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Iffy beeps

longbow62

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Joined
Apr 20, 2017
Messages
1,974
Location
Jonesboro, AR
I have been using a Nokta Impact for about a year now. I feel I have enough experience with it to be confident what it's telling me. I guess my dirt is decently mild. Most of the time I have one to two bars on the mineralization scale. At worst three bars. I could dig a lot of what I call iffy beeps, but I usually don't because I hunt a lot of high trash areas. If I was hunting a field or area more trash free I might probably dig more iffy signals. The definition of a iffy beep to me is one where the numbers fluctuate to a degree or the tone itself may not be pure. This could be due to masking or depth I suppose. Actually there are a number of things that might cause numbers to jump around or the tone to be not quite right.

What I am trying to get at here is when I dig what I consider iffy beeps with the Impact I have yet to dig a coin. It's really kind of like I am wasting my time digging anything not a solid signal or tone so for a long time I just don't dig a target I am not confident in. My junk piles are a joke compared to some of the pictures I see on here posted with finds. Heck when I look at my trash most of the time it's all coin like trash and even then not much trash at all. With my trash the number was solid along with the tone telling me it was a coin.

With the Impact in 14khz in my dirt quarters are going to hit 87-90. Most of the time they read 88-89. Dimes can be 79-81. Most of the time silver dimes read 80-81. If I dig below 87 not a quarter or above 90 not a quarter. If I dig a VID under 79 it's not a dime or over 81 it's not a dime. Pennies have a wider range of numbers and I don't dig all of them unless I am in the mood to do so, but even with pennies I know it's a penny. Now nickels are another matter, I just don't dig nickel signals much at all due to square tabs.

Bottom line is I am frustrated in figuring out if I am missing good targets by not digging enough iffy signals? Or due to the high trash places I hunt it would just be a waste of energy and time.
 
If I were you, :oldguy: I would dig ALL the nickle signals and don't be discouraged about the tabs. That is exactly the signal that a large percentage of gold will read.
You are choosing to leave gold in the ground by eliminating nickles. One good gold ring or chain could equal the value of all the clad you could dig in several years. :gettinmoney:

Good luck with the Impact
:thumbsup:
 
You could check a few of your iffys using gen 2 am mode. And see hat the signal sounds like.
Just a toggle away.
You could have the program preset up too.
 
Dont worry about what you could be missing , thats a trap people fall into and then what is supposed to be fun turns into work. By nature , iffy signals are almost always junk , thats why they are called iffy.
 
If I were you, :oldguy: I would dig ALL the nickle signals and don't be discouraged about the tabs. That is exactly the signal that a large percentage of gold will read.
You are choosing to leave gold in the ground by eliminating nickles. One good gold ring or chain could equal the value of all the clad you could dig in several years. :gettinmoney:

Good luck with the Impact
:thumbsup:

I agree with you I am missing gold, but unless it's a really old nickel as in Shield, V, Buffalo, War, I really don't want to even dig nickels. On a site with sparse targets I would dig signals in that range, but I am totally silver focused for now. The only ring I have found was sterling .925 ringing up as a solid quarter signal. I will repeat I am hunting house tear downs with a huge amount of nonferrous and iron nails in the ground. So much it's difficult to find a spot to ground balance. I cannot swing at all most of the time without multiple beeps or grunts.
 
You could check a few of your iffys using gen 2 am mode. And see hat the signal sounds like.
Just a toggle away.
You could have the program preset up too.

Yes you are correct, I could toggle to AM mode or use non-normalized in 5khz to see if it jives with 14khz visual I.D.. May start doing that to test and easing my mind on a few.
 
I've dug lots of keepers on iffy signals.

Tell me one other way anyone can tell you with 100% certainty, what's under the coil.
 
I've dug lots of keepers on iffy signals.

Tell me one other way anyone can tell you with 100% certainty, what's under the coil.

Bingo.
In hard hunted previously sites, what's left just might no be textbook sounding at all. The reason many may have swept and walked off. Or they didn't hear at all.

Funny thing is seems the harder to detect many times turns out to be nicer finds.
 
sounds like the VDI on the impact is the same as the Racer 2.
Most of the time the junk will give you a clue its junk by giving a stray vdi number briefly but there's no way to be sure if its only going a number or two off occasionally. Stick with solid 31-32 on the nickels and you won't get too many tabs but you will miss a few good nickels. my last war nickel and buffalo nickel gave a stray vdi number 1 or 2 off.
 
