Many are the emails that I get from people that step up to a top end metal detector and try it out in two or three minutes in the yard and then PANIC!!. Especially if you switch brands from what you have been using. The reason for the panic is that the detector makes too much noise, too little, sounds funny, or they totally freak out over the complicated controls. Very often going back to the manual only adds to the problem as the strange techno-phrases are impossible to understand from a new users frame of mind. One of the best uses of the forums is to simply post what kind of detector that you have and your problems. Folks will help you out by explaining all the strange terms that you are having problems with and just how to use it correctly.

Another prime reason is the difference between silent search machines and the ones that do not use silent search. For some time I could not figure out what the heck was silent search since it beeped when I found something. I guess that you need to try a machine that does not have it to see what the difference is. For instance some deep search detectors still use the noisy search, which defined, means that you will hear the snap, crackle, and pop as it discriminates out trash. This is not necessarily bad!! For instance if you are hunting in the corn fields and start hearing this then you probably have located an old homesite and should slow down and look for goodies. All the background noise that you pickup serves a purpose but it can freak some people out who are not used to it.

Then there is the user that sets up the detector where it will drive him crazy and blames the detector because it doesn't work right and trades it off as soon as he gets it! Maybe you are beginning to see the point of my difficulty trying to explain that is 99% pilot error when people are just ready to blame the manufacturer for a bad machine. These high-end machines have been upgraded and perfected over decades incorporating user suggestions to please the most users and offer a good product. If you want to get a new machine please try one out first. Ask another hunter to try his machine and how he sets it up before ordering something that you know nothing about. The detectors are like different tools and made for certain things. One of the larger problems is that you will never see the manufacturer explaining the machines use and special purposes, only a generalized category.

I have used a wide field of detectors and many the time I got hold of a new model that did not seem to make sense. I guess that I had better tell you that I am one of those strange people who do not read the manual unless everything else fails. I look at any new hardware or software as what I would expect out of it and find what controls that I need to achieve that end. I know, it seems weird to you, but it works for me, and it is much faster. I am one of those non-traditional thinkers that do not think in linear progression. Part of the problem is that most people use their brain to memorize information by visualization, in one form or another, but I have no ability to visualize anything!! I have managed somehow all these years to muddle through while avoiding manuals as much as possible. haha

If you are one of those folks that have experienced that panic when you are sure that the detector is not working right then here is my advice to you. First define exactly what you are having a problem with and do not generalize but be specific. Always use a test bed of buried coins that you know just how deep they are so that you can compare every detectors performance on that standard. In the first place if you are disappointed with the depth try it under different conditions. Some detectors work much better when the coins have been in the ground a long time and have built up a halo of metal salts around the object and some work just exactly opposite! Some work much better in very damp ground and some in very dry ground. Those things you should know before you buy a detector but the manufacturer won't tell you because they restrict operation under all conditions. Those however are the realities.

One of the stranger problems is that people who have used weak, cheap detectors and finally upgrade to a new powerful unit then complain like mad because of all the signals! They would seem to be happier knowing only what is under the first few inches of the coil because when they can hear signals from objects over a foot deep they panic.

Before you freak out just take the machine out to a non trashy place and hunt with it for a while and do not believe everything that you read or hear. Just take your time and dig everything, even trash until you can see what the detector is doing. Better bring a deeper digging tool when you get one of those nice new beepers that can find some deep targets. I still see people out hunting with a shallow tool in places where I dig targets at 15 inches. I think that people setup some machines where they are much quieter to please them and of course they will not hear the deep signals.

After you get used to your new detector and can find something with it then don't be afraid to boost the sensitivity, and try everything! Do you ever recall people telling you that if you don't ground balance the detector that you will not get the deep targets? I do! The other day I noticed that I could find deeper things by setting the ground balance back to zero! If you don't just try different things for yourself, you may own that machine for years and never know how to use it.