CZ3D Tips - Dave WVAdirtdigger

Raymond’s comparison

Hi. I am sneaking onto my wife’s computer again! Doesn’t happen often. I am a occasional forum lurker. Can’t stand typing! And I mostly lurk the Minelab forums. Got several experiences that I want to share, so I must type. I’m a recently retired civil attorney on a fact finding mission.
Personally, I needed burden-of-proof to know which of my 3 detectors shined the most. I’m probably going to bash all three, and also praise all three. I have the most hours, probably about 650 hours, on the Explorer. This makes me more partial towards the Explorer. Sorry.

Cut to the chase. Took all three detectors to several areas during the past 2 weeks. A good friend came along a few times with his CZ-70. The first area, I found eleven targets that I marked with poker chips. Found these targets with the CZ-3D with sensitivity on 5, volume on 3, enhance mode, and ground balance on 5. The first target was 8 inches deep and registered coins-all. The Explorer said 8 inches deep and upper-right coin reading. The C$ said 16 for signal strength and the ID numbers were bouncing between 16 and 51. The CZ-70 said coins-all and also 8 inches deep. Recovered the target. A 1944 wheat penny. All detectors made a good call.

The next target was awesome! The CZ-3D said 9 inches deep nickel, hi-tone. The CZ-70 said it was foil, medium tone. The Explorer also said about 9 inches, but ID‘d the target as something just barely above iron, not where nickels normally hit. The C$ was weird. I was on the 5/25 setting and could not detect the target. Jumped to 7/25. No target. Jumped to 9/25 and still no target. Jumped to 9/5 threshold. Now I was occasionally hearing something, but nothing I would dig. Then I changed to a threshold setting of zero and kept sensitivity on 9. Now the Coin$trike would see the target every time, but the numbers were jumping between negative and positive. Still nothing I would dig. Sensitivity on 10, and still no change of status. Switched back to the CZ-3D and recovered the target. Turned out to be a 1889 V nickel. Wow! The CZ-3D trumped all the other detectors and got one!

Next target turned out to be a 3 inch deep aluminum screw-cap off of a soda bottle. All of the detectors called it a coins-all. Not good!

Next item read nickel at 7 inches on the CZ-3D. The Explorer said it was about where a aluminum tongue off of a ring-tab would be, and also about 8 inches deep. The CZ-70 said 8 inches deep, but was bouncing between foil and nickel. The Coin$trike gave a signal strength reading of 30 and the ID numbers were bouncing consistently positive and between 04 to 29. The target turned out to be a 1936 buffalo nickel. I failed to try the CZ-3D in the Salt mode when the target was still in the ground. I did air test the nickel with all of the detectors once it was out of the ground, and all detectors reported nickel.

Next target. CZ-3D reads about 11 inches deep and zinc penny. Explorer read the target as a soda tab, except the ID would occasionally drop down into the foil range. Explorer was in manual sensitivity 32 and Audio 1. The CZ-70 barely gave a reading, but was indicating a relic beyond 10 inches deep. The C$ would never detect the target, I tried all setting combinations again. With a 10/0 setting, I would occasionally receive a audio burp, at best, but never a ID. Recovered the target. Turned out to be a copper token about the diameter of a nickel. Don’t know what to think. Hung jury.

Next target was another eye-opener. CZ-3D consistently reads zinc penny at 7 inches. Coin$trike bouncing between 06 to 51. Explorer is bouncing between soda tabs and about a zinc penny. CZ-70 was almost always reading a relic soda tab. All detectors had a fairly strong signal. Recovered the item. It’s a 1928 mercury dime! What’s up with that? Out of the ground, all of the detectors read the silver dime perfectly. The CZ-3D takes the cake again.

Next target was a 1920 wheat penny at 6 inches. CZ-3D said coins-all. CZ-70 read zinc penny. Explorer registered good coin. C$ said 18 to 31. Good detectors, good calls. No complaints.
Next few targets were clad coins about 4 inches deep. All detectors came clean with correct ID. Seems anything beyond about 6 inches is where different things start to happen. With these 4 inch deep targets, the C$ numerically locked on to each target nicely.

Next target was a bronze washer the diameter of a penny and about 8 inches deep. The CZ-3D reported zinc penny and the Explorer called it a soda tab. The CZ-70 reported a relic reading. The C$ was bouncing between 14 to 30. Don’t know what to think. Could have been a Indian head penny. I think that I would want a coin reading on a round bronze disc the size of a penny. I am also curious why the Coin$trike does not numerically lock on to targets a bit better, especially when they are 6 inches deep, or deeper.

Several other days, and several more comparing hunts, I continued to have similar results. Found another silver dime that read coins-all on the CZ-3D, but the Explorer and Coin$trike were bouncing between soda tab and zinc penny. Not sure why this is happening. Also found a pair of Indian head pennies stuck together that the CZ-3D was bouncing between zinc penny and coins-all, and the Explorer and C$ were reading soda tab. Recovered a silver Washington quarter that was on edge where the CZ-3D was a constant hi tone, but the Explorer and C$ were jumping everywhere on the meter, except iron.

I did find a few other aluminum trash items that fooled all of the detectors, but really not enough to be concerned about. The Coin$trike seems to find more tabs than nickels, when looking for nickels. Marked a bunch of nickel reading targets with the C$. The Explorer was fooled on a couple of them, but the CZ-3D called every one of them a soda tab. Dug every one, and the CZ-3D gets a 100% score in this local test. All were tabs. Now I am beginning to understand why some folks choose to not say anything about the CZ-3D. Don’t want to let the opponent know about the defendants trump card!

To the best of my abilities, it appears to me the CZ-3D is only about an inch deeper than my Coin$trike. The Explorer and the CZ are nearly identical in depth abilities. At times, I thought the CZ has a slight edge over the Explorer, but, in a court of law, the evidence is weak. The Fisher coil actually measures 7.5 inches and the stock Explorer coil is 10.5 inches. I am not sure how much difference 3 inches makes for depth performance. I do not own a 10.5 inch CZ coil yet.
I have a buddy who exclusively hunts with a Coin$trike. He digs all positive ID numbers. Sometimes he finds great stuff. Most of the time, he recovers junk. Couldn’t I do the exact same thing with my CZ & Explorer by digging everything except iron? Or, seems to me, you could buy a cheap, deep detector, set the discrimination to reject only iron, and dig everything else. Though, I believe the CZ and Explorer would handle bad minerals and trash better, and maybe go a bit deeper, IMHO.

Love how the CZ-3D locks on to targets, yet I have a complaint. When the depth needle is pointing on the upper half of the number 8, the target is usually 8 inches deep. When the needle is centered over the number 8, the depth is actually closer to 10 inches deep. When the needle is pointing on the lower half of the number 8, the target is closer to 11 inches actual depth. When the needle is below the number 8, no telling what the actual depth really is, usually it’s about a foot deep. Inaccurate depth needle. I know; moot point.

My Explorer gives much more information compared to all other detectors, but now, I question its accuracy. The CZ-3D trumped it on more than enough occasions to be more than just a mere coincidence. Yet, would you believe that I still feel more comfortable with my Explorer! Maybe more time with the CZ-3D, and I may have a change of heart. NASA tom, I know you invented the CZ-70 and the CZ-3D. No insult, but the CZ-3D trumps the CZ-70 with more accuracy, especially with the deeper targets.

