HOW TO MAKE A POORMAN's MINELAB??

[John(H)]

One does not need a Minelab or other brand top line detector to get all of the notching cabilities! With an older machine if you discriminated out the pull-tab everything below it was eliminated also! On a previous post, there was a comment that the Minelab with notch features will eliminate the pull tab but still see the nickels and gold rings! Basically it was hard for him to understand why someone would use a non-notching machine! I can use, say an old Garrett VLF/TR or a motion machine with no meter or audio discrimination and do the same thing! All detectors with discrimination have fall out points! I will benchtest it and find out where these are! The nickel will fall out before the pulltab, the pulltab before the screwcap, the screwcap before the dime or quarter! Out in the field, I start out with low discrimination, I make sure that I can detect a nickel. Once I receive a target, I dial up to the next point to see if the nickel falls out then the pulltab, etc.! This way I hear all the targets and I determine whether to dig or not! This way if I only want nickel and higher coin readings then this is all that I have to do! Of course, this is time consuming and it is just easier to dig the target! I like the the top of the line , Minelabs, Garretts, Whites, etcl but sometimes they are not necessary or really the right one for the job, For more details see my post about 5 pages back!............................................................................GOD BLESS..................Joe

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

There are still some gold that will fall exactly where the different tabs fall.
Besides disc. there are many other things that some of the top of the line machines will do that others can't.
But I do agree with you that you don't need a big dollar machine to disc. certain things.
The best disc. is a digger!

God bless!

 

[John(H)]

..........................the old timers were right the only way to get all of the good stuff is to dig everything! If you had read inbetween the lines I was really down-playing using the notch system! It has a place..................but not all the time! BUT............................I guess it is detrmined by your specific site! At the beach......................I use a Garrett Seahunter on Zero discrimination and dig all the signals even the obvious bad ones! Mainly like you said some pull-tabs are really rings and my count of rings at the beach is always higher than any other location!..............BUT...........AGAIN if I go to a site that is literally covered in pull-tabs like 50 per square foot I will notch or discriminate them out ! There is no way I'll dig 400 to 500 bad target to 1 good one! This is a personal choice! I know that some would dig all of these but some people are limited to there time out in the field! ...... And I think it is wise to use the present or even vintage technology to the best of one's ability! The bottom line to to have fun! It is also very relaxing and serene for me in some of the locations that I go to! I can feel God's presence in many of the locations! And although I do not always bring home many goodies.............sometimes the true reward is not measured in gold or silver................................GOD BLESS..........................Joe

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

I agree! Me and God meet often when I am diggin! The key is to have fun, and know your machine, and the location.

God bless!

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

I may have asked, but where in TX are you?

 

[John(H)]

Mike, I'm in Crosby, Texas-which is about 35 miles northeast of Houston! What part of Michigan are you from!?? I went to Grand Rapids in July and had a great time in your state even saw Lake Michigan. Biggest Lake that I ever saw....................looked like the Ocean to me! Me and my son traveled via my old truck and so crossed into about 5 states that I had never been to before!................ Even went to Chicago............................but that is a whole other story..........................GOD BLESS............................Joe

 

[Mike from MI "Iron Brigade"]

I am 75 miles from Grand Rapids in Kalamazoo co. I have family in Smithville TX, which is NW of Houston.

 

[John(H)]

Mike, I have some friends who use to have a 2nd home/ranch of 200 acres or so in Smithville. But I haven't been there in years! About 150 miles away from me or so! It is about midway inbetween Austin and San Antonio. I like to beach/water hunt in Galveston and I like to do some coinshooting/ water hunting on South Padre Island via Port Isabel! Besides hunting in my area, I like hunting in the South Texas/RioGrande Valley Area. I did some coinshootin in Grand Rapids but found the soil to be a little bit more mineralized than what I'm use to! Most of Texas that I hunt, is neutral type soil so most any type of machine old or new will work in most locations! I like mostly the older machines, like a AH PRo-2, King Cobra, Garrett ADS 5X.just to name a few! A while back I gave up most of the top end detectors with all their bells and whistles and reverted back to the more simple machines of yesterday! Sometimes the TID meter is a hindrance, it is too easy to dismiss a target if the meter says pulltab. With the Pro-2, I can determine by the target's strength and the target's width if its is a good target or not at least 85% of the time or so! And I can do all the above in one pass or so! Most of the new detectors, one cannot even tell if it is shallow or deep, let alone how wide the target is, unless you use some type of special feature like on some of the Garretts! I like TH'ing, it is very relaxing for me, cause some times I need to get away from all the pressures of life and just concentrate on hunting. Most of the time I can pray and meditate before God while I'm swinging! And every time I can leave a site feeling a renewal in my Spirit even if the actual rewards are minimal!........................GOD BLESS..............Joe