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Cool GS 5 mod

Reg

New member
Hi All,

There has been a discussion about trying to use a PI for coin hunting on another forum and part of that discussion talked something brought to my attention by a GS 5 owner, and that was he could set the ground balance control such that high conductors such as silver and copper would generate a low tone and all ferrous objects would create a high tone. Well, after some experimenting I found this to be true.

Now, the GS 5 has the capabilities of turning off either high or low tone with a mod or two. (Actually, a switch has to be added). So, guess what, I just had to try it and add the switch. Then I set the GS 5 such that silver, copper and clad coins generated a low tone while iron objects still cause a high tone. Now, this GS 5 does not have the capability to switch tones, but that is ok.

What I ended up with is a PI that ignores small foil junk, iron junk but sounds off on copper, silver and clad coins. So, far, my testing has been limited to my yard and more needs to be done it is looking real good. Simple surface tests work great. Then, I did bury a penny about 6" to 7" deep just to see how well it worked on a buried coin. Wow, it worked great there also. I was able to raise the coil about 5" or so and still hear the target and that was with the sensitivity down to reduce the noise.

When time permits, I really do have to try this setup for coin hunting.

Just thought people might want to know.

Reg
 
Hi Reg,

I'd be extremely interested in how your mod works regarding so-called "masking" effects. How much does the proximity of a blanked target effect the ability to detect a nearby "good" target? Since a PI unit is a different beast I'm wondering if perhaps you might get better "see through" abilities with a PI unit than an IB unit. Or maybe it is the other way around and a PI is worse.

So if you bury a nail in a hole with a coin on top of it can you still detect the coin? I would hope so. Now nail on top of coin. I assume it masks the coin, So how far does the nail have to be from the coin before it is un-masked?

The mantra with IB units is to let all the sounds come through as it helps alleviate target masking to some degree.

Steve Herschbach
 
Hi Steve,

You have asked some interesting questions that will take some experimenting to determine. Since my earlier post, I buried a penny at approximately 11" using a post hole digger and a yardstick for measuring and I could find that coin. OK. What I also found out was at the greater depths I can't really tell low tones from high tones because there is so slight of a difference. However, turning off the high tone would let me hear the low tone from the coin. So, I could hear it in the normal or both tones mode, and the low tone, but not when selected to the high tone only. For me it means I need this switch if I am going to try to use this feature.

As I mentioned on another forum, it is sort of strange to pass the search coil over a visible piece of iron and hear nothing. When low tone only was selected, I passed the search coil over several different size nails, and some other wire items and the detector was silent.

Hi Frank,

No, you do not lose all gold, but the smaller stuff is ignored. I have not tried to verify what was mentioned on another post, but that post indicated that gold about 1/3 oz and larger would be detected along with the silver and copper. I expect this size to vary depending upon the characteristics of the gold. As an example, rough coarse gold will probably have to be bigger to be detected with a low tone. It could take a piece 1/2 oz or greater if it is coarse or rough.

This is sort of fun finding new ways and techniques to use a detector.

Reg
 
My ground in Central Va balances out from between 6 to 8. 8 is super hot! I could always dig coins with the Infinium, GP3500 and new Whites PI. Large iron comes in with a low tone however large objects are easy to tell from small low tones coins produce. Send me a PM. Lets talk on the phone.
 
And aluminum bits and pieces. Just like small tin items in relic hunting. When hunting in ground of low minerals the Pi has similar depth to a high end VLF. Just some more food for thought. I applaud your interest in this exciting new Technology.:clapping:
 
Hi Gmax,

When it comes to VLF's the ground here in Colorado is as bad as I have ever found anywhere. On good days with wet or damp ground, 6 1/2" is bragging depth on a dime. As for the numbers you posted, I don't use VLF's any more so I don't relate to them. As for as telling mild, medium or bad ground, I have always used George Payne's old Mark 1 technique he developed to determine the ground mineralization level. With that technique, the ground is extreme here.

Now, ground conditions do not relate across the PI/VLF boundary. What is bad for a VLF, is often ignored by the PI. A typical situation is ground with a heavy concentration of black sand. A VLF will really struggle while a PI ignores it.

Clay type grounds are the worst I have found when using a PI and then it is a matter of the ground balance becoming more important to minimize ground signals.

I have found little difference in accuracy or consistency of signals between an air test and in the ground testing when testing the PI. The signals or the tones on a particular target are more of a function of the ground balance setting rather than the ground itself.

I have been working with Eric's PI's for several years now, but primarily for their use in nugget hunting. So, evaluating what can be done in the coin hunting aspect is the new part.

Now, as for your mentioning bits and pieces of cans, screwcaps, etc, there will always be a level of inaccuracy, meaning there will be targets that will appear to be desirable items simply because of their characteristics. So, I seriously doubt any detector will be foolproof including the PI.

What I have simply done with the initiation of this thread was to simply point out there are things that can be done to enhance the abilities or ease of use of some PI's as they apply to coin hunting.

As for further communicating, I am not trying to avoid that, but I am extremely pressed for time to get ready for one of my annual trips to AZ to nugget hunt so that is where my focus is and will be for a few weeks. In fact, the evaluation of the ability to switch off tones was really aimed or focused at the possibility of hunting an area ladened with ferrous trash but does have large gold.

The exception to my focus will be answering a few posts. Once I am back from that trip I should have more time.

Reg
 
Hi Steve,

If you have used a TR or even a basic VLF and then set the disc to just eliminate a target, you will generally notice, it has reasonably see through capabilities for that target and its ability to mask other desirable objects. By this I mean, on a basic VLF or TR, if you just eliminate a pulltab, then a penny under it will normally generate a decent response. The farther the adjustment of the disc so the object is strongly rejected, then the greater the ability for that target to mask another. A good example is some iron junk. If it is ignored, and this iron is placed on a penny, the penny is usually ignored on the VLF.

Now, what I have found with the PI is something very similar except ferrous objects do not seem to have the intense rejection capability. I can set the GB such that it just eliminates nails and still detect a penny directly under a nail. Now, keep in mind that my testing has been very limited at this point, so I am sure there are exceptions.

One other quick test I did while having the GB setting such that high conductors generated a low tone and ferrous objects created a high tone was to test a few different size nuggets with distinct characteristics and found the "large gold" size that will be detected can vary quite a bit when ferrous objects are ignored. As an example, one nice 3/8 oz specimen was readily detected, while a very coarse 1/2 oz nugget was ignored. A nice solid 1/2 oz nugget gave a strong signal, while a more bubbly 1/4 oz nugget was ignored.

If the gold is very solid and thick, then it is generally detected above about the 3/8 oz range. If it is coarse or rough, then it will definitely have to be much heavier before it is consistently detected.

So, using this ability to ignore most ferrous objects will have an effect on the gold found also. My purpose in this testing was to get a better idea of just what to expect. One of the places I want to hunt has a tremendous amount of ferrous junk, mainly tin cans, but other items such as nails and more solid iron objects. This same general location has produced some large gold specimens as well as a wide variety of sizes on nuggets.

Hunting this area is very frustrating regardless of the technique used when one simply uses the technique of trying to "guess" the good from the bad. So, I am hoping this new particular tone detection concept can be used successfully. I would rather have the ability to find large gold than none at all. Considering there have been a lot of large nuggets found in this general area, is also a plus.

Reg
 
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