Big Boys Hobbies

dfx help please

Mr.krayola

Mr.krayola

Senior Member
Joined
Aug 30, 2007
Messages
415
Location
western ,ny
I just purchased a dfx brand new. im not crazy about this machine so far. I sold my di/pro 6000 sl to upgrade and traded my tesoro. I cant figure out why this machine is so noisy? I dont know what program to search in? here is the ? i was hunting old very old area. the detector was so unstable. i went to a different localation is was stable but i was getting no depth.I guess my question is what mode would you hunt in? i was in coin then relic. wondering if eeprom dr-silver or hi-trash would of worked better
thanks, buckshot
 
i would suggest the preset modes for awhile to get use to the quirks the machine has its a different beast from what you've been using , but try turning tone i.d. on and learn the tones and turn on the v.c.o. it is great to use in pinpointing :D
 
Hey pulltab,
Since you are just starting out with the DFX. I would practice with the factory installed programs. I would use each one and one at a time until I became proficient with them. If you don't already own Digging Deeper with the DFX by Jeff Foster. I suggest getting this book http://www.fielddepth.com. Trust me it will help you to gain a better understanding of the beast. You might also check out http://www.dfxonly.com Forum where you can search and ask all the question you need. There is a ton of information at that site specific to your new detector. I hope this helps. If nothing else it is a good starting point.

- Dave
 
Hi Pulltab, as you are probably finding out the DFX is a handful. But as the others have said pick a program like coin and jewelry and practice with it. The programs were setup by pro detectorists and so you should have good results with them. Since you are encountering erratic conditions backoff the sensitivity some more and see if it will settle down for you. Look at your surroundings too and see if there is a lot of power lines or radio towers close by. So I wish you good hunting Pulltab and I hope you enjoy the DFX.

John T.
John's Detectors
 
What they said. Pick a factory program, I prefer Coin and Jewelry, and don't mess with any adjustments until you're comfortable with the factory settings.

I'm curious. How do you know you weren't getting any depth? I get an easy 7-8" with the factory Coin and Jewelry, and very stable unless I'm hunting very near some major power lines.

If you're using someones custom program then that might account for the instability. The program I use is not for the fair hearted, and certainly not for a new DFX user. I've always felt one of the DFX's strong points was its stability compared to most other high performance detectors.
 
Detector said:
What they said. Pick a factory program, I prefer Coin and Jewelry, and don't mess with any adjustments until you're comfortable with the factory settings.

I'm curious. How do you know you weren't getting any depth? I get an easy 7-8" with the factory Coin and Jewelry, and very stable unless I'm hunting very near some major power lines.

If you're using someones custom program then that might account for the instability. The program I use is not for the fair hearted, and certainly not for a new DFX user. I've always felt one of the DFX's strong points was its stability compared to most other high performance detectors.
Click to expand...

i was with a friend who was using a new e-trac. he got a hit and called me over and asked me what i thought with my dfx. so he swept over the object (still burried) . he turned his machine off and i did a sweep.i got nothing! so i switched through every preset prog. and still nothing. so he dug it up. we measured roughly 6-7inches down. i was very disappointed so thats how i came about the depth problem. there was power lines but they were roughly 4 blocks away. i guess im just not trying hard enough. i have another question for you if you dont mind ? if i go to a 1800's area and detect in coin and jewelry can i expect to find cions 7-8 deep the soil here is rich almost black. thank you for your help
 
I think I see

your problem. The dfx is a great machine. It takes a while to learn, thats why you hear the term "learning curve" associated it. All top end machines take some time to adjust to, You never here the them say "turn and go" with them. Now the solution.
The learning curve gets real hard when you hunt next to a minelab. If you are within 50 ft of that etrac, you might as well be under the worlds largest power lines. the 17 or so channels that it is alleged to have will do nothing but interfere with your dfx. I think if you are hunting in a single frequency, it's not as bad. Best thing you can do if you are hunting with your buddy is tell him you heard someone found a gold coin on the opposite side of the field. Or, if you don't like fibbing, :roll:...you do the walking...:lol:..As far as not picking up the signal that the etrac did, thats not uncommon.
You may find a target he won't get a clear picture of, but an ace 250 might and so on. parks are never hunted out. Different machine different results. The dfx is as good as having a few detectors in the closet. Hunt in coin and jewelry one day, and go back over it in relic next day. You have a lot of options, it just takes a while to rope them in. I bought mine 4 years ago and Im still learning..Gil
 
Last edited:
if i go to a 1800's area and detect in coin and jewelry can i expect to find coins 7-8 deep the soil here is rich almost black.
Click to expand...

We don't have such soil here in Kansas so I couldn't say what you might expect. It is always possible. The only places here in Kansas where the coins are deeper than 6" would be our city park, which got flooded many times and buried the coins, and a plowed field. The average 1800's coins I find are more in the 4-6" range.

I have many times found coins at 8-9" in our city park with the DFX. In fact the very first coin I dug with the new DFX was a buffalo nickle at 8" and it ID'd solid as well. I will say that was the exception. Most of the 8-10" coins I dig jump around the VDI and sometimes have a broken sound, but the SignaGraph usually doesn't lie.
 
thank you for all your help! im trying to see the benifits of this machine in the future. im sure it will be great once i get the swing of it
 
i've beem detecting with a buddy who has an e-trac and you will definately get interference from it , same thing happened he had a target and called me over and i got nothing but i could tell his machine was the problem and asked him to turn it off and BAM target was no problem to get at about 7 to 8 inches , he's got a dfx as well and you can occasionally hear the two machines talking through the other if we get to close . and yes we have that almost black New England soil here too.try Jacks program its pretty good and if your interested i got a pretty good custom relic program your than welcome to try it runs pretty stable too.

Dan
 
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