Target ID Is Lower Before Digging, And Higher After Disturbing The Sand. Is This Normal?

[Sirius]

I've heard of some people coming across this issue with the VDI numbers, (myself included) where a target in the wet sand starts at 25-35 then shoots up to zinc pennies numbers of 45-46 right after digging. It would seem like The Legend is weak in this regard compared to other detectors, but I only own the Legend so I cannot make comparisons. So I wanted to ask those who own multiple detectors: Is the target ID numbers of buried objects in wet sand more inaccurate for the Legend, compared to other brands? If so, we should definitely petition Nokta to fix this issue in upcoming updates. 

[Chase Goldman]

Depends on the type of target, but it is not unusual because just about everything but gold corrodes in that environment.  A conductive corrosion induced "halo" can form around the target while it sits in the situ can depress target ID until the target is disturbed and the corrosion halo is broken.  Multiple adjacent targets, especially targets of widely different conductivities in the same hole can also exhibit this behavior.  This is not unusual behavior for many detectors, but I don't have enough experience with the Legend at the beach to make a judgment as to whether it is better or worse than other detectors.

[Sirius]

I did not know that! I guess i'll have to deal with these iffy signals then.

[F350Platinum]

10 hours ago, Sirius said:

I did not know that! I guess i'll have to deal with these iffy signals then.

Welcome to detecting. 🙂 You entered the hobby at a good time, for the most part the "beep dig" detectors are pretty much done. It's far from perfect but light years ahead of what it used to be. I tried it many years ago and was put off by the uncertainty.

My favorite iffy signal is a "gettinbetter", one that starts out mid-range and ends up being a high conductor like silver. The good comes with the bad. Keeping at it will bring you better results over time. Learn to laugh at pull tabs and bottle caps 🤣

And guess what? If you get another detector you start all over again. 😀

The more you understand what you read here, the sharper your skill will become, but nothing beats persistence.

[Sirius]

On 2/4/2023 at 5:24 AM, F350Platinum said:

Welcome to detecting. 🙂 You entered the hobby at a good time, for the most part the "beep dig" detectors are pretty much done. It's far from perfect but light years ahead of what it used to be. I tried it many years ago and was put off by the uncertainty.

My favorite iffy signal is a "gettinbetter", one that starts out mid-range and ends up being a high conductor like silver. The good comes with the bad. Keeping at it will bring you better results over time. Learn to laugh at pull tabs and bottle caps 🤣

And guess what? If you get another detector you start all over again. 😀

The more you understand what you read here, the sharper your skill will become, but nothing beats persistence.

My favorite signal is "this is probably a nickel" Breaking the halo doesn't change the signal (cause there probably wasn't one to begin with) and it stays within the range of 23-25. If you lower your expectations you won't be disappointed as often. But the surprises are always welcome. (I have yet to find gold rings though!)