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F2 in mineralized soil?

yellowk9

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Messages
289
Location
Ward, AR
I've been running my new F2 around my property. Most of my soil is composed of clay that is saturated below 8-10" right now and will be hard as a brick this summer. If I try to run at maximum sensitivity (with iron discrimination on) I get a lot of what I call "ghost signals". I'll get a quick strong signal that will bounce around from nickel to foil to dime very quickly. When I run back over the spot (with various sensitivity settings) I can't get a signal again. There is definitely a difference in these signals vs. the solid signals I've dug. Am I hitting deeply buried trash or is it likely that I have mineralized soil? Is it better to deal with these annoying signals or turn the sensitivity way down and risk missing the good stuff? I'm still learning this machine (and detecting in general), so any input on my situation is appreciated.
 
It might be mineralization or EMI interference from electric wires above or below ground, wi-fi, cell towers, etc. Either way, I'd run the sens as high as you can stand it. If the ghosting is too anoying then turn it down until it is tolerable. As you said, a good signal will be repeatable over a certain location. In my experience, the deeper the target, or more irregular the shape, the more likely the signal will jump around on the scale.
 
I've been running my new F2 around my property. Most of my soil is composed of clay that is saturated below 8-10" right now and will be hard as a brick this summer. If I try to run at maximum sensitivity (with iron discrimination on) I get a lot of what I call "ghost signals". I'll get a quick strong signal that will bounce around from nickel to foil to dime very quickly. When I run back over the spot (with various sensitivity settings) I can't get a signal again. There is definitely a difference in these signals vs. the solid signals I've dug. Am I hitting deeply buried trash or is it likely that I have mineralized soil? Is it better to deal with these annoying signals or turn the sensitivity way down and risk missing the good stuff? I'm still learning this machine (and detecting in general), so any input on my situation is appreciated.

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, read the book, saw the movie.
I hunted in Birmingham AL. for about 18 months with not only some of the worst mineralized soil in the country, but we also had veins of natural iron ore that ran throughout 80% of the area.
Not only was my depth severely curtailed, those ghost signals you spoke of were everywhere and especially for me because I hunt on max sense most of the time.
Average depth in dry soil when I hunted was about 2-3 inches, every once in awhile I might see a 4 on the depth numbers but that was rare.
This was the same for most hunters in that area no matter what detector they used.
In wet soil I could get maybe an inch or so deeper, maybe down to 5" from time to time.
None of that mattered to me because I still found plenty of great targets, (including silver and gold), and just about all of them were 3" or less in depth.

A little over a year ago I moved to Kansas with much better soil and now my average depth is way more but guess what, I still hunt on max sense most of the time and I still get plenty of ghost signals at most of my sites.

The reason you have most of those extra signals has more to do with the extreme sensitivity of the F2...and not as much with any mineralization problems you might have.

Not only will the F2 pick up signals from metal in the ground that is under that coil, it will pick up signals from targets that are outside the diameter of the coil, too, and these type of signals will usually come in as ghosts.
The F2 can pick up huge iron objects that will come in as a high tone dime signal even if that object is up to a foot away from that coil, and if you are near trash like foil, can slaw or tabs that are an inch outside that coil you will get that jumpy signal that will not only jump more than 2 numbers on the screen but will also jump into completely different sections.
When this happens notice the depth bars on the right side of the screen because they are gonna jump up and down, too.
This is how I can tell trash from good targets because good targets will not jump in those VD! numbers more than 2, (if at all), and the depth bars will settle on one and stay there.

What to do...

I had a couple of hundred hours with a bad detector when I started that falsed on 99.9% of my swings and I was forced to listen hard and gained the ability to hear the solid and "real" tones and tell the difference between those and the false ones.
This is something most hunters never had to deal with and I wouldn't wish this frustrating experience on my worst enemy, but that ability to tell the differences in tones is something that I retained and I am thankful for to this day.
Even so, when I got my F2 it still took me awhile to figure out these false tones and I dug plenty of empty holes looking for targets that were never there.
Some of the craters I dug in those early days you can still see from the moon.
Eventually I figured out that no matter how solid those false tones are they are not and do not sound the same as real targets and never repeat in exactly the same place.
Also, if you hit these iffy targets from different angles the readings could change...a lot, another clue you are either swinging over trash or there is trash in the vicinity.

I can tell you after digging many thousands of targets that most of the time a good signal like a coin or ring will be solid, and not jumpy at all on the numbers and the depth bars.
Nothing is 100% in this hobby, and if you are scanning a good target at the outer end of that scanning field, say 8" in good soil on the 8" coil), you can get a squeaky, iffy, jumpy signal on those, but most targets will not be that deep and with practice you will learn to tell the difference.

