Talk About Deep!

[RLOH]

Got out this am at the very old county fairgrounds. Dates to before the civil war. This place has been hunted hard by seasoned detectorists and good finds are very hard to find. Four or five years ago I dug one of my deepest coins ever by the oldest building on the grounds. That coin was a Bank of Montreal token. It was a 1844 and about the size of a large cent. That coin was almost 14 inches deep and was found with an Etrac.

Today I was about ten feet away from where that coin was dug and I got a weak, scratchy 36 signal with the depth gauge almost pegged. Was hoping for a something good considering my location. I dug an 8 inch deep plug and barely got a peep on my pinpointer. It was dead center in the plug which is a good sign and I removed several more inches of dirt and then cleaned the hole with my hand. Still in hard, untouched clay. I carefully dug around the signal and saw a coin in the next handful of dirt. It was a penny and I was bummed thinking it was a wheat. I was really bummed when I saw it was a memorial. 1962 from 10 inches deep. I believe the Safari will do a couple more inches of depth and this is one of the deepest coins I have dug with this particular Safari. Pretty impressive none the less.

 

[Happa54]

Are you located in the Northeastern states?

I'm in So Cal and on my Safari, 7" to 8" for a copper or zinc penny is pretty standard.

The only targets I've received 10" + via signal is when it's a screw cap or rusted metal.

I'm thinking maybe a quarter or half would register on my machine at 10" due to their size.

But for dimes.... no way.

Could it be the difference in the composition of soils or something?

 

[sasquache]

I believe that the Safari is as deep as the Etrac good job finding that penny.

 

[RLOH]

Northeast Ohio. I have several place with bad soil and in these places, I have only had success with multi-frequency detectors(Fisher CZ's, DFX, V3i, and all FBS detectors) In one place I tried to use a Tesoro machine(Tejon) and I could not ground balance it period. Preset ground balance detectors were limited to 3-4 inches and manually ground balanced detectors maxed out around 6 inches. The best single frequency detector I used at this spot was a Whites MX5 with auto ground tracking. Also, the Fisher F5 and Omega 8000 did alright.

Where I dug this deep memorial penny had mild ground. I have used several First Texas detector with FE meters and the places I routinely hunt have between 2 and 4 bars.

 

[Happa54]

Northeast Ohio. I have several place with bad soil and in these places, I have only had success with multi-frequency detectors(Fisher CZ's, DFX, V3i, and all FBS detectors) In one place I tried to use a Tesoro machine(Tejon) and I could not ground balance it period. Preset ground balance detectors were limited to 3-4 inches and manually ground balanced detectors maxed out around 6 inches. The best single frequency detector I used at this spot was a Whites MX5 with auto ground tracking. Also, the Fisher F5 and Omega 8000 did alright.

Where I dug this deep memorial penny had mild ground. I have used several First Texas detector with FE meters and the places I routinely hunt have between 2 and 4 bars.

Of all the places I hunt I don't have soil or ground balancing issues.... at least none encountered yet with the exception to one park only due to electrical boxes. Damp or wet soil makes my Safari scream. I don't know how yours is affected out there but I get clear deeper signals in these conditions. In dry dirt (which I like) the depth is just okay...maybe 4-5 inches. Moderate soil, I'm reaching down to about 7" - 8" for coins. As of yesterday, I put my stock coil back on and I'll try that out to measure depth. I have been told the stock coil is key for depth over the 6x8 SEF coil but I'll soon find out. My opinion on my Safari constantly changes as time goes on. When I'm out there solo, I'm quite satisfied with my finds. But when I'm hunting side-by-side with an Etrac and 3030 friend, I feel quiet under-gunned on the depth. This is another subject for another thread.