Real Dry Ground

[Anonymous]

How does the explorer work in real dry ground/conditions??? Do you find this effects yout depth a lot???
I ask this because I havnt really had the opportunity to hunt in real dry parched ground as Norway isnt the place to find it.
I was thinking of trying my detector out in Arizona when I come over in February???

 

[Anonymous]

I don't usually have to deal with extreme dry conditions but do recall how it reacted a few summers ago when the ground was closer to dust. Depth lacked at least a few inches and smaller targets were very tough to get any more than maybe 5" or 6". At the time I did not have an X-1 (might not have even existed than) and found pipointing was much tougher under these conditions. Since than I have not had to deal with similar conditions and quite happy not to do so.
PS As luck would have it the site we were doing during that period produced the most coins we had ever dug in one hunt, and in one field. May not be much compared to the UK but between 3 of us we dug 75 coins from the mid 1700s and not later than about 1830. We hunted for about another week than our time was up and the site was put off limits. <img src="/metal/html/cry.gif" border=0 width=40 height=15 alt=":cry"> Every time I pass by that field I wonder how many coins we missed because the ground was so dry.

 

[Anonymous]

One thing it helps in is extreme iron, it does affect depth on targets but as well reduces the depth your seeing the iron halo's that may hide good tagets, its s good time to hit those type sites as you might be able to pick off a few things the iron may hide in wetter conditions.. I make sure to hunt my sites in all type of conditions as it does affect things for the better sometimes, just as it might mess things up in others

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

Jim hit the nail on the head, dry ground makes the iron "shut-up" and I head right for the nasty iron infested areas when its dry. The WOT which is difficult to use when the iron is wet can be deadly when the ground is dry. I once picked off an 1876 seated dime a good 10 inches down in bone dry soil surounded by rusty nails. It was lying flat mind you.
There is one hillside which Ed and I call "Barber" hillside that is heavy with iron, its tough to find anything there when its wet, but as soon as it dries out the coins start appearing.

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

That is very interesting... learn something new every day <img src="/metal/html/biggrin.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

There were two brothers that owned the property. One lived at the top of the field, while the other was just a few blocks away. We received permission from the brother away from the field and all was cool.
To give you the short version, but still quite complete, my tectin bud told a local (who I knew was a mouth) who had an interest for what was being found but didn't hunt. Problem is the guy passed on our new found site to 3 other guys who detect. It was a field but we were only using hand digger as to keep everything as smooth as possible. (not easy in dry ground) That second week the 3 fools who were told of the site marched onto the property with full shovels in hand and were asked to leave upon entry. (remember one brother live right there) Anyway, after the first big week we kinda realaxed a bit as we were spending too much time there, but the next time we showed up we didn't make it half way across the field before the owner was on our heels. He was very nice about it but the bottom line was we were done. Some day I may go back and see if I can strike a deal with him because 90%+ of what I dig I already have so he can have pretty much everything I find and that doesn't bother me.

 

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

The bad targets don't influence the good ones as much in dry ground, which may in fact give you better depth than in wet conditions.
I hunted a local park last year when it was bone dry. I dug the deepest stuff that day. Two IH at about eleven inches. A boy scout shoe advertising token (about the size of a half dollar) at the same depth. These were fairly large targets I admit but the depth was great for that dry of ground. Not sure exactly why but that dry day I found the deepest stuff ever at that park.
HH - Robin

 

[Anonymous]

I have found my deepest targets when the ground is wet. I think the metal has more concuctivity and the detector can pick the signal up more.
Does wet ground enhance the HALO effect??? <img src="/metal/html/confused.gif" border=0 width=15 height=22 alt=":?">

 

[Anonymous]

Wet ground makes the ground more conductive and thus enhances signals and depth. The trouble is that the trash gets enhanced also.
If you had a nail laying two inches from a coin down in the ground it might be easier to hear the coin (as a coin signal) in dry ground since in wet ground both targets would be enhanced somewhat and tend to overlap more. Is this making sense to you??
Anyway, my point in the previous post is that the explorer will punch down pretty darn good even in bone dry goround. And in trashy areas you may find things at depth that were masked during wet spells.
Pay special attention to those tiny high tones that repeat - just a peep could be deep :^)
HH - Robin

 

[Anonymous]

Good point about the dry ground and iron. We don't have a lot of dry weather here, but I'll keep this in mind for the next time it decides NOT to rain every other day... <img src="/metal/html/smile.gif" border=0 width=15 height=15 alt="">
Funny how people go nuts when they see one of US finding stuff, but they wouldn't get off the couch to do it themselves. They have no intention of hunting it, but they don't want you hunting it either. Pretty selfish attitude, but you see this kind of thing everywhere. The trowel/neat digging vs. the shovels/get-it-all comparison is pretty typical, too. Sadly. That kind of thing can give us a bad name, too; responsible detectorists go out, then get banned. The crazy, shovel-wielding idiots come out and people see the damage they do and lump us all together. Enough to make you grit your teeth.
The pseudo-permission thing really gets me too; you get permission from one person in the food chain, but the next person to come along rescinds the permission b/c you didn't ask *them* to dig.
I keep waiting for someone in the community to stop and tell me I can't detect in my churchyard......hasn't happened yet, but a lot of people slooooow down when I'm out there.....
p.