Gold Chains

[Miser67]

I am sure this question has been asked before but the way new detectors keep coming up I think it might be worth asking again.

If you were going to hunt for gold chains, is there a detector out there you think is very adept at picking them up?

I am talking about just the chain and not necessarily the clasp as it might be broken off.

 

[Dave J.]

Best sensitivity to gold chains is VLF models that are regarded as competent gold prospecting machines.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Depends on where you are hunting them. Different locations require different feature sets. And there is the question about response. Very small chains will report in the ferrous range. Are you ok with that or do you want them to report as non-ferrous?

If you were hunting dry sand or woodchips, and needed the non-ferrous report then go for the highest frequency detector you could find. Fisher Gold Bug II is a proven micro jewelry unit with a non-ferrous report. If you didn't need the non-ferrous report then you could use a lower frequency unit with true all metal mode like the Compadre at 12kHz with no discrimination. The GoldBugs/F19/G2/G2+ will do this ok with high gain settings but the ferrous non-ferrous reporting is size dependant.

If you were hunting turf you would want something that can run at low gain without loosing sensitivity. High gain in turf doesn't work for tiny shallow targets. In turf, at locations where chains would be lost there are also a lot of stuff in the ground. Chains don't sink very deep. High gain detectors light up everything and you can't isolate the signals you are looking for. So you want very low gain, very high sensitivity. The F5 does good at this but you are limited to a target size that will report non-ferrous, ie the clasp or clasp ring. The V3 allows this with a higher frequency so you can go down in detection size. The Lobo SuperTraq allows a mininum gain without loosing a lot of sensitivity. The GoldStrike allows low gain with high sensitivity, with a higher frequency but in reality there really isn't that much difference between 22.5 and 30 khz until you get ultra small with the smallest coil. Right now the F5 with stock coil is still my favorite tiny target hunter in turf.

HH
Mike

 

[D&P-OR]

Have you tried the Makro Gold Racer for this type of hunting Mike?----If so, what do you think of it?

 

[Mike Hillis]

Hi Del,
Regards the Gold Racer, no I haven't used one yet for a couple of reasons; first being dependability and second being feature set. I'm still seeing reports where they are going down after short periods of usage requiring a trip(s) to the doctor. Then there is the feature set; its not really conductive to inland jewelry hunting. It would be ok for sand and chips where you don't need any finesse and you are going to recover everything anyway but it would be extremely frustrating to use in turf. The high frequency discrimination potential is trapped inside a standard discrimation range of 1 to 99 where the first 40 points are dedicated to mineral/iron, and the last 30 points are dedicated to high conductors/large iron. In the end all you have is a trash squealer with limited disc abilities banging on every bit of aluminum trash it encountered.

So all that said, if I lived near a "good" beach I might consider it for a beep dig unit on dry sand but that would be about it.

HH
Mike

 

[Southwind]

As odd as this may sound, the best gold chain detector, without clasp, hands down is the White's DFX in 15 kHz only mode. Not much depth, but that sucker loves gold.

I got a video on Youtube showing the DFX hitting gold easily that even the Sovereign GT wouldn't hit.

I've also got a video showing the difference between the DFX on gold using all 3 frequencies and using just 15kHz. The difference is eye opening.

 

[Miser67]

Thanks to everyone for their input, it has been really helpful.

Mike, I would prefer to hear a ferrous target report, which is the one reason I don't run the Compadre in All Metal.

 

[Miser67]

As odd as this may sound, the best gold chain detector, without clasp, hands down is the White's DFX in 15 kHz only mode. Not much depth, but that sucker loves gold.

I got a video on Youtube showing the DFX hitting gold easily that even the Sovereign GT wouldn't hit.

I've also got a video showing the difference between the DFX on gold using all 3 frequencies and using just 15kHz. The difference is eye opening.

Those Minelabs are great detectors, especially for silver. Aside from their gold prospecting units, I have seen most users confirm they are not the greatest when it comes to gold jewelry. Maybe others have had different experiences.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Miser67, yeah..me too. The GoldBug II will always be the discriminating king of tiny gold. Tom Dankowski shows this on his beach video. It can disc iron yet report on the smallest non-ferrous target as non ferrous. Take a look at the Lobo Supertrack. Its a Dave Johnson design that is stuck at Tesoro. It has more power than the current 19 kHz units like the Goldbug/F19/G2 series, holds sensitivity at low gain setting with a good disc circuit. It is very capable and one of the best woodchiper or sand lot units I've seen. I live in the desert so a woodchip or sandlot play ground is the closest I get to a beach setting. But if I lived or had access to a good beach I'd most likely be using Lobo ST in the dry sand.

I got hot and heavy about trying out a AKA Berkut and sold my Lobo ST and some other units to help fund the purchase, only to find out the 'dealer' couldn't fulfill my request. So I put the money into another V3 but I'll be getting another Lobo ST. It is really good.

I compared the Lobo ST, F19, DFX, and GoldStrike all with same size coils. The Lobo ST outperformed them all in Disc mode if I recall correctly. Test target was a two halves of a .177 pellet. Split in the middle, ball and ring. Results were posted on Steve Herschbach' site under a coil comparison post.