Take this post with a grain of salt. It is only one post, I am only one person with one opinion, and only two weeks of CZ-3D experience. I live in the South Georgia, North Florida area with limited demographic use.

NASA Tom, I live less than 6 hours from you. Would love to hunt with you. Maybe you could teach this old dog new tricks with my CZ-3D and Explorer.

O.K. Tail tucked between legs. I’ll quietly return back to lurking the Minelab forums when the good wife allows me to play with this computer. Hope this long post helps a few hunters. Seems like this computer is going on the fritz. Hope this post works. Turning off wife’s computer before she gets home!

H.H.
Raymond

Porter writes

Any detector in the salt mode does lose some sensitivity to small thin gold. Doesn't matter if its a CZ or a Minelab Explorer/Sovereign/Excalibur which are in the salt mode all the time. Depth on normal size rings, coins, etc. is hardly affected. Those thin gold items ID in the foil range which is very close to the conductivity of wet salt. The 3D enhanced mode will get good depth on these items and ID them with the new 4th foil tone. Tom D. has found quite a few gold goodies by digging the deeper 4th tone foil signals around old parks, ball fields, etc. He will also dig tab signals that are deeper than normal trash. When it comes to gold, a good digger is the best discriminator. HH

Texkinsey writes

Keep the volume at preset (5) and dig the little high tone " Ping, Ping" sound. You will be happy you did.

NASA-tom writes

To dispel any misconceptions about the CZ-3D, here is what I reported/submitted to FRL a couple of years ago,,,, along with my final prototype CZ-3D, of which FRL has duplicated wonderfully. Do not let the old style/traditional black box deceive you! I very specifically selected the ANALOG platform to modify "old familiar" ,,, and to retain the CZ-5 looks.

UNIQUE INSTRUCTIONS
CZ-3D
CZ-3D primary purpose = Enhancing the detection of specifically; old coins.
If you are new to the CZ series of metal detectors, place the ‘Salt-Enhanced’ switch in the ‘Salt’ mode and follow all of the standard operating instructions provided. For advanced hunting, and for those who are seasoned CZ operators, follow the unique operating instructions provided below.

Congratulations on the purchase of your new CZ-3D! You are in for a bit of an ‘eye-opener’. With the new CZ-3D placed in the ‘enhanced’ mode, here are your operating instructions:
- Select your oldest detectable areas.
- Sweep coil.
- Find ‘high-tones’.
- Dig.

It is that simple. The CZ-3D looks like and nearly sounds & operates like a standard CZ. The largest attribute of any CZ are the tones - and since we detect nearly exclusively by the audio tones, this is also where the CZ-3D accelerates. Just a few simplistic audio tones keeps this unit free from “mental fatigue”. You will not notice any physical or dimensional differences from a standard CZ, however, your luck will ‘appear’ to be greater with the CZ-3D, by no accident.

Additional operating tips:

- Do not ‘air-test’ the CZ-3D in the ‘enhanced’ mode. It needs the entire dirt matrix (with older generation coins) to operate as designed.

- It is STRONGLY recommended that you do NOT look at the meter for ID purposes while detecting, for (at minimum) the first 3 months of operation. There is legitimate justification behind this reasoning and, after some quantified hunting time, you will see why. Invoking the ‘enhanced’ mode, the detector enters into a exacting/customized special program. In consort, the meter also enters into a different set of operating parameters. Your primary concern will be to detect by audio.

- The CZ-3D is designed to find more good metals such as brass, bronze, copper, silver and certain gold; reporting it as a high-tone. When you recover a target that registered as a high-tone (zinc penny or high-coins ID), you will notice that it is of high conductance. While you are detecting, your intent is to find good metal targets with the CZ-3D -- hopefully, they will be older coins.

- With this specific detector, performance and ID can be further enhanced by a slower coil sweep speed, more so than previous CZ models, especially in trashy areas.

- A site that is c1950 is where you will JUST start to see the benefits of the ‘enhanced’ mode.

- A site that is newer than c1950, there are no benefits. In fact, the ‘enhanced’ mode can be a bit of a hindrance. It is strongly recommended to use the ‘salt’ mode at these newer sites. Reasoning; there are a few certain ‘modern day’ trash items that may cause the CZ-3D to identify a higher ratio of trash as a “high-tone” good target.

- A site that is c1920 or older, you will ascertain maximum benefits from the old-coin ‘enhanced’ mode. The key year for you to remember is “1950” --- the turning-point year for you to make the decision of choosing the ‘salt’ mode or the ‘enhanced’ mode.

- Read the 2nd edition of FISHER INTELLIGENCE - especially the chapter titled: “Finding Rare, Key Date & Gold Coins”.

After 2 years of extensive programming, calibrating and field-testing, (my apologies for being exceptionally slow,,, but thorough), the CZ-3D is now maximized for a very specific function - finding older era coins at older sites. To ascertain this extensive programming, simply select the ‘enhanced’ mode with the utilization of the ‘salt/enhance’ switch. No special or lengthy programming required on your part. And for the first time, this CZ has been engineered for “General Purpose” detecting AND “Specific Purpose” detecting (that being specifically the older era coins). The CZ-3D does not require a new ‘learning curve’ per se - it is the age of the areas that you hunt that will present a new ‘learning curve’, while in the ‘enhanced’ mode. The dirt you select & detect will be your learning curve.

In the ‘salt’ mode, the custom program is disabled, and the detector is configured to detect wet salt beaches with maximum stability characteristics at the ocean, as before. There may be times when you need to default out of the ‘enhanced’ mode; which can be accomplished by placing the CZ-3D in the ‘salt’ mode. Some detectable areas, the ‘enhanced’ mode will be very beneficial; however, it is not designed for all areas. A site that is dated c1950 is where the benefits of the ‘enhanced’ mode just starts to become realized.

Older coins have a increased propensity to ID as a mid-tone (trash tone) in greater quantity ((this includes all other brand detectors)). The CZ-3D will bring these ‘mid-tone’ coins into the ‘high-tone’ audio bracket. In many cases, the CZ-3D will ID coins more correctly, to greater depths. Just a few examples; Many of the bronze Indian Head pennies (especially the 1870’s & 1880’s) audibly read ‘mid-tone’. The 3 Cent silver coins and the Half-Dimes (in real soil) frequently read ‘mid-tone’,,, especially when tilted (or on edge). Under certain circumstances, silver dimes & quarters may read ‘mid-tone’ (in real soil conditions). Many Buffalo nickels & War nickels,,,, and almost all ‘V’ nickels & Shield nickels audibly read ‘mid-tone’. You may be surprised as to how many wheat pennies and older nickels you missed in some areas that read mid-tone on a standard CZ (or other brands). The most widely CIRCULATED U.S. gold coin, the $5.00 Half Eagle also reads as a trash ‘mid-tone’. All of these items will now read ‘high-tone’ on the CZ-3D. The list goes on. Some specific examples would be: nickels that previously audibly reported as a nickel/foil bounce or a solid ‘foil’ reading, should now read as a solid nickel. Indian Head pennies that bounced between square-tab/zinc penny or registered as a solid square-tab (mid-tone), should now register as a solid high-tone. Silver coins that were partially masked that registered as a mid-tone, should now register as a high-tone. Yes, This is to imply that the CZ-3D does work better in the trash, but not necessarily in an air-test. The intent is to breathe new life into the hobby, especially in old (and hunted out) areas. ---“HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE MISSING,,,,, IF YOU DO NOT KNOW THAT IT EVEN EXISTS”---

