Working in nails

[Ism]

I was at a field working over an area where an old homestead once was. The soil was full of nails and iron objects. That didn't bother me, I listened for the high tones of non ferrous targets.
The targets that I did find were always close to the surface. After 3 hrs in the field, I did pull two IH pennies 1863 and 1864 from only a couple inches.
They were iffy signals at best and if it wasn't for the fact that non-ferrous targets were few, I may not have dug them at all.

Here's the thing, I got home and air-tested my Deus because I thought it was acting up. Well it performed as well as ever, so why was the performance so erratic?
Even on top of the ground that was peppered with iron, some small targets that I unearthed were difficult to detect as I swept the dirt to find them.

I did a nail test similar to the one by "barry extreme detecting" used to demonstrate various detectors including the Deus.
I tried various settings but sweeping in the indicated direction, I couldn't pick up the penny in the midst of the 4 rusty cut nails.
As I rotated the plate, the Deus delivered anywhere from a momentary chirp to a diggable signal. The depth ranged from 2 inches to over 8 inches but the detection width was rather narrow.

I guess the gyst of my message is that you have to work an area from all angles. Even though I know these things, I became complacent with the Deus because of its fantastic target seperation.
As I sweept the coil in the field with iron volume on, it sounds like morse code. I get the feeling that the Deus is going to respond if it hits a non-ferrous target in the midst of those nails.
But that isn't always so. Iron has an overwhelming target image and even though we can hear each individual nail, depending on depth and placement, a coin just a couple inches under the coil can go undetected.

 

[beau61]

Theres a old youtube of the Compass 77B hitting on good targets when placed on top, beside and underneath big iron nails. hardly any of my newer detectectors can do that. I tried it with the Deus In all the modes and Deus fast and a beach mode were the only 2 modes to pick up the gold with the iron on it.

 

[beau61]

Did an update test, useing a 5 gram 18k ring on and below 4 large iron nails on a board outside so all modes were properly groundbalanced. They all rejected the nails before ring placed on top. They all picked the ring except basic 2, its the only mode that doesn't pick up bottlecaps, but with the ring under the nails half the modes picked it with pitch mode by far the best with a good signal and wetbeach behind it.

 

[Schultzie]

I was at a field working over an area where an old homestead once was. The soil was full of nails and iron objects. That didn't bother me, I listened for the high tones of non ferrous targets.
The targets that I did find were always close to the surface. After 3 hrs in the field, I did pull two IH pennies 1863 and 1864 from only a couple inches.
They were iffy signals at best and if it wasn't for the fact that non-ferrous targets were few, I may not have dug them at all.

Here's the thing, I got home and air-tested my Deus because I thought it was acting up. Well it performed as well as ever, so why was the performance so erratic?
Even on top of the ground that was peppered with iron, some small targets that I unearthed were difficult to detect as I swept the dirt to find them.

I did a nail test similar to the one by "barry extreme detecting" used to demonstrate various detectors including the Deus.
I tried various settings but sweeping in the indicated direction, I couldn't pick up the penny in the midst of the 4 rusty cut nails.
As I rotated the plate, the Deus delivered anywhere from a momentary chirp to a diggable signal. The depth ranged from 2 inches to over 8 inches but the detection width was rather narrow.

I guess the gyst of my message is that you have to work an area from all angles. Even though I know these things, I became complacent with the Deus because of its fantastic target seperation.
As I sweept the coil in the field with iron volume on, it sounds like morse code. I get the feeling that the Deus is going to respond if it hits a non-ferrous target in the midst of those nails.
But that isn't always so. Iron has an overwhelming target image and even though we can hear each individual nail, depending on depth and placement, a coin just a couple inches under the coil can go undetected.

Just curious, how does the penny look amoungst the nails with the X Y screen? Can you distinguish the non-ferrous target between the ferrous nails? Hmmmm...

 

[Ism]

Schultzie, I didn't try that. Nor did I try pitch mode. I only adjusted the settings like freq, reactivity, etc.
If I don't use a particular mode to hunt with like pitch, I don't generally test it. But now you know I will...grin

BTW, Sunday I pulled out an 1852 Bank of Upper Canada token half penny (I think). It was 6.5 grams 28mm. The penny is 7.5 grams.
It is severly corroded but I was able to make out enough detail to ID the coin. Nice big signal at between 6-8 inches.

This place I hunt just teases me with occasional coins.

 

[Ism]

Just did the XY screen, its just a scrambled "etch a sketch" screen. When the coin is heard in the nails, the line is more defined but there is still some scrambling.

To preface, I use rusted cut nails in my tests.
The nail over the coin trick works because the phase shift from the coin can be seen before the nail masks or cancels it out.
That only works when the nail and DD are on the same axis (front to back). When the nail is perpendicular to the coil axis, then the coin isn't heard.
I also tried pitch and its possible to hear the coin a bit further from the coil, however it doesn't react any different to the nails. It just appears to be more sensitive to field change than disc mode.
I haven't tried the following with the Deus, but did perform the test with all my other detectors. A paper staple 2 inches above a dime or penny will completely mask it.

So how can one tell when searching an iron infested site with all the falsing from verticle nails and larger "halo" iron targets?
What I look at in nails and iron is the TID. Here's where the TID shines. Iron (and hot rocks) will give you the 0-5 or 97-99, however if you hear a non-ferrous target, it will display a momentary reading of its conductivity.

The point I am getting to is that even though I know all this from previous testing, going back to the basics reminded me that I can't just grid an area in one direction when hunting in nails and high trash.
As much as I hate going with the furrows in the field or on an angle to them, I must if I wish to hear the semi-masked targets in iron infestation.