My air tests..

If you guys like my air tests, I got a couple of great tests coming up. I know some people think air tests don't mean anything, others think it has some value, and others still think they are the cats pajamas. The way I look at it is, these test provide a base line of sorts. The variations between conditions, IMO, would never vary more than an inch, maybe two tops between like machines set-up in like manner(unless there is such severe EMI that the machine won't stop chattering). Also, component tolerances would cause about another inch difference maximum. I would never write off an air test as any data, always has some value. Let me know what you guys and gals, think.

HH

Bey

Yeah air tests to me don't really mean anything it's the ground that counts if you have a test garden then that will do and is really the way to go...

LowBoy

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Air tests mean a lot. If your detector does not air test a coin at 10 inches then I doubt it will find one in the ground at 10 inches.

Hungarian Wrote:
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> Air tests mean a lot. If your detector does not
> air test a coin at 10 inches then I doubt it will
> find one in the ground at 10 inches.


I beg to differ, Minelab BBS/FBS machines don't typically airtest worth a darn, yet they tend to be the deepest silver slayers out there.

Personally, I find the main purpose of air-tests is for comparison with another identical machine. That is, if YOUR FishNetics T99 achieves 12 inches on a Ukranian 5 Kopek, and I test mine and I only get 10 inches, maybe it's time for me to consider an overhaul.

If you're doing a test that's going to reflect how a machine does on real buried targets, be realistic. Don't use F75/T2 BP / Boost mode, as it's super-high gain (8-fold?) is just going to give a +40% air-test, and a +0% "buried in the ground" increase. Use settings the manufacturer would suggest as realistic. Better still, do a known-target test-garden test, but give us some idea of the ground signal strength, eg. F75's Fe3O4 meter reading, or a general idea: "mild,easy" / "moderate" / "difficult" / "Brandy Station" etc. based on how you feel other machines perform.

Some interesting comments...and all depends on the unit as some have to mix with the ground matrix.......ballpark at best and the next time you get a fairly deep coin raise your coil and change your settings and see how your unit reacts....now that is a legitimate depth test for your neck of the woods....

OUR neck of the woods Dan.

I think these air tests are valuable in showing the W I D E variance of these "up/down graded F75's. Don't worry that your hunting partner will have a 75 just like yours----he won't.

Pimento Wrote:
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> Personally, I find the main purpose of air-tests
> is for comparison with another identical machine.
> That is, if YOUR FishNetics T99 achieves 12 inches
> on a Ukranian 5 Kopek, and I test mine and I only
> get 10 inches, maybe it's time for me to consider
> an overhaul.
>
> If you're doing a test that's going to reflect how
> a machine does on real buried targets, be
> realistic. Don't use F75/T2 BP / Boost mode, as
> it's super-high gain (8-fold?) is just going to
> give a +40% air-test, and a +0% "buried in the
> ground" increase. Use settings the manufacturer
> would suggest as realistic. Better still, do a
> known-target test-garden test, but give us some
> idea of the ground signal strength, eg. F75's
> Fe3O4 meter reading, or a general idea:
> "mild,easy" / "moderate" / "difficult" / "Brandy
> Station" etc. based on how you feel other machines
> perform.

I would love to do some out door tests. I would need about 4 60 degree days in a row to melt this frozen wasteland. Freakin hurry up March lol.

Also you know whats funny about any tests. First you air test then someone says, "In ground testing would give a better idea on how the machine works". So you make a test garden and then they say "Well, that is disturbed dirt so it's not an accurate reading. You should do some live digs". So you go and do live digs and manage to find something good and then they say, "Well that dirt must not be that mineralized, you need to do live digs in mineralized dirt" and on and on they go lolol.

Bey

Yes, it's a tough test to do, any any attempt to standardise it usually runs into problems. The problem with real dirt is that the signal it gives fluctuates (coil height variation, uneven ground surface, uneven mineralisation distribution etc) and this is the 'impossible to control' bit. Doing things such as sanitising ground by removing stones (not magnetic or mineralised), levelling the surface, etc makes things easier for the detector, and hence is less realistic.

And trying to define the characteristics of your ground accurately is also pretty hard to do. The Fe3O4 (ground strength) meter on the Fisher F75 has a logarithmic scale: 0.03, 0.3, 3 etc. So each step represents a 10-fold increase in ground signal. This is the kind of change that removes several inches off your in-ground depth. Even if you poke around inside a detector [I've done it], it's still hard to get 'real' readings.
And the problem with airtests is they don't test the machines ability to distinguish (target) from (target+ground), as there is no ground. And the air-depths alone are uninformative. I could take a Fisher F2 and modify it to airtest better than an F75, but that doesn't promise to make it better in-ground.
Head-to-head machine comparisons on real targets are worth doing, but even they are full of traps.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2015 11:19AM by Pimento.

Air test is about all you got if you are in the store trying to buy a new machine. What if you have never used it? If ive bought one and it doesnt get 10" on a dime ..... what then take it back? Even in a test garden or found targets conditions are a factor. Its all best guess...... so i prefer to hunt with it a few times and get a feel for what its really doing. Oooo then you have the ..... LIKE MACHINES MAY NOT ACT THE SAME. Head scratching isnt it?