Keep in mind, the CZ series detectors has seven “potential target” icons. Also keep in mind that 3 of the 7 icons are high-tone icons; the zinc penny, nickel and high-coins. On any given hunt, you may pass your coil over 5000 detectable targets. Each one of these 5000 targets MUST fit within one of the 7 icons. (Hence 3/7 of the targets could potentially be high-tones). This is performed by the electronics of the detector in accordance with the conductivity of the detected metal object. This is to say that you will recover some trash that registers high-tone, as with any detector. There are certain pencil erasers and aluminum pull-tab/soda-tab tongues (beaver tails) that, inevitably will register as a ‘nickel’ - and aluminum screw caps that may read zinc penny or high-coins, as before. No metal detector from any manufacturer is immune from these conditions. Facing the facts, there will be times and places that you detect where many targets will be high-tone trash. You may have already experienced this phenomenon and it did not matter what brand of detector you were using. Before you fatigue, move to a different location. The CZ-3D is engineered to ascertain maximum successful performance for old coins while retaining the best possible ratio of good targets vs. trash targets. In older areas where aluminum trash is minimum, the CZ-3D will have exceptional performance. Areas littered with aluminum trash, invoke the ‘salt’ mode - or recover only the deeper high-tone targets while in the ‘enhanced’ mode. Your option. Remember, the dirt you detect is your learning curve.
There is yet another new feature of the CZ-3D. As expected, a mid-tone audio is heard on the “foil, round pull-tab, and square pull-tab” icons. However; the audio reporting system has been modified so as to present a slightly lower audio tone on the “foil” icon ONLY --a beach hunters delight. The “foil” audio is still a mid-tone, but comparatively sounds like a C-flat vs. a C-sharp. Justification for this minute’ difference in audio span variation is to retain a simplistic/user-friendly 3-tone system that is non-fatiguing (read = non-stair stepping flute) yet, in certain detectable areas, there can be tremendous benefits ascertained due in part to this enhancement.

Here are a few steps (example inclusive) to improve your odds:

First = Say you have limited time to detect. You choose an old ball field and learn the old coins are at a 7” depth strata. You recover only the high-tones.

Secondly = When you do have more time, you may return to the ball field and recover the pull-tab readings (ignoring the foil tone) that are also at 7” or greater in depth. Keep in mind, aluminum pull-tabs did not exist prior to 1962 and if the 7” depth strata is allowing you to recover coins older then 1962, you should not find aluminum pull-tabs at the 7” depth mark, or deeper.

Thirdly = After you have recovered all of the high-tones and the pull-tab medium-tones, you may wish to recover the “foil” readings in the areas that produced the greatest items of interest.

*When recovering the high-tones, the ratio of good targets vs. trash is usually at its highest/best point.

*When recovering pull-tab mid-tones, the ratio of good targets vs. trash is usually average/acceptable.

*When recovering foil mid-tones, the ratio of good targets vs. trash is usually at its least desirable ratio.

--- This holds true for inland detecting. At the beach, you will want to recover ALL of the mid-tones, as ‘foil’ is the ‘hottest spot’ for gold jewelry, followed by the pull-tab readings.
The example here, is an old ball field. Other areas could be old home sites, churches, parks and schools. The list goes on, yet the concept remains valid. It is never a bad idea to sample some of the mid-tone pull-tab targets at the same depths where the older coins are being recovered. ***As with any new metal detector, the more ‘questionable’ signals that you dig/recover, the greater you increase your chances of finding valuable items, then you place “claim-to-fame” on the new detector,,, when, in actuality, it is simply the odds that were increased***. The CZ-3D attempts to remove some of the ‘guess-work’ out of the equation. If you do feel like experimenting, as always, recover the deep ‘square-tab’ readings.
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Side note: From 1880 to 1905,,, counting all of the mintmarks, there were approximately 100 Half Eagle ($5.00) gold coins produced per one Quarter Eagle ($2.50) gold coin; Nearly a 100:1 ratio. Keep this in mind while detecting old sites with the CZ-3D in the ‘enhanced’ mode, as Half Eagle gold coins NOW produce a high audio tone/zinc penny ID! (Notice the CZ-3D still retains a ‘square pull-tab’ icon). Post your exceptional finds that you make specifically due in part (to the best of your knowledge) to the “3D enhanced” modification, on any of the popular Fisher forums. In the past, it was simply a matter of luck finding a Half Eagle gold coin. With the 3D, it is now just a matter of time. Who will be first?

Happy Intelligent Hunting
Thomas J. Dankowski

P.S. = More to follow. Currently, I am inundated with a flood of e-mails. As I find time, I will answer ON THIS FORUM, as many questions as time permits.

NASA-tom writes

CZ-3D AMPLIFYING INFO

* Yes; Current model CZ coils are interchangeable with the CZ-3D.

*Ground balance procedures remain the same.

*The audio tones will ALWAYS parallel the meter readings.

*Many people have eluded = “The CZ is deeper than I want to dig” or “The CZ is TOO deep”,,,,,……. prompting us to place focus elsewhere in circuit design. HOWEVER,,,, on this line, there is an attribute that you will discover with the 3D that will set it apart from others. You need to discover this on your own,,,, and I need to learn “HOW” you discovered it on your own. There is legitimate justification for this exacting quest.

*Coil sweep speed. Attempting to keep this report from being excessive in length; ,,, read FISHER INTELLIGENCE/chapter 11/”Maximum Performance - The Human Factor“. This chapter can be found in the 2nd edition only. ,,,AND,,, this ‘coil speed’ information is even more crucial for the CZ-3D, especially in trashy areas. Not to worry though, (if you choose), you will naturally learn the 3D’s operating characteristics without having to read any books, manuals or videos. They would only help speed your learning curve. And if you already have a slow sweep speed,,, you are in good shape.

*Widening the icon windows (increasing window bandwidth). NO, NO, NO. - No widening occurrence. In fact,,, for example; A standard CZ- (5/6/6a/7/7a/7aPro/70) “nickel” window is the tightest/narrowest window in the industry. I have chosen not to change that,,, as I wanted to keep the ratio of nickels to trash targets at the highest (most advantageous) ratio….ESPECIALLY for older nickels. The CZ-3D’s window is equally as narrow. The enhancement takes place by the utilization and capitalization of the Fourier domain analysis (double derivative) circuitry and capture of differentiable phase angles. --- Furthermore (another example,, using different conductivity & different icon window example) ,,,, and of extreme interest; I have a moderately corroded 1902 Indian Head penny that reads “17” on the Coin$trike. I also have a jagged piece of aluminum roof flashing that reads “20” on the C$. (((Comparable VDI numbers on DFX‘s, MXT‘s, Sovereigns, Explorers etc…[and a “relic“ reading on CZ-70] ))). A standard CZ will read both of these items as mid-tone (trash tone). The CZ-3D will read the lower conductive Indian Head coin as ‘hi-tone’ and the higher conductive roof flashing as trash-tone (mid-tone). Once again, the utilization and capitalization of Fourier analysis. (Staying a generation ahead!). I have demonstrated this to Porter & Glenn (Orlando) and a few others ,,, whom also really prompted me to proceed with the CZ-3D design. --- And on the same line,,, most pull-tabs will still read ‘pull-tab’ on the CZ-3D, almost exactly as they did before on any other CZ. --- I am not concerned about ‘marketing’,,, I am concerned about real-world performance. The 3D’s internal changes = definitely not cosmetic.

