Ferro Check, What An Awesome Feature

[Rick N. MI]

Were you using the 11" coil or 6" coil? 

Good jobs getting some good coins out of that.

It sounds it ran very well in the iron.

[Tahts-a-dats-ago]

Just now, Rick N. MI said:

Were you using the 11" coil or 6" coil? 

It sounds it ran very well in the iron.

The 11 inch coil.

It did great. Better than I would have thought it would.

I first went there with my ORX, but once I got there I could not get the ORX to pair with the headphones (don't know why it wouldn't work) so I went home and got the Legend. I had the 11 inch coil on the Legend because I had gone to the beach yesterday. I was annoyed with the ORX and didn't want to take the minute or so to change the coil on my Legend.

I'll definitely go with the 6 inch coil the next time I go to that location.

 

BTW - got home and tried the ORX again. The headphones paired right up. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be an ORX day?

[phrunt]

The joys of wireless equipment, I was there working as a network engineer through the infancy of wireless networking which is why I grew my hatred of wireless technology 🙂  Although it's improved it's still wireless, and with wireless comes inherent flaws that are just impossible with cable.

I do use wireless products, of course as sometimes its a necessary evil for convenience however when using a cabled version of a product is an option and if having the cable causes little hassles such as a coil cable I'd never choose wireless over cable.

[Tometusns]

I’ve got the six inch coil ordered but the eleven inch is doing very good for now. 
It’s funny why we chose to hunt a certain location over and over. I know going in that I probably won’t find much but I know there’s stuff there but I’ll have to work for it. The one I’ve been hunting pretty hard is an old house site that’s a hay field now and it’s getting close to a wait till they cut the hay. I’m thinking about maybe letting it cool off till next year.
  I’ve spent a lot of time there with the legend. It seemed a good place to learn the machine. A lot of iron in places and a lot of junk everywhere. lol Its where I really learned what the legend could pick out of iron. I’ve got some good finds there but a lot of what I’m digging are the mid tones. Shot gun head stamps, broken pieces of you name it but they were non ferrous and that’s what I’m looking for. I keep thinking maybe just maybe I’ll find a gold ring or something gold anyway. Hasn’t happened…yet! lol

[Chase Goldman]

15 hours ago, phrunt said:

The joys of wireless equipment, I was there working as a network engineer through the infancy of wireless networking which is why I grew my hatred of wireless technology 🙂  Although it's improved it's still wireless, and with wireless comes inherent flaws that are just impossible with cable.

I do use wireless products, of course as sometimes its a necessary evil for convenience however when using a cabled version of a product is an option and if having the cable causes little hassles such as a coil cable I'd never choose wireless over cable.

Yeah, the joys of wireless equipment, indeed.  It's one thing when wireless is less than reliable, its another when it just it is quirky and its behavior unexplained like the example cited.  Thankfully, it appears he was not undone by the wireless BT phones that come standard with the Legend, though.   You don't hear the complaints when wireless tech does work, and though wireless is not as reliable or as foolproof as hard-wired, it is steadily improving in that regard (though wired is really the only feasible audio option if the wireless transmitter is submerged).  And, as we know, wires and connectors can still break, especially with the repeated usage and strain that comes with detecting with a wired headphone cable and, of course, there is the snag and tangle factor during bushwhacking and target recovery etc.  It appears the hobby is heading towards wireless audio being the dominant approach for detecting.  In any event, it is good that technology and the manufacturers are providing us the options to go whichever way makes the most sense for the situation at hand as well as accommodating user preference. 

Regarding the ferro check "haters".  I think its just a matter of many detectorists don't really get what "probability" means when it comes to modern digital detectors based on people asking for more "accuracy" from the ferro check meter.  They see a number on a screen and think that it is a 100% probability event.  It couldn't be further from the truth, especially considering that detector technology is based on a physical principle that is a relatively crude method for determining composition of a metal based entirely off one physical parameter that is influenced by so many variables.  Frankly, its quite amazing just how far manufacturers have taken this principle of late, using sophisticated multifrequency waveforms and fast, sophisticated signal processing to minimize the uncertainties and signal degradation that comes with variables such as ground conductivity, mineralization, target shape/orientation and multiple targets and their impact on target magnetic field strength and shape.  We now have a number of pretty sophisticated tools to provide a pretty reliable means for figuring out what is under a coil, sight unseen.  Anyway, back to my point, most users don't understand that the ferro check is just a probability meter that provides a visual display of what the detector considers a mixed ferrous/non-ferrous target or targets.  It provides an alternative to digital numbers and audio to let the user know that the detector is not 100% certain of the true nature of the mixed ferrous/non-ferrous target under the coil, and to inject the appropriate amount of skepticism into whatever TID Legend has decided is the "most probable" ID for the target at hand.  People don't realize that if the signal processing and target discrimination were 100% accurate and reliable, there actually would be no reason to have a ferro check meter at all because you could 100% trust whatever target ID is being displayed as truth.  Again, there are very few absolutes when it comes to detecting and no good deed by a detector manufacturer goes unpunished.  

[Tometusns]

I also would like to say that one bullet I remember for sure was a deeper target that I could not get a four way hit on and there was no ferro check reading. I simply used the same thought process of the sounds  and numbers that I had heard earlier with the ferro check reading. I think learning that sounds/numbers correlation helped in making the decision to dig the target. Which in this case was another bullet. 
 I have also dug a lot of the other but the ferro check has certainly helped the learning process along a bunch!

[Tometusns]

I finally made it to the park here in town where the last fighting was done before the Union headed on to the next town by night fall back in 1861. It’s given up a lot of relics over the years but finding one there now is a rarity. Today was a special day for me and although it’s not much the guys who still hunt it know what kind of day I had. 
 I’m gonna say it again that ferro check is awesome!! Found the carbine bullet first then the Buffalo. Little farther along under a big rock out comes the round ball. Heading back towards the car and it was one of those only in one spot signals but the ferro check said non ferrous so I dug it and wow! A nice eagle button! I was stoked! Three civil war relics and a Buffalo. Happy day for me.😁

[JCR]

Congratulations! Those are all very nice. The Legend seems to really like mid conductors.

[Tometusns]

21 minutes ago, JCR said:

Congratulations! Those are all very nice. The Legend seems to really like mid conductors.

Thanks! I think it likes non ferrous. lol  Only two barber dimes so far but a lot of wheats. Indians are kinda a higher mid conductor and it’s found me a handful of those. I’m hoping for something gold but I’ve not found much of that anyway… but I’m at least digging more possible gold signals now. 🤔 maybe I’ll get lucky!😁

[Tometusns]

What I’m really wanting to see is someone else post where they’ve found something good with a little two way wiggle one spot ferro check nonferrous signal. I’m starting to loose count and liking the Legend more every time I dig one.