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Depth Test - Comment Please!
- Thread starter Myron
- Start date
Ya know all this talk about depth. Over the years I have found very few keepers that were much over 7" and I have owned the best of the best detectors at the time. The ability to find keepers amongst varying ground conditions takes precedence over deep targets that just aren't there most of the time. My Tejon is the best I have owned at doing this to date. That my 2 cents worth anyway.
My best is a Kennedy Half, 11 inches down, highest sensitivity/All Metal with the Cibola.
However, in the field I've dug stuff out much deeper. At first I thought the thing was broken, and I was filling holes back in and moving on to the next. Then I decided I might as well determine what was making the sound, and although it was iron trash in my own yard, it was over two feet deep!
Needless to say, I bought a compact shovel yesterday.
NJM
However, in the field I've dug stuff out much deeper. At first I thought the thing was broken, and I was filling holes back in and moving on to the next. Then I decided I might as well determine what was making the sound, and although it was iron trash in my own yard, it was over two feet deep!
Needless to say, I bought a compact shovel yesterday.
NJM
[quote Mikel]Ya know all this talk about depth. Over the years I have found very few keepers that were much over 7" and I have owned the best of the best detectors at the time. The ability to find keepers amongst varying ground conditions takes precedence over deep targets that just aren't there most of the time. My Tejon is the best I have owned at doing this to date. That my 2 cents worth anyway.[/quote]
sometimes we work areas where land fill has taken place. I've been at this hobby for 40 years now and I'll admit that 95% of my coin/jewelry finds were less than 6 inches deep. But lately I've been working old house burn down sites (now vacant lots) and due to the fill at the site I now find good stuff over a foot deep.
Also, when it comes to beach hunting the deeper a machine goes the better. There Memorial cents can be 3 feet deep (or more).
But like you wrote, for most backyard, park, churchyard, etc., hunting target separation and a decent depth are the most important qualities for a detector today.
The purpose here is just to gain some feedback on the depths people are getting with their Tesoro detectors. Not to say that depth is everything.
Myron
sometimes we work areas where land fill has taken place. I've been at this hobby for 40 years now and I'll admit that 95% of my coin/jewelry finds were less than 6 inches deep. But lately I've been working old house burn down sites (now vacant lots) and due to the fill at the site I now find good stuff over a foot deep.
Also, when it comes to beach hunting the deeper a machine goes the better. There Memorial cents can be 3 feet deep (or more).
But like you wrote, for most backyard, park, churchyard, etc., hunting target separation and a decent depth are the most important qualities for a detector today.
The purpose here is just to gain some feedback on the depths people are getting with their Tesoro detectors. Not to say that depth is everything.
Myron
Something that is sometimes overlooked. Masking. To date I have never had a better machine be able to pick out a silver dime surrounded and then covered in nails than the Cibola or Vaquero. With the small coil the V was able to see a silver dime surrounded by 4 nails and covered by another two in a cross formation. Go to you tube and search for the following words: iron, see, through. I believe that there are many. many more 6" and less targets that are obscured by a piece of iron or two. NASA Tom has some neat things to say about setting your disc so that you can find those coins that are hidden by pulltabs.
We can talk about depth and target separation all we want, but there have to be a mass of masked coins still in the shallows. The old High frequency VLF or LF machines couldn't have sucked them all out.
We can talk about depth and target separation all we want, but there have to be a mass of masked coins still in the shallows. The old High frequency VLF or LF machines couldn't have sucked them all out.
But depth is what sells the detector today. That is why the leading question asked about a new detector is regarding depth. Oh, someone may pose the question about target separation or even the detector's ability to hunt in iron. But the leading question is alway on depth. Interstingly an old park that has been heavily hunted through the years by experienced users of top performing detectors will, at least for the most part, be devoid of those good targets that are within fairly easy reach of most detectors. What remains is yesterday's fresh trash, and the trash at various levels deposited over a period of many years. Some of the good targets are masked by all these levels of trash and, in some cases, are simply too deep for almost any current detector and operator. Notice I didn't say ALL operators and detectors although that can certainly be true in some situations. The question each of us must ask ourselves is how much effort are we willing to bring to the problem of finding these deep targets and if, the detector we are using is capable of producing a response on those deep targets. Or are we better off trying to find those small pockets/areas where no one has thought to search or simply passed over as unattractive using a detector that has good depth (maybe not the best)and excellent target separation?
[quote Pap]But depth is what sells the detector today. [/quote]
those 1960's Whites and we got maybe 3 to 4 inches max on coins. Back then the talk was usually "give us more depth" just like today. But when you think about it, how many coins do you dig today that are over 4 inches deep? I'd say 80% of my coin/ring digs are over 4 inches deep.
I started finding Indian cents and Barber dimes when the VLF came out. Back in the early 70's one rarely heard of a local guy digging a seated coin.
But I'll admit many coins are out there masked by trash. I've done a lot of writing about this myself the last few years. In fact I just cleaned a spot using all-metal mode and digging down 12 inches deep and sifting the soil for the purpose of studying target masking. Yes, target masking is a biggie, that's for sure.
Like money, a good depth isn't everything.