*Your unmasking questions. -- There are 2 types in pique interest to the R&D world. Ferrous & non-ferrous co-locate ///and/// non-ferrous & non-ferrous co-locate. Example’s; a rusty nail in co-locate with a coin,,,, this is a ferrous & non-ferrous example. The other example is, say a aluminum pull-tab in co-locate with a coin,,,, a non-ferrous & non-ferrous co-locate.

The CZ-3D is somewhat improved with finding coins in both types of scenarios. It is electromagnetically impossible to make iron and aluminum look like glass.

*If you are the type of detectorist where you dig everything (except iron) eg. strictly/exclusively a beach hunter, then the CZ-3D will have only slight attributes in your detector arsenal. If you are a relic hunter and/or serious coin hunter,,,,, or are a heavy ’cherry-picker’ the 3D is THE pinnacle.

There are a couple of unique attributes about the 3D (not mentioned yet, and not advertised) that you will discover. Report them as you discover them.

-- Realistically, the 3D will not see through a carpet of nails and pull-tabs and then report the conductive ‘good‘ target beneath the conductive bad target(s),,,, no brand detector will. Yes, it does have some see-thru ability, but not all-mighty see-thru capabilities. However; it does open & re-open doors.

And thanks for all of your positive comments guys! I will try to continue to make posts on this forum ,,,, and (hopefully) answer your posted questions w/interactive support. Keep in mind, I am swamped!
Back to the R&D box for me!

Happy Intelligent Hunting,

Thomas J. Dankowski

P.S. = Porter found a 1885 ‘V’ nickel (look THAT one up in your R.S. Yeoman’s Red Book!!!!) that read ‘hi-tone’ ‘hi-tone’ ‘hi-tone’ on the 3D,,,,, but read ‘mid-tone’ ‘mid-tone’ ‘mid-tone’ on a CZ-70.

NASA-tom writes

Your experiences & posts are 3D exacting. Nominal design intent ascertained. You have 'touched' the tip-of-the-iceberg. There's more. Two more surprises to be exact. On average, (about) your third set of batteries, you may begin to discover other 'uniquenesses' about the 3D. Nuff said.

I will cut-n-paste (per many requests) the e-mails that I sent to Andrew:

e-mail #1

Hey Andrew,

Hello from Florida! Just curious about your buffalo nickel that reads "round pull-tab" in your test-garden. Was this buffalo nickel a shiny, non-corroded (never been in dirt) buffalo,,,,,,,,,, or was it a black/brown dug/corroded nickel that you found in the dirt previously? This makes a BIG difference on how the 3D will respond. Furthermore, old nickels that have been in the ground and have accrued a 50 year (or greater) halo around them is also crucial for the CZ-3D to perform it's designed engineering parameter magic!

Happy Intelligent Hunting,

Thomas J. Dankowski

e-mail #2

Perfect! This answers all !!! The 3D does NOT like shiny new (never seen dirt) nickels! A dug (somewhat corroded) nickel is what it is designed for. HIT THE DIRT!!!! Think you will be pleasantly surprised. It is designed for real dirt coins,,,,, NOT shiny (non-corroded) coins. And NOT test-garden stuff!

It may have been my oversight to NOT have covered this topic in any of the FISHER INTELLIGENCE articles. Apologies. The intent of all this "pre-release" info was to allow folks to be as completely versed as possible with the 3D BEFORE they received one,,,,, so they could just simply skip reading the operators manual, turn the unit on and go hunting the moment it arrived.

COMPLETELY out of time!

H.I.H.
Thomas J. Dankowski

NASA-tom writes

Today, FRL updated their homepage/web-site (click on 'hobby') with the 3rd Edition of FISHER INTELLIGENCE. The first article is a field test of the 3D. HOWEVER,,,, I more strongly recommend calling Fisher: 1-800-685-5050 and request a hard copy of the "3rd Edition". It's free.

H.I.H.
Thomas J. Dankowski

NASA-tom writes

* If conditions permit, set the sensitivity on the CZ-3D just below 5 (approx. 4.8) in the ID mode. This is MAXIMUM depth and MINIMUM width. If, for some reason, you choose to use the auto tune mode, set sensitivity at maximum.

* Don’t bash the CZ-3D ,skeptics!!! We are witnessing many almost CZ-3D purchasers being very cautious and skeptical. Want to know who the biggest skeptic is? ME! Case in point = If it wasn’t for me being extremely skeptical with the utilization of a standard CZ (and other brands), and the performance thereof,,,,,,,, the inception of the CZ-3D would have NEVER occurred. Being skeptical has many positive attributes.

* LCPM = You are amazing. You have never owned a CZ. You purchase a new CZ-3D. As a newbie, your maiden voyage is a failure and you wish to sell the detector. Your second attempt resultant is marginal. Your third time out, you are finding clad coins at depths of 9¨ to 10¨ deep. COMMENDABLE learning curve!!! Yes, it can be done. The enhance¨ mode is truly designed for the CZ experienced only. You have proven this wrong! Now, my concern; You have found no silver dimes or older coins at these (somewhat) deeper depths. You are encountering a condition known as soil failure (fast sink-rate). Written material provided in the box with your new 3D (titled FISHER INTELLIGENCE), may I recommend you read the chapter titled “SOIL CONDITIONS/SINKING TARGETS¨. Sounds like you need to move to more stable soil.

* Mike = CONGRATULATIONS on your two gold coins found with your new detector. You are the FIRST to find gold coins with a 3D. And congrats on the gold ring and the 33 Mercury dimes that all others missed. Starting to see any attributes of the 3D yet???

* Barry = Your chart of gold rings and how they read on the 3D compared to a standard CZ, took a lot of time/research. GREAT chart!

* Mike, Mike, John, Otto & Mark = Some of my CZ-3D prototype field-testers choose not to post about it’s performance. This unto itself tells me great things; however, Hmmmmmm, Seems like I need a more sharing few (in the future),,,, as I choose to help ALL. My apologies for their silence.

* Mike = Your deep Barber dime with a nail on top of it, your deep half-dime surrounded by nails and your IH penny are (most probably) 3D specific finds,,,, and you probably never new it. That’s the blessing of it. And it needn’t be only nickels and pennies the 3D enhance mode ascertains better; silver coins (as you now have witnessed) can/will come-to-light. Good job!

* The CZ-3D has a multiplicity of wonderful paradoxical contradictions you will discover. Guys, this thing is deliberately different. No, it is not perfect. Some expected the 3D to ignore all clad coins, ignore all trash, and only hit on old coins. Not true, not possible. -- And on this note,,,, if you get a foil reading at 2”, and there is a silver dime at 8¨ beneath the foil,,,, should you expect to acquire the silver dime and ignore the bad foil target? What if the bad foil signal turned out to be a gold/diamond engagement ring? NOW what is considered to be the bad target?

* Thus far, the progressive learning-curve I’m witnessing, is on-par.

