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More Experience With Steelphase


Condor

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Bear in mind that hearing is highly subjective.  My experiences will in no way be the same as anyone else's and I'm forced to use imprecise terms to describe my efforts.  At 64 yrs old my hearing is relatively good and high frequency noise bothers me more than most.  We all know that the Z7000 is a noisy machine but with time and experience our hearing adapts and we become more proficient with it's tendencies.   So, after 3 or 4 months away from the machine it's like starting all over and wondering, wow this detector is really noisy.   That's how it has been for me over the last couple days out here in Sunny Yuma.  Add in some decent rain last month and certain rock types hold some moisture and became a major hot rock nuisance. 

I hit a deep gully yesterday that had a lot of decomposing course grained granite.  The granite is ordinarily pretty mild, but the left over moisture was making fist sized chunks into high spiking hot rocks.  They're really not the kind of hot rocks that sound like nuggets, the tone is a short high pitch that falls off very quickly.  Going to the Difficult setting really calms them down, but then you're missing small faint nuggets.  Raising the coil and going painfully slow is one solution, as well as keeping detecting sessions short. 

I decided to see if there was some kind of intermediate step with the SteelPHASE system of filters.  After some trail and error I settled on Z7000 settings of High Yield, Normal, Sens 12, Low Smoothing, with just enough threshold to level off the spiking signals.  Then I played with the SteelPHASE.  I used the recommended Mode 1, then went through the various filter settings.  Filter 1 and 2 give me a high "tinny" kind of tone over the hot rocks, not helpful.  Filter 3 as best I can describe dulls all the tones, but was the best choice in this circumstance to dull the high tones of hot rocks.  After a half hr I was cruising along pretty good partly because my hearing was adapting and the SteelPHASE was keeping the annoying hotrocks at a manageable level, or so I think. 

I finally got over a very faint signal well into the side bank of the gully.  I went through everything I could think of to test the equipment.  First I left everything in place and switched to Difficult.  Not a peep.  Then with everything in place I raised and lowered the sensitivity.  Sens below 9, the tone was barely audible and mainly because I knew it was already there.  I doubt it would have stopped me otherwise given all the noise in hotrock heaven.  Raised Sens really made it stand out, but the noise would have been unmanageable for normal prospecting.  Then I unplugged from the SteelPHASE and plugged my earbuds directly into the Z.  The tone was audible over the target and probably enough to stop me in normal prospecting mode.  Back into the SteelPHASE for a comparison.  As best I can tell the SteelPHASE gave me some "separation" from background noise and a bit of "distinction" or "amplification" of the actual target.  By that time I had pulled all the surface hot rocks away, so I was no longer bombarded with that kind of noise.  I switched back and forth a few times and found the SteelPHASE gave me a more noticeable tone, (I think).  

I dug this tiny nugget out and was again amazed at what the Z7000 can do on small gold.  This nugget was back into the side bank and down at least 6 inches.  I think its round ball shape gives it a better density that favors detection at this depth. 

So, with a 6 hrs use on the SteelPHASE in some very limited circumstances, I would say that it is helpful but not a game changer.  Anything that boosts my confidence and keeps me in the field a bit longer will no doubt increase my odds.  Perhaps for the guys who use external speakers and need an amplifier anyway, this is a good1777770038_steelphase002.thumb.jpg.8123515ddacdcdbb524a8b1fc2e275fb.jpg investment.  I just don't use speakers so we'll have to wait for one of them to chime in.   Given its $200.00 pricetag, I give it a neutral thumbs up/down for now.  I'll keep at it, it's early yet and will report more as it happens. 

steelphase 006.jpg

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1 hour ago, beatup said:

Good information Steve keep em coming.I need all the helpfull info i can gather before i head down your way.

Yeah, I'll keep at it Brett.

Probably won't be any nuggets left by the time you get here.  I'm going to attend Bill Southern's deal out at LSD this weekend.  Maybe find some new prospecting ground out there.  If Eric gets lonely down here, have him give me a call.

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JW and Simon,

JP said something about the 7000 volume a long while back and its stuck in my head.  He said something about increasing the volume had the effect of increasing the Sens. I can't remember of the whole context of that observation or its relevance today however;  it occurs to me that in your quiet ground perhaps you could max out the 7000 volume then bring it under control with the volume level on the SP01.  Perhaps you thereby maximize Steve's already Insanely Hot settings.  Mental gymnastics I'm sure, but something to ponder. Wouldn't work here.    

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55 minutes ago, fredmason said:

Very patient testing, Steve...I can never seem to wait, so I just start digging...

Have you tried the Steelphase through/with the wireless module? I would not give up being wireless for hardly anything...

nice little nuggie

fred

Well Fred, you could still be wireless, just an added cable from the WM to the box then your choice of listening equipment plugged into the box.  A bit of redundancy if you wanted to just rely on the simplicity of the WM.   I don't think you can amplify the WM without wiring the box in between so now you're back to the old days of a cable between you and the detector.    The unit comes with about 3ft of heavy duty audio cable, with double ended male, mono headphone connectors.  I'm using a curly corded one that I had from past inventions.  You couldn't do my set-up with the supplied cable unless you disconnect to lay the detector down and dig.  The only reason I did it this way was to keep the fewest number of "connections" between me and the original detector signal.  I will ultimately go with the wireless connection when I decide to do some serious detecting. 

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You can certainly run the sP01 using the wm12 module and it works fine. Just plug the output of the WM12 module to the input of the sP01. I can supply shorter input cables (as well as curly cords) on request.

Here's some info that Nenad at Phase Technical posted regarding settings and using the sP01:

Quote

 

II used to push my Zed a bit in the settings before I incorporated an Enhancer. Now with the sP01 I find it is better to get a very stable threshold as the SteelPhase does such a good job at lifting the real faint signals.

I do a lot of tweaking during each session but my basic go to settings are:

Hot Ground: General, Difficult, Sens 6-12, Volume 9, Low Smoothing, Ground Smoothing Off

Milder Ground: High Yield, Normal, Sens 6-11, Volume 8, Low or High Smoothing, Ground Smoothing Patch Locate.

I nearly always use Semi Auto ground balance and just keep an eye on the ferrite balance.

 

Hope this helps those that are unsure of settings.

regards Pat

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