Experienced hunters only please!!!!!!!

From what I understand about discrimination it is better to determine what it is by the sound rather then the read out screen. I only have an Ace 150 but I face the same problem as you. The best thing to do is dig everything in the beginning, learn your machine, and enjoy the process. You will build momentum and start being able to tell the difference.

Yeah I've read to where your suppose to go by the sound but a pulltab on my machine sounds off with a loud,clear tone like a quarter.

First, congrats on a nice machine. It should provide you with some nice finds and hours of detecting enjoyment.

To your question, with some experience you will find that the use of the Target ID to identify possible targets won't play a major part in your hunts. On my DFX, for example, I have the target icons turned off. The best thing to do, and this will require a bit of time and patience, is to listen carefully to the tones given by the Spectrum before digging the target, so that you can start associating the tones with such targets. In general, you should eventually be able to start telling the subtle tonal difference given by the varying targets. Silver and copper tends to give off a nice and solid harmonic tone, compared to the duller tone given by a pull-tab for example. Of course, this changes if the target is deep, since now we are talking about a situation where identifying a disturbance in the threshold plays a good part in deciding to dig a target.

I?m sure that other members with a good amount of experience with the Eagle Spectrum can provide you with a bit more insight into its capabilities, use and tips. You may want to also read a review found here:
http://www.staffsmetaldetectors.co.uk/whites_eagle_spectrum.htm

HH!

Angel

Angel, thanks for all the info.About the tones given off,that's where my problem lies.On this machine the tone for a pull tab or a piece of foil is a high,strong tone which is easily cofused for something of value.

Paulb,

Got a PM from Cfmct-PI, asking me to post this list of VDIs for you. It had been posted in a previous incarnation of the forum. Hope it helps.

SOME VARIOUS COIN VDI?s

Test conditions:

Detector: Whites MXT
Coil: Whites 9.5 Concentric Stock Coil
Coins: Each coin sat in a plastic baggie during the test.
Setup: Coins were all resting flat (face up) on the dirt surface of "proven clean" ground with exactly 5? of Telephone books on top of the coin and between the coin and coil.

Actual Readings (Mean or "settled" VDI was used):

9.5? Coil Item
94 Dollar, Morgan ?Peace?
92 Half Dollar, Franklin
92 Half Dollar, Kennedy, Silver (1964)
91 Half Dollar, Standing Liberty
91 Half Dollar, Kennedy (40% Silver) 1965-1967
90 Half Dollar, Barber
89 Half Dollar, Kennedy, Silver Clad Copper
88-89 Penny, Braided Large Cent (1839-1857)
86 Quarter, Standing Liberty
85 Quarter, Washington, Silver
83 Quarter, Washington, (Clad)
82 Quarter, Barber
80 Dime, Roosevelt, Silver ?Rosie?
80 Penny, Draped Bust Cent, (1796-1807)
79 Dime, Roosevelt (Clad)
77 Dime, Mercury
77 Gold Coin, 1 oz.* (* 91% Gold, 3% Silver, & 6% alloy)
76-77 Dime, Barber
75 Two Cent Piece, Tuppence, Bronze (1864-1873)
72-74 Penny, Lincoln, Early Wheat Cent, Copper (1909-1958)
70-72 Penny, Indian Head Cent (1859-1909)
71-71 Small Cent, Flying Eagle Penny (Copper & Nickel) (1857)
72 Gold Coin, 1?2 oz.* (* 91% Gold, 3% Silver, & 6% alloy)
52 Gold Coin, 1?4 oz.* (* 91% Gold, 3% Silver, & 6% alloy)
26 Gold Coin, 1/10 oz.* (* 91% Gold, 3% Silver, & 6% alloy)
18-20 Nickel, Jefferson (Modern)
20 Nickel, Victory, "V"
18 Nickel, Early Jefferson
18 Nickel, Buffalo
8-10 Three penny, 3 Cent, Nickel/Copper (1865-1889)

These are general readings and you may find the same coin reading slightly different considering the angle of the coin in the ground, as on end or laying flat, and if that coin is near any other metal object.

Pennies: large range of VDI's depending on decomposition of the coin. Generally in the mid 70's but may range in the fifties as well. In my area they usually reads 76/77.

Nickels: 18 - 20 VDI. 90% of time you will swing one way and read 18 and the other direction a 20. This is also an excellent gold ring reading.

Dimes: 78/82 VDI

Quarters: 85 VDI I have dug a few quarters at 5-6 inches that read like a dime but they were probably laying on edge.

Silver rings will read like a dime or higher. Gold readings vary depending on size and weight. Generally speaking most gold rings/jewelry read between 8 and 20 VDI. A large class ring may read in the 50's and possibly low 60's. Large wedding sets may read in the high 20's to mid 30's. Readings from 22 - 40 are prime pull-tab readings but gold may lay there as well.

Hope this helps.

My rule of thumb, if its chattery or breaks up, its trash. If it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, quacks like a duck, Its more than likely a duck. Been hunting 20 years. Of course if your relic hunting, may dig a few shattered signals. I go by headphone sounds and a gut feeling. Good hunting

Thanks Rudy and thanks Cfmct-PI for that info.It sure will help me out more with the range of VDI readings.Once again you folks on here are the best!!!!

