In defense of the stock coil

[kirk01]

At a fresh water beach in Ga. over the weekend my wife and I found a 14k gold baby size ring just short of 9 inches deep in the sand, using the 9" concentric 7.5 kHz coil.
We were amazed. The band of the ring is only 1.2mm thick for most of it, raising up to 5mm high center front. OD is 14mm.
I was in C&T using zero discrimination in pattern 1 custom set up. (Thanks Digger!)
Got a faint signal, -2 -4 that was intermittently non-repeatable. These were always good numbers for me in air testing some small gold.
Switched to the prospecting mode at zero iron mask and there it was, a soft sweet small sound that told me to dig.
So we dug and dug (only had a little plastic shovel with us) and the sound coming from the X-terra 70 kept on saying "dig, dig" !
And we did. Eight and one half inches ( we measured it with a plastic/metal toy boat we had found earlier )

I hate to even mention what happened next because many will be trying to figure out where there is a large white sandy beach on fresh water in Ga. but I can't resist.
Within 15 minutes and no more than 4 feet from where we found the ring, we found one 1956 dime at 5 inches, one 1935 quarter at 7 inches and three wheat cents at 4 to 6 inches down.
Wow, were we surprised! Regretfully we had to leave than because it was getting dark, but we will be back soon!

I know the stock coil does not get much respect, but I LOVE mine.
I would like to hear some good stories about what you guys have found with the stock coil.

Thanks for reading.

Denny

 

[Mtnmn]

I use the stock coil very little anymore, but will give you and your wife a lot of credit for digging such a signal. Suspect that there are many of us who wouldn't have bothered. Will pay more attention to those types of signals the next time I'm on a fresh water beach. Thanks for the info. I assume you must have only been notching out 48,-8 and -6 in Pattern One. How many tones were you using? Have found a gold plated serviceman's ring, a very small antique child's sterling silver birthstone ring and a Barber dime using the stock coil, so it is a very capable coil.

 

[kirk01]

Actually, I have got my pattern one set to nothing notched out.
I learned this technique from Digger, he claims it is better than simply using all metal.
Seems to work for me.
I was using 4 tones.
I used to use multi tone, but I seem to understand 4 tones better.
Just like your silver ring my gold ring looks very antique also.
It must have been down there a very long time.

Happy hunting!

Denny

 

[Mtnmn]

Never heard of notching everything out in pattern one to get a better response. Was going to go with all-metal this year in place of the pattern one I've used in the past, but will try notching everything out instead. Willing to try anything that might give me a slight edge. Want to gain another inch of depth this year over what I was getting last year, so maybe this will help along with finally using a quality set of earphones. Also use 4 tones as multi-tones wouldn't work with my poor hearing...

 

[kirk01]

Hi Mtnmn

Digger had an long article up last year titled " Understanding the X-TERRA " which I think is being revised.
He explained why he uses zero discrimination in pattern one rather than all metal.
Maybe he could chime in.


Denny

 

[Terra1959]

Gday denny,

Extremely well done
at -2, -4 I would of kept walking and missed the GOLD
I think KiwiJim did a similar thing a month or so ago so it certainly has cred.
After 3 years on my Xt70 I am still learning new things all the time...thats what I love about this hobby.
Can we please have a pic of your new gold ring ?

T59

 

[Reddog777]

Same here. I thought the minus was for iron readings. I may have pass gold also.

 

[Mtnmn]

I knew some good targets, especially gold and even coins will sometimes bleed (I.D.) over into the low iron range, if too deep for a detector to get a good TID on. Usually never dug such targets unless looking for relics and was getting a good solid hit on it. From what I've read you will usually get a higher tone than iron (sometimes both), if the target is just bleeding over into the iron range. Imagine that was why Denny and his wife continued to dig the target. Suspect the ring ID'd in the foil range (4 to 10) once out of the hole. Correct me if I'm wrong...

 

[kirk01]

Gold is tricky. Depending on size and depth.
Small gold like this little ring at 81/2" was -2 -4 in the ground. In a C&T air test I could only get a reading to 71/2" same numbers.
But as you bring it up closer to the coil the id # goes up to +6.
Prospecting mode air test good up to 81/2".
I will post picture soon.

T59,
Tell me about your E-Trac.

Good hunting,

Denny

 

[S505]

With the 505 and the standard coil, I have also seen gold ID in the negative range as depth increased in tests in soil in a bucket. For me, air tests were fine with no change in ID until the signal broke up at the limit of detection. I do not think the ID shift happens in all conditions but I haven't figured out how often it happens. I might have had outside interference which contributed to it. This was very noticeable beyond 4-5 inches with gold rings, nickles, and zinc pennys. Other than -9, -6 and 48, if any other signal is solid and repeatable I would probably recommend digging it unless you are looking for iron.