H.I.H.
Thomas J. Dankowski

RL Johnson writes

I just changed the first set of batteries on my new CZ3d( I got 17 hours on them) and I am getting use to the sounds that determine good and bad targets. This in not unique to the 3d, but all detectors, you got to spend some time in the field to figure things out. I was digging a lot of deep rusty nails that were sounding high tone and would usually only repeat in only one direction, but sometimes it would cross. Deep rusty iron is slightly different high tone, it seems a bit harsher. I know that sounds crazy, but the deep coins are soft and smooth. Every coin that is deep has had this distinct sound to the high tone. Also, like any deep detector that I have ever used, pay close attention to the pinpointing, a coin will stay put when you check it from different directions and the rusty iron will change positions as you check it from different angles. I consider myself a pretty capable coin hunter and I sort of scoffed at NASA Tom's advice to wait until you are on your third set of batteries before you judge this detector. I am seeing what it will do and it is pretty impressive on deep coins. Today I dug fifteen holes in a hard hunted junky park and I found only eight coins, but two were mercury dimes( 1935 and 1919) two wheat's, and one no date Buffalo. All of these older coins were seven to nine inches deep with one of the merc maybe ten inches deep. That particular coin had that soft tone and DID Not move when I cross checked it. I found only three clad coins and they were loud signals as I run the volume at just under five. For the screw ups, I dug seven rusty nails with some over ten inches deep, but to learn a detector, you have to dig these signals to get things figured out and I am finally getting there. I only used my CZ5 for ten hours or so before I traded it on the cz3d so I don't consider myself able to compare it honestly. One thing for certain, the CZ's, as Dan always said are depth demons!

G. Baker writes

another deep seeking detector the X-5. The pinpoint depth on my X-5 is about 9 inches. Coins and good targets beyond 9 inches which read good are simply not detected in pinpoint mode. This gives us a heads up that we are dealing with an object buried deep. The object may have been out of the range of your pinpointer(range 1" to 3"?).

Suggest you go back and take another look at those targets

Michael Bearden writes

Today I was hunting one of my pounded sites and I went back over 2 of those spots that I got deep signals on with (depth meter pegged & no pinpoint sound) I never found the target before today.

However.. after checking the signal again and "still" reading high coin I emptied the previous dirt out and started digging. This time I put the shovel full of new dirt on a towel and waved the coil over it ... still nothing. I turned on my probe and barely got a hit on the lower bottom side of the hole, cut another 5" plug out & placed it on the towel and I found the target. It turned out to be 2 IH's (1872 & 1886) stuck together and it took some effort to separate them  

Again .. I remind everyone reading this that most of the soil I hunt in is entirely neutral and I never run my sens past 4 1/2. I've had quite a few emails asking "if I really found goodies this deep with the 3D" the answer is YES, YES, & YES. I know it's hard to believe and I don't know what kind of depth the 3D is capable of elsewhere but it's a true depth monster in my area. Depth is a huge issue with me where I hunt because the sink rate around here is a phenomenon in itself. As a matter of fact, I can't tell you how many pieces of chewing gum foil I've dug at 8" plus that people rolled up into a tight ball before tossing it on the ground  
If your convinced that your not running the sens to hot & falsing all over the place & it's a good soft signal .. then keep digging because the odds are you're leaving a coin behind. And by the way, I fired up my Explorer & couldn't make it hit on these targets at all ... advantage was clearly the CZ-3D in enhanced mode. I couldn't even hear the target in salt mode unless I turned the sound up to 8.

H.H.
Mike

Michael Bearden writes

I've hunted it in trashy areas when I first got it and try to stay away from them now with the 3D. I don't recommend it for trashy sites. I have other detectors just for that purpose although the 3D is capable of hunting those type of sites, you'll need to run it in the salt mode. I've concentrated on it's real purpose and design and have had "some success" in the older sites where it's extremely deadly with picking out the old goodies  

I guess it all depends on location and the soil, when I do encounter allot of trash I just concentrate on the deep tight signals and I never take the 3D out of the enhanced mode anymore. You will still dig some trash targets but the more you use it, the less trash you'll dig. The more I use it, the more I understand it's language, just like anything new .. it takes some real hunt time with it.

Just my 2 cents worth.

H.H.
Mike

Buckeye Brad writes

Been there, and I thought the 3D did quite well. Mike has a point about hunting in salt mode when in extreme trash but I feel it's not necessary if you keep a few things in mind. For example, the enhanced mode will bump some round targets or targets with fairly round holes in them up a notch. In other words, something that is round or holed that normally would read Zinc might get bumped up into high coin. You can actually use the mode toggle to perform somewhat of a "target check". Assuming you're hunting in the enhanced mode and let's say you keep hearing shallower modern zinc that's showing up as a high coin but you really don't want to dig the shallow zincs because you're confident that there are no shallow Indian Head pennies present. So you swing over a shallow high coin, isolate it, and then switch to salt and swing short 1" to 2" swings right over the target. If it's a zinc, it'll drop back to a zinc reading. If it's really a copper, clad, or silver, it'll stay high. Of course you could just hunt in the salt mode and avoid this "target check" step for the shallow targets, but I personally want what the enhanced mode does (the special recognition abilities) doing it all the time, even in heavy trash. In extreme trash, just like with any CZ, it helps to drop back the sensitivity to even 1 or so if necessary for better separation and you'll still get excellent depth. Trash holds some of the better finds that are left. Using the D in it isn't a problem. Oh yeah, I forgot to address the "falsing" part of your question. The only time I've noticed falsing being noticeable even in heavy trash is if the ground balance setting is off or you get WAYYYYY too greedy on the sensitivity setting. I agree with what Tom said earlier in that just a hair under "5" is the sweet spot for discriminate hunting. Drop it from there as the trash increases. JMO based on what I've noticed so far.

Paul writes

If the ground conditions are to extreme such as a cinder parking lot you may exceed the capabilities of the GB circuit, When this happens just leave the GB control set at 1 and you will be as close to correct as possible under those conditions. Just be aware that you will be losing some depth. Paul

Porter writes

Last weekend I went on a hunt with NASA Tom to an old high school in Sanford Fl. The site has moderate to high trash and has been heavily hunted for years. Tom had previously hunted a particular 100 ft. square patch with the 3D prototype with 8" coil and got a lot of older coins others had missed. This time, he rehunted the same patch but used the 10.5" coil. As expected he found more old coins that were very deep. The big surprise was the number of coins that were only at six inches or so. There was clad and even some wheat's, a buffalo and two merc's. These were all easily within reach of the eight inch coil but were missed. It appears that the larger coil has the ability to see AROUND some trash and get coins that are masked to the smaller coil. Maybe something to do with the angle of the signal. This was later confirmed in the test garden. The moral of the story is don't write off a site as hunted out till you try the different coil sizes. HH

Porter writes

Its hard to explain sweep speed in words. Probably about two seconds per sweep is about right. Try counting one thousand one, one thousand two, per sweep. Tom has a video "Advanced Treasure Hunting" that shows the affects of sweep speed very well. They are available from Fisher or Kellyco and some other dealers or I can even loan you my copy if necessary. I tend to use a moderate sweep speed until I start hearing targets and then slow down to sort them out. I also set the discrim to "0" so I can hear everything in the ground. The 3D is a very sensitive machine. The only suggestion I can make on the large target alert is to lift the coil to ck. them. Hope this helps. HH

Michael Bearden writes

What I'm finding holds true on my 3D is that the one way beeps have turned out to be trash in "most" cases. That narrow band or tight signals seems to stand out and say old coin, especially when they have a little depth to them. When the target won't pinpoint right it's usually iron. Hope this helps.

