The detection of metal targets in natural terrain, with a hand-held metal detector, is a skill that takes time and practice for an operator to develop. A modern detector, especially a more advanced type, has many parameters that can be altered by its operator with a view to maximizing the sensitivity of the detector in a particular environment. All operators want their detector to be as sensitive as possible to targets that they want to find, while being insensitive to those targets that the operator has no desire to disinter; less desirable targets are often referred to as “trash”. It is through the provision of means of varying the parameters that design of the modern detector seeks to enable those who are less skilled in the art of detecting to be successful in finding desirable targets, regardless of their lesser skill.
Although such a detector can turn the less skilled into successful operators, it does mean that they must acquire skill in the manner of setting the parameters of their detectors; the gain of less effort and skill in one art comes at the price of having to acquire some skill in another, that of setting up the detector.
A further problem is that the nature of the predominant “trash” may change from one environment to another. The nature of the desired target may also change. With currently available art, an operator is required to own several complete detectors to enjoy the advantage of having maximal sensitivity to disparate targets n different environments. The patterns of transmissions of the transmitter and the patterns of demodulation affect the type of targets to which the detector will be most sensitive and least sensitive.