Question About Signal

[smartfox]

This happens to me maybe like 4 or 5 times every so often. I get a signal then dig then i scan again to make sure I got it then when I filter the sand there is nothing there but when i scan the dirt there is nothing there too. WHY IS THAT?

[Dull Knife]

Originally Posted by smartfox

This happens to me maybe like 4 or 5 times every so often. I get a signal then dig then i scan again to make sure I got it then when I filter the sand there is nothing there but when i scan the dirt there is nothing there too. WHY IS THAT?

I'd bet that the target was in the dirt that you dug out of the hole. I never dig until I have located the target with my ice pick....then when I'm on the target with the pick, I probe just around it with my knive trying to find the edge of the target. After I have located the edge, I can usually just shove the knive in a little further and push it to one side and pull the object out, with out making a large hole. Making large holes and not filling them in, eventually leads to not being able to hunt there anymore.
Or maybe your target was on edge, and when you dug, you moved it, or maybe you are setting your discriminator too tight.... I've found that setting my discriminator too tight, I will miss rings and some coins too.
I do not set my discriminator real high....sure, I'll get some trash, but I have a better crack at the good stuff too.....I believe we should strive to get rid of the trash too.

[FinalLastDays]

I recently finished reading Charles Garrett's book "The New Successful Coin Hunting". The following is a paragraph on the same exact situation you are facing:

"Occasionally I hear about a person thinking he has dug a false hole when he gets a signal, cuts a plug and then can get no signal either from the plug or the hole itself. Here's what may have happened. The coin might have become dislodged from the plug during your digging and fallen into the loose dirt at the bottom of the hole where it is standing in a vertical position. Because it is no longer lying flat in the ground, you can't get a signal from it. So, even though your detector no longer gives a signal from that hole, dig out a little more and sift the dirt through your fingers."

He goes on to say:

"Foil can also create the impression of a false hole after it produces a metallic response on your detector. When you are digging, the small piece of foil crumples or becomes rolled up into a tiny ball. Then, there's no signal, either from the dirt your dug up or from the hole itself. Foil explains the mystery."

I hope this can help you. I, too, have trouble with the same situation, and I find that the Vibra Probe helps out a lot. However sometimes I find that I cannot even find the target with or without the Vibra Probe, even if I continue to get a signal... eventually after many long minutes of digging I wind up giving up and fill the hole back in and wonder what it was that I didn't dig out. Good luck!

[smartfox]

I think that sometimes the item goes to a side and also yesterday i caught myselfshaking my scoop and the pennie that i had went flying out. luckily i retrieved it. thanks

[l38ranger]

Your not alone i have done the same thing and dug up nothing, kinda strange, i make sure i get a good signal swinging back and forth then dig and nothing...... Go figure!!!!

[Joe(TX)]

These are sometimes caused when the sensitivity on your detector is set too high. Also some detectors have a an automatic threshold mode such as ADS or SAT and some people do not know the difference between a regular signal and a overshoot signal! Also after checking the plug and hole and you do not find the target, switch to all-metals mode and check the hole again. Most all-metals modes seem to go deeper plus it may be a piece of ferrous material that is playing havoc with your machine! GOOD LUCK JOE

[Boobird]

This has happened to me once or twice also...I do most of my MD'ing at the beach...so it makes no difference how big a hole you make...(as long as you fill it back in)....anyway, I'd get a strong signal both ways, pause a few seconds and check out all of my readings...Pinpoint the target, putting the strongest signal directly over the target, dig, put the sand aside in small piles..then go back over the hole...Then I get no signal, so I sweep the small mounds of sand and wa-laaa get a good signal again..But...I see no target...I get out the probe...It buzzes...I look...see nothing...Get highly PO'd and say to myself..I KNOW there's metal some where around here...Then I feel for it with my fingers...and once again..wa-laa...Half of a pull tab...after cussing the thing out..I resweep the area and nothing...It was that lil hunk of pull tab making ALL that commotion...But..I love it..lol....


Boobird...

[DiggerJohnPA]

I have had this happen many times and can agree with everyone here. More often than not, I find that if this happens and I am sure it was a coin I was digging, the disappearing signal is due to the fact that I broke the halo. If the coin has been in the ground for a while and has developed a good halo, once I break the ground and disturb the dirt, the halo disappears. I can usually find the target by just moving the dirt around in the hole and also breaking the plug up into small pieces. I just move the dirt around until the detector can find the target.

[dewcon]

Nails are a very good example of the halo effect. When they are located just at the limit of your dectector you will get a wrap around effect from the iron making it respond on the positive side. Sometimes just removing a couple inches of top soil does it.

[smartfox]

I can see you are really a pro at this and I am only a beginner. Thanks.