What program/settings do you use when you metal detect a new site/permission?

Have you ever wondered what program/ settings people use when they detect a new permission/site.

I asked our experts to share their settings with us. They have shared some valuable information.

Metal Detector settings shared.

AT Pro X 2

Whites V3i

XP Deus

Minelab Safari

Makro Racer 2

Fisher F19

Minelab E- Trac

Securing a new permission is always a great feeling. All sorts of thoughts run through your mind.

The foremost being, what’s in the ground at this new site. Was it previously hunted, was there a house there before the current house and so on and so on! Just below the surface of all the really good thoughts is an underlying question.

What’s the soil going to be like? As odd as it may seem, no two properties / permissions are alike in terms of soil condition, iron presence and even interference by things like underground cables, overhead lines, soil, mineralization and nearby power stations.

While you are giddy with the thought of a new place to detect, these issues are always on your mind. Fortunately today’s detectors are well suited and equipped to counter these types of conditions, you just have to know how to offset and move on.

 Personally, I think the key to this is knowing your machine. As funny as it may sound, you need to be “one” with it and when an issue arises you will have a better chance of adjusting so that you can continue to detect. This is not something that can be read in a manual. You will need to spend quality time with your machine and in a variety of areas so as to get familiar with an array of soil and environmental conditions.

With that said, I am going to go over what I personally use in a new permission or new site.

Not all of you will use the same machine but hopefully I can explain in depth enough to at least point you in the right direction when it comes to setting up your machine.

After considerable research I decided to go with the Garrett AT Pro.

This machine offers a variety of features and modes that allow the user the ability to conform to a particular environment without much if any sacrifice. Most times

I will run my AT Pro in Pro zero mode with iron discrimination set at about 25, sensitivity generally at the two spaces below full sensitivity.

This machine offers a wonderful feature called Iron Audio that allows it’s user to hear all the iron in the ground. Iron Audio isn’t always needed. In areas of heavy iron infestation you will likely want to turn this feature off.  

Once it is established that you are working in an area rich in nails or trash in general, you won’t want to hear it until you absolutely need it. Once you have located a worthy target and you think you might go ahead a dig it, you will want to pop on the Iron Audio and listen for the presence of iron in or around your target. This will help you identify a coin or screw cap and save you valuable time.

Over the years, I have adopted the “dig it all” demeanor. None of us know what’s in the ground. As good as some are, and some are very good, we still are not able to predict or see into the ground to identify a target.  

Once I’m on a new property or permission I will proceed in Pro Zero / Iron Disc 25 and sensitivity @ about 3/4 and dig it all. I find that although I think I know what the target is, I’ve been fooled far too many times to just assume and move on. You very well could be passing that ever elusive gold ring or highly sought after gold coin. 

Metal Detectors are not all alike, just like the detectorist who swings it, we are all unique and have special skills and abilities.

Knowing your machine is key. Ultimately you will want to assess the soil and environment and be prepared to make changes as you move along.  

Often times I will adjust frequency according to overhead lines or when hunting with a buddy or with a club where there may be 10-20 other machines nearby. Have fun and get to know your machine, dig it all and be prepared to pop that ever elusive treasure that resides on your bucket list.

 Happy Hunting!

~Digger 

Digger & Chirp On The Hunt

Swamp Monkey

I’ve been sweeping with The Whites V3i for the last 4 years. For the last 3 years I have been using the following program exclusively.

It a deep seeking program with a slow sweep speed.

You may want to adjust as you hunt. For this, I add all my live keys, that I use often to my search screen. If you would like to know how to do this, please check out my V3i Sweeper video titled Hot Keys.

Here is my program. Most of you may know it by the name The Magic Program

*Three frequency in Best data
lock trac on with a offset of +1 and ground balance every 20 minutes or so
(Watch the arrows while ground balancing and wait until they start to switch back and forth left to right before releasing.)

*5 band filter.

*Recovery speed. (50 to 100 range )

60 -75 moderate soil.