H.H.
Mike

General writes

Well I finally got my hands on the 3D to field test, and even the weather was nice for a change.
I hunted in a civil war battlefield, the part of the field I was hunting was mineralized, changing to highly mineralized; I changed sens. from 7 to preset 3 in the highly part, and the detector stabled out nicely, and I was able to still get the depth with it. Had to re-ground balance a couple times, but that did not take a minute to do.

Here is what I found, mostly shot mini-balls, and some drops, they ranged from 2" to 8" in depth.

On the 2" depth, they read high tone, after letting go of the pinpoint button, I got a bell-tone.

On the 6" to 8" depth, I received low tone to mid tone, jumping back and forth, I would pinpoint, and then after cutting the plug and going back over the hole I then would get the high signal.

On some of the shot mini's in that same depth range, different part of field, I would get a solid iron tone lock on, here again I pinpointed, then knowing small target size, and cut the plug, take out some dirt, and get high tone when checking the hole again, out would come another mini-ball.

I found two Iron canister balls this way as well. Being in a battlefield area I wanted to check all signals, and see how the 3D was re-acting. It did as I thought it would. I even dug the bell tones, and would get Larger iron and horse shoes. On the half horse shoe it would jump back and forth from low to high. Each one of the iron pieces I dug would pinpoint exactly where I would x the target.

I even managed a couple corroded pennies, they locked on so hard when I pinpointed I thought the 3D was going to suck them out of the ground for me. (Just Kidding)

I ran the detector at 0 disc to be able to hear all targets in the ground, and also be able to pick out good from bad. For a while I ran all metal, and then flip to 0 to id.

In conclusion, I found the 3D worked like the old CZ-6, except for the enhancements. It wasn't no time out there with it that I felt comfortable with it, and had absolute confidence in it. I knew any targets there it would find.

I did run the enhanced mode, switched a couple times to salt to check the target and the mini would read mid tone in it vs. high tone in enhanced mode.

Personally, I really like this detector, and will continue to use it more than my C$. I will try and get out to an old house site to see how it does in that type of trash, and look more for the coins this time. I know it will get the relics, although I did not come across any CW buttons, wanted to see how it id's them in the mineralization. I believe it will read about like the mini's did, at the different depths.

If anyone has any questions on this let me know. You have to remember I used the old CZ-6 for 15 years, got to know it quite well.

BLeaver’s Ring Distribution Study

Back in 1991 I owned one of the original CZ-6 detectors. At that time a distribution chart indicating the percentage of rings that could be expected by segment on the meter was compiled and has, I believe, continued to be distributed and referenced to this date.

Today I am primarily a water hunter. I have a Fisher CZ-20, Tesoro Tiger Shark, and a Whites Surfmaster PI modified by Mr. Bill.

With the advent of the CZ-3D I wondered if that distribution would still hold true or, as seemed likely, had sifted with the changes in discrimination calibration. I was very interested in comparing the difference in distribution of rings in the 7 segments of the CZ-3D between the Salt and Enhanced Modes. I also compared the distribution of rings by Tone.

This comparison is not meant to be the definitive answer on the subject. It is simply a sharing of what I found when testing my rings on my new CZ-3D. In fact, for the next couple of weeks, I would be happy to send my actual spreadsheet to anyone who requests it. Check your own rings, validate or invalidate my results. All I ask is that you share your results on this forum.

I pulled out all the rings that I still have in my possession, those that have not been sold or claimed by my wife, family, and friends. That total was 136 rings of various weigh and karat. The set up of the detector was Ground-5, Discrimination-0, Sensitivity-2, and Volume-5.

Results:

1) 6 rings did not lock on a single icon. 5 of these alternated between 2 icons and 1 alternated between 3 icons.

2) 28 rings had distinctly stronger signal strength in the enhanced mode as compared to the salt mode. These were generally smaller rings and in general these rings read Foil in both modes.

3) 2 rings did not read in the salt mode at all but did give a signal in the enhanced mode. As in number 2 above these were smaller rings and these rings read Foil in the enhanced mode.

4) Approximately 50 rings gave different readings between the salt and enhanced modes. While on the whole most rings read higher in the enhanced mode this was not always true. A minority of these rings read higher in the salt mode.

Conclusions:

1) The changes made in the CZ-3D's discrimination calibration does, in some instances, change the icon segment where rings read form one mode (Salt vs. Enhanced) to another.
2) Among the rings tested the percentage of gold rings reading high tone nearly doubled from 14% to 25%. This is the single most significant observation resulting form this study. Confirmation by second parties is highly desirable.

 

PK writes

I also had questions about salt mode on 3D. I wrote to Tom Dankowski. He was kind enough to send me an immediate reply. See also Fisher forum beginning Feb 28, 2004.

Hi Philip,

The easiest 'one-line' instruction that I could give (hunting post-1950's sites) is to stay in the 'enhance' mode and just recover the deeper hi-tones if seeking to find old coins. Yes, you could use the discriminate feature, to aid your recoveries.

The owners manual does not address the 'salt' mode in depth on specifically the 3D,,,,, however,,,,,, included in every box shipped from the factory, there is a "CZ-3D Unique Operating Instructions" that DOES address this a bit more. Furthermore,,, yes, hunting in the 'salt' mode on the CZ-3D is identical to hunting in the 'salt' mode on a CZ-5,,,,,,,,,,, and looking for coins in the 'salt' mode is hardly a detriment. I know of many people that use their CZ-20 for inland 'old-coin' hunting,,,,,, and the CZ-20 is always locked in the 'salt' mode. Depth is lost in the 'salt' mode on very small gold items,,,,, but hardly affects silver/copper coins.

There are some areas that we can hunt,,,,, where it is a absolute nightmare to hunt because some sites produce excessive amounts of 'hi-tone' trash..... in fact, I have seen some areas so bad ,,, that EVERYTHING was 'hi-tone' trash. No, I'm not bashing the CZ's,,,,,,,, in fact,,,,, all brands of detectors will have this problem. The CZ-3D "MAY" be slightly more pronounced,,,,,, however; usually not any more than any other unit.

Hope this helps!!!!!!

Sincerely,
Thomas J. Dankowsk

Michael Bearden writes

You can count on items like small pieces of cut aluminum siding and beaver tails reading high and I run across pieces of rolled up (very thin) copper sheeting that will register high. But in allot of cases if you drop into the salt mode and re-check the target it will ID correctly. My trash verses good target ratio has increased well over 75% since I started using the 3D.

Good Luck and keep us posted.

H.H.
Mike

LCPM writes

I have read all the info on ground bal and sens and all the tricks, one sided high tones etc. I have found (and this is a fact) that if you ride your sens you will have some cool results.

I like to start at around 4.5 on my sens and as I get my ghosts tones at times will hear a very very faint repeat high tone. I then turn my sens up to 5-5.5 and the faint sound now has increased a bit in volume and I can now pin point it. It always is a good target. So I ride my sens. I have gone over the same faint sound and if I back my sens down to say 3.5 it is gone. And these are deep targets 8 inches or deeper. So you can and will miss good finds that just need a bit more sens to hear.


