Whether you detect or not, it is important to keep up to date with  tetanus jabs. Any small scratch can become infected, whether around the home, at work, in the garden, or out detecting in a field.  Tetanus lives quite happily in the stomachs of animals, especially horses.  Through their droppings animals transfer tetanus into the ground, where it can survive for up to 100 years. Always follow our Henry's advice and keep your jabs up to date.  Another good tip, always wear gloves for detecting. I do.  They protect me against   cuts and scratches from the shards of glass and pottery that I seem to find everywhere.

SEARCHING IRON INFESTED SITES
To find those Hammered and Roman coins when searching on iron infested sites use as little Discrim as possible.  It may be a natural instinct to turn up Discrim to cut out the iron, but if you do, you will also cut out the very coins you are after.  You can tell when you are on this type of site because even the soil and any pools of water look rusty.  This is because the soil is full of oxidised iron. Any coins or artefacts in this type of soil will also be coated with oxidised iron, i.e. rust. In these conditions, and depending on target size and depth, the oxidised iron that is on the target coins, and in the soil around them, will 'mask' the material that the coins are made of.  Consequently, Discrim circuitry will null and reject the targets.  The graph will smear, showing several short segment left and right of centre, or not show at all if the target is deeper than the meter can read. It is advisable to Accept all Edit numbers from minus 45 through to plus 94 on these sites with both the Eagle Spectrum and the XLT or DFX Detectors.It's on this type of site that turning Mixed Mode Audio on and modulation off really comes into its own providing Preamp Gain and A C Sensitivity is set according to my books instructions to obtain a rock steady Threshold Tone!  Then by searching slowly to bring the All Metal Mode aspect of Mixed Mode Audio in to use. When you get a target signal, give two or three short fast passes of the loop over the target to bring in the Discrim circuitry.  Watch the graph and listen to the audio tone. If you are not getting a clear acceptance of the target, remove a couple of inches of soil from over the target and try a few more fast passes. If necessary, remove a couple more inches of soil from over the target, until you get a clear rejection or acceptance.  Whilst using short fast passes of the loop over a target to bring in the Discrim circuitry, you will notice that iron will give a harsh, brash, audio tone in the head phones, whereas copper, bronze, silver, etc. will give a smoother, more mellow tone.

CELEBRATING FINDS
After you find that Hammered or Roman coin, why not play yourself a little tune on your XLT? Select Coin Program (so as not to alter any of the settings in the Program you are currently using). Press the Menu button to bring up the Main Menu page with the arrow flashing opposite Preset Programs.  Arrow down to Pro Options and press Enter, and then arrow down to Discrim and press Enter.

Then arrow down to Recovery Speed and press Enter, and then use the down arrow to reduce the Recovery Speed to one. Now press the Menu button and the Enter button down together for your XLT to play you a little tune! If you press and release the Menu button and the Enter button, it will just play a few bars.  If you press and hold the buttons, it will continue playing until you release them.  You can then do your own celebration dance for a Hammered coin find, with perhaps a different step for a Roman coin find!

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