Trust the audio response more than the ID. You have to work the iffy targets 360 degrees, often there is a better signal response when circling on the target. If I have pulled several silvers or Indians from the area, I usually dig the iffy signals. I have found a few more silvers that way but have dug a lot of junk as well. Silver quarters jump in the 90's while sweeping 360 on the Racer 2, Racer, I suspect my Multi Kruzer will do the same and most likely so will your Impact but I am only guessing until some one confirms it.....
 
I find more in the long run by skipping over many iffy signals. Yep I am missing stuff , but not much , most iffy signals are junk. Less time digging junk means more time to cover more ground and get to more good signals. I don't need to identify 100% of targets , I don't need to know what they are as much as I need to know what they " probably " aren't. If I am wrong , somebody else gets a nice surprise or I will catch it the next time.

With the odds of iffy signals being trash as high as they are , having extra time to hunt is more valuable. But it all depends on how you look at it.
 
I find more in the long run by skipping over many iffy signals. Yep I am missing stuff , but not much , most iffy signals are junk. Less time digging junk means more time to cover more ground and get to more good signals. I don't need to identify 100% of targets , I don't need to know what they are as much as I need to know what they " probably " aren't. If I am wrong , somebody else gets a nice surprise or I will catch it the next time.

With the odds of iffy signals being trash as high as they are , having extra time to hunt is more valuable. But it all depends on how you look at it.

I like your way of thinking. Basically this is what I have been doing as of late. I think the Impact is great at telling me if the target is good or not. I always circle the target before checking depth. Depth will make me dig a iffy beep quicker than anything. This may be the wrong way to go about it but the tone of the beep alerts me, but digging is based on circling and the numbers. I may be putting to much confidence in the Impact's ID, but so far when it's off and the targets are not super deep it's been junk. Example and maybe not the best, but I have dug quite a few deep quarters and even those 8" quarters rang up solid. Now the targets right on the edge of the ability of the detector to detect are going to be off. I understand that, but that is the price you pay hunting high trash areas. Again in cleaner spots I would dig more iffy targets. It's just way to much work to dig them all.

I don't have a picture to post, but yesterday evening running DI3 I dug three dimes, two memorials, and one quarter in about an hour. I know that is not much, but I am having to check a lot of potential targets due to high nonferrous trash and this used to be a yard not a spot with lots of drops. I dug three junk targets and only one was where I was totally fooled by the beep and numbers. The other two iffy but deeper. The number of potential targets checked was a huge insane amount of targets. One dime was pushing 6" deep. Just knew would be silver but wasn't 1967. One of the Memorials was the full blade length of my Whites dig master. Those two deeper beeps were solid with numbers being spot on.
 
I find more in the long run by skipping over many iffy signals. Yep I am missing stuff , but not much , most iffy signals are junk. Less time digging junk means more time to cover more ground and get to more good signals. I don't need to identify 100% of targets , I don't need to know what they are as much as I need to know what they " probably " aren't. If I am wrong , somebody else gets a nice surprise or I will catch it the next time.

With the odds of iffy signals being trash as high as they are , having extra time to hunt is more valuable. But it all depends on how you look at it.

While I certainly understand your theory, how do you know one of those iffy signals you pass on, isn't better than the next 10 good ones you'll dig?

Only time I would, was if I had a limited time to hunt a property. Only one day permission to hunt? Sure, hit the cherry stuff, go back if you have time left.

You can always poke a survey flag in the ground, if you might want to come back, time permitting.
 
While I certainly understand your theory, how do you know one of those iffy signals you pass on, isn't better than the next 10 good ones you'll dig?

Only time I would, was if I had a limited time to hunt a property. Only one day permission to hunt? Sure, hit the cherry stuff, go back if you have time left.

You can always poke a survey flag in the ground, if you might want to come back, time permitting.

I agree.

Sometimes when I hunt I like to mix it up and ONLY dig iffy Signals and ignore everything else (unless it is obvious).. makes for some interesting finds.
 
Dont worry about what you could be missing , thats a trap people fall into and then what is supposed to be fun turns into work. By nature , iffy signals are almost always junk , thats why they are called iffy.

