Number Of Notches / Target ID Range

[Steve Herschbach]

Updated my post above to add this template for use by myself and others when talking about target id segments and where targets appear, etc. You can create color versions like the one on the previous page by using a simple program like Microsoft paint to change the colors of the black squares. Click for larger version.

[Redneck]

Trying to pick out rings amongst the alum tabs.  Here is where a 100 point target scale would be helpful.  I  use a rutus alter 71 for picking rings out of the trash.  It has 120 segments, 40 are iron.  Most alum tabs bounce a few numbers, where as rings  lock into one number  ( Most of the time , and down to about 5 inches. )  I have called some of the rings , before I dug them.  Now some square tabs do read out as one number, and I get fooled.  

With the EQX having half the segments, my guess is the tabs will not bounce as much, making it harder to tell if its a ring or junk.  Steve, do the alum tabs tend to bounce much, or do most lock into one number?  Ring hunting may be harder with the EQX,  but gosh, the machine can't  be the best in all areas!

[Steve Herschbach]

Target lock and bounce are related more to the shape of the target than anything. Nice round full pull tabs give nice, clean solid locks. Anything not round with square or pointy edges tend to bounce or break up. Round gold rings give beautiful, clean signals. Gold ear rings, chains, pendants - anything with square or pointy edges will tend to bounce or break up.

My V3i has 190 target segments, 95 iron and 95 positive. The CTX has 1750 potential target id results. More target segments allows more room for bouncy signals to occur. Fewer segments creates more positive target id locks by lumping more potential targets under one target id. There is a trade occurring between target resolution and stability to a certain degree, but stability starts first with the target itself, and then continues on with the detector itself. The CTX is a good example of how a detector with lots of target id segments can still have solid locks, and other detectors with far fewer segments can have far jumpier numbers.

One of the biggest causes of jumpy target id numbers is too much gain/sensitivity.

Most detectors have fewer target id segments or bins than the Equinox and some have more. Whether 40 is enough, too few, or too many, I am sure people will differ on. The bottom line is I can tell a round ring or nickel from a scrunched aluminum item. An old 70’s style round ring pull tab - not so much. I have used the V3i and many detectors to cherry pick this “roundness”, which can be heard. The problem at the end of the day is that for every target id number on every detector, there are both gold and aluminum targets that give perfectly identical signals. Eliminating any one segment eliminates both the gold and the aluminum target. You can play percentage games with select notching and try to read targets for roundness versus irrregular shape, but in the end it is gambling. I usually just dig everything from foil to zinc and call it good.

Metal Detectors With Reliable Target ID Numbers

[dewcon4414]

like Steve said...... some people beach hunting looking just for gold on a given day will disc penny and above.  Its a percentage game......and more of a tone game than a digit one since i have gotten gold with the same digit as a penny..... but that tone was a bit different somehow.    After several hours we go into zombie mode... especially if we were used to dirt digging.... hearing only high tones.  An occasional hunt not listening to pennies and above can prove interesting.    Take a look at some of those beach programs on the CTX.   They disc out a lot..... i dont mostly because after a hour of swinging my arm gets tired if i dont dig lol.  The problem with notching....... and this machine seems to note it is that notch of a single digit bleeds up or down by a couple of digits.  ML obviously knows that.  

[Steve Herschbach]

A target id video...

Another thread with target id information