? It should nail that coin inches deeper in the air test.
Also air testing, try sweeping the coin at different speeds.
I agree with you its deep!

Possum - No I didn't. I kept the ground balance the same as at the spot as I thought just the VDI would be off.

I don't have a brick but can do (and have done) the CD balancing method as in the manual.

So, in hindsight now, I see your point. Will try to get round to it on Sunday.

The interesting thing about the Signum is that I wasn't really running it at what I would consider hot, and yet it was deep.
This is not hot to me:
Gain 7 of 9
ST 11 of 14
RT 7 of 9
Lots of room to go up.

Thanks,
Albert

Nice Video Albert..

Glad you got a Signum..

Did you have the auto ground tracking on while playing with the dug target..it seemed to be trying to track..

Keith

I don't think you need to adjust the sensitivity of the RT and ST separately, here is a quote from the manual

"Gain [1..10] This parameter is used to set the sensitivity of the device in the Real Time and Identification channels at the same time. In most cases, we recommend that this value is not set to more than 7. Smaller values can be useful, for example, to search for large objects that are not deep or in trashy areas."

Albert, which program were you in when you nailed the 9" coin?
My 2 hunts at the beach I ran in program 1, auto tracking.
I like the way this thing handles hot rocks.

Keith - I had ground tracking turned off (Only was on in program 1, of 4). Too much metal in the ground to rely on that. I did an auto ground balance with something similar to the pump method. You can VERY nicely fine tune it with an on screen horiszontal line tool (using up and down arrows.)
Gary mentioned to me that I might have had EMI interference. I was getting signs of that but not like on any detector I have run. I could hold it still and it was quiet, in the air the same thing, but in movement it seemed very chatty at times.

ronin - In a sense you are right, you can adjust the gain (like on the V3i I think) and that sort of feeds the RT and ST channels. But you can of course, still tune those for your environment.
The RT and ST are two completely different channels. They even have different levels of adjustment and functions. RT 1-9 and ST 1-14. And, if you are running a mixed mode, you can drop the RT and just go by the beep (ST) side, which is what I did for some quiet.
I have to play with the Gain as it relates to the RT/ST channels. It was pretty good at 7 like the manual said.

Possum - I changed all 4 of the factory programs. I wasn't running any filters. The machine is pretty simple actually, I will start playing with the filters to see if I can juice Putin up a bit and quiet him down at the same time.
I also didn't have hot rock rejection turned on (None of the factory programs have it on.) Hot rocks are not a problem where I search.

I should be able to get out this week again, hopefulyl I can find another deeper coin and get my settings a tuned in better.

Albert