Turning down the sense will help in these sites with extreme falsing, and don't worry that much about losing depth.
You will lose only about 1/4 inch in depth for every bar you take away and even on one or two bars you will still get plenty deep enough to find some great targets.
A few weeks ago I was at a site surrounded by electrical wires and I actually turned my sense down to about 2 bars and I was still digging tabs, trash and coins at 5 inches in depth or maybe a little more.
I found the best ring I ever came across that day and it was only 2 inches deep.
Most every great thing I have ever dug has usually been 4" or less in depth so don't worry about that, turn down your sense and that will make it easier for you as you go through this initial learning stage.

Another thing you can do is use that sniper coil if you have one.
If not, I would definitely think about getting one.

Out of all the coils available for the F2 I believe the standard 8" coil, the one that most new users start with, is the most susceptible to EMI and false signals due to trash in the vicinity of that coil.
My 10" seems to be a little calmer, and that sniper coil seems to be the best out of all of them because of the much smaller field that is emitted.
Lately when newbies ask my advice on which coil to start with I have changed my mind and always say use the sniper if you have it because it will be much easier to deal with as you learn the basics.
You still can get some falsing and EMI can still affect it, (I was using that sniper when I found that ring I mentioned above), but there will be way less falsing to deal with and less problems with multiple signals hitting that coil like the larger ones could have.

There are other advantages to using that small coil, too, and unless I am trying to cover large areas that small sniper is the one that stays on my F2 98% of the time, nowadays.

Basically you just have to learn the language of the F2 a little more, and understand what it is really saying to you whether it is solid numbers on the screen or jumpy ones.
All that info can help you make an educated guess once you learn a little more of that language.

Here is a thread that is very long but there are lots of tips in here that will help you if you take the time to read it.
This is everything I learned as I learned it and it has insights from other owners, also.

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=53930


Here is a video I did one day that is not great quality but might clue you in on how to deal with falsing, jumpy numbers and depth bars in the field.

Just keep swinging and learning...it will all come together for you soon enough.


 
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, read the book, saw the movie.
I hunted in Birmingham AL. for about 18 months with not only some of the worst mineralized soil in the country, but we also had veins of natural iron ore that ran throughout 80% of the area.
Not only was my depth severely curtailed, those ghost signals you spoke of were everywhere and especially for me because I hunt on max sense most of the time.
Average depth in dry soil when I hunted was about 2-3 inches, every once in awhile I might see a 4 on the depth numbers but that was rare.
This was the same for most hunters in that area no matter what detector they used.
In wet soil I could get maybe an inch or so deeper, maybe down to 5" from time to time.
None of that mattered to me because I still found plenty of great targets, (including silver and gold), and just about all of them were 3" or less in depth.

A little over a year ago I moved to Kansas with much better soil and now my average depth is way more but guess what, I still hunt on max sense most of the time and I still get plenty of ghost signals at most of my sites.

The reason you have most of those extra signals has more to do with the extreme sensitivity of the F2...and not as much with any mineralization problems you might have.

Not only will the F2 pick up signals from metal in the ground that is under that coil, it will pick up signals from targets that are outside the diameter of the coil, too, and these type of signals will usually come in as ghosts.
The F2 can pick up huge iron objects that will come in as a high tone dime signal even if that object is up to a foot away from that coil, and if you are near trash like foil, can slaw or tabs that are an inch outside that coil you will get that jumpy signal that will not only jump more than 2 numbers on the screen but will also jump into completely different sections.
When this happens notice the depth bars on the right side of the screen because they are gonna jump up and down, too.
This is how I can tell trash from good targets because good targets will not jump in those VD! numbers more than 2, (if at all), and the depth bars will settle on one and stay there.

What to do...

I had a couple of hundred hours with a bad detector when I started that falsed on 99.9% of my swings and I was forced to listen hard and gained the ability to hear the solid and "real" tones and tell the difference between those and the false ones.
This is something most hunters never had to deal with and I wouldn't wish this frustrating experience on my worst enemy, but that ability to tell the differences in tones is something that I retained and I am thankful for to this day.
Even so, when I got my F2 it still took me awhile to figure out these false tones and I dug plenty of empty holes looking for targets that were never there.
Some of the craters I dug in those early days you can still see from the moon.
Eventually I figured out that no matter how solid those false tones are they are not and do not sound the same as real targets and never repeat in exactly the same place.
Also, if you hit these iffy targets from different angles the readings could change...a lot, another clue you are either swinging over trash or there is trash in the vicinity.

