Help with a TDI

I'm having trouble with depth. I just got it yesterday. Ive read the manual several times cover to cover. I set it up last night on my back porch & dig some air tests. It sung out on a .69" minie at 12". Is that par? I had iron & all sorts of relics out. It hit on them all. I took it out today & didn't dig anything over 6". Do you think its been messed with or is it me? I need help guys. I can't see us beating this spot out with VLF machines.

I never really thought the TDI was super deep on high conductors. About 12-13 inches is about right for a minie. You have to remember that a pulse machine don't lose depth in the ground like a VLF does. The places pulse machines shine are places that VLF machines can only get down to 5 or 6 inches and then start IDing everything as iron. So when you take a pulse machine in there that goes down 12 inches...well its hunting a whole new 6 inch layer of targets. I found the TDI to be stronger on low conductors like buttons, j hooks, etc. The GPX is the one with the super depth on high conductors like the bullets, coins, plates, etc.

sounds about right..What did you have the ground bal at and what was the pulse delay at..

and pulse units dont airtest well anyways..

will be really deep on low conductors like buttons...

Thats the thing on pulse units it may take you awhile to have your eyes opened..and if your dirt is not bad it may never open them..

but rememebr whatever you see in the airtest it will do that in the dirt no promlem..

a VLF may airtest 15 inches on a bullet but do that in the dirt...

dont worry about what your NOT diggin right now.get used to it..its a whole new world...

you have to listen for the fainter smoother weaker sounds these are the ones the VLFs have left...the stuff your digging right now is in VLF range..

What's your F.E. readings in there on a F75..

Large coils will get you more depth..P.I.s love bigger coils that VLF cant handle....

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

I followed the ground balancing instructions. Pulse delay at 10 GB on conductivity to all. I had to set the threshold pretty high to get it smooth. I think the ground balance was around 7-8. I didn't dig anything deep. I played with it & no deeper. Anyway I'm asking if it sounds like its working properly. If not I'll send it in for a check up. Thanks Tim

If you want to REALLY dig into the effect of various settings on the TDI, i can strongly recommend Jim Hemmingway's EXTREMELYdetailed report and analysis at the link below. It is based on hunting for silver specimens in Ontario, but is applicable to all kinds of hunting with the TDI.

[www.treasurenet.com]

Rick Kempf
Gold Canyon AZ- where there is no gold

This is exactly why Whites limited the TDI to walk in traffic when it was first released. It has a learning curve that is different than a VLF. If you have any time on a VLF unit you can pick up a different VLF unit and go merrily on your way. Not so when moving from a VLF only experience and into a ground balancing PI. They said it, I didn't believe it, and when I got my TDI I found out it was true. Night and day difference in how they work and sound and how they needed to be operated.

My best advice to help to learn it is to do most of your experimenting on targets in the ground. Bench testing didn't give the same benefits on the TDI as you get on VLF. Run it in straight PI and experiment over the hits you get with both pulse delay and GB settings like they were independant target checks. I found it was easier to learn that way, and that fear of walking over something will be alievated while you are learning it. It will also build confidence quicker.

Check your ground minerals, too. Put it in straight PI and bob the coil toward the ground. If it doesn't sound off on the ground, you probably don't need a PI for ground mineral handling reasons.

Good luck.
HH
Mike

Best bet would be to bury a bullet or button or something in the ground at around 10-12 inches and see if you can get a signal on it. If not, you either have the GB wrong or something is wrong with the unit. The good thing about the TDI is there ain't a whole lot of things that can be set wrong. The GB on the TDI and TDI Pro are a LOT more forgiving to balancing than the SL version. But the bad thing is...I don't trust any used detector on eBay. You just don't know who you are buying from or if they've done something to the detector before hand. At least on these forums you kind of have an idea who you are buying a detector from.

Then again...its probably only a matter of time before somebody new wanders on here and takes advantage of the trust factor of the forum.

If possible, Create a test bed away from EMI and on actual dirt you'll be hunting such as farm land and such. Bury a penny or dime at different depths, starting with 8" then 9", 10" and so forth. Then bury a nickel at different depths as well, This test bed will be for future testing.

Practice with the TDI and all other detectors, Most likely if your ground has mineralization only the PI will detect the deeper coins unless it's a Blisstool. You'll learn what to listen for with the TDI or other top end Pi's, It's what I use for testing different equipment and for friends to understand what mineralized dirt can do.

