:detecting:3kHz Coil's FIRST RUN

[gold rat]

This post has 2 subjects, the second being created by the first.
Digger you may recall late October I asked you about travelling to
my Capital City and purchasing either the 6"DD coil or the 3kHz .
Your advice was to buy both if possible. I appreciate people spending
my money. thanks mate top advice. I went to the beach with the
3kHz to a spot that I have detected many times.(in front of shack # 27 of 149 shacks)
This area of dry sand would be 25 yards wide by 15 yards deep towards the sea.
I found 11 decimal coins within an hour and all were very tarnished compared to
normal finds. This meant I was detecting deeper than normal.
I decided to have a quick detect on the wet sand. This sand is very mild but lots of
rubbish 5 or 6 beeps per sweep. I had instant success with a 1962 pre - decimal silver
sixpence at 10". Now at this stage I had no idea what I had found because of this great
crust covering it.( back to the cleaning in a moment )
I detected in all metal mode and it gave a distinct audio signal amongst all the rubbish.
I was that excited I forgot to look at the ID.
All coins needed cleaning and I could see a big task ahead for me.
Our only Australian magazine Gold Gem & Treasure had a cleaning article last month
which I had read with interest. It was cleaning by electrolysis using a second hand
transformer alligator clips creating an anode on positive and coin or relic on negative.
The end result was good but very slow.The sixpence took 6 hours against the articles time
of 20 minutes. I am now making one using a computer
power supply with 18 volts instead of my first attempt at 9 volts. I understand it would be
too slow for all coins but what about rings and jewellery.
Any forum member cleaning this way !!!!!!
I have never found a ring because I have never detected in the wet sand.
Have I got a chance now Digger with 149 shacks and the 3 kHz or do I move on to the
6"DD!!! I wasn't game to use it because it never had a skid plate. Minelab tell me one will
be available by christmas in Australia.
Digger thanks for making my detecting enjoyable ( I can't get to the goldfields for some years )
now I'm happy.
happy hunting
gold rat

 

[Digger]

Thanks for the follow-up post. Glad to hear "we" spent your money wisely. I have done a bit of electrolysis in years past, and recognize it is a tedious process to clean an object in that manner. I was wondering what solution you were using? Maybe a change in the base solution would help speed things up a bit????? If I recall correctly, I had pretty good luck with a water and lemon juice solution. I'll have to see if I can find my notes as to what the "recipe" was.
As to hunting with the DD, now that the 3 has proven to be so effective...... the first thing I would do is to hunt each site with the larger 3 kHz coil. It seems to be doing well for you. Get the deep ones out of the way. Make a mental note of any particularly trashy areas. Then, after searching with the 3 kHz, I'd go right back over the same area with the 6-inch DD at 18.75. Pay special attention to those in the trashiest spots. The DD will probably not go as deep as the 9-inch coil. But it will surprise you how well it will separate those small gold rings from adjacent trash.
Sounds like you have your "work" cut out for quite awhile. So keep us posted on how it goes! And when you get some more money you need help spending, just let me know! HH Randy