What is Target ID and how does it work?
If you have any kind of discriminating metal detector, you have a “do it yourself ID” available. By increasing the discriminate level control until the target just disappears, you can tell what the target is. A Target ID detector does all of this automatically and very rapidly as you swing the coil over each target. Basically, the electronics circuitry measures the phase angle of the target as the signal happens. It generally takes only one pass over the target to get accurate ID, although the earliest types took several swings, which is why they were known as “pump up” ID detectors. Target ID is a very accurate measure of the target’s phase response, but unfortunately many targets have identical, or nearly so, target responses. That is why you will lose a lot of good gold rings if you believe your ID is correct each time it tells you the target is a pull-tab.
Target ID is a feature that will give the metal detectorist more information about the target while it is still in the ground. It cannot tell you exactly what the target is due to the many variables present in an unknown target. A short list of these variables are as follows: the metal content of the target, the size and shape of the target, the target’s orientation in the ground, the mineralization matrix of the ground itself, depth of the target, detector settings, and outside interference such as weather conditions, cell phone traffic, and electrical lines. All of these things can cause changes in the meter readings.