Ignore the icons(Coin/Ring/Tab) they are more a guess as to what the target might be based on the important information. The important info is Tone, VDI and the Graph.

First and most important is the Tone. Learn to hear what your detector is telling you. I know at first all the tones sound the same but trust me when I say there are subtle differences that once you learn will almost eliminate the need for anything else.

Make an X over the target with the coil and listen for changes. Does it sound the same on every swing? Does it sound the same in all directions? One thing I noticed about my Spectrum is using a whipping motion over the target can eliminate a bad target. In most cases whipping the coil will not only cause junk target to break up but good targets to become more pronounced.

I used the VDI and the Graph together once the tone passed the test. Again, keep that coil moving and find the best tone response and look at the VDI. Does the target read all over the scale or does it have a tight reading? I.E. a VDI ranging from 18-21 is most likely a nickle, a VDI that jumps between 15-32 is going to be junk.

The Graph can be used once the target passes your Tone test and your VDI test(a tight range) by looking for a constant peak. If the Graph has bars all over the scale its probably junk. If the targets Tone is good, VDI is right and tight and the Graph bars are tight then the majority of the time you're going to dig a good target.

I know this seems like a lot of information just to test each target but with practice it can all be done in less than a minute, and in time you will get to where you won't even need to look at your display to know good from bad.

One more time just because its very important, keep that coil moving. If you slow your coil down over a target your machine will only get confused. In fact for me it seemed the quicker I moved the coil the better the depth and discrimination. I used to imagine a single weed sticking out of the ground over the target and I was whipping it with a weed whip. Practice swinging your coil over some target at different speeds to find the best for you.

That makes alot of sense Detector.I am going to try to go by tones instead of icons.I guess I need to learn that anyways because I do alot of my hunting at night and my backlight is out so I guess tone is all I have to go by.Thanks everyone who submitted a reply to this post so far.

Paul,

I picked up a book at my local TH shop that would REALLY help you out.  It's written for White's users, even!

http://www.informulation.on.ca/A557...B1DE2D0B3854A34086256F52005CC276!OpenDocument

Check it out!

OH

Paul, I'm new at this too but I just wanted to say one thing about ID. They should put in the manuals of all of these machines that when the detector ID's on something desirable that it is not necessarily THAT item, but among the many things that ID in this range, this also (quarter for example) falls into this range. It stinks that gold falls into the foil and pulltab range, but thats just the way THAT metal "reacts" to that frequency. And until some engineer comes up with a better way to detect, we are stuck with it for now. Knowing your own machine, really listening to the different nuances of the tones, and persistance are the only real ingredients for success in this hobby. That and doing your research before you hunt in the first place.

Oklahunter said:

Paul,

I picked up a book at my local TH shop that would REALLY help you out.  It's written for White's users, even!

http://www.informulation.on.ca/A557...B1DE2D0B3854A34086256F52005CC276!OpenDocument

Check it out!

OH

Click to expand...

Absolutely a great book for those wanting to understand why the VDI reading is but one single piece of information about the target, and why you are going to have to dig some foil and tabs if you want to find gold.

Paul, don't get frustrated. eventually you will learn to understand what your detector is telling you. The first thing you have to understand is that for every gold ring you dig, there will be about 1,000 trash targets you dig first! At first while you are learning the unit, you might want to concentrate on digging only repeatable coin signals so that you don't get frustrated and give up the hobby before you really give it a chance. I agree with detector, turn the icons off, forget about them if they are bothering you. A good target on the spectrum will have a nice tight VDI grouping 99% of the time it will usually only vary by 2 to 3 numbers on a good target. ( An example would be a reading that read say 69.5, 71.2, 70.5) A target like that would tell me that I likely had a copper penny in my soil. In your soil the VDI numbers may be different, but the tight grouping would still be the same. (example: your soil might cause the penny to read 72.4, 75.2, 73.6) Another thing to pay attention to is the Spectragraph. 95% of good targets will have a one bar graph reading. Another percent or two will have a two bar graph reading. The rest of good targets will be 3 bars that make a pyramid shape on the Spectragraph with the tall bar in the middle with two shorter bars on either side. The only time that these guidelines don't apply is when you have a good target partially masked by a bad target, a coin "spill" of multiple coins in a small area, or very mineralized ground. Something that might help you hear a bad target from a good one is to change your tone pitch by pressing menu/basic adjustments/tone adjust and setting the tone higher or lower to suit your hearing. Another thing that might help you is to set the tone ID on by pressing Pro options/Audio/Tone ID/ On. Some people love using the tone ID, others hate it. It does take some getting used to, but I know that once I did, it really helped me to tell a good target from a bad one. I hope that this helps. If you have any questions, you can PM me.

VDI readings for gold!

Paul, One good reason for digging lower vdi targets regardless of your gut feeling is gold comes in all sized packages. Thin gold, fat gold, wide gold, very fine as in a chain, also rolled, plated, solid, 10k, 18k, 22k, 24k, as well as alloyed with other metals like copper, etc, etc, They ALL have a different VDI rangeing from the bottom of the + scale upwards into the penny range.
Bottom line, some times the good sounds bad and other times the junk sounds good. Invest in a quality digging tool. I wish you success you have a fine machine.........Gil in sunny Florida