ASSEMBLING YOUR DETECTOR
3
The length of the handling should be adjusted in a
way
that the detector does not become tiring or
uncomfortable after long use. The detector grip should
rest in your hand with your arm relaxed, with the shaft
extending out in front of you. You should be able to
swing the detector back and forth in front of you,
using relaxed shoulder movement. The search coil
should not touch the ground during your sweep.
The angle of the search coil should allow its bottom
to be parallel to the ground, as shown on Figure
2
.
Swing the detector from side to side in about three
foot arc, overlapping succeeding strokes well. The
detector is designed to get maximum depth without
the requirement for speed of sweeps, so go at a
pace that is comfortable for you. In fact, trying to
hunt too fast may even cause a loss of depth in heavily mineralized
locations. Regardless of which mode you are using, try to keep your search
coil height constant and at about an inch over the ground surface.
Most people tend to raise the coil at the end of
the sweeps, much like a pendulum, especially if
they are in a hurry (Figure 2)
Try to avoid this as any increase in the operational
height from the ground will cause a corresponding
loss of detection depth. This is easy in lawns,
where you just allow the coil to rest on the grass as
you sweep from side to side. In rough and rocky
areas it is not so easy.
Hitting the ground or rocks may cause false signals.
The sharp lowering, pressing the coil to the ground,
especially in wet and heavily mineralized grounds,
could also cause false signals.
Figure
2
Figure
3
