salmonriverhotrock
New member
My non controlled test was in air with the standard BH coil on my Pioneer 505. All items tested sounded in the All Metal mode however, in the Discriminate Mode, Sensitivity all the way Low, Discrimination all the way Low, I had the following results. As a general rule, keep in mind that Hot Rocks covered with the surrounding soils and or sands and gravels will usually blend in or mask out by the effects of ground real close to the surface or a bit deeper with a concentric coil. These Hot Rocks in these pictures are an assortment of ones I've found here along the Salmon River with my Whites Gold Master that is an All Metal, Threshold, manual Ground Balance machine. My Pioneer 505 can find them on or just a tad bit below surface where my Gold Master with a DD coil will get these rascals deeper.
The picture with 3 rocks and coins were some of my hottest rocks but the left rock in that picture is a mean one and the 505 auto ground balances it out and masks out every coin and both .22 bullets I put behind it. The picture with a red rock above the ruler and second from right are hot rocks but are not as hot as the others are. As you can tell, they can come in all sorts. The picture with the bag is a bag of cleaned Black Sand and has one .22 bullet and another one deformed and flat laying on it. Soft lead tends to give close to the same response as Gold nuggets about the same size so I thought I would throw it in my little test. Now I know the effects ground and hot rocks can have on detecting in my area but I'm trying to impress upon those who rely on Discrimination, classifying Tones, and automatic Ground Balance machines, just what they may be losing or leaving behind. There is a reason some of us Old School that detect by Sound, not classifying Tones, dig at times everything we hear. It all comes down to how bad you want what it is you are looking for. Granted though, I doubt most others across the U.S. would have the conditions I have here in Idaho to deal with.
Disc. Mode: Zinc Penny reads as 1 Cent/Zinc Penny, when behind the small rock at right, reads Iron/Foil, behind center rock, reads Iron/Foil, behind left rock, no response.
Disc. Mode: Copper Penny reads as 1 Cent/Dime, when behind small rock at right, reads Iron/Foil, behind center rock, reads Iron/Foil, behind left rock, no response.
Disc. Mode: Dime reads as 1 Cent/Dime, when behind small rock at right, reads Iron/Foil, behind center rock, reads Iron/Foil, behind left rock, no response.
Disc. Mode: Nickle reads as PT/5 Cents, when behind small rock at right, reads Iron/Foil, behind center rock, reads Iron/Foil, behind left rock, no response.
Disc. Mode: Quarter reads as 25 Cents, when behind small rock at right, jumped between 1 Cent/Zinc and 1 Cent/Dime, behind center rock, reads as Pull Tab, behind left rock, no response.
Disc. Mode: .22 Bullet (normal shape) reads as PT/5 Cents, when behind small rock at right, no response, behind center rock, no response, behind left rock, no response.
Disc. Mode: .22 Bullet (deformed, flat) , reads PT/5 Cents, when behind small rock on right, no response, behind center rock, no response, behind left rock, no response.
Disc. Mode: Bag of cleaned Black Sand responds as Iron/Foil.