General Question about "scratchy signals"

Chasing bad sounds can find good stuff once in a while. I like to dig solid repeatable signals. That way I cover more ground and increase my chances. I have dug many iffy signals thinking maybe it could be something good only to find out that what the machine is telling you is accurate more often than not. Once you trust the machine you will listen to what it is telling you.

There is always going to be a great deal more trash in the ground, compared to actual treasures. The trash will tell you careless, sloppy people were there. When you get multiple targets, very close to each other under the coil, the machine is going to try and combine them into a single number. The tones aren't going to be as clear, as it shifts from one item to the next, with little or no space separating them. Fortunately, many folks only like to dig the highest probability signals, and don't gamble much, which is why those popular old parks are still producing, after decades of hunting. Our machines simply detect metal, and they do it very well. All the extras, like discrimination, separation, ID numbers aren't completely accurate. Even signals that sound good, look good on the screen, still you dig some trash. The opposite is also true, the machine tells you it's trash, but you can still dig up something nice. There is just tons more trash in the ground. You never really know, until it's in your hand.

Most detectors have an effective range for the screen information, but will still detect metal much deeper, you have to do all the fancy ID work with your ears, and learn what good sounds like. Even then, how the target is sitting in the ground, and what else may be near it, can make it tough to decide if you want to dig. Just trust your instincts, if something in the sounds caught your attention, don't over-think it. Still a gamble, but over time, you learn the sounds.

happycamper08 said:

Chasing bad sounds can find good stuff once in a while. I like to dig solid repeatable signals. That way I cover more ground and increase my chances. I have dug many iffy signals thinking maybe it could be something good only to find out that what the machine is telling you is accurate more often than not. Once you trust the machine you will listen to what it is telling you.

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That sounds about accurate. 90% of the iffy signals I've dug while searching for that "deep" silver have been trash. None have yet to be silver and only a couple have been deep Wheat pennies. I think the soil conditions and amount of trash contamination in the ground (especially iron) will play a large roll in how your detector responds to various targets. There is an area close to me that has a lot of iron in the soil, so it's not unusual to get scratchy sounds on good targets while the detector is trying to discriminate the iron.
I'll only dig the scratchy signals now if I'm really trying to clean a place out or have reason to believe there might be something of value hidden in the area. FWIW

Hey there. I think everyone's posts here are right on target. Something else to consider is target depth. In most (not all) places modern garbage like aluminum is only so deep, say 6". So don't dig any iffy signals unless they are over 6" deep. This may at least increase your chances that iffy signal is something worth digging for. I track my iffy signal success just like I track my solid signal success. Both types of signals come down to a ratio of good targets to trash. If in doubt- dig it out. GL and HH. Matt

matthias said:

Hey there. I think everyone's posts here are right on target. Something else to consider is target depth. In most (not all) places modern garbage like aluminum is only so deep, say 6". So don't dig any iffy signals unless they are over 6" deep. This may at least increase your chances that iffy signal is something worth digging for. I track my iffy signal success just like I track my solid signal success. Both types of signals come down to a ratio of good targets to trash. If in doubt- dig it out. GL and HH. Matt

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than you everyone for your posts!

my problem seems to be that last year i found 6 indian heads all at 3-4 inches! so its hard for me to not dig everything that sounds even close, but my back will simply not allow it.

My current strategy is to just go after 4-5 iffy signals everytime i hunt and that way i leave some of the stuff out there and after passing though the parks many times running in the same general area ill hopefully get them all

last year i dug in a 300 foot long by 20 ft wide strip at a local park that i identified as an old picnic grove in the early 1900s and ended up with many goodies

this year i have another park that i have in mind for a concentrated dig spot. so hopefully ill end up with the same amount of goodies! so fat in this years area ive gotten one indian head, 1 buffalo, and many relics, plus 20$ in clad

Only time and experience can tell you to dig or not dig. I personally dig many many targets on a new detector to learn what its telling me.

The ONLY way to gain confidence in a new machine is to dig all repeatable signals until your positive its junk. Even then you really never know for sure till ya dig it.

BTW... Many detectors identify jewelry as junk...