Jump to content

Minelab Vanquish 540 Random Signals


Recommended Posts

I’m completely new to metal detecting and the vanquish 540 is my first detector. I am hoping that someone can provide some advise on the random signals I am picking up. Whilst detecting in woodland I am frequently getting signals that range from 6 to sometimes as high as 39 in the exact same spot, when I dig it up most of the time it appears to be iron nails or other iron objects. I was expecting iron objects to show as a very low number or even minus figures. Has anyone else experienced very high numbers for iron and how do you know when something is worth digging? I have iron bias set to high so that should help but doesn’t seem to. I have found an old coin that showed a reading of 16 so it’s very confusing to know what to dig and what to leave. Thanks for any advise you can provide.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites


a suggestion for someone completely new to detecting is to dig it all .. the numbers are a good guess by the computer on your machine, but some iron piece depending on shape, orientation, and temper might confuse the machine into thinking it is something else. This is even more so as the target gets deeper in the ground .. happens with all machines. So if the nails you are finding were the result of a fire to a building they very well could ring up as a more favorable target .. these signals aren't random, the machine is telling you there is something there .. the numbers it is providing you are the machine's best guess .. many good targets hit at numbers that aren't where they should be .. I usually dig it all, still. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey Malcolm, 

Welcome to the forum! Don't forget to go to the Meet and Greet, and give us a informal introduction about yourself, and what and where you hale from, and hunt!

   As far as your detector; a great choice for someone starting out! Try backing down your sensitivity, and use your smallest coil, if hunting in a junky area!!

   But, if you haven't already, try getting a group of test targets to try in your yard, or a clean area of ground! Experiment with single, and groups of various good, and bad targets together! Any detector takes time to acclimate too, no matter how experienced a person is! Trust me, if you put the time in, you will begin to decipher the signals you are hearing!

   And also, let's be clear on detecting with any detector!  You will dig junk targets! There's no way around this!! There are ways to reduce this, but the more you limit trash, the more likely you are to miss good targets also! What we call, "Cherry Picking", at it's extreme, comes at the cost of many other "good" targets! 

   You will probably get several others to chime in, that are much further along in this hobby, than myself, so take what I suggest with a grain of salt, and you will do fine! Putting in the hours, will take some "hands on" time to put it together!! You will get there!!

Good Luck🍀 on a fun, and addictive journey!👍👍 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Big iron and flat iron can give you numbers beyond the iron range. I always considered the old flat cut iron nails as a break point for iron and anything above that a possible relic. One trick is when you encounter a target like that try to check and detect that target with the tip of the coil and you should get an iron tone.

Lastly don't run the machine at full gain if it is unstable. A lot of factors such as ground mineralization and emi can make the machine noisy and hard to find anything.

For the most part majority of good targets have more stable numbers.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

yep ..good advice JoeD. .. the more time you put into using your machine the more good targets you will find .. you will also find a time and place where removing the 'bad' targets allows the machine to pick up good targets that have been masked .. just keep at it and don't get discouraged

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I had my 540, I noticed that iron nails or other similarly sized objects would sometimes ring up as coins. This was especially evident when the soil was damp/wet after a recent rain.

I also hunted in highly mineralized clay/soil. And I noticed that sometimes, the 540 would read a deep target (8+ inches) in the 30s, but when digging, there would be nothing by mineralized clay.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What search mode are you using and are you rejecting most or all iron target IDs -9 to 0?

Just a suggestion. If you are in an area with possible iron targets, I would accept a small part of the iron range target IDs, have your iron bias on high or low...your choice, and make sure to adjust the iron volume level to suit your hearing. I often reject -9 to -5 or so and accept all other numbers. That way I can hear some of the iron. More than likely those iron targets you recovered that gave you +6 to +39 numbers and the equivalent tones would also give you iron numbers and tones if some of that range is accepted. You may also hear broken up audio that stutters and is unstable on deeper iron targets and that sounds good in one swing direction and if you turn 90 degrees and swing again the target may be gone, have completely different numbers and tones or very bad broken up audio if you are not accepting some of the iron range target IDs. You can also just use the default settings and click on the horseshoe button which immediately accepts all targets IDs and tones including iron to double check for iron responses.

A target ID of 39, 40 is almost always an iron target. Check the audio using the 90 degree technique and toggle the horseshoe button to check for iron responses.

Welcome to the forum!!!!!

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks all, you’ve given me some really good tips and information to go with. I have encountered the mineralised clay ground recently where there has been nothing there once I’ve dug it out. To be fair, in the 8-10 times I’ve been out there has only been a couple of occasions where I haven’t had any finds which is nice and I’ve already got the bug so there’s no chance of me giving up. It’s also nice to hear that others have experienced the same with their machines so at least it’s not unique to me or my machine, so thank you for your feedback.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...