S505

 

[kirk01]

S505

I agree with everything you said, but because this one was so deep and the target was so small the signal was not always repeatable in C&T,
but I liked the sound of it in prospect mode.

I got to go to sleep,
Good night everybody.

Denny

 

[Mtnmn]

Was just reading over on the Teknetics forum's March 1st messages under "Tips on finding gold rings", one by Monte stating that over the years he has found several small children or small thin women gold rings that registered in the high iron range. So guess it is not all that unusual for small gold rings to read in that range, even those not so deep. His article is a good read, you might want to check it out.

 

[Terra1959]

Denny

The Et is one awesome machine.
Great ergonics to swing though heavier than the lightweight Xterra range...I use a Docs swingy thingy with mine for longer sessions
Its depth capabilities keep surprising me as does its sensitivity (I only have the standard pro coil)
It tells more about the target with its ID no's in ferrous and conductive
Its much more "tweakable" than the Xterra in regards to what it can do if you set it to do that.
So its more complex and so its processor needs a slower swing speed than the Xterra ...making it a bit harder to learn all its capabilities and settings
I love it but still love my Xt70 and am still learning the ET so maybe you should ask Randy or G4E a bit more about it ?

I mainly use the Xt for shallow modern (bread and butter) money and Mr. E. Trac for deep old coins and relics.
Hope this helps
T59

 

[kirk01]

T59

It helps a lot!

Thank you,

Denny

 

[kirk01]

Mtnmn


Thanks for the tip,
I will check out Monte's article.

Good hunting!

Denny

 

[David]

Thanks, I have learned a lot here, that very small gold can ID at -2 or -4 if it is at the very limit of the depth range with a intermittently non-repeatable signal, but when it gets closer to the coil it goes into the +plus range, and also a stronger repeatable signal I gather.

Also that Pattern 1 with all of the TID numbers open can be a better choice than All Metal. I still do not know why??

Kirk, you said in an air test the P Mode got about the same depth as the C&T Mode on that very small ring. I found the P Mode to be up to twice the depth sometimes in air tests, I think it depends on the settings and the objects size.

Kirk, one more thing, you also found one 1956 dime at 5 inches, one 1935 quarter at 7 inches on that freshwater beach. I also work a freshwater beach and I found a silver quarter there that was totally coated with a very bad white colored corrosion. Did your silver quarter also have this very bad white corrosion on it as well??

With the stock coil I also found a small gold ring on that freshwater beach but it read +10 and it was shallow. A .410 shotgun brass read +10 that I found there too.

 

[MT_VertCaver]

David wrote:
"Also that Pattern 1 with all of the TID numbers open can be a better choice than All Metal. I still do not know why??"

If I remember correctly, it's more of a "handy" thing for people that primarily hunt in All Metal. When the detector turns on, it automatically goes to Pattern 1. If Pattern 1 is set like All Metal, you don't have to push a button. I don't think it actually gets more depth or less discrimination.(If I'm wrong someone can correct me.)

 

[kirk01]

David and Caver

Pattern 1 customized to zero discrimination per Digger reason One "more accurately identifies deep iron as a ferrous target, compared to the all metal mode".
Reason Two " it's more of a "handy" thing for people that primarily hunt in All Metal." as Caver noted and Digger stated.

I can't increase the depth in P-mode air test in my house on this ring. Maybe outside? I think/ know all my settings would need to be changed.
My house and my backyard are a far cry from the white sand beach! Wish I was still there.

"Did your silver quarter also have this very bad white corrosion on it as well??"
Yep. It looked like hell. Used CLR, lemon juice and baking soda just to get a good look at it. Thank goodness it was not a scarce date.

"With the stock coil I also found a small gold ring on that freshwater beach but it read +10"
I always dig +10's and +12's, my gold wedding band is almost always a solid 12 which I throw on the ground and test before I start hunting.

May much gold and silver be in your future!

Denny

 

[Terra1959]

Denny

just curious mate...which one of Xterra models did you find that little ring with ?
thanks
T59

ps. would still love a picture

 

[kirk01]

T59

X-70, I got it about a year ago and still learning.
Also have two Tesoro Silver Umax's one with the stock coil and one with the 10x12.
The silver is a good basic machine but we usually check the target with the X-70 before we dig.
Found a fair used price on a X-705 which I think we are going to get.
I think I will put the 6' DD HF coil on that one.

My wife tells me she will post the picture of the ring after she feeds me

What a woman!

Denny