50 trashy

80-100 clean
intensity base threshold of 70
Fade rate at 4
(my preference depth is not effected)

*Rx gain 10 to start and adjust from there
*Tx boost off
*Disc. 88-93
*All metal 70

DISCRIMINATION
Bottle cap reject off
Hot rock off
Reject -95 to -89
Accept -88 to +94
Reject +95
(if your ground phases into the -80s you will want to reject down into the -80 range.)

TONES (on)
-95 to -6 (5)
-5 to -1 (50)
0 to +9 (150)
+10 to +12 (165)
+13 to +17 (175)
+18 to +22 (225)
+23 to +29 (175)
+30 to +39 (190)
+40 to +49 (200)
+50 (210)
+51 to +54 (225)
+55 to +59 (210)
+60 to +67 (220)
+68 to +89 (250)
+90 to +94 (255)

Remember
Don’t rely 100% on the VDI # to dig… it will be off a bit!
Your pinpointing will be effect a little to.
It will be noisy.

Slow down your sweep speed.

* indicates areas where adjustment may be needed during your hunt.

These should be added to your live keys on your search screen for easy access.

Please visit my

You tube channel, V3i SWEEPER to see if this is a machine you have interest in.

You can always find me on Facebook at

Global Detection Adventures

David DiNatale  

My web site global-detecting.com 

Hear me on The Global Detection Adventures Podcast.

Read a great review from David on the Whites V3I CLICK [HERE]

Hey everyone, As most are well aware by now, I’m a huge advocate of the XP DEUS.  

This machine is absolutely the best on the market, with its ability to adjust each specific setting to ones heart’s desire.  

When I first got my DEUS, I started with the basic setting and my instincts was telling me something’s just not right. I then went to Deus Fast, ok that was a little bit better but still wasn’t “mind blown” impressed for what I paid for it.  

This was merely based off of the depth of my targets. So back to the manual, still wasn’t trippin my trigger. Next I went to the internet and Googled “Deepest settings for the XP DEUS”.  

There I found a lot of DEUS owners adjusting their machines as well. Some were pretty good videos and some not so much. So then I purchased several DVDs and basically pick up tid bits here n there as far as what each setting did. I then purchased Andy Sabisch book “The DEUS Handbook” that actually took me to the Holy Grail of settings and how they correlate with one another. 

I then built a box and filled it with dirt, using pvc pipe I was able to slide coins, relics and jewelry in at specific depths and fine tune my DEUS that way.

Now the real test, digging up my yard, re-planting items I had already once found at specific depths. I don’t know about you but the thought definitely crossed my mind, “what if I can’t find the damn thing again”.  

So here I was, dropping a “silver seated dime” in a hole, Wheatie in another, a sweet fob in another, a Tootsie Toy car in one, miniball in one and finally a tin token in the last hole.

I then covered all of them up with up to approx. 8″ of dirt.  

We were to receive a storm that night and my gawd what a toad strangler it was, let’s just say I didn’t sleep well. The next morning when I woke up, walked out in the yard and water squirted out from my foot with every step I took. I thought man I’m going to be super pissed if I can’t find my stuff, but I still waited a day, let it dry a bit.  

Went out the following day and the DEUS pointed the way to every single target except one, yeah, the dime! So I switched over to my DEUS DEEP setting. This setting, to me, is, low iron, dis at 10 and 99 on the high end.

This puts the machine almost in what I call “unstable mode”. In certain areas you’ll hear chatter but if u drop your dis any less it’ll drive ya bonkers. 

A few other metal detectorist I know (running different machines), call this “opening their machine wide open” and digging based off of the number and tone. Junk iron u pick up on quick, so I’m not interested in anything below 10. 

     My #2 setting is basically a “high powered RELIC setting that focuses on the copper, brass and yes the square nail. As I have explained in a previous article I’ve written on here, when I find square nails, my dog points.

To me, that setting says remove the square and see what’s beneath it. I also need to say, moisture, moisture, moisture. Depending on how much moisture is in the ground is how deep your machine will go.

Less moisture, DEUS DEEP, more moisture, HP RELIC setting.