I can tell you after digging many thousands of targets that most of the time a good signal like a coin or ring will be solid, and not jumpy at all on the numbers and the depth bars.
Nothing is 100% in this hobby, and if you are scanning a good target at the outer end of that scanning field, say 8" in good soil on the 8" coil), you can get a squeaky, iffy, jumpy signal on those, but most targets will not be that deep and with practice you will learn to tell the difference.

Turning down the sense will help in these sites with extreme falsing, and don't worry that much about losing depth.
You will lose only about 1/4 inch in depth for every bar you take away and even on one or two bars you will still get plenty deep enough to find some great targets.
A few weeks ago I was at a site surrounded by electrical wires and I actually turned my sense down to about 2 bars and I was still digging tabs, trash and coins at 5 inches in depth or maybe a little more.
I found the best ring I ever came across that day and it was only 2 inches deep.
Most every great thing I have ever dug has usually been 4" or less in depth so don't worry about that, turn down your sense and that will make it easier for you as you go through this initial learning stage.

Another thing you can do is use that sniper coil if you have one.
If not, I would definitely think about getting one.

Out of all the coils available for the F2 I believe the standard 8" coil, the one that most new users start with, is the most susceptible to EMI and false signals due to trash in the vicinity of that coil.
My 10" seems to be a little calmer, and that sniper coil seems to be the best out of all of them because of the much smaller field that is emitted.
Lately when newbies ask my advice on which coil to start with I have changed my mind and always say use the sniper if you have it because it will be much easier to deal with as you learn the basics.
You still can get some falsing and EMI can still affect it, (I was using that sniper when I found that ring I mentioned above), but there will be way less falsing to deal with and less problems with multiple signals hitting that coil like the larger ones could have.

There are other advantages to using that small coil, too, and unless I am trying to cover large areas that small sniper is the one that stays on my F2 98% of the time, nowadays.

Basically you just have to learn the language of the F2 a little more, and understand what it is really saying to you whether it is solid numbers on the screen or jumpy ones.
All that info can help you make an educated guess once you learn a little more of that language.

Here is a thread that is very long but there are lots of tips in here that will help you if you take the time to read it.
This is everything I learned as I learned it and it has insights from other owners, also.

http://metaldetectingforum.com/showthread.php?t=53930


Here is a video I did one day that is not great quality but might clue you in on how to deal with falsing, jumpy numbers and depth bars in the field.

Just keep swinging and learning...it will all come together for you soon enough.



Hey. Im new. I stumbled onto this thread and this reply. I just wanted to say thanks for posting all this good info. I recently purchased an F2 and plan on using the info you posted here. Thanks again for the info!!
 
Thanks folks, especially Digger27. I didn't expect such a comprehensive response, but I really appreciate it. I'm glad to hear my situation is not unique. I got the package that included the sniper coil, so I may have to try that they next time I go out. Thanks again:clapping::good:
 
Both of you have a lot to look forward to when you get a little better with this great detector.
All the F series detectors are very sensitive, and that might drive you a little crazy at first but once you get used to it the sky is the limit.
Like I said don't worry about turning down that sense because you will still get pretty deep.
It is also a clad monster, and good targets will be solid, will repeat in the same place every time and usually from all angles.
The ones that don't are usually false or trash.

Mine has found me probably close to 10x's it's $200 price in silver, clad and gold, and lots of that gold was found after mounting that sniper coil.

http://metaldetectingforum.com/album.php?albumid=3023
 
Thanks folks, especially Digger27. I didn't expect such a comprehensive response, but I really appreciate it. I'm glad to hear my situation is not unique. I got the package that included the sniper coil, so I may have to try that they next time I go out. Thanks again:clapping::good:

I got the sniper coil pack too.
 
The cool thing about getting info on your F2 from Digger27 is in two months you'll still be learning things you thought you already knew about your detector.

That guy should write a book on how to use it to its full potential!

;)
 
No arguement on the advice and I know it can be overwhelming at first, but...
You may benefit from simply experimenting. Get a good hit and don't dig it right away. Try different settings to see what happens. Where is the best, solid ID, loudest sound, closest pinpoint and then dig it and see how well you determined what and where it was. Taking notes may be a big help to remember and analyse your info. By and large everything in this thread is good advice for any machine, too. I started on an F2 and have no regrets.
GL & HH!
Tom
 
I found my first "old" coin today with the F2. It's a penny so corroded that I can't make out much. I can see the large text "ONE" so I assume it's a wheat penny.
 
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