Smooth timings addiction

First topic message reminder :

How many out there are addicted to just the smooth class of timings.?

Having been an eastern states operator i was not always taken in by the smooth timings, admittedly i do use them often now but keep active with the use of s/extra timing as often as i can. Switching from one to the other is tiresome but rewarding....not always gold at the bottom of a hole but a target none the less on most occasions.
This all started for me with the 4000 as i was not taken in with s/smooth for some time when i first got the machine. Finding more benefit from the s/smooth timing mainly when storm activity was rampage. Flicking into s/smooth gave me some relief from two out of the three forms of interferences present while detecting. Ground noise and hot rocks virtually eliminated leaving mostly atmospherics to deal with.
The lack of depth was an issue after a while of only digging shallow targets, however the odd deepish targets were still being dug out and many being gold. The big clincher came from working a notorious hot rock area where the use of S/E was tormenting to say the least. Testing the ability of s/smooth to detect a suspect hot rock and switching back to S/E for the comparison, soon saw me opting to use s/smooth more often as the target turned out to be a nice bit of gold below the rock. Where as S/E was more of a broad signal hiding the lower target.
After some time of seeing the benefit you become all to addicted to the smooth thresh and before long your a full blown addict. Retraining yourself to use the older timings becomes almost imposable. Most opt to use one of the smooth timings over ground that its not really warranted on. This leaves gold in the ground for others to find and the circle of gold being found on flogged fields by many will always be so.

Iv had a go at showing others how to set up their GPXs to work ground that we found gold in with the GP series, and the attitude has mostly been bias towards the smooth timings...possibly because they had no time with the GP series working the same ground we are now with the GPXs.

A simple test for old and new operators is to find a subtle target in your chosen smooth timing, switch over to S/E and alter the detector so its able to work the ground around the target. Once your GB is set and the ground around is now quite as it was in your smooth timing, wave it over the target.
When shown how to do this, most freak out at the very low gain setting to enable the detector to GB properly and shit themselves once waved over the target....yet remark at the quietness of the detector when switched from a smooth timing to a normal timing.

Certainly not gospel, just a method thats worked for me and a few that report back the same.

I am sure I am preaching to the converted
when I say that a DD coil in the right conditions
is amazing on a 5000.
So many people just toss this coil into a corner when they get their 5k.
Big mistake.

Narrawa and everyone,
this is the best thread I have read in many months
thanks to everyone who has contributed.

Inny

As with a lot of these sorts of claims, it is difficult to make an informed comment unless we have all their settings. Maybe he's very experienced with the SD but needs a bit of time with the 5000.
Just a thought.

Robert

Cheers Flak and all

And to everyone else who have had input in this thread, these types of discussions are very relevant
and always will be, its a part of detector knowledge that always needs to be addressed as the change
in technology advances with every new Model, its also very important as not every person can afford
the newest models so it gives them food for thought in relation to the differences in earlier models
to the current models....

As Narrawa stated, this season in the whole country we are gonna have some serious problems with
the salt rising to the surface from the heavy rains, we had some prolonged heavy rains here (Wa) last
season that caused many to call trips off, be bogged in camp, and stuck in van parks for weeks, after
that the instability from salt was a shocker in some places, so this season will be a time to have a go
with the "Salt" timings on the 45 and 5k if this gets to be a problem.

The "Salt Course" on the 45, and the "Salt Gold" on the 5k are very powerful timings when used under
the right conditions, they enable us to get onto gold otherwise missed due to the whining & groaning
due to salt laden ground that in the past saw us running for a DD coil in cancel mode or a Coiltek
Anti-Interference coil to tame the salty dragon, so this season if you do think that salt could be a problem
in your chosen area signified by a "weeee sound in one direction & waaaaaaa in the other" try the Salt
Timings with a Mono coil and you will be back in the game....
For the People with the SD/GP models it will still be a case of a DD in Cancel mode or preferably get your
hands on a Coiltek Anti-Interference coil and run it as you would normally run a DD coil settings wise..

The 2 most popular sizes in the Anti-Interference coils are 14" round and 17x11 Elliptical, with the 11" round
for use in tight scrubby spots...
Sensitivity on these coils is roughly between a DD and a Mono but still way ahead of running a DD in Cancel Mode..


Pete

goldnomad wrote:Inny

Maybe he's very experienced with the SD but needs a bit of time with the 5000.
Just a thought.

Robert

Thats quite correct Robert, he has only used the thing for 2 short days so he's in
for a learning period for sure.

He said you can make it quite but referred to that as dumbing it down.

I don't know about that, I have to stop myself from buying one to find out, because
I knew that last year and this year, I was not going to be doing a lot of detecting.

I have to wonder what may be out by the end of this year.

One thing i think that would help a lot of the new chums and old ones is, how the timings work.
Im sure there is as good explanation of the different timings and the pulse lengths somewhere on the net. A reliable source, not hearsay from naysayers. i think Minelab had a chart up somewhere explaining the timings.???

When you combine just a small amount of this into the operation of your detecting, it can help you determine so much about the ground your on. That takes away a lot of guess work once your bought into line on just a few things about the operational side of the detector. This may also stop you opting for a timing thats not warranted for the ground type your on.
An example i faced....
I was stumped when working an area that by all accounts, had no reason i could see to be noisy ground.
It had nothing, yet it was gold bearing ground, some research into over irrigation lead me to my findings on this particular area.....which was for many years under water. Bingo!!!
After settling on more suitable settings for this area it was noticeably easier to take home the pudding, yet not the whole area was effected by the rising salt/mineralization. Some soil types from this area were exactly the same down the road a few ks but totally different to detect over and not effected by being drowned....and it was this that made me look into it.
To some people these small things are evident strait away, others it takes time and some never click.