Picketwire
Well-known member
Notice: Not to be used for comparing mine to your or yours to some else's.
With that out of the way, I urge all my friends here to make up some tests for your own good. When you feel like detecting this winter but the ground is frozen a foot or two deep, break out a detector or two, a good target or two and some trash and see what you can find out about how your detectors work in different situations. You can sit in your easy chair and detect different situations right in your house. Warning: If your wife is home, it is best to wear headphones; need I say more?
You may find that your detector is very noisy with numbers jumping around with the coil raised in the air. Turn down the sensitivity until it stops. You will probably find that your depth is not very good. So what? You can still listen while raising and lowering the coil to see how the target sounds as you start to lose it, just like a target at much greater depth when you are out in the wild. You will have some idea what to do when you are bombarded with EMI while out really detecting. If you see there is nothing you can do, you will know to leave when you encounter the same levels of EMI.
We have been warned not to try to use your detector in the house. Why? Probably because of EMI. Do you live in the city? I guarantee you there is EMI everywhere. My iPhone says there are at least 4 other neighbors with internet. If you want to see how to detect in it, what better place than in your house next to the computer router or refrigerator. "I can't, there are nails in the floor." Excellent! Put a coin or earring, etc. next to one (you can find one there, right?) and see how it affects the signal. Go underneath some powerful electrical lines and throw targets on the ground and try to make them sound good enough to dig.
I saw a post where a person was gifted with an old silver dollar on edge fairly deep. He said the electric line to the well probably went somewhere near where the coin was buried. Obviously he was having trouble finding it! If you go above an electrical outlet, I am sure you can locate that wire. Tape a coin near the wire "on edge" and listen. It won't be perfect like any of these tests but it could help identify the sound. Put a coin in the crack on a sidewalk (make sure there is not rebar in it) and circle it while passing over it. The sound will probably surprise you but maybe not depending on your detector. If you don't know what it sounds like up close, what chance do you have when it's deep?
Are you lucky enough to be able to go detecting for nuggets? Do you have any hot rocks? They are easy to find. I can go to a playground and with a neodymium magnet pick up all kinds of really small hot rocks and iron filings. Throw in some rusty object and small different size nuggets and see how they all react to each other. Move everything around and try again. Don't have small nuggets? Try small lead. I reload shotgun shells and have a variety of sizes. I have a coffee can full of spent 22 bullets. Sometimes I take diagonal cut pliers and cut different size pieces and spread them around.
If you are going to be hunting in nails, throw an assortment on the floor, ground, sidewalk, driveway, etc. and put a coin, ring, 3 ringer, etc. amongst and see what it takes. Same thing with aluminum or small foil. Put an earring next to pieces of foil and listen. Be creative. When you can spare time do it again, the ground is frozen anyway. After a while you may actually find it entertaining.
With that out of the way, I urge all my friends here to make up some tests for your own good. When you feel like detecting this winter but the ground is frozen a foot or two deep, break out a detector or two, a good target or two and some trash and see what you can find out about how your detectors work in different situations. You can sit in your easy chair and detect different situations right in your house. Warning: If your wife is home, it is best to wear headphones; need I say more?
You may find that your detector is very noisy with numbers jumping around with the coil raised in the air. Turn down the sensitivity until it stops. You will probably find that your depth is not very good. So what? You can still listen while raising and lowering the coil to see how the target sounds as you start to lose it, just like a target at much greater depth when you are out in the wild. You will have some idea what to do when you are bombarded with EMI while out really detecting. If you see there is nothing you can do, you will know to leave when you encounter the same levels of EMI.
We have been warned not to try to use your detector in the house. Why? Probably because of EMI. Do you live in the city? I guarantee you there is EMI everywhere. My iPhone says there are at least 4 other neighbors with internet. If you want to see how to detect in it, what better place than in your house next to the computer router or refrigerator. "I can't, there are nails in the floor." Excellent! Put a coin or earring, etc. next to one (you can find one there, right?) and see how it affects the signal. Go underneath some powerful electrical lines and throw targets on the ground and try to make them sound good enough to dig.
I saw a post where a person was gifted with an old silver dollar on edge fairly deep. He said the electric line to the well probably went somewhere near where the coin was buried. Obviously he was having trouble finding it! If you go above an electrical outlet, I am sure you can locate that wire. Tape a coin near the wire "on edge" and listen. It won't be perfect like any of these tests but it could help identify the sound. Put a coin in the crack on a sidewalk (make sure there is not rebar in it) and circle it while passing over it. The sound will probably surprise you but maybe not depending on your detector. If you don't know what it sounds like up close, what chance do you have when it's deep?
Are you lucky enough to be able to go detecting for nuggets? Do you have any hot rocks? They are easy to find. I can go to a playground and with a neodymium magnet pick up all kinds of really small hot rocks and iron filings. Throw in some rusty object and small different size nuggets and see how they all react to each other. Move everything around and try again. Don't have small nuggets? Try small lead. I reload shotgun shells and have a variety of sizes. I have a coffee can full of spent 22 bullets. Sometimes I take diagonal cut pliers and cut different size pieces and spread them around.
If you are going to be hunting in nails, throw an assortment on the floor, ground, sidewalk, driveway, etc. and put a coin, ring, 3 ringer, etc. amongst and see what it takes. Same thing with aluminum or small foil. Put an earring next to pieces of foil and listen. Be creative. When you can spare time do it again, the ground is frozen anyway. After a while you may actually find it entertaining.
