My detector was extra deep/sensitive today...Wet soil or other phenomena???

[Darkflight]

I was using my Troy X2 that has a external GB pot added & a 10X12 coencentric coil. It is good & deep.And I've worked in wet soil a lot as hey-I'm in the soggy PNW.

But today the unit was super deep. 6" coins were loud & if there was anything deeper it would have been no problem. After my umpteenth pull tab I did a quickie air test with it. The thing was almost a foot away & still gave a nice signal.

I managed to nail a 14k ring in the deep trashy stuff. Just slowed way down & let the unit separate the targets.I posted about getting a target ID machine but frankly-I gotta stop those thoughts & just concentrate on learning my Troy.She sure was running sweet today. Maybe it was the soil-but the air test?. Maybe it was the fact I was between 2 pretty large storms & the air had ozone a plenty.

Or more than likely she knew I was thinking of getting a replacement so she slapped me upside the head with some 14K blink-Yeah!

 

[Joel-Winnipeg]

Nice ring find , congrats !!

 

[slingshot]

My favorite author was Karl Von Mueller (showing my age) and he often stated that things like humidity, soil moisture, and other atmospheric conditions greatly affected the depth and electronic scan width on certain days. Some of the tricks back then were sticking metal rods that were connected to a hand-crank phone and saturating the ground with electrical voltage or waiting a day after a good soaking rain.

 

[BarberBill]

I'm thinking the damp soil was a plus, but matching the ground with the manual ground balance could very well be a better match than the original preset setting. At any rate it's always nice to get good performance from our detectors.
BB

 

[Hombre]

I've noticed a marked improvement in target signals for both good and bad targets when the ground is wet all the way down past the target depth. I think that coin signals and other (non-ferrous) targets just sound better and are detected deeper, but at the same time I think rusty iron (ferrous) targets are enhanced also. The biggest Plus is that it is easier to dig up the detected targets.

 

[Monte]

it's not just that the ground was wet, but more important that the wet conditions saturate the ground to and below the level of the metal targets, even to encompass the metal target which adds to the conductive properties of it..

Is it always better for us? No, because it can also add to the detectability of ferrous trash, and even if the Discrimination has rejected the junk, the masking effects are still there.

Also, a lot will depend upon the ground mineral composition, and if there are layers of different ground make-up. In some cases, a dry ground condition might allow better depth and/or target detection than wet ground , or where the ground is only somewhat wet. For example, let's say the ground is wet to maybe 1"-2" but very dry below that. This could mean you have to deal with two different level or types of ground mineralization.

Also, as mentioned by BarberBill and others, having manual GB and making sure you're tuned for peak performance has to be to your benefit as well.

Congrats on the gold ring and let's try to enjoy this 'wet season' we get up here. Tomorrow is going to be another very wet day so, I guess I'll have to wait it out as well.

Monte

 

[wvrick]

Nice Ring! Congratulation!

 

[tab-nabit]

I do better after the rain season starts - mostly because I get out more. Cooler weather, easier digging, so more time out detecting. But at times when I go back to spots where I was detecting, seems at times I get finds that I missed when it was dryer - so maybe it does seem the readings are better. Although I'm slow when it comes to detecting, maybe the cold weather & getting older has slowed me down some more. I'm in no hurry except when I want something to eat and when mother nature calls - wife hasn't yet slowed down when it comes to spending my income.
I enjoy detecting best when it's nice & cool out and the soil condition allows easy digging from good soaking rains. Maybe the moisture has something to do with conductivity of eddy currents on the targets.

 

[BarberBill]

I'm responding to tab-nabit's statement:
"But at times when I go back to spots where I was detecting, seems at times I get finds that I missed when it was dryer"
While this may well be the case, how many times have we nailed targets that we missed in the same areas a few days before, simply because we didn't swing the coil over that particular spot? I tend to feel that I have a bit better success when the ground is damp, and it certainly aids in recovering the target, but I can't honestly say that I've done any definitive testing to prove it. I know that in several parks, where I coin shoot fairly often, I quite regularly retrieve coins that I missed on previous hunts over the same bit of ground.
BB

 

[slingshot]

I'm responding to tab-nabit's statement:
"But at times when I go back to spots where I was detecting, seems at times I get finds that I missed when it was dryer"
While this may well be the case, how many times have we nailed targets that we missed in the same areas a few days before, simply because we didn't swing the coil over that particular spot? I tend to feel that I have a bit better success when the ground is damp, and it certainly aids in recovering the target, but I can't honestly say that I've done any definitive testing to prove it. I know that in several parks, where I coin shoot fairly often, I quite regularly retrieve coins that I missed on previous hunts over the same bit of ground.
BB

Both scenarios are true. Perhaps the best thing is to pay attention on the days the humidity and and other atmospheric conditions change. On some hot humid days, the coil must be TIGHTLY overlapped because the signals just don't have the same strength, yet on other days, the sweep width seems to increase because of the conditions. It's a phenomenon I've observed over the years.