Help please

[kiwi-jim]

I went to one of our westcoast beaches yesterday with my Etrac,these beaches are black ironsand and no mater how hard I tried the etrac would not work
in these conditions.My question is,is there a detector available that will work in the in tis black iron sand.
I was there trying to do a ring recovery for a friend of a friend,but of cause this was not possible,hope someone can help........kiwijim

 

[Dave J.]

Those conditions require pulse induction. And even PI's may not work very well.

 

[Frank-S]

Jim, Try going to reject on your Etrac detector,see if cuts out the black sand.
also use Dis mode.
if it does see if it will detect a coin under black sand.
Frank

 

[metalpopper]

Jim.....can you recall what the 'level numbers' were on the SENSITIVITY gauges?

They are the two indicators on the left-hand side of the screen.

The one nearest the screen tells you what the 'auto-sensitivity level' is computed to be, in relation to the E-Trac's estimation of present mineralisation.

On average sites, this would be around 16.....as fe mineralisation factors increases and detrimentally limits detection, the value FALLS.....lower numbers....14 ....12...etc.

You can better/more accurately read the level by manually adjusting the left-hand gauge so that they are equal....then read the numerical indication of the manual setting.

If you know that the conditions are as bad as you imply, then you should be in AUTO-SENS anyway.

Also, you should be practically assessing the limits of detection, using a test item/gold ring, attached to a string.

A suitable coin of comparable conductivity, makes an reasonable test-piece.

Any similar sized cupro-nickel coin whose ID is in the same range, is probably ok.

(Alas, you unfortunately do not know exactly the ID is of the ring your searching for, so you may have to dig more trash than you bargain for)

Be aware, of the 'wide' variations of alloyed gold items....also the very construction of the ring itself.....fancy...thin...woven...twisted...thick......ALL affect the numerical ID.

So you may have a dozen variables in play....but only two numbers to represent the 'summation' of what your E Trac is sensing, in electrical terms.....including crap ground/sand, and salty water......

So hunt in auto-sens mode, keeping gain normal.....long audio tone....AND DO SOME SIMPLE TESTING....Start with a test-ring, buried at say, 4 inches.....and increase depth until you lose it.....

Those are few suggestions.....you are the only one who can make the final adjustments....but you must do so in a thoughtful, logical manner, evaluating each one step at a time.....Matt

p.s.

The E-Trac.....uses pulse induction ....take my professional word of assurance.

 

[metalpopper]

n/t