Estimating Target Size And Depth - Bounty Hunter TimeRanger Owner's Manual

In some areas, electrically conductive industrial minerals such as
coke, slag, and charcoal have been dumped or used as landfill.
Individual lumps of these materials can usually be quieted by
reducing sensitivity and discriminating out iron and foil; however
when the ground consists primarily of such materials, you may not
be able to search quietly. In that case, you can tell the difference
between nonferrous targets and "false signals" by their
repeatability: a nonferrous metal target will usually give a
consistent signal, whereas false signals from ground minerals are
inconsistent and seem to wander around randomly.
Rarely, natural graphite, graphitic slate, magnetite, or sulfide ore
minerals can cause false signals. These can be dealt with in the
same way as other ground minerals unless you're gold prospecting.
THE 4 INCH COIL In many cases, the 4 inch accessory coil will
reduce problems with electrical interference slightly, and "slightly" is
often all you need.
The 4 inch coil is almost always superior to the 8 inch in dealing with
problem ground minerals. It's the preferred coil for gold prospecting.
L Estimating target size, depth, and shape
The Time Ranger™ provides a readout of estimated depth when in
the discrimination ID modes. The estimate is based on the
presumption that it's a coin-sized target. But what if it's not a coin
sized target?
The most common example is that of an aluminum can. It will
usually I.D. as a zinc penny or a dime. And, its large size will give a
strong signal, tricking the microprocessor into thinking it's a
shallow coin. Here's how to tell the difference.
Tap the ALL METAL button to put the machine into All Metal
Pinpoint operation. With the searchcoil close to the ground sweep
back and forth to get a feel for the target response.
Now, continue to sweep back and forth as you slowly raise the
searchcoil higher and higher. If the response diminishes quickly and
never gets very broad, the target is probably a coin. If the response
diminishes slowly as you raise the searchcoil, and you get a broad
response, the target is probably an aluminum can. If you practice
this by laying a coin and an aluminum can on the ground, after
you've done it several times you'll know the difference, and you'll
probably never have to dig another aluminum can again. And, you'll
know whether it was deep or shallow. (This technique also works in
Self-Tuning All Metal operation, which is Preset Program #4.)
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