Metal Detecting Terms

All-Metal Mode - a mode on the metal detector that detects all types of metal without discrimination.

Audio Discrimination - The ability of a metal detector to provide different audio tones for different types of metal.

Audio Response - The volume of the audio signal produced by a metal detector when it detects a target.

Audio Target ID - A metal detector's ability to identify the type of metal through the tone of the audio signal.

Backlight - A feature on a metal detector that illuminates the display for better visibility in low light conditions.

Battery Life - The amount of time a metal detector can operate on a single set of batteries.

Beach Mode - A mode on a metal detector that is specifically designed for beach hunting and saltwater environments.

Chatter - The sound produced by a metal detector in the presence of electrical interference.

Coil - the circular or elliptical disk at the end of the metal detector that emits and receives signals.

Coil Cover - A protective cover that can be placed over the search coil to protect it from damage.

Coin Shooting - The act of searching for coins using a metal detector.

Depth Indicator - a display on the metal detector that estimates the depth of a detected target.

Discrimination - a metal detector's ability to distinguish between different types of metal.

Discrimination Pattern - A pre-set discrimination program that can be chosen on some metal detectors.

Display Screen - The part of a metal detector that displays target information, depth, and other settings.

Double-D Coil - A coil design that produces two overlapping detection fields.

Elliptical Coil - A coil with an oval shape that is designed to better detect smaller targets.

Ferrous - Refers to metals that contain iron, such as steel.

Frequency - The number of electronic cycles per second emitted by a metal detector, which affects the detector's ability to detect certain types of metal.

Ghosting - When a metal detector signals the presence of a target that isn't actually there.

Ground Balance - the process of adjusting the metal detector's sensitivity to the minerals in the soil to eliminate false signals.

Ground Mineralization - the presence of minerals in the soil that can interfere with metal detection.

Ground Tracking - A feature that adjusts the metal detector's ground balance as you move.

Headphones - A set of headphones that can be used to hear the audio signals produced by a metal detector.

Hot Rocks - rocks or minerals in the soil that can produce false signals on a metal detector.

Iron Bias - A feature on some metal detectors that allows the user to adjust the detector's sensitivity to iron targets.

Iron Discrimination - the ability of a metal detec tor to ignore or eliminate signals from iron objects.

Iron Mask - A feature on some metal detectors that allows the user to selectively ignore small iron targets.

Interference - Electronic signals from other devices or sources that can interfere with a metal detector's signals.

Notch - the ability of a metal detector to exclude a range of target IDs from detection.

Mineralization - The presence of minerals in the soil that can interfere with a metal detector's signals.

Non-Ferrous - Metals that do not contain iron, such as gold, silver, and copper.

Pinpointing - the process of determining the exact location of a metal object in the ground.

Pulse Induction (PI) - A type of metal detector technology that uses short bursts of energy to detect metals.

Recovery speed - the time it takes for a metal detector to reset after detecting a target.

Search Head - Another term for the coil of a metal detector.

Sensitivity - the metal detector's ability to detect small or deep targets.

Sweep - The motion of moving a metal detector back and forth over an area to detect targets.

Swing - The speed at which a metal detector is moved during the sweep.

Target ID - the numerical or graphical display of a metal detector's analysis of the type of metal detected.

Target Masking - When a large target interferes with the ability to detect smaller targets in close proximity.

Target Recovery - The process of digging up and recovering a target.

Target Separation - The ability of a metal detector to differentiate between multiple targets in close proximity.

Threshold - the level of constant background noise emitted by the metal detector.

Tone - The sound made by a metal detector when it detects a target.

Tone Break - The range between the high and low tones that a metal detector produces.

Tone ID - a sound or tone produced by the metal detector that indicates the type of metal detected.

Trash - Any unwanted or non-valuable metal object that is detected while metal detecting.

VDI - Visual Display Indicator, a feature on some metal detectors that displays a numerical value or ID for the type of metal detected.

VLF (Very Low Frequency) - A type of metal detector technology that uses a low frequency for detecting metals.