Ground moisture and iron

[3RINGER]

Anyone notice this...

Was in the test garden today where I have some iron....no rain here over two weeks now. May just be me but the iron (small stuff) was less of an issue. Good targets were just as good as always. Went back over to the trashy spot and pulled out two pc's of small unknown brass objects. Racer seemed to pick them up better the dryer it was. This is the same place I've been hunting...yes I could have missed them with 5" coil but sure seems to be getting better. Makes for some hard digging but that was my take on it.

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

Yes as you have just deduced wet ground may make the detector reach down better to hit objects but also makes iron hit more too. It's because of the "HALO" effect of the leaching out of the metals around the object in the ground the longer it's been there. Like green old wheat pennies and corroded zinkies and such. Less so on silver and gold which don't do much of it at all to help us find it easier. When the ground is dry targets should be easier to find if in trash and iron laden sites but the signal will penetrate the ground a bit less too so ya may loose an inch or so of depth.

 

[3RINGER]

Thx Tom for the info. Went back out and got the setting right this evening in the test garden...hit the spot I've been finding buttons ans pulled in three more. 2 of them are Eagle ''I'' buttons.

Gotta love a tuned unit.

 

[Low-Boy/LCPM]

Yes wet iron will cause the iron to run and dust or flakes will cause the detector to sometimes go crazy dry will be better less of a haylow effect so hunting in an area with targets during the wet season is another reason to come back when it dries...also silver for me when wet allows me to dig deeper silver targets when wet so it is better for silver hunting I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too

 

[EtracTom-AdirondacksNY]

You got that right LOW-BOY wish we could though but that is what makes this hobby fun and interesting as you never know what you may find in the different conditions day to day. Hence the reason to never assume any site is cleaned out.
Your welcome 3RINGER glad to have helped you or others out.

 

[JinFL]

I'm not disagreeing about wet iron, but here is some food for thought:

The more moisture in the soil, generally speaking, the more sensitive the detector/coil (receive signal) becomes. Some detectors can handle soaking wet soil, and you would never know it was wet. Other detectors cannot handle the moisture, and you must turn DOWN sensitivity (and/or Gain) settings to stabilize the detector's performance.

As far as the Racer, with a fixed transmit level, the amount of moisture in the ground becomes even more important. Even though the Racer has a Gain (receive) control, it really is not advisable to transmit at full power for best performance ALL the time.

This is one reason why I have posted a suggestion to Makro to see if maybe the next model they produce has BOTH Transmit control & Receive control for extensive flexibility in a variety of environs.

Just my thoughts on this subject.

J in FL (aka Tom/Dick/Harry)