DFX Depth Capability

I've gone down to 7 - 8 inches to find copper (pennies, pieces of roof flashing), and 6 inches for aluminum flashing (which comes in as silver on my DFX). I typically hunt farms, so I don't see many coins down too deep. Curt

My suggestion would be to make a coin garden. Bury the coins and wait a month for them to settle in... Then test it out.

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I've been wondering about my DFX's depth too. I bought it used a year and a half ago and used it extensively for the first six months and then took nearly a year off for various reasons. Recently started hunting a lot again. I found I wasn't finding anything deeper than about six inches. VID was unstable. I've read digging deeper and still not much luck. Bought the D2 coil to counter mineralization, still no improvement. Read all the posts I could find about issues with this model. I made sure the coil connections were clean, nothing. Checked the case screws. Got to the last one and bam, last one I checked was stripped and wouldn't tighten. Turned out to be the screw that holds the ground from the circuit board to the case. Big problem. Just picked up a longer screw this morning and was able to secure it. Hopefully this does the trick for me.
I think the problem with the DFX is it's so complex that it's hard to know if you have a serious issue or you're just not setting it right. There's much to be said about simplicity.

I wish you luck with your issue. If your not satisfied, call their tech support. I haven't yet but I hear they are very friendly and really helpful. HH

A friend of mine who now owns a DFX correctly ID-d a penny and dug it with his at 10-11 inches the other day. I was impressed. martin

That would settle the issue for me too. I've located some custom tweaks and will test them my next time out. I'll be running side by side an AT PRO, so when he has a hit > 6 in. I'll try the same target, and vice versa. We should be able to draw some conclusion that way.

The AT Pro should not be outperforming you as far as the detector goes if you have it set up right. The DFX should ID deep targets more consistenly. I'm not at all saying that the AT Pro will not find deep targets or knocking it in any way but the DFX should be better with the ID at depth. I used an AT Pro for a while betwen detectors and thought that it was a very capable machine but to me ID at depth was not it's strong point. My friend that owned the Pro told me the same thing. I have only been using the DFX for a short time and have dug more that one penny at 8 inches plus with correct ID. The 10 inch penny that Martin was speaking of above was with the D2 coil in fairly open ground and the ID was good but did bounce a little. I don't doubt the 12 inch quarter claim at all from my experience. I may just have a good one but I have no problem with depth on my DFX. If you want to PM me, I will send you my settings but they aren't anything special just a modified C&J program.

Thanks for the info JWebs. I really don't know what the ground mineralization around here is, but most everywhere has a high content of sand. I'll definitely use your suggestions next time out. I have a plan for field testing the Pro against the DFX (properly setup of course). I have a new Pro on the way. After this duel is over, the loser goes on the block.

NoIronMan said:

Depth capability was one of the selling points of the DFX. Frankly, I have not become a expert with it, but good enough to adjust the pro settings to maximize the depth and other features of the DFX.
With the increase stable preamp gain, I find most coins so far to be clad around 4".
I really a beginning to doubt this sales boast about quarters at 12". I realize that a quarter target must exist at 12" in order to detect it, but all my quarters have been at a max depth of 5" or less.

Does anyone have actual depth experience with the DFX?

What is its maximum repeatable depth capability say of a clad quarter!

I am tired of having an AT PRO eat my lunch.

Anyone? Thanks!

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DFX Depth Question

First off... hitting a quarter at 12 inches is something I'm not buying. The MXT gets considerable deeper then DFX and to hit a quarter at 12 inches I need to have my 10" DD or the 12x10" SEF coil... and in some soil conditions, even then is not a given.

But please don't fret over your DFX, it's still one of the best detectors on the market and with the right settings can reach those deep old coins. And keep in mind that over 86 percent of all coins will "NOT" be deeper then 8 inches... that's a simple scientific fact. Some will, but it take man's doing or a great natural event to cover them any deeper then 8 inches.

Create a program using the adjustments below:

Audio threshold, ‘AC Sensitivity’ (controls the power transmitted into the ground)... try 80.

‘DC Sensitivity’ changes the sensitivity in the pinpoint mode... I fine the factory preset fine, if you do turn this up, don’t go up anymore then a notch or two.

By setting your ‘Auto Trac Offset’ at + 2 will increases sensitivity to small gold items a little.

Also use your ‘Preamp Gain’ in conjunction with increasing your AC Sensitivity.

‘Ground Filtration’ I keep at at 3 or 4.

Here’s some realistic depths you can hope to achieve using these setting...

With your 9.5” coil will enable you to reach a large silver coin (quarter through dollar) at about 8 to 9 inches depending on your soil conditions and soil moisture.

With the 10” DD or 12x10 SEF Butterfly Coil you can reach a large silver coin at 10 inches and in the best of conditions it may be possible to reach a silver dollar at 11 inches.

Generally speaking... with comparable coils on the same target, the MXT will give you 2 inches more depth over the DFX at it’s best. In the prospecting mode MXT can give you 4 inches more depth.

There are White's DFX Instructional Video's on YouTube is you need help making this settings and then saving the program. Start with my recommendations and then adjust to your conditions and preferences... and happy hunting.

Hope I've helped.

Best Regards,
Silver Hawk

I just found about a third of a Lincoln Memorial cent at 6.5". it was obviously hit by a lawnmower. My DFX has been in storage for 15 years and is working fantastically. I was using the factory preset of Beach and Jewelry.

I spent close to 10 years using the DFX. It is no depth monster that is for sure, especially by today's standards, but in my opinion there is still not a more accurate target ID system on the market today. I still keep a DFX 300 as my backup detector and when I just want to hit some tot lots.

The DFX can hit even the smallest low conductors such as gold. It can match the Deus or Equinox 800 I know from experience, and I'd put it up against most any other machine, other than the prospecting machines, on the market.

The key to that is the 6x10 eclipse coil and use 15 kHz only setting and that baby will rock that gold.

NoIronMan said:

What is its maximum repeatable depth capability say of a clad quarter!

Click to expand...

This is a far more complicated question that it seems. There are too many factors involved.

How big a coil are you using? If you are using the 950, it is possible you could detect a quarter at 12 inches. I hit a levis button at 14.5 inches on my v3i using the 950.

How good is your coil null? If your coil isn't perfectly nulled, you max depth is less than it would be if your coil was perfectly balanced.

How fast are you swinging? Swinging too fast is not good for deep coins. Swinging slow automatically increases your depth. It gives your detector more time to "see" what is under the coild. Sure, you can swing fast and still find things 8" down, but for 12" stuff, slow and low is the way to go.

How mineralized is your soil?

Do you have EMI issues?

Then there are other considerations:

How many quarters do you think are lying perfectly flat at 12 inches? Coins lying flat tend not to sink as deep as coins on edge. If your settings and ground balance are good, you should be able to hear a quarter lying perfectly flat at 12 inches. As the angle of the coins starts changing, they get increasingly harder to detect proportionally to the angle.

Deep coins trend towards iron as far as the detector is concerned. There is not much you as the user can do about it. The laws of physics and the cleverness of the engineer who designed and coded the digital signal processing on your box have the final say on how deep you can see.

Iron is the enemy of coin hunters - and remember - a star died just to make your metal detecting experience a living hell. So, one could say that old, crotchety, sick stars are the enemy of detectorists the universe over.

Lastly, keep in mind that deep coins are just plain hard to find. There are a lot of cascading factors that work against you. It doesn't matter the detector you are using.