NASA Tom writes

ThomasFl = I commend you for all of your documented & cataloging efforts. This is the exact type of data acquisition that I perform (and have been performing for over 3 decades) for a multitude of reasons. (Read = "Beneath The Mask" -- Western & Eastern Treasures). It is one of the primary reasoning's as to why the CZ-3D was invented. Feel free to pile on the questions on this Classroom forum,,,, as,,, this is exactly what it is for. Although I may have restricted/limited time to participate,,,, it looks like Michael Bearden has exacting answers, as well as others like DanPa, DanR, Jackpine Savage etc.... Thomas, your learning curve is very steep (right now) and with your efforts, you will ascertain 10 years of knowledge in about 3 months. -- Also, CZ blueprints are corporately confidential.

Thomas, you also asked about iron sometimes mis-ID'ing as a coin reading -- which is far, far away from adjacent bouncing icons. Yes, you are correct. And in fact, iron is a metal detector design engineer's nightmare. There are 4 major electronic handicaps that iron poses to electromagnetics. Due to corporate confidentialities and time constraints, I will spare the details. I will say this: ALL metal detectors have a bad time with iron. Some brands choose to handle iron in one fashion which compromises some of the detectors other abilities,,,,, while another brand detector may deliberately handle iron in a different fashion, which may challenge yet another different parameter of abilities. The CZ "pushes the envelope" a bit further then most,,,, and may be a bit noisy at times,,,, yet, when mastered, can and will present tremendous attributes.

Now, Thomas, what I was inferring with adjacent conductivity bandwidth bounces,,,, were the nonferrous to nonferrous bounces. Any one of the 6 nonferrous icons. In general, if you find a round pull-tab,,, it may (in the dirt matrix) bounce to a bandwidth icon of one conductivity higher, or one icon conductivity lower. This is to say that the round pull-tab may bounce to a square pull-tab, or to a nickel icon reading. A true square-tab may bounce up to zinc penny, or down to a round pull-tab.

-- On a slightly different tangent; If a target that reads 'high coin' and a target that reads 'foil' are in extreme close proximity,,,, ALL detectors will 'average' the targets in accordance with size & mass and returned signal strength, and report only one reading.....Say a reading of round pull-tab. Keep in mind,,,, the coin hunter will want the highest reading (preferably a high-coin reading) on the cumulative of these two targets. Well, the BEACH hunter will want the LOWEST reading (foil reading, if possible) on the pair of targets. What if the 'foil' target is a 14Kt diamond engagement ring and the 'high coin' reading is a 1916D Mercury dime? What would YOU want the detector to report? Each detectorists choice WILL vary.

-- Some detectorists claim that the CZ's icon bandwidth windows are too narrow or too wide,,, and targets may bounce between icons. Other detectorists claim that the numeric-ID machines have numbers bouncing excessively. The CZ's do a wonderful job in the department of icon stability and target 'lock-on', but you must remember that the real-world dirt-matrix is not nirvana. To find a solo target,,,, sans mineralization, sans other targets in close proximity is not the norm in the real world. Hence, some ID instability.
Jeff & John = I detect w/sens @5, always 'Enhance' mode, disc at '0' (to hear all of the ID tones; a plethora intelligence package unto which you will subconsciously/unknowingly automatically calibrate to varying conditions/environments).

Mike = On most electronic devices (including metal detectors),,, zero performance is lost as the battery level depletes. A simple device called a 'voltage regulator' allows for modern electronic devices to operate at full performance ,, until the battery voltage becomes too low,,, unto which the device will suddenly have dramatic performance failure characteristics.

Jerry & Scott = Perfectly valid question, yet, the answers may provoke inflammatory responses,,, but here goes. -- Invented the 3D because, --first--, too many good targets were being missed,,,, --secondly--, well frankly, I became tired of the competition. (Bruce Candy is a awesome competitor. And who is to say,,,, he may pull the next 'trump' card). Competition perfects the breed. I need the 'challenge' again. To live 'outside the box'.

General CZ data = On ANY CZ, discrimination takes place in the audio circuits. This is to say that all of the signal processing, conductivity and ID analyzation has already completed its phases. So, when discrimination is increased, only the audio output to the headphones/speaker is silenced. Absolutely no depth is lost on any CZ when discrimination is increased. Now, IF the mineralization is severe and IF a target MIS-ID's because of the severe mineralization,,,, then it may 'appear' that depth is lost. For example; if a silver dime starts to ID improperly at 6" deep, and the coin is ID'ing as a pull-tab,,, and you have pull-tabs discriminated out,,,, then the 6" deep dime is not audibly reported. This is not exactly a 'loss' in depth, rather, it is a mis-ID compounded by the use of discrimination.

-- CZ's very rarely ever lose 'state-of-tune'. Even as the electronic components age, it is rare that the performance of a CZ will 'drift'. Corrosion from mistreatment may cause the appearance of 'drift'. Saltwater exposure, extreme heat exposure, extreme moisture exposure may cause reduced performance and/or failure,,, but not 'drift'. So, sending a CZ back to the Research Laboratory in not necessary. If there are damaged components, then the technician may install 'updated' components, allowing for a slightly increased performance boost. The technician also has the prerogative to 'update' some of the other components while he has it disassembled on the bench,,,, usually to decrease the risk of future warranty work. This is true for any brand detector,,,, or any company product for that matter.

Nickels = Of all the coins, it is the nickel that is the most difficult to properly ID. Especially at deeper depths. Almost all nickels are conductively, a very stable coin (excluding the WWII silver nickels w/terrible batch inconsistencies). It is the fact that nickels are so low on the conductivity scale, (hi-grade foil), which makes them so difficult to properly ID with extreme accuracy.

H.I.H.
Thomas J. Dankowski

Cody writes

Dave, try this. You can sweep slow with short back and forth sweep on a piece of iron and it will become charged and magnetized and at times will go way as it is rejected. Precious metals will not go away unless you have them set to be rejected. Anyhow that has been my experience.

HH, Cody
 

NASA Tom writes:

Dan,

On the CZ-3D platform, the "Coins-all" (Hi-coins) segment is going to give the APPEARANCE that it has been widened slightly (((while in the 'enhanced' mode only))). Many of the new zinc pennies will register "Hi-coins" in the 'enhanced' mode....especially in an air-test. SPECIFICALLY with YOUR experience level, this will not be a problem for you..... as these targets are shallow (surface) targets. My personal recommendation to you is for you to go back to all your older 'hunted-out' areas,,,,, ignore the meter (for at least the first 3 months) and recover all hi tones. Yes, you will recover some trash items........ just as you did before with all of your other CZ units (and all other brands). I can't help that (yet). And contrary to popular belief, I did not design the CZ-3D to be better on older nickels ONLY; rather, to find deeper, older silver and copper coins in real dirt (with proper hi tone) was my primary intent. Yes, older nickels needed to be corrected in reading 'hi tone' also,,,,,, but there were many other coins (silver & copper) that critically needed to be reporting as 'hi tone' in real scenarios. Newer Jefferson nickels (even in the ground) may read 'round-tab' on the 'enhanced' CZ-3D. I opted to "not be concerned" with newer nickels. BEFORE YOU START USING your CZ-3D,,,,, look in your current 'dirt recovered' collection at the RATIO of 'V' nickels-to-Barber dimes......and also how many 3-cent silver coins, half-dimes, Indian Head pennies, Half-Eagles are CURRENTLY in your collection. Keep these numbers in mind,,,,, then start hunting with the CZ-3D. (Hopefully, these types of coins are not already TOO DEEP and out of range in your locale). You will also find more silver dimes & quarters (and pennies) on edge. I recommend reading the 4th edition of Fisher Intelligence (should be included in the box). Need a free copy, call Fisher (1-800-685-5050). Also....... Most all pull-tabs will still read mid-tone in real dirt,,, in the 'enhanced' mode. Some will still fool any detector. .... Something to be said (specifically) about the CZ-3D sensitivity control. Fine-tuning the control from 4.2 to 4.3 to 4.4 to 4.5 is critical and sensitive. If dirt & mineralization allow.... try to push the sensitivity from around 4.2,,, up to around 4.5 if possible. A sensitivity setting of around 4.5 on the analog CZ's is usually max depth IN THE "ID" MODE. ------ All other things considered, the CZ-3D will feel and sound just like any other CZ in your hands; however, your luck will 'appear' to be a bit better. --- Also, I ALWAYS hunt with disc at '0' (so I can hear all tones and have full 'dirt-intelligence') and sensitivity just above 4.5 if possible.

