Basics Of Metal Detecting; Ground Minerals; Trash; Identifying Buried Objects - Teknetics Omega 8500 Owner's Manual

THE BASICS OF METAL DETECTING
A hobby metal detector is intended for locating buried metal objects. When
searching for metals, underground or on the surface, you have the following
challenges and objectives:
1. Ignoring signals caused by ground minerals.
2. Ignoring signals caused by metal objects that you do not want to find,
like pull-tabs.
3. Identifying a buried metal object before you dig it up.
4. Estimating the size and depth of objects, to facilitate digging them up.
5. Eliminating the effects of electromagnetic interference from other
electronic devices.
Your metal detector is designed with these things in mind.
All soils contain minerals. Signals from ground minerals can interfere with the

1. Ground Minerals

signals from metal objects you want to find. All soils differ, and can differ
greatly, in the type and amount of ground minerals present. You therefore want
to "calibrate" the detector to the specific ground conditions where you are
detecting. This detector incorporates both automated and manual ground-
balancing features which will eliminate false signals from most types of soils.
If you want to maximize the detector's target identification accuracy and depth
of detection, use the GROUND GRAB
Computerized Ground Balancing for details.
If searching for coins, which will induce higher tone sounds, you want to

2. Trash

ignore items like aluminum foil, nails, and pull-tabs. These undesirable
items induce lower tones. You can listen to the sounds of all objects
detected, and decide on what you want to dig up. Or you can eliminate
unwanted metals from detection by using the DISCRIMINATION features.
When searching in the DISCRIMINATION Mode, different objects induce

3. Identifying Buried Objects

different tones (high, medium, low, bass) and are classified on the display
screen in different categories. A 3-digit numerical reading is also provided in the
middle of the display for more precise target identification. The
DISCRIMINATION Mode requires motion: sweep the coil over the metal object.
When using the detector in the motion DISCRIMINATION Mode, the relative

4. Size and Depth of Buried Objects

depth of an object is displayed in the center of the display with the SIGNAL
strength indicator. A more accurate depth reading is available in a no-motion
search, using PINPOINT. PinPoint displays approximate target depth in
inches. This no-motion feature does not require the coil to be in motion to
detect metals. The ability to hold the searchcoil motionless over the target
also aids in tracing an outline of the buried object, or in pinpointing the exact
location of the object using techniques described in the pinpointing section.
. See the section on GROUND GRAB
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Basics of Metal Detections continued on next page
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