15” Coil Cable Wiggle Test

[bklein]

I had met my friend a week before and he did a reset at that time.  I admit that the differences in ID and tones and even how beach mode 2 missed targets was surprising and I don’t remember experiencing it before.  Maybe FE2 set at zero causes it as it was enabled and I didn’t set this until this outing.

[Jeff McClendon]

As others have noted, Beach 1 and Beach 2 default settings are exactly the same. Internally, Beach 1 has a higher overall average frequency than Beach 2 when their simultaneous operating frequencies are averaged. They both have the ability to adjust to black iron sand mineralization by automatically lowering the transmit frequency, oops I meant.....amplitude/gain, before overloading. Whether setting iron bias to F2=0 has any effect on that.......I don't know since I assume that the iron bias filter is only on the receive side of the processed frequencies.

[bklein]

You meant TX amplitude not frequency, right?

[Jeff McClendon]

3 minutes ago, bklein said:

You meant TX amplitude not frequency, right?

Yes, my bad. Thanks

[midalake]

10 hours ago, bklein said:

This is my second - I had an 800 for over 8 months a couple years ago.  I’m trying to get a friend of mine to try it.  He uses an 800 and is happy with it.  Yesterday I was again trying my 600 with 15” at Laguna. This time I had the low latency Miccus headphones. I was still getting a lot of choppy audio - it seems a battle inside the machine on how to handle the intermittent black sand. Everything was a bunch of short cutoff blips.  Very hard to differentiate those caused by the black sand vs the very few targets that are there. Machine set for 50 tones but I’m hearing maybe 3. False targets are same volume as good ones. I have the sensitivity set down between 17-20.  Tried manual and tracking ground balance. Tried recovery speeds 1-3. Tried switching between beach 1 and 2. 2 has lower tones and different VIDs and misses some targets in wet sand.  Im really spoiled by the smooth setting on the CTX.  The EQ is just sending me junky audio that my brain is getting tired of processing. Sure, I could set sensitivity way down but that is not how others are running theirs at this beach.  

I have lots of thoughts.

Who told you to run some of these setting?  What is your IB? 

Think you really need to get down to basics and understand why Minelab recommends the initial settings of each mode. Here is what I run:

Beach 2, Tracking GB [a must],  1 tone, IB FE 6, Recovery 6, Sensitivity 22-24. 

Run in HORSESHOE mode.  Anything that shows ferrous scale and double rings, DON'T DIG it, it is iron. 

ANYTHING that double rings with a plus VDI dig, as well as ANY target that does not double ring or breakdown, as you work around the target 360 degrees.  Center target to dig in discrimination [if necessary] 

I also own two machines. I have done coil modifications that help decrease effects of  black sand and moving salt water.[Not ready to share this yet.]

 HOWEVER, one of my coils is WAY NOISER than the other in the same conditions [wet sand and moving salt water]. But yet this coil works 100% perfect in dry sand or on soil.  Consider trying another coil on your pod.   Dave

 

[kac]

Besides seeing the coil is sensitive enough to pick up your hand it's hard to tell if there is a coil fault. Tapping the side of a coil to see if it is knock sensitive may show more.

As for falsing. large coils are tough to use in the salt and bigger you go the more you may need to drop your gain. There is a limit on what a vlf can do in the salt. Stock 11" should be plenty.

For wrapping the wire have the wire go straight along the lower pole then wind the rest from the mid pole to the control box. Make sure you have just enough slack on the lower so the coil can move and make sure you don't wrap too tight and have the connector to the control box as straight as possible so it isn't crimped.

[Joe D.]

  Thanks for reading my mind, and saving my thumbs there kac!! 👍👍

[bklein]

2 hours ago, midalake said:

I have lots of thoughts.

Who told you to run some of these setting?  What is your IB? 

Think you really need to get down to basics and understand why Minelab recommends the initial settings of each mode. Here is what I run:

Beach 2, Tracking GB [a must],  1 tone, IB FE 6, Recovery 6, Sensitivity 22-24. 

Run in HORSESHOE mode.  Anything that shows ferrous scale and double rings, DON'T DIG it, it is iron. 

ANYTHING that double rings with a plus VDI dig, as well as ANY target that does not double ring or breakdown, as you work around the target 360 degrees.  Center target to dig in discrimination [if necessary] 

I also own two machines. I have done coil modifications that help decrease effects of  black sand and moving salt water.[Not ready to share this yet.]

 HOWEVER, one of my coils is WAY NOISER than the other in the same conditions [wet sand and moving salt water]. But yet this coil works 100% perfect in dry sand or on soil.  Consider trying another coil on your pod.  Good post Dave. Remember 600 settings differ from 800 settings. I do normally run in horseshoe mode as the iron grunts don’t bother me.  I’m going to have to record the audio hunting this beach.

I bought this coil used but it looked new. Might be why the guy sold it.

[bklein]

2 hours ago, kac said:

Besides seeing the coil is sensitive enough to pick up your hand it's hard to tell if there is a coil fault. Tapping the side of a coil to see if it is knock sensitive may show more.

As for falsing. large coils are tough to use in the salt and bigger you go the more you may need to drop your gain. There is a limit on what a vlf can do in the salt. Stock 11" should be plenty.

For wrapping the wire have the wire go straight along the lower pole then wind the rest from the mid pole to the control box. Make sure you have just enough slack on the lower so the coil can move and make sure you don't wrap too tight and have the connector to the control box as straight as possible so it isn't crimped.

When I was hunting in the wet two weeks ago there was crackling in the audio when I moved the cable at the coil.  Didn’t have that this time, maybe because i was less in the water.

my coil cable is like you suggest. Might see so in the video.

[midalake]

33 minutes ago, bklein said:

Remember 600 settings differ from 800 settings. I do normally run in horseshoe mode as the iron grunts don’t bother me.  I’m going to have to record the audio hunting this beach.

I bought this coil used but it looked new. Might be why the guy sold it.

Yes I am running 800's. You get to know the conversion.  But there are several important items. I have advocated 1 tone for some time now at the beach. Stop that machine from chirping at you from different tones and listen to actual targets. With all the other ticks and chirps. 

Not sure where you hunt the most?  But until you master the wet sand keep the Equinox out of the wash. Even though I can run 23-24 in the wet sand in my location, stuff that Equinox in the water and all comes unglued.  There lies the issue. One almost needs a dual setting at a touch of the finger to do the two different terrains.  Water contact and wet sand with the Equinox is a difference of night and day. 

Coil control is important, that is a whole topic on it's own. But in doubt, keep the coil glued to the sand and go slow.  GB Tracking. 

The original FE-6 setting combined with recovery 6 is a magical combo in horseshoe mode that REALLY allows very deep id on iron with a double ring. 

Could you back down??  Maybe, but you risk instability and turning the sensitivity lower, that would be a locality thing. Also lowering the recovery requires even more coil control to ID iron. 

Yes as stated, I have one coil that stinks in wet sand and water contact. That coil acts the same on both pods.  Dave