There’s different definitions of “iffy” for sure. Some vids I’ve seen with these iffy signals are to ME straight up coin signals. As soon as the individual with THEIR machine knows what iffy coins are compared to iffy junk,then it’s easier to skip the ones YOU know are going to be garbage. I completely concur Chris,I find WAY more working the odds based on past experience with MY machines and MY settings! To dig anything that has ANY chance EVERYWHERE? Not this guy....
 
I have dug so many really good items that had iffy signals. If you are not digging iffy signals you miss ALOT. Examples of jumpy and iffy signals that turned out great are indian head pennies, two piece buttons, silver half dimes at depth, coins next to, above, below iron, coins on edge, deep coins, and the list goes on. In my mind unless your not physically able to dig all those holes, you are silly for not digging iffy signals
 
I've had a lot of "iffy" signals turn out to be great finds. I nearly passed up two Walking Liberty half dollars because the signal bounced around so much. My only thought is they were on edge because the numbers dropped so low on the side swing. I also had a pocket spill that was a large signal and highly variable. Turns out it was a silver dime, wheat, indian and buffalo all in one hole! I passed up that signal many times but after cleaning out the site I was desperate to dig all signals as the coins I found were OLD! Deeper old coins may also be lower and more variable in VDI - so watch for that. Most times I dug these coins because I was finding decent older coins nearby. Overall, I definitely dig a fraction of the iffy signals I come across. But I do try to dig them when I can. If there is a lot of trash I stop digging them. So if I were you, I would dig them in areas where there is low to medium trash. For fun sometime, hit a park and just dig all the mid-tones. It's a nice change of pace and you'd be surprised at all the nickels you leave in the ground. You may even find gold!
 
Its all about time! How many targets can a guy pull in an hour? I'm fortunate to live in an area where I can hunt the beach/water/snow, totters, and dirt all in the same morning...they have all taught me about 'Iffy' signals...

On the beach/water and totters, all signals!...Lots of trash sure, but Some of my very best and most valuable finds are NOTHING I would ever take a stab with in the dirt...easy scoop or kick on the beach and totters...NBD...Harvest fast and work the numbers!

On the dirt, I'm all about speedy recovery of only good targets and NO trash...thats where the screwdriver comes into play...a guy can tell by feel if he's got a tab or foil underground and can leave it right there...

Yeah, you have to attune yourself for specific 'Iffys'...beaches and totters help in this learning mode...Working the dirt and pulling fast to make pay is one tough gig on Iffys...A guy working the dirt has to be running 90+ coin targets pulled/hr and pass over the majority of Iffys like gold chains and rings.....just resign himself that the enormous amount of clad will strike a balance and pay positive dividends in the end...

Still though, if a guy can get REALLY fast at target recovery, 'ping to pouch' in less than 10sec....a guy just goes into harvest mode and pulls it all, or at least gives every dirt Iffy a cursory stab....

Focus on developing a really FAST target recovery method, and go after it all for a while..."dig 1000 pennys and 1000 pulltabs"...you will be finding gold...the dirt will teach you if you attune your ears and listen...

All sorts of things make for a valuable Iffy.....multidenom stacks/spills/slants...a jacknife on top of a Morgan, a $5 gold coin on top of a Peace Dollar...all scrap signals....things and thoughts such as this teaches a guy about the Iffys...get really fast on retrieval and work the numbers...

As my tagline states..Detecting is a study..the World is your classroom, the Dirt is your professor...No help without homework, set up straight and pay attention!
 
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I have dug so many really good items that had iffy signals. If you are not digging iffy signals you miss ALOT. Examples of jumpy and iffy signals that turned out great are indian head pennies, two piece buttons, silver half dimes at depth, coins next to, above, below iron, coins on edge, deep coins, and the list goes on. In my mind unless your not physically able to dig all those holes, you are silly for not digging iffy signals



Yep I know you have found many good items that had iffy signals , but I would be willing to bet you found many times that number in trash or otherwise insignificant items by digging so many iffy signals. In comparison , much more time spent chasing what you had high hopes for that turned out to be disappointing. It all depends on the site and situation of course , but I cant help thinking how much better a person could ultimately do if all that time was spent covering more ground for better targets instead. There are no guarantees but surely there is more potential per hunt when covering more ground. But my situation is probably different since I hunt mostly high traffic sites covered with a blanket of trash , most iffy signals are just hard work followed by disappointment.
 
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