Minelab Explorer SE Product Review

Focus on New features

Most of the software changes are listed above but we will talk more about them in detail. One of the major changes is in the Digital display - the target icons which were displayed in the previous Explorer models such as coins, rings and pull tabs have been removed from the Explorer SE.  Instead, the entire pixel space is given over to larger ID numbers for Ferrous and Conductivity to enable easy viewing of the numeric values assigned to every detected target.

Another change is the new RESPONSE sounds. Normal response remains the same and no changes to it have occurred. Audio 1 and Audio 2 have not changed but instead have been re-named as Long and Smooth respectively. The big change is that Audio 3 has been replaced by the entirely new Pitch Hold option which is an exciting new innovative audio choice for Explorer SE users, as lot of information can be gleaned from it which will be described in greater detail below.

The various Response options allows you to select the way targets sound upon detection. These are described below. Each Response sound may work better in different scenarios and you will quickly develop your own personal preferences.

1. Normal - when the target signal drops the audio blanks, giving a crisp end to the target response.  Normal allows the greatest differentiation between the ground and a target, but has the potential to miss small targets in areas littered with objects producing a target response.

2. Long – long audio lasts until the end of detection, and there is no blanking at the end of the target response. Long allows less differentiation between the ground and a target, but has the capability of more depth in non-trashy sites.
3. Smooth – as opposed to the sudden change in audio response in Normal and Long, Smooth offers a more gradual change/rise in audio response from ground to target detection.
4. Pitch Hold – is identical to the normal response during detection however, after blanking, the threshold tone will change to the same pitch of the target signal. The pitch of the threshold is then held until a new detection is made.

The detector changes the pitch of an audio signal depending on the conductivity of the target: i.e. a highly conductive target produces a high-pitched tone, while a less conductive target produces a lower-pitched tone.  After the target signal is heard, the threshold “hum,” returns in a pitch similar to the pitch of the signal.  Unlike the audio on the BBS series of detectors, such as the Sovereign and Excalibur, the Pitch Hold mode will not change the tone of the threshold when a target is rejected. Instead, after the rejection “null” the threshold returns to the pitch of the last detected target.  The advantages of Pitch Hold should become apparent in ground that is considered fairly clean, and also works very smoothly over salt wet sand. 

The Iron Mask feature is an overall ferrous discrimination control, which can be adjusted to reject a large amount of ferrous targets at one time.  An increased level of Iron Mask will reject more ferrous targets while a reduced level will accept more ferrous targets – ideal for relic hunting.

Some improved Iron Mask functions have been implemented:

1. The new Iron mask has values in 0 - 31 range to match the range of Ferrous numbers.

2. The Iron mask screen has been modified to show “FER” inside the slider and to show “AM” when the All Metal is enabled.

In Figure 1 the new numbered Iron mask is seen while the old system is shown directly beneath it.

 

Figure 1

All Metal - is the term used to describe a clear discrimination pattern – that is accepting ALL targets whether ferrous or non-ferrous.  To select All Metal press the shift button next to the AM icon to reduce Iron Mask and clear the discrimination pattern.  Bear in mind that A.M. might be “noisy” on certain soils that might have high levels of mineralization in them.

 Gain – the Factory preset has been changed to 8, a higher setting from which it used to be set at in both former Explorer models (used to be 5). This might become noticeable right away as certain signals might be more pronounced with better, faster, louder and sharper signals when compared to an older Explorer ll model.  Gain actually controls the amplification of target responses in respect to the strength of the original signal.  The theory is, with a high setting (8) even weak target responses will initially be, easier to hear which could equate to more finds, especially small low-conductive ones at the end of a day’s detecting or increased deeper finds from sites considered to be “worked out”.  On a modern site such as a concert field looking for recent losses one could use a lower Gain setting coupled with a Low sensitivity setting to deliberately look for surface/shallow finds as one would not require the extra sensitivity to search for losses from a day or so ago.

 Sensitivity – following along from an increased Factory Gain setting there is also a  noticeable increase to the Factory preset Sensitivity level – this is now set to 22 – an increase of six sensitivity increments from a lower sixteen. As a result of these two changes of (i) an increased sensitivity and (ii) gain setting it will appear the Explorer SE is more powerful on turn-on compared to the older models.  These Settings have been increased at the factory and those settings were always present and adjustable.  There might be a trade-off from using higher settings and this could result in unwanted noise and more ground signals.  If this occurs simply lower the settings via the Main Menu.  However, bear in mind that, Semi-Auto Sensitivity can be a good friend and will continuously monitor the environmental conditions and will automatically adjust the detector’s sensitivity as close as possible to the last manually specified level of sensitivity – especially useful in those often difficult sites with ever-changing ground conditions.  Manual Sensitivity on the other hand would be better suited to a trashy site or, where a very slow sweep is required or on a beach.

Depth Indication – is improved over that of Explorer ll and now updates visible information at the end of each detection and, updates in the new and improved Pinpoint Mode also.

The clear portion of the depth indicator represents the approximate distance of a target below the coil based on a single coin from 0 to 30cms.  Try to think of the clear area as the amount of soil you will have to remove to get down to the target.

 Digital Fer Cond – as per the depth indicator, Fer and Cond now display and update information on screen while in the Pinpoint Mode. Previously, this was not possible and is one of the most significant changes to the Explorer SE software.

The four numbers in the Digital screen display both the ferrous and conductive properties as perceived by the Explorer SE in magnetic response for ferrous and conductive response for non-ferrous.

Fer displays the ferrous resemblance of targets from 0 – 31, while Cond shows the non-ferrous conductivity properties of targets from 0 – 31.  So a display of Fer 07 Cond 25 would indicate Fer 07 as being of a low ferrous nature (non iron probability) and Cond 25 would show a high conductivity (copper/brass/silver) and the target might produce a U.K. copper ½d.  Displays of Fer 04 Cond 28 could indicate a U.S. dime while Fer 08

Cond 10 might indicate a gold coin.                         

Threshold – has been changed to a Factory Preset setting of 16. The Threshold has been improved so that finer adjustments may be made to it, especially at the lower end so that one can set it to a very low yet still audible level, whereas on previous models it may have been too quiet or may have gone silent. A silent or non-existent threshold is not recommended as a small depth loss can actually occur as one may not hear a very small target, nor should it be too loud so that one could not distinguish a false noise from a target response.  The threshold will need to be reset when connecting and disconnecting headphones (their use is recommended for privacy, extending battery life, and to avoid missing faint signals).

A familiar feel

When one picks up the new Explorer SE one can instantly feel that familiar solid grip but with the new lighter coil that feel is so much better, and is very noticeable when sweeping the detector in a location that has several objects to be avoided such as under piers, around playgrounds etc. – it handles very well.  The balance of the detector has been noticeably improved, and it feels better “in the hand” while also easier to just skim across the surface of the ground.

Performance – in the lab

During development of the new “SE” many hundreds of hours were spent with the new unit putting it through countless bench tests, in order to guarantee the full and authentic accuracy of target information to ensure the new SE was consistent with known performance parameters.  Together with the added functional and performance related improvements, more subtle improvements were also incorporated into the SE such as the featuring of new and larger fonts designed to give a greater amount of pixel space to reproducing much larger numeric displays on the Digital screen. Explorer SE is now much easier to read even fully extended away from the body.  Numeric consistency for all target values has been carried over to Explorer SE whilst maintaining the usual degree of perfect audio clarity of all appropriate conductive responses on hundreds of targets.

With the added improvements and more powerful Factory Preset settings, the Explorer SE will sound sharper and crisper on targets, straight out of the box!

 

Performance – in the field