As not to ruffel any feathers

[Ron@ Ron's Dixie Metal Detectors]

I am bowing out of this Section of the Findmall. These forums are for you and did not realise when I first posted that we were not welcome here. So with this said, Later! Ron

 

[DOC]

Ron, your are certainly welcome here, and I am sorry you got the impression that you weren't. One thing I failed to mention is that not only are you a Minelab dealer you are a dealer for COILTEK and other items I supply you with as well. So it is in both of our interests to have you advertise here, because you represent COILTEK as well.

I like having dealers around the country because cusmtomers have a choice of where to go, and who might be closer for them.

So, don't run off. What happened was just a misunderstanding and I have a lot of good friends here who thought they were looking out for my best interests.

You're welcome here anytime.

DOC

 

[Ron@ Ron's Dixie Metal Detectors]

I have only been using the 4000 for a short time. I am looking for Brass, Lead (Buttons, Buckels ect Civil War Related) at the best depth. These at this time are in a battlefield. Iron trash is around as it is farm land. Mild mineralization. What set up will give me the desired depth and what setting would you set on the detector? ANY Help would be appreciated. Thanks, Ron

 

[DOC]

The problem is, I have never used the 4000 or any of the pulse induction machines for relic hunting. I don't know if you want to try to discriminate out the iron trash or not. Basically the rule is with us gold hunters, is we just dig everything, because the discrimination is sort of iffy on the Minelab PI machines.

I do have some customers that use the PI's in Florida, and also in Michigan.

Personally I have not had that much experience with the 4000. I've been out with it one time. It really ran nice and quiet.

I would have to think that just using the quick start mode would work just fine. Larger items are going to be a piece of cake. Most times we are trying to adjust the machine so we don't miss any gold that is about the size of two grains of rice.

I know this isn't much help, but you're the first person I have heard of using the 4000 for relics.

Take care!

DOC

 

[Ron@ Ron's Dixie Metal Detectors]

A lot of our sites are hunted out by normal detectors. I have always been intrigued by what I hear on the depths of the GP's and figured the GPX will give an advantage once learned. I know a lot of hunters reading this post will think this is overkill but a lot of relics are worth a pretty penny and besides that, it is a hobby that I enjoy. Have a great weekend, Ron

 

[shep]

Ron, I moved up from the 3000 to the 4000. We have a spot "up on the hill" (Doc has been there); there is an area where alot of nice gold has been found, a ravine where gold has been found on both sides and then a grassy flat area. No gold has yet to be found on the grassy flat area, due to all the trash (rusty cans, and was probably their camp area.
Towards the end of the day (when back and knees sore) I would run thru that area on discrimination on the 3000 and it seemed to work well. With the 4000, I have experimented with the discrimination a couple of times and found setting had to be above the midpoint to get small iron to null out and then you almost had to be on top of it. So it seems very conservative. I couldn't get my small test nugget to null at any point. My main object is to wade through the trash and see if there is any gold on that side then might have to change or not.
Not much help I guess, but thought I'd throw my .02 in

 

[Ron@ Ron's Dixie Metal Detectors]

I found the same with the 4000. A lot of small iron around here, but we keep trying. HH, Ron

 

[steve herschbach]

Hi Ron,

You get two tones with the Minelabs, a rising tone and a lowering tone. The hi tone is small items/weak signals and the low tone is large items/strong signals.

In practice this means bullets, most gold, nickels, and common aluminum gives a high tone, along with small nails, small flat steel, and wire.

The low tone is copper and silver coins and large iron. I'm not sure where buttons would read. You need to take all the relics you have and test them and separate in two piles, hi tone and lo tone. You will see a pattern develop.

The trick is be a contrarian. If the area is littered with tiny iron trash, only dig low tones. These would be belt buckles, plates, cannonballs, guns, and most coins. I treat the hi tones as a threashold sound and ignore it, waiting for the low tones. Run the volume low if the trash is too thick.

High tones would often be bullets but some of the larger bullets may go lo tone. I'm not sure. Gold is usually hi tone but if the gold is large enough it will go lo tone.

Do not use the smooth setting if using the tones as it mixes the tone responses. I've not had enough time to determine where the breaks are but it is different in smooth.

The tones are totally separate from the disc mode and work at full depth. They work with both mono and DD coils. The iron disc mode only works with DD coils and only on shallow targets. it is unreliable on many gold nuggets but may work better with bullets.

The three presets offer great room for experimentation. I'm going to try and set up multiple mode I can flick between to compare signals and get more of an idea what the item might be. Question - how might varying the gain affect the response on an iron target versus a non-ferrous target? Lots of things I need to try with the GPX.

If I were in relic country I'd be going crazy with a Minelab SD/GP unit. I think you are going to be amazed once you get the hang of it. I'd appreciate an email if you learn any tips you can fire back my way.

Steve Herschbach
steve@akmining.com

 

[desertdon]

Steve is spot on!!!!