help with my detector

Welcome to the forum. You say you did a test when you got back to your car - it wouldn't pick up a coin on the floor. Are you talking about a coin on the floor of your car? Any detector would have trouble finding that coin.

I think you need a little quiet-time with your machine - like maybe in your back yard. Scan a piece of ground - if you detect nothing, then drop a penny, nickel, dime, quarter (a few feet apart) and see if your machine can detect each one. Have your manual with you and make sure you have it dialed-in right. (And read your manual many times - for weeks.) It is possible to turn your discrimination up too high. Or you might have the sensitivity set too high (which can cause false signals). Could be you have the machine set-up right, but there wasn't much to find where you scanned. (Or it might have been a trashy area with pull-tabs, bottle caps, and can-slaw everywhere.) Could be you where swinging the machine too fast. Or it could be the machine has a problem, but if it's your first machine, then I'd read the manual a while and work with the machine for a while longer - before returning it or shipping it off for repair.

Make sure you have the cable wrapped around the shaft tightly. (If the cable is loose and wobbles as you swing, this can cause false signals.) Make sure you have the cable plugged into the control box securely. Buy high-quality alkaline batteries - they should last 20 hours or more.

Try to relax a little. The more you swing it, the more you will get to know your detector and the more fun you will have. Right now everything is new to you and things aren't going the way you thought they would, so you are becoming frustrated. It's a hobby - the more you practice the more fun it will become.

HH

Rich

The fast tracker as well as the tracker 4 will beep once when you turn it on. Its supposed to. You should get about 25 hrs out of a set of batteries. I always carry a spare set with me just in case. Set your sensitivity and your discrimination at about 12 oclock. If your discrimination is set high, you will not pick up pennys or nickles. If your sensitivity is set to high then your machine will give you false signals. Back it down a bit if this happens. Keep your coil about a half inch above the ground. If you hold it up to high it won"t pick up anything. Practice using each mode ie. tone, all metal, or discrimination. Reread your manual carefully. And finally practice, practice, practice. Be patient. You will be finding stuff before you know it and remember to always have a good time
HH, Wes.

thanks for all your help and advise guys, I really appreciate it....I have been doing some experimenting with a battery tester, with some interesting results....the detector takes two square 9V batteries, and with both sets that I have put in so far (I haven't done 50 hours of detecting, just me being paranoid about their strength), I have found that one battery holds its charge, whilst the other runs down!! This seems quite random to me, and I didnt quite believe it at first, but Im fairly confident, as I've now had the same results twice. Is this normal????

Batteries

kernowdetector said:

thanks for all your help and advise guys, I really appreciate it....I have been doing some experimenting with a battery tester, with some interesting results....the detector takes two square 9V batteries, and with both sets that I have put in so far (I haven't done 50 hours of detecting, just me being paranoid about their strength), I have found that one battery holds its charge, whilst the other runs down!! This seems quite random to me, and I didnt quite believe it at first, but Im fairly confident, as I've now had the same results twice. Is this normal????

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Check the voltage at the battery holder to see if the voltage going into the MD is 9 or 18 volts. If it is 9 volts, then the batteries are connected in parallel and should both be the same voltage, even after much use. If the voltage is 18 (series) then the batteries could be different voltages after a few hours of use. If you use new similar batteries, the voltage should be equal, even after some use. I have seen an instance where a circuit had two 9 volt batteries hooked in series but had a particular circuit connected across only one of the batteries causing that battery to run down quicker than the other. This is an odd situation and not likely used in your MD. Stick with good alkaline batteries. Hope I am not confusing you.

I've been using a Fast Tracker for years. It's a great machine for the money spent and better than some machines costing a lot more. When you power it up by turning on the sensitivity knob, but with the discriminaton knob still off, it will make a loud continuous tone if the batteries are low.

It appear like something with the settings.