I've owned a TDI before, It was hot on low conductive but if memory serves me right high conductive didn't rare as good as low conductive depth wise. With the GPX, Noticed it was hitting both low and high conductive at great depths right out of the gate. TDI has it's place, And for the price it's a great deal performance wise.

Keep us posted,
Paul (Ca)

lytle78 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> If you want to REALLY dig into the effect of
> various settings on the TDI, i can strongly
> recommend Jim Hemmingway's EXTREMELYdetailed
> report and analysis at the link below. It is
> based on hunting for silver specimens in Ontario,
> but is applicable to all kinds of hunting with the
> TDI.
>
> [www.treasurenet.com]-
> gold/461891-white-s-tdi-pro-northeastern-ontario-s
> ilver-country-revised-edition.html

Thanks for that link. That's a great article.

Discrimination is the root of all evil.

The problem is I didn't dig anything deeper than 5"-6". I was expecting to dig deep iron or something. All I dug were little pieces of bolt heads. I did dig one shot gun hull. A couple of .22 bullets & some cut nails. No depth. I'm wondering if I should send it in for a checkup? No depth?????

I had a very encouraging first hunt. Went to an old school that has been pounded for years with the best VLF machine on the market. This area has basically dried up on good sounding "remember that" targets years ago. It is also littered with coal waste (which was the reason I bought the SL) which causes all kind of problems with a VLF machine. Well anyway back to my first SL hunt. After setting up the machine per "one of Reg's post" off I went, my very first target was a wheat penny at about 6" deep, wow, what an ego booster. Then thinking I knew what I was doing I started digging trash, first a screw at 5", then two pieces of wire, two bolts and finally another wheat penny. One thing that might help, carry a coin with you and every now and then swing the coin over the coil and listen to the response you get. That helps me to, kind of embed the sound I'm listening for.
Keep in mind, this is my first PI machine and I've got a long way to go. My next trip will be different. On my next hunt I plan on taking my Deus along to check each target to see why I missed these targets. I'll be hunting with the PI and plan on marking a few targets then rechecking them with the Deus. It will be a very interesting hunt for sure.

Thats the way to do it Mark..

Let the learning process begin.

You will learn alot in the next few months.

Good luck..

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

Good report Lytle 78. Well worth the time to read. Anything Reg Sniff writes on the Whites TDI forum is also useful in getting to know this machine. Very versital machine that can be run good with a few basic settings or really excell in the hands of an experienced PI detectorist. It has a steeper learning curve than most machines, but really worth the time to learn. I am learning still on the TDI and have a lot to learn, but things are starting to fall in place and become easier to grasp the concepts of how to eliminate more iron and hone in on the better signals. With experience I believe this is perhaps one of if not the most versatile machine made. Only thing it needs to own that title would be to make it waterproof. Just my opinion...Stuart

You said no depth but you said the machine air tests a minie at about 12 inches? Bury that minie ball about 10-12 inches and GB the machine and see if you can get the signal. If you can...then I would say the machine is OK. If your pulse delay is at 10, most of the time the machine will GB between 8 and 9. I have seen a couple that differed from that SLIGHTLY but most are between 8 and 9. Make sure you are GBing the machine with the conductivity switch set to ALL. When you lower the coil to the ground you are finding the spot where it makes no sound...the quiet spot.

If you are doing that right and the machine should be hitting an in ground minie at 12-13 inches. If it does it with your test bullet...then it may be that the site you hunted just don't have deep targets that you got your coil over. Go slow with it...cant swing the coil fast on it. If you have a test garden you will be able to experiment and see what sweep speed the machine favors. I got lucky I guess and pulse machine hunting fit my style like a glove. Not much change for me.

Yes it was very informative. I'm a sponge & the more info I get the more I love this forum. Thanks guys

Thanks for all of your help.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/11/2015 10:19PM by Digger70pa.

I was just trying to help man. Ain't gotta cock no attitude. By all means, you're the one having the trouble, not me. I was just trying to cover the bases with things I've seen some people run into with these machines. There have been several people I've seen at the DIV hunts that were having trouble that were trying to balance with the conductivity switch in HI or LOW instead of ALL.

The key word to this post is the word "WAS" trying to help. I'll be the first to tell somebody where they can stick their attitude. And because of yours, don't send me any more PMs asking for help on it or anything else for that matter. If you're so smart then figure your own problem out since you know so much on them.

Sorry buddy. I wasn't trying to make you mad. I just said I know how to ground ballence it. I didn't mean to insult you. Thanks for trying to help me. If I came off as a smart ass I didn't mean it that way. Tim



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2015 10:55AM by Digger70pa.