What causes falsing?

I've always defined a FALSE signal as getting a signal when there was not a solid target under the coil to be detected. Happens a lot with Black Sand on the saltwater beach. Sometimes with a spot of a iron target that has completely rusted away.

tnsharpshooter said:

I don't agree with,,,,what's under your coil doesn't have anything to do with falsing.

Case in point,,,,a rusty fence staple,,,,all my detectors will give a false on these,,actually a good sounding signal(one thinks nonferrous) but it's not,,,actually the signal provided more of a good sounding signal vs a false.

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From my perspective, iron in the ground isn't falsing. There is in fact metal under the coil. Your detector is telling you there is metal under the coil.

Iron is orientation sensitive so it will look like a good target in one direction, and well, like iron when swept 90 degrees from the original direction. That is just how iron works.

To me - falsing is when you are getting FALSE signals - ie signals that are generated not by metal but things like running too hot, or not sweeping correctly.

BottleCapKing said:

From my perspective, iron in the ground isn't falsing. There is in fact metal under the coil. Your detector is telling you there is metal under the coil.

Iron is orientation sensitive so it will look like a good target in one direction, and well, like iron when swept 90 degrees from the original direction. That is just how iron works.

To me - falsing is when you are getting FALSE signals - ie signals that are generated not by metal but things like running too hot, or not sweeping correctly.

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Opinions vary.

Does bumping the coal against the ground cause it too sometimes ?

MattLock said:

Does bumping the coal against the ground cause it too sometimes ?

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Yep, especially if sensitivity is pretty high. Do it all the time.

Falsing is/could be caused by:
1. Ground signal, non liner signal that doesn't match ground signal recorded by a detector whilst doing GB. Raising coils at ends of swing -> ground signal changes
2. Electronechanically non stable coils. When detector is run flat, disbalanced coils will false. Mechanical hit -> false. That's why faulty coils should be avoided

That' all

Falsing can be caused by cables that are not secured properly(too much floppiness). The cable moves independently of the coil and the coil sees it as a target. We all know this,don't we?
To me,one form of falsing is something that can't be repeated or reproduced on purpose,usually mineral related.
Another form is when sweeping close to big iron ANY machine I've used will produce an indication like copper/silver if it just catches the edge. Advancing the coil with no disc will produce a true indication,unless it's deep and just about out of reach of the field. I don't really consider this a false,more of an incomplete evaluation of the target. Knowing that our machines measure conductivity in certain ways,just because it's giving a very short indication which we don't like doesn't mean it's "falsing" really,it just doesn't have the whole picture until we position the coil so it can ID the item properly.
The last form I can think of is "chatter",the coil is just picking up stray RF...
All of these can be dealt with to a large degree via proper equipment setup,coil control and technique and coil size. The few "hard case sites" may require a different machine or just finding some other site.
Now....that whole thing about knowing a false from a good target,that's something I must work on this season!