The XP DEUS is geared towards relics anyway, so tweak the DEUS Fast setting and your ready to dig deep…..  Hope this helps n HH….

Kelly.

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Kelly N  

We are thrilled to share our thoughts on this newest blog! We feel it’s important to discuss the different programs/settings used when you metal detect a new site with permission.

This time, we asked our underwater treasure hunter, Chris O’Connell to talk about this with you. He has some great advice! Let’s dive into it!

With so many metal detectors to choose from, I find it very beneficial to use a detector with a large digital display and a frequency to fit my needs for the area I would be detecting in.

The lower the frequency, the better depth you will get, and the higher the frequency, the better sensitivity you will get to smaller targets.

Your average hobby metal detectors run anywhere from 5kHz to 15kHz. Metal detectors that are made for prospecting and crime scenes work run anywhere from 19kHz to 100kHz.

I personally use the Minelab Safari metal detector.

This runs in 28 frequencies simultaneously from 1.5kHz to 100 Khz. A multi frequency detector like this will get you very good depth and great sensitivity to smaller targets at the same time.  I always run VLF detectors in all metal mode and adjust the sensitivity settings to the highest sensitivity possible.

Running the detector in an all metal (no discrimination) mode will get you the best depth! As you add filters/discriminate notches, you will lose depth to a certain extent, like adding filters to a bright light. You will always see light, but it will be dimmer.  After you locate a target, then you can put it in a discrimination mode to see if from there it would be a desirable one.

As a diver, the detectors we use are mostly Pulse Induction (PI) technology. Besides ground penetrating detectors, you will get incredible depth with a PI machine. The down fall to these type detectors is you lose discrimination and for the most part, have no display to show you information about the target as in identification and depth.  In water, I use the Aqua Scan AquaPulse 8in diver unit as well as The Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II. I highly recommend these!

We want to give a big thank-you to Rob Johnson for giving us this opportunity to share more of our expertise with you all!

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Thank-you again!

Kellyco and Chris O’Connell

We asked our experts what their pet peeves were in metal detecting to find out their responses click [here]

My main metal detector of choice this last year has been the very versatile Makro Racer 2.

My go to settings on it are eighty gain, three ID filter (discrimination) and two tones. It has a notch filter I don’t normally use and I set the iron audio low with the tone break left at factory.

I use two tones because it is the deepest discrimination mode. Deep mode may go a bit deeper but it requires a slower sweep mode.

All metal I only use occasionally this being the deepest mode of all.

I find the Makro Racer 2 to be a very deep seeking machine when compared to other top brands I’ve used without being overly complex.

It’s found me amazing finds here in the U.K. again and again. From tiny silver medieval Hammered coins, gold coins, and gold rings to amazing relics.

Anybody who doesn’t know this brand should seriously consider it . Here are pictures of some of my Makro Racer 2 finds hopefully

I’ll have many more to show you soon.

Stephen G

Check out my YouTube channel

YouTube

Anglo Celtic Metal Detecting

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Anglo Celtic Metal Detecting

I use a Fisher F19 detector.

I rarely detect anywhere that doesn’t have artifact potential. The F19 is a very versatile detector. But when I’m relic hunting I keep it simple. Either 20 or no discrimination. VCO IS set at 38.

Most anything I might be interested in starts at about 38. Then I set volume to 10. The volume control on the F19 is a great feature.

Volume can be set from 1 to 20. The volume refers to how loud iron is not how loud the regular volume is. At 10 iron is quiet. You only hear objects above your VCO settings. That way in trashy area especially, you can concentrate on what your looking for.

The F19 is a great machine for relics.

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Garry S

YouTube

Spud Diggers

Check out our review on the AT PRO CLICK [HERE]

Knowing your machine is, to me, far better than having a bunch of different settings or different machines.

Check out our review of the E- Trac click [here]

Related posts:

Ask the expert table of contents: We asked our experts to share with us a review of their metal detector How has metal detecting helped you overcome challenges in your life? If you could go anywhere in the world and could legally metal detect, where would you want to go? Also what would be the top 10 things you would like to find metal detecting when you get there?