F2 Test Garden - Uh oh...

I took Cody's advice and placed some coins in a test spot to see if my F2 was able to find them. I buried a penny, nickel, dime, and quarter all at exactly 6 deep and covered them up. I also checked the area first and made sure there was no iron anywhere near the coins. The F2 missed the penny and and nickel completely and almost missed the dime. I could get it to show if I swung really slow but even then it was ringing in as 08 to 20ish (dime on the F2 is 76-78. The quarter it saw at 6 but it rang up as iron also 08 to 12 with an occasional high tone if I swung slow enough. >:#

So I don't know if I have a bad machine or if maybe the ground is mineralized and it is just struggling. based on what I saw today I will have to dig every target even if it is low iron numbers because it could be a quarter at 5-6 >{ >{ >{

I had come to the conclusion that I had good soil here because I run at max sensitivity with absolutely zero chatter or falsing.

Anyone have any suggestions? I am stumped! :dontknow:

Freshly deep buried coins do not sound off as well as deep coins that have been in the ground for a few years . If you can find someone ( perhaps a dealer or a coin club member) with a coin garden that's been in the ground for awhile you would get a better test result . There's probably nothing wrong with your machine you are probably hunting areas where the majority of the 5 to 6 coins have been harvested and the deeper ones may only be in the range of a more powerful machine . Does your machine have manual ground balace ? How much discrimination are you using ? Dirt between the coil + cover , weak batteries ?

I'm on land thats been in my family since the mid 1800's and as far as me or anyone in the family knows it has never been hunted. The F2 does not have manual GB and I don't have a coil cover. Also I have it set with zero discrimination because I read that you give up depth when you start using the disc/notch features. As far as finding someone else with a test garden I have never seen another detectorist in my 32 years.

I just ordered the 10 coil so maybe that will be enough to get the extra depth. I just don't want miss a bunch of targets because of a broken machine lol

Well it appears you are doing everything you can right . The 10 coil may do the trick . Maybe there is something wrong with the machine . Ground balance does make a major difference on a machine though . Whatever it is I hope it gets squared away for you soon . 32 years and not seen another detectorist ? that has got to be some kind of record , It's crawling with them in my neck of the woods and has been for some time . :yes:

I hope so too - My dad cannot remember ever seeing anyone metal detect either. I'm sure there are people here that do but not often enough to get caught! rofl

Should be some nice finds in my area when/if I can get a machine that gets deep enough to find them.

Thank you for your help! My dad will have an Ace 250 this week and I can compare the two machines to make sure that the F2 is not missing something that it should pick up. As long as they do about the same then I'd guess nothing is wrong with the F2.

Depth is a very subjective issue. I think that lots of people tend to be optimistic about the depth that they achieve with their detectors. I know lots of areas that have been detected to death with every machine that has ever been on the market, but as soon as construction equipment shaves off as little as a couple of inches the silver dimes start jumping.

I think that 6 inches of depth is a reasonable result in most places and with most machines.

Have you been finding any old coins to begin with?

3 Wheats, 1 Buffalo since Christmas - I'm on my 4th set of 9v batteries at about ~20hrs each set so I have been trying >:{

I started to question the F2 after noticing I wasn't getting any coins deeper than 4. I will be happy if when I get the 10 concentric coil I am able to reach 6-7 in depth. I don't think I am asking too much from the F2 there :blush:

Sheik I just checked and the closest MD store to me is just over an hour away and they don't even have a website or a yellow pages ad. You can't even get them around here so before the internet they were especially rare!

Hi

I used the ACE 250 for awhile and from my experience and that of others, it will not be accurate in terms of identifying targets more than about 5 in depth... and that is in good soil. The F2 is a similar machine with similar capabilities from what I have heard.

Your soil may be good/not mineralized but with a preset ground balance it might not still be the ultimate setting for your particular soil.

I don't think there is anything wrong with your machine. I think you are seeing the limitations of your detector versus a higher-end one. It just is what it is. You will get more accurate identification at greater depths with a higher end machine that you can customize a bit more for your particular hunting experiences.

I too agree with those who said that a new coin garden does not represent a coin buried for a long time.

The bigger coil might help an inch or so in depth, but you will lose some ability to separate trash from good finds and some accuracy in pinpointing. Those are the tradeoffs. It is why many of us end up upgrading.

Thanks Epi - I hope that at some point I will be able to upgrade but I think I will be using the F2 for quite a while so it is what it is I guess

It is... and it can be very good :happydance01: I found my very first and still my best coin with my ACE 250. A seated half dollar.

Learn the machine, dig the iffy targets, and you will do great. :yes:

oke: I agree with epi-hunter. It's just the limitations of the detector. I'm not a pro by a long shot. But I think you get what you pay for. When ever anybody asks about prices. I always tell them. Don't buy the cheapest. But you don't have to buy the most expensive either. I also agree that learning the limitations of your machine. Will also help in deciding what targets to dig, or not to dig. I didn't know the F2 had the preset GB. That probebly makes alot of difference. Good Luck! :groovy:

Well I am happy overall with the f2. It is my first and I didn't want to go overboard and find out I didn't even like the hobby. If it takes me a year to be able to upgrade then that will be a lot of targets cleaned out of the 1-6 range lol

I wouldn't put to much faith in the results from a freshly buried test garden. I did the same thing when I bought a Minelab Explorer SE last August and was shocked at the results from my new test garden.

There's still a 7 silver dime in my back yard that I can't get a response from. lol But, I have made natural coin finds up to 10 this year at several places.

It is always possible your machine might be faulty... but the best way to rule out that theory is spend about 20 hours hunting that old property your family owns. :-> I'll bet you hit some 6 targets within 20 hours. :yes: When you come across a 5+ target, cycle through your discrimination programs over the item before you dig it and see if any patterns affect depth.

Let us know how it turns out.

I have never used an F2, but I have used entry level machines the whole time I have been metal detecting these past three and a half years. I have used a bounty hunter lone star and now a White's Coinmaster. I have dug coins as deep as 8 inches, but you have to go slow and be very patient. And most of all you have to put in the time to know your machine regardless of what machine you have. Sounds like you have a great opportunity to make some really great finds on your property, just remember patience, patience and more of the same.

I agree with Epi-hunter and milco. I suggested the test garden mainly to see if it would pick up a target deeper than 4 inches. When I first got a MD years ago it was a Whites Basic. I got burnt out real quick having to dig just about every target. This time when I started with the F4 with the 11&quot:grin:cheesysmile: coil it was like the difference between a Chevy caviler and a Mustang GT. Because of that experince I would always suggest to start with the mid range machines. And if a person didn't like it they could always get some of their money back on Ebay. The GB does make a LOT of difference. Hang in there my friend. The people here, with a lot more time than I, have a lot of good advice.

Thank you all for the advice/help. There was no way financially that I could have started with anything other than the F2 or Ace 250. It will work tho until I can upgrade sometime in the future I was able to get the Pro-Pointer so I can dig more targets and I think that will help a lot as well. It gets here sometime this week!