Badger in NH
New member
The Gold Bug Pro/DP is an excellent machine for hunting the dry sand at the beach but steel bottle caps can be a problem because they ID and sound just like a coin or ring.
This has probably already been discovered by many but I haven't seen it posted before.
Here's how to identify steel bottle caps almost every time. I'm using the 11" coil. I haven't yet tried it with the 5".
When you come appon what appears to be a good target, back up a step and approach the target slowly with the coil. Stop at the point where you first hear the signal or where the edge of the coil hits the edge of the target. If the ID says iron, the target is more than likely a bottle cap or something ferrous. As you move directly over a steel bottle cap, it will ID in the non ferrous range, but as you back off it will ID as iron around the edges.
You will find that non ferrous objects like coins and rings will not ID as iron around the edges in this way.
The technique works in all metal as well as discriminate. I think it's a more accurate way than tipping the coil on it's side like post above mentions.
I only just discovered this this morning at the beach but it seems to work every time. I dug about two dozen bottle caps and ID'd each one correctly just to be sure. Now with this technique I no longer have to dig them.
Try it and tell me if it doesn't work for you. It may be common knowledge to some but it's a new discovery to me.
This has probably already been discovered by many but I haven't seen it posted before.
Here's how to identify steel bottle caps almost every time. I'm using the 11" coil. I haven't yet tried it with the 5".
When you come appon what appears to be a good target, back up a step and approach the target slowly with the coil. Stop at the point where you first hear the signal or where the edge of the coil hits the edge of the target. If the ID says iron, the target is more than likely a bottle cap or something ferrous. As you move directly over a steel bottle cap, it will ID in the non ferrous range, but as you back off it will ID as iron around the edges.
You will find that non ferrous objects like coins and rings will not ID as iron around the edges in this way.
The technique works in all metal as well as discriminate. I think it's a more accurate way than tipping the coil on it's side like post above mentions.
I only just discovered this this morning at the beach but it seems to work every time. I dug about two dozen bottle caps and ID'd each one correctly just to be sure. Now with this technique I no longer have to dig them.
Try it and tell me if it doesn't work for you. It may be common knowledge to some but it's a new discovery to me.