HH
Mike

 

[Miser67]

You mean run the sensitivity high on the LoboST or low? I am trying to remember the knobs on the LoboST and I think there are two, one for sensitivity and one for discrimination.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Found some info....the GoldStrike was NOT included in the test....
This was a coil comparison test between detectors.


[attachment 334636 5x10HFcoilcomparison.jpg]


HH
Mike

 

[Mike Hillis]

What I mean is that sometimes you need to run at lower senstiivity settings. In turf, lower gain is a must, if you are dealing with large surface iron you need a smaller coil footprint. Most units when you lower the sensitivity setting or gain, you lose the 'hots'. But there are some units where lowering the gain or sensitivity settings doesn't affect the 'hots', it just affects the coil footprint. Like on the F5 where you can control the coil footprint with the gain setting but control the 'hot's with the threshold control. The V3 allows the same thing. The Lobo ST does this too, where you can lower the sensitivity setting to its mininum but still retain the 'hots'. There are not many units that can do that.

HH
Mike

 

[Miser67]

Understood. Thanks Mike!

 

[mascard1]

How about the F70?......It has a weird setup

What I mean is that sometimes you need to run at lower senstiivity settings. In turf, lower gain is a must, if you are dealing with large surface iron you need a smaller coil footprint. Most units when you lower the sensitivity setting or gain, you lose the 'hots'. But there are some units where lowering the gain or sensitivity settings doesn't affect the 'hots', it just affects the coil footprint. Like on the F5 where you can control the coil footprint with the gain setting but control the 'hot's with the threshold control. The V3 allows the same thing. The Lobo ST does this too, where you can lower the sensitivity setting to its mininum but still retain the 'hots'. There are not many units that can do that.

HH
Mike

 

[amberjack]

gunna have to dig fly crap canslaw to find smaller chains that's just how it is so the Gold Racer will do that no problems, maybe the question should be how do I change my thinking and emotions to hunt small gold in parks??

plenty detectors out there will find chains its the person hanging on to it that needs to be tuned in tuned in to digging lots of crap.

AJ

 

[REVIER]

gunna have to dig fly crap canslaw to find smaller chains that's just how it is so the Gold Racer will do that no problems, maybe the question should be how do I change my thinking and emotions to hunt small gold in parks??

plenty detectors out there will find chains its the person hanging on to it that needs to be tuned in tuned in to digging lots of crap.

AJ

I never did that, instead I just go after gold rings, pendants and larger items and have been pretty successful at that.
I do hunt low into iron or all metal using my Compadre, my F70 too, but I don't dig every signal, just mostly the solid ones.
If I miss something so be it, I have a limited amount of patience and energy to spend looking for rare targets like gold chains...as rare as they are rings are more plentiful and even the small ones are fairly easy to notice without digging all the trash.
Still, I have found a few gold chains in my time.
This is the smallest thinnest gold chain I have ever held in my hands and it was easy because I hit on the key that was still attached to it.

 

[amberjack]

yep not many people can hunt gold chains takes a special kind of stupid I mean determination I agree only chains I have found is because something was attached.

but I am sure the dig just above iron say 40 to 45 on the F19 for example but yeah hunting rings is hard enough chains well

AJ

 

[MI-AuAg]

gunna have to dig fly crap canslaw to find smaller chains that's just how it is so the Gold Racer will do that no problems, maybe the question should be how do I change my thinking and emotions to hunt small gold in parks??

plenty detectors out there will find chains its the person hanging on to it that needs to be tuned in tuned in to digging lots of crap.

AJ

I agree AJ.

I don't think I would look for, or buy a detector, for the primary purpose of finding small gold chains. In most grass/solid ground settings, they stay at the surface longer and are more apt to be an eyeball find. In beachsand/water they are a rare find, even with PI machines. As you say, the conductive range they are in, so is every manner of tiny trash imaginable.

A nice find if you happen upon one, nothing I would specifically target.

 

[Mike Hillis]

Hi Revier,
That is a small chain but it has 4 good hit points on it. The two round connecting rings on both ends, the clasp itself, and the flat bar connecting the clasp to the connecting ring. My F5 running at 7.8 kHz with the stock coil with the Gain set at 40ish, and the Threshold set around +6 or so will hit that clasp good and hard, and will respond to varying degrees to the the three others depending on orientation with a non-ferrous response. I'm still working out the V3 and haven't taken it chain hunting yet but I suspect it might be even better due to the ability to focus it on the desired target.

When I'm chain hunting turf I'm usually hunting a location where I have already cleaned it down to small signals, or I have located target rich isolated areas, and I go in hunting for those 4 target type of signals. You would think there would be a lot of alum trash down there in that range but there isn't. Its little brass what nots, little costume jewelry bits and and other oddball bits of metal that you would struggle to id, with the occasional piece of conductive foil. Not that big a deal to hunt, just takes longer than swinging around for coins or rings.

HH
Mike

 

[Mike Hillis]

Hi Mascard1. I have no info to share regarding the F70.

HH
Mike