Exp II moving crosshairs

[Arcadian]

Sometimes the Smartfind crosshairs will jump around on the display screen, even though I'm getting a strong audible signal. Sometimes I don't dig these, if the machine doesn't seem to lock on to anything, but other times it's hard to ignore them because they have a good pinpoint signal. I have the detector set to accept coins and jewelry and reject the other options in Select. What's going on when the crosshairs jump to two or three different locations in, or along the edges of, the clear areas in the display screen? Is it safe to ignore this kind of signal for the most part?

[TonyinCT]

Not necessarily. i would dig a few to see what targets they are and go from there.

[Gregory]

You'll find the crosshair in the Advanced-Smart mode. Its all I use but I rarely look at the screen.
Most cases when the crosshair is jumpy it is not a desirable tarket but for the record I have dug coins by a piece of iron which would make it jump.
Its simular to your DFX boobster. When your VDI is jumping all over the place.
This is why I just listen to my tones. I pretty much know copper, nickel & silver tones.
The picture below is my coin program. Notice all the black being discriminated out. Most coins will be in the upper right :)

I'll do a video on a field test using my coin program with the Explorer II soon.
I've only been using the EXII for 1 1/2 years so I still have a lot to learn and I'm enjoying every minute of it

[Gregory]

Sorry, just uploaded it

[Gregory]

Originally Posted by boobieinPa

still nothing

Are you saying that you don't see the picture?

[DougsGraphics]

Arcadian: One caution about the ExII smart mode and discriminating out all but coins and jewelry. Be sure that the detector still points out gold! Try it on a ring or other gold jewelry. The default discrimination mask for pulltabs will generally discriminate out gold as well -- found that by accident one day!

Generally, the moving crosshairs indicate a signal that is coming back in a variety of phase angle shifts, possibly due to different metals, or, commonly due to the corrosion products on the surface of iron materials. If I don't get a consistent signal and pinpointing doesn't give a good locally focussed signal, I generally ignore them depending on the area. I've dug a lot of old pieces of corroded iron material from these signals, enough to feel confident in what my detector is telling me. (Also pay close attention to the null-outs to determine what the ExII is discriminating out). Anyway, that's my $0.02 worth!

[daveo44]

I hunt in the mode that shows your numbers and also pictures of what it may possably be. Learn the good numbers and listen for that high tone. Try that see if that helps. I don't use that grid system.. Like the others said dig some and see what it is turning up... Ky. RELICHUNTER

[Arcadian]

Thanks, Doug, for the tip on gold. I'm gonna check that out today.

As I mentioned, I have been digging some of these jumping crosshair signals. Most, but not all, turned out to be aluminum can parts. Thanks for all the comments, I guess an ExpII owner just has to listen/look at enough signals to recognize what his/her machine is saying. As Doug points out, a percentage of the total signals will be genuinely ambiguous--could be one thing, or could be something different--and no amount of experience fix that.

Since I'm brand-new at this, I decided I'm going to start a log indicating where finds show up on the display screen, and if the crosshairs jump or not. This might be easier to do with the digital data, as you could just jot down the conductivity and ferrous content numbers. Now that I think about it, I wonder why Minelab didn't just make the digital data available on one QuickStart screen, so you didn't have to toggle back and forth.... Anyway, I can see all of this will be a whole lot more fun when I can tell from the signal what I'm going to dig up.

[Arcadian]

Went out in the yard this morning with some different targets, checked each in Digital and Quickstart. Often, I'd get jumping crosshairs even with clean targets placed on a quiet spot on the surface. Then I started slowing my swing--boy does that make a difference. The ExpII would lock on to a target much faster if my swing was VERY slow--about 6 inches/sec. Even a gold nugget wouldn't get a solid lock until I slowed way down. Likewise, digital readings became much more consistent after I moved the coil very slowly over the target 3 or 4 times. I did this with both gold and silver, and got the same results.

[DougsGraphics]

Yep... slow & low are requirements!!! Actually, I have found that swinging on the quick side gets me more false positives which can then be "confirmed" by slowing down and checking out the area of indication carefully and slowly. I have double checked areas I've moved rather quickly through on the first pass and not found anything that I missed, so I don't think I'm missing anything/much in my "quick" mode, but you gotta decide what works best for you and the area you're searching.