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A question on "whispers".

S

Skypacer

New Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2006
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     Although I have done metal detecting on and off for the past four years, I think it's safe to call me a newbie.  There is still some stuff that I'm learning and working my way though.  I just signed up on this site yesterday.

     One of the questions I've had deals with the term "whisper," that barely audible tone your detector sometimes makes.  I have heard of the term before but I've never actually heard a "whisper."  Since I usually hunt in some discrimination mode rather than all-metal, I was wondering if this is why I may not have heard a whisper?  The weather here is starting to get to the point where I'll be able to go out to hunt and I'd like to have the answer on this.

     Thanks.
 
Hmmmmmm....

I water detect mainly these days and a whisper for me is a quiet muffled break in my threshold... The same applies for my MXT when I am land detecting which isn't often these days. You might be swinging too fast or keeping your coil too high... those are possibilties, are you using headphones? You won't hear a whisper without them. I keep my coil level throughout my entire swing and always scrubbing the ground.
 
Hi Skypacer, welcome to the forum!

Like Craig said, you must use headphones to hear whispers.
Not all detectors sound the same, so tell us what you use. I think ace 250 have some kind of a sound booster, so it might be hard to tell a whisper from a shallow coin.
 
Definitely use headphones. If you are indeed using an Ace250 then there are really no "whispers" to hear. The sound is the same at surface as it is at 6" or 8". Then it drops off completely.
 
Hi, Craig and Vlad,

     I admit that in my past hunts I didn't use headseats.  I thought they were cumbersome and I tended to switch hand with my detector whenever one got tired.  However, this summer I plan on using headsets so I can better listen to the signal and understand what my detector is telling me.

     So, let me make sure I have this right:  A whisper is more of the threshold sound dropping out during discriminate mode?
 
Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. I had assumed that it was going to take a day or two for a response, so imagine my surprise when it was only a metter of minutes. This year, I'll be using headphones and listening for those whispers. I also plan on visiting this site a lot more often in the future. (Well, at least when the weather is bad and I can't get out. :grin: )
 
Get yourself a good set of headphones, something like grey ghosts or similar...
 
I'm still new at all of this as well. I have only been detecting for about 3 months now, but I think I have to disagree on this one. Epi, for the CZ ,as far as mine is concerned anyway, there is no threshold hum in the first place. To me, a whisper is a faint blip, a signal low in volume. With headphones, it is not only easier to hear,nay imperative, to hear these, but also easier to hear with the volume all the way up on the detector and adjusted to comfort level with the headphones.

Now as far as my Minelab goes, when my threshold hum goes out, it is passing over iron that I have discriminated out with the iron mask. The ferrous/conductive point at which it goes out depends on how much iron mask level I am using. Tell me if I'm wrong EXP II owners, but this seems to be the explanation from the manual. The gain, not the volume, on this detector determines how loud those "whispers" are. Again, that seems to be what the manual states and seems to be accurate when I have tested it.

Just my two cents.
 
bearbqd

I don't disc out anything and on my PI there is no such animal so what I said applies to detectors with thresholds.
 
That's what I was saying Cfmct. My EXP II does have threshold and when it has a lul, it is over iron. It wouldn't lul over any good items. Again, this is per the manual. Everytime I have dug in a "lul", it has been full of nails or large iron junk.
 
bearbqd said:
That's what I was saying Cfmct. My EXP II does have threshold and when it has a lul, it is over iron. It wouldn't lul over any good items. Again, this is per the manual. Everytime I have dug in a "lul", it has been full of nails or large iron junk.
Click to expand...

Bear, I don't think Craig is saying that the threshold goes into a null over a good, deep target, but, rather, that a disturbance in the treshold has taken place, a slight bleep that's just barely heard. :grin:

I get the same effect on my DFX, except when using ToneID. If I have ToneID on, the threshold disturbance ( on a very deep target) sounds more like a crackle. :yes:

Angel
 
Two things I look for in my headphones is full sized ear pads and a DB rating of 103 or higher. You can't very well hear those whispers if its being masked by surrounding noise. Headphones that cover your entire ear can be uncomfortable in hot weather but isolation from outside noise is important. Its hard to find headphones anymore with a high DB rating but DB and sensitivity go hand in hand.

My personal belief is your missing signals if you run in silent(no threshold) mode.
 
My CZ20 only has the threshold hum in all metal mode.When using the all metal mode,I turn the sens up to a low threshold hum.When that sound lowers or drops out,there is something
very small or very deep.The pinpoint mode will not even pick it up until I have removed enough cover and get closer to the target.Then BAM,strong signal present.I only use this mode when in the water where there is less trash and a better chance of finding deep gold or silver.When I use any of the other discrim modes,I turn the volume to 10,this amplifies the deep signals to solid signal.If I care to see how deep the target is,I roll yhe volume back,and if the signal is soft or goes away I know the target is deep.So to answer the question:In all metal mode on the CZ20 a whisper is when the threshold signal drops.
 
I  have  to  chime  in saying  that IMHO  this is  the best  question  of  the month.
We all  have  our  own experiences and thoughts on  null-outs  and  whispers.
"Experiece  is  the best teacher" 

I  use a  White's  beach hunter  in  the water. When  I  get  that  "null,  or  "no sound"
over  a  spot, and it is repeatable  like  a  surface target,  I check  the  lights.  The color-coded  light
will  continue  to  elluminate  with   the  dead  spot.  I DIG.  with a  few  inches  of  lake  bottom  taken  away
the  sound  pops  up.  Maybe  junk,  maybe  good targets.  My  experience  is  the deeper  the target  the better  the
chances  of  something  good............Keep  digging........Gil
 
Gil...

I think the BeachHunter is going to be my next detector... I like the lights on it :) I wanted a CZ20 but I rather buy new... And with the CZ not being made anymore made me look at the BH again.
 
Bear,
I am still working out the "whisper" equation myself. We Explorer II owners have a gain setting, which electronicly amplifies the sounds we hear. This is seperate from volume. At max, all sounds will be the same. If I remember correctly, I have my gain set at 6 or 7 so that your ears can detect the "harder" sounds vs the "softer" - deeper signals. I find that this works for me since I now listen more than look at the display. When I get a target that"sounds right" I will then look at my numbers and depth. As far as a real "whisper", I think you would need to have the gain backed down to 3 or 4. By having the gain turned up, we are not hearing whispers at "whisper level", but we are not missing targets.
 
Craig,  the  Beach  hunter  has no  more  depth  then  any  white's  lland  machine.  You  manually  ground  balance  for  optimum  depth,   turn  up  the  hum a  little on  all  metal  and  go   when  it sounds  good, click over to  disc.  (easier  then  looking  at the lights  when  the  box  is  submerged).  and dig.  Only  on  null  do  I  check  the lights... You  won't  find  the  really deep  stuff,  but  you cover  more  ground.  Give  up  a  little  to  gain a  little.  I never  swung  a  PI  pro,  but  my guess is  the  tones  iare  the same  on both.  I  find  a  lot  of  fish hooks  on whispers,  but  hey,  could   easily  be  a  fine  chain......gotta  go  for  them......another plus,  no  "diggers shoulder"....... :lol:....Gil
 
With the PI Gil I don't hunt the wet sand, it would drive me insane... First time out I found a tiny staple down a foot with the PI... No thx :)

I want it for wet sand only... My MXT does just fine in the dry... I'm so hooked on waterhunting I really don't have any wants to hunt the sand anyway.. But if I did buy another detector I would try the BH. I have 4 detectors now 3 collecting dust :)
 
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