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Deepstar finds more gold

A

Anonymous

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I took the Deepstar out again today after last week recovering a lost ring for a couple that had been lost in the surf for a week. At that time I had promised myself I'd use the Deepstar more since it's so hot on the gold <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=":)">
The beaches I hunt are usually pretty trashy and make PI hunting difficult, but today I learned a few new things about the Deepstar:
1. It finds stuff deep (I already knew that <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=":)">
2. It hits *hard* on gold
3. It hits less hard on clad coins
4. There's a lot of nickels that I've been missing with my Sovereign
#4 was really interesting - I hunt this beach daily, and with the Sovereign I come away with maybe 1-3 nickels, there just seems to be very few. Well, today with the Deepstar I came away with 10, and most of them were down 10+ inches. This leads to #2, Deepstar seems to really hit hard on nickels/gold, even if the target is down deep it's quite apparent that it's there, and a deeper nickel sounds like it's close to the surface. The clad coins (pennies, dimes, etc.) don't seem to hit as hard, but I did find some down quite deep, but it seems (Eric, can you confirm this?) that at the pulse rate I'm running at (~12us) the clads don't respond as well. Do clad/silver coins require a longer pulse delay to be detected deeper?
Well, I got a nice gold pendant, fairly good sized, down about 12 inches I suppose.
I also learned that when you hear a signal, it's there, you just have to keep digging <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=":)">
 
Hi Jeff,
I use the nickel as a test piece for setting up a detector to be good on gold rings. If it detects a nickel at good range then the detector will also find the gold. The reason is, that the decay curve of a nickel is very much the same as that you would get from a medium wedding band. There is obviously a spread due to different cross sections and carats, but a nickel is a good guide to gold detectability. The reason that clads, copper and silver coins do not sound off as hard is that they have a longer signal decay and require a longer transmitter pulse to get the best signal. The TX pulse in the Deepstar is 100uS wide (50uS when switched to low power) and to get an equally good signal from the copper and silver would require a TX pulse of 200
 
Thanks Eric for the most excellent explanation about the pulse delays, etc.
Can you make a comment about "detectability" of gold when running the low power setting? Does the 100 -> 50us pulse width affect the sensitivity to gold as much as pulse delay?
 
Hi Jeff,
The BeachScan hits hard on nickles too. I have noticed an increase in the number I have been finding as well.
Another positive thing I have noticed is that the BeachScan ignores most small pieces of foil, yet is able to pick up fine gold chains at the same time.
The BeachScan is a pleasure to use, anyone else using one?
Has anyone ever used a PI in a park or simply inland? I will have to give it a try soon.
Seems if I can tell IRON to some degree it may not be that impractical to use at all.
Tony
 
Hi Jeff,
Reducing the TX pulse width to 50uS does not have much effect on most gold. In fact, that is what the pulse width is on the Beachscan at the highest frequency setting. Heavier signet rings might be a bit down compared to the 100uS width depending on their carat. Pennies and clads will be similarly down.
Eric,
 
Hi Tony,
I have used PI's in parks and inland sites to great effect, provided they are not too iron infested. The 8in coil is best as you do not need the extreme depth that is necessary on the beach. Also pinpointing and separation of close objects is better.
Eric.
 
Tony,
A few pointer to help you improve your finds with the Beachscan. <IMG SRC="/forums/images/smile.gif" BORDER=0 ALT=":)">
Lay a US nickel on the ground and adjust the "Reject" (pulse delay) control for the greatest depth on the nickel. I think you will find that it is not at the fully counter clockwise position of the control. It
 
I never thought for one moment that increasing the 'reject' control could actually enhance a signal !!!! I thought the moment you even nudge it in the CW direction that an immediate loss in depth and/or sensitivity to ALL metals occurs.
I am shocked that I was did not know this and I thak you again for sharing the info.
Cant wait to try this out!
Tony
 
With regard to P.I.'s on land why was the PPD I not further developed as the meter discriminating ferrous is all we really need.Also one machine I never managed to get my hands on (1980's ?) the Pulse Analyst.It had a ferrous/none ferrous meter display and some sort of iron-mask from what I remember.
 
Hi Brian,
Good questions. I designed the PPD1 when in Ireland as Location Technology. It was foolproof in its discrimination on dry sand or non-mineralised ground. On wet sand or iron mineralised ground it was not so good. Thin rings and the smaller cupro-nickel coins would indicate as ferrous. I have developed it further and have a second prototype under my bench right here, but have never put it into production. To be really successful on land, a discriminating PI must also incorporate some sort of ground balance to minimise the effect of magnetic minerals.
The Analyst was developed by John Alldred, who now designs industrial PI products for a company called Protovale. We worked together in the early days of PI at the Oxford Research Laboratory for Archaeology where John
 
Thanks Eric,doesn't time fly.Perhaps its time to dust off that prototype as not everone whats to dig as deep as the Deepstar.Less depth but more discrimination could prove quite popular.
 
Brian,
Could you cofirm your e-mail address. Your server claims that you don't exist! Dave. * * *
 
I don't know what happened but the message box where one posts their responses had my address listed wrong. My address is:devilbat@bellsouth.net
 
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