air tests

Max houser

Full Member
Joined
Jan 25, 2021
Messages
185
Location
Upstate SC
I was never a big fan of air testing.
with that said I do air test when using a new coil, or testing new settings or programs...just to give me an idea how the unobstructed "air seeing" difference
is between certain settings.
funny how many videos I watch where guys will air test coins in the cardboard sleeves that have staples in them, or they lay a tape measure out with the metal end touching the coil...:lol: I'm sure they mean well...
One important thing that I noticed while air testing recently...
I was playing with my settings and had the sensitivity up to 30(highest setting) I took a few coins, both silver and clad...the farther i got away from the coil I noticed with me passing the coin at my swing rate back and forth I got a thunk as the coin exited the coil perimeter. all E-trac users are familiar with this thunk. so I tried it again at the same distance and sped up my passing speed and the thunk disappeared and became a clear signal????
well I ran out to my favorite hunted out spot to test this deep theory I was having. I came across a jumpy 12-38 one way whistle to thunk signal...I then swung faster over the target and the signal became more of a diggable tone and even appeared both ways. I dug and it was a 1917 wheat penny at 10".... I continued on for about 20 minutes, dug a couple rusty nails, but scored two more deep wheats, a 1921, and a 1919 . so now I am baffled that I have been told to swing slow to get deeper targets and have found with increased swing speed they actually became more clear..so now I'm happy but confused...how many have I missed along the way:?:
 
Good discovery. Not sure by Clive and Andy (book authors) both mention swing speed as a way to get more information on a target. Your explanation was very clear and helpful. HH
 
I wouldn't worry about staples or a measuring tape in an air test, a motion detector won't pick them up just as it won't pick up you coil lead if it's secured properly.
The tests i find hilarious are the barrels of dirt with pvc tubes at different depths. They set the coil on top and pass a coin on a stick through the pvc pipes to see how deep it goes.
But what there not taking into account is the fact that the detector isn't seeing the dirt as the coil is stationary, so it's basically an air test but looks impressive and folk thing it will do the same in ground.
There's actually a detector shop using one of these barrels to demonstrate detectors to customers.
 
IMO, this is just taking another step with whatever detector you are using.
These are the signals the casual hunter typically misses. The weekend warriors feast on these signals. Now take it up another notch and start using open quick mask screen to check on deep iron like targets. Its amazing what people miss.
HH Jer
 
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