Happy Intelligent Hunting
Thomas J. Dankowski
 

Mike Va writes

The Bobbing Method of Ground Balancing:

Note: Use headphones to do this…don’t use the internal speaker. What we are listening for when doing this is too subtle a sound to rely on the internal speaker.

1) Turn on the machine and use the Auto/ID touchpad to put the machine in "Auto" mode. Now sweep around a little in the area you're going to hunt and find a clean area of ground with no metal in it to do the ground balance. Verify that as you sweep the coil in the test area, that there are no signals…no metal in the ground.
 
2) Now…set the Ground Balance knob to 10.

3) Set the Sensitivity of the detector to maximum.

4) Set the Volume of the detector to maximum. Do this on your headphones as well if applicable.

5) Set the Normal/Salt selection in Normal unless you are beach ground balancing. If so, set it to Salt.

6) Stand the machine straight up and down with the coil flat on the ground. Hold the grip with one hand and the grasp the Ground Balance knob with the thumb and forefinger of the other, ready to adjust the control.

7) Here’s the “Bobbing” part. With the settings of the machine as they are now, if you raise and lower the coil from the ground to a height of about 6 inches (repeating in a steady up and down motion, kind of like you are plunging a clogged toilet, though in a little slower and controlled manner) you should be able to hear a “pulsing” tone or “ hum” as you bob up and down, toward and away from the ground. Continue bobbing the coil up and down and, while doing so, slowly rotate the Ground Balance knob down the scale. Continue bobbing and listening while slowly lowering the GB control from 10. At some point, you will hear the pulsing tone begin to decrease…the goal is to set the GB to a point where there is the LEAST AMOUNT OF CHANGE in the pulsing as you bob the coil up away from the ground and back down toward the ground…attaining a “neutral” ground balance, if you will. If you go too far, the pulsing will start to increase again, so in that case, raise the GB back up. Play with it a little until you achieve the setting that has no change or as little as you can get. That’s it. It’s ground balanced.

Once satisfied you have “nailed it”, leave the GB control where it is and restore your other settings to your desired hunting preferences. Take the machine out of Autotune and go to ID mode. Drop the Volume to whatever you like, I like “4” because above 4 you get “Faint Target Audio Boost”, which makes deep targets sound like shallower ones. I like the deeps to SOUND DEEP, so I go with 4. Set the Sensitivity to whatever you like, but with a CZ-70 I would recommend “4”, as unless you have really clean ground you will probably be getting some false signals above 4 in ID mode. If you can run it higher and not get falsing, fine…do so.

Note: If the terrain changes, like for example from soft, moist soil-under-grass to maybe a hard-packed dirt road, the woods, etc., then you will want to re-do the Ground Balance procedure. When using the method as I have outlined it here, you don't need to re-do it if you adjust the Sensitivity, Volume, or Notch selections.

RL Johnson writes

I have had a cz7apro, cz5, Coinstike, 1270, and now the 3d. Everyone of these detectors found deep coins(I hunt coins mainly), but I seem to find less deep rusty iron with the 3d. When I first got the 3d, I quickly figured out that digging repeatable signals eliminated most of the deep iron. Most of the coins that would repeat and pinpoint deep (8 inches is as far as the meter goes on 3d) would be about 8 inches. That seemed to be the deepest I could get by using the repeatable signal method. One day I hunted the practice field inside an old running track at the local middle school. This school dates to 1913 and the ground is low and soft. I really have hunted this place hard with all of my detectors. I had found only 40's and 50's era coins and since I was having a slow day, I decided to dig questionable signals. The first signal was faint and I could not get hardly any audio when in pinpoint. It was an old nail at 12 inches or so. This just reinforced my repeatable signal theory. A couple of minutes later I got a similar faint, one way signal. At ten inches or more, I find a 1864 small motto 2 cent piece. Wow, what have I been missing was my thought. To make a long story short, I rehunted this entire field and probably 75% of these faint, one way signals were coins. I seemed to be getting to another level of older coins. Also, this deep level was devoid of trash. I have since dug almost all of these signals everywhere I hunt. I can't say that I have had the same success, but I seem to almost always find a couple of old coins below the 8 inch level. I totally agree with you, when in an old area, dig all the deep signals.

Flyguy writes

John, to pinpoint the 10.5 - push the PP button and move the coil back and forth over the "center" of the target based on sound. When you have this "center" of the target, drag the coil back toward you until you lose the PP sound. The reason you have to do this is because you may have picked up the target at the back of the coil so you have to drag the coil backwards until you lose the sound meaning you've put the target now under or in front of the coil. A good target will drop the sound very abruptly. Then move the coil just forward until you pick up the sound again - about 1-2". The target will be under the funny shaped opening in front of the rod mount. A little practice and this will come easy and automatic.

A tip or two that has helped me refine my hunting: (1) If I've moved the coil back more than approximately the diameter of the coil I try scanning again to be sure I still have a target. If not, I move on - it's junk. Dig a few to prove it to yourself - chaulk it up to "education". (2) If I get any high tone and even if the above "drag" test indicates junk, I move about 90 degrees and try again. Sometimes, not often but enough to make the effort worthwhile, those flaky signals resolve into beautiful abrupt double beeps (L to R and R to L and the 'drag' PP sound drop), and good targets are found. If not then it is truly junk. (3) Don't forget to switch to salt mode if the ground is wet. I recently started using this feature more (I had completely ignored it away from the beach) and I sense now that I'm getting surer, more 'confident' signals but can't really explain how often or why, but do seem to be finding more stuff. (4) To find more coins at public places like ballparks (this is extreme cherry pickin'): just look over the park for the areas that would have the heaviest foot traffic -from the concession windows to the stands, stands to the parking lots, along fences, etc. I hunt with a friend with an XLT and it's embarrassing how often I wax him hunting modern clad just because I pick out the traffic 'lanes'. Sometimes it's just fun to cherry pick a modern ballpark for lots of clad!

I've found 100's of coins with these techniques and use the 10.5" almost exclusively. It's a lot of fun when you get the hang of it- just a little practice and you'll find lots of stuff - more than with the 8" in my humble opinion! These CZ's are real coin "sniffers" - with a 70Pro (I use) or 3D you've got the right equipment!

hh,flyguy