Myron
those 1960's Whites and we got maybe 3 to 4 inches max on coins. Back then the talk was usually "give us more depth" just like today. But when you think about it, how many coins do you dig today that are over 4 inches deep? I'd say 80% of my coin/ring digs are over 4 inches deep.
I started finding Indian cents and Barber dimes when the VLF came out. Back in the early 70's one rarely heard of a local guy digging a seated coin.
But I'll admit many coins are out there masked by trash. I've done a lot of writing about this myself the last few years. In fact I just cleaned a spot using all-metal mode and digging down 12 inches deep and sifting the soil for the purpose of studying target masking. Yes, target masking is a biggie, that's for sure.
Like money, a good depth isn't everything.
Myron
[quote Myron][quote Pap]But depth is what sells the detector today. [/quote]
those 1960's Whites and we got maybe 3 to 4 inches max on coins. Back then the talk was usually "give us more depth" just like today. But when you think about it, how many coins do you dig today that are over 4 inches deep? I'd say 80% of my coin/ring digs are over 4 inches deep.
I started finding Indian cents and Barber dimes when the VLF came out. Back in the early 70's one rarely heard of a local guy digging a seated coin.
But I'll admit many coins are out there masked by trash. I've done a lot of writing about this myself the last few years. In fact I just cleaned a spot using all-metal mode and digging down 12 inches deep and sifting the soil for the purpose of studying target masking. Yes, target masking is a biggie, that's for sure.
Like money, a good depth isn't everything.
Myron[/quote]
I agree on all points. Here in Virginia where there's lot of iron in the ground, I've found that after a good soaking rain my V goes crazy with pops, cracks etc, but the other day before the rain began I found a penny at 4" deep with 3 rusted nails in the same hole.
One thing for sure, If I had waited until the rain started I doubt if my V could have found the penny with the rusted nails in the way (in disc mode).
Over the past two years I've studied the subject of masking a lot, which warrants a story:
I planted a test garden a couple of years ago while we were have a very dry spell. I thought the ground was fairly clean. Then the rains came. Needless to say some of the buried coins vanished when running in disc mode. But when the ground dried out again, the coins appeared again in disc mode.
those 1960's Whites and we got maybe 3 to 4 inches max on coins. Back then the talk was usually "give us more depth" just like today. But when you think about it, how many coins do you dig today that are over 4 inches deep? I'd say 80% of my coin/ring digs are over 4 inches deep.
I started finding Indian cents and Barber dimes when the VLF came out. Back in the early 70's one rarely heard of a local guy digging a seated coin.
But I'll admit many coins are out there masked by trash. I've done a lot of writing about this myself the last few years. In fact I just cleaned a spot using all-metal mode and digging down 12 inches deep and sifting the soil for the purpose of studying target masking. Yes, target masking is a biggie, that's for sure.
Like money, a good depth isn't everything.
Myron[/quote]
I agree on all points. Here in Virginia where there's lot of iron in the ground, I've found that after a good soaking rain my V goes crazy with pops, cracks etc, but the other day before the rain began I found a penny at 4" deep with 3 rusted nails in the same hole.
One thing for sure, If I had waited until the rain started I doubt if my V could have found the penny with the rusted nails in the way (in disc mode).
Over the past two years I've studied the subject of masking a lot, which warrants a story:
I planted a test garden a couple of years ago while we were have a very dry spell. I thought the ground was fairly clean. Then the rains came. Needless to say some of the buried coins vanished when running in disc mode. But when the ground dried out again, the coins appeared again in disc mode.
I get a little polarised in my thinking and ramblings sometimes, please accept my apologies . My point really being depth aint everything and overdriving the sens setting to get max depth, in the wrong setting, (wet iron rich soil) will get you nowhere. Getting back to, know thy unit and what it can do, when and where.
I just think that we, me included focus on the units too much and not enough about the "real" issue of where and how. To newbies this can be really disheartening, and even to old timers or really talented not-so-old guys at times.
The very first good target I ever hauled out with my V was a V nickle at 7" and a sens of less than 5, it may even been around 3. I rarely ever hunt with high gain. The soil was moist and has a lot of old fence sections in it.....
Happy hunting friends.
. My point really being depth aint everything and overdriving the sens setting to get max depth, in the wrong setting, (wet iron rich soil) will get you nowhere. Getting back to, know thy unit and what it can do, when and where. I just think that we, me included focus on the units too much and not enough about the "real" issue of where and how. To newbies this can be really disheartening, and even to old timers or really talented not-so-old guys at times.
The very first good target I ever hauled out with my V was a V nickle at 7" and a sens of less than 5, it may even been around 3. I rarely ever hunt with high gain. The soil was moist and has a lot of old fence sections in it.....
Happy hunting friends.
God bless you! I've thought about using all metal to do just that in older areas but my conservative side said maybe some other time! In my opinion masking may be the primary cause of failure in locating silver in older parks. Not that some coins aren't beyond the depth of the detector as I am certain they are, but with layer upon layer of trash build up over the years all detectors will fail. Using very low discrimination and digging all deep targets that respond can solve part of the problem for deeper coins but does nothing to prevent masking.
[quote DavHut]Last season I dug a quarter at a measured 10" - with a Golden uMax. Were the conditions (minerals, moisture, etc.) right? I dunno. I do know that it kept giving me that sweet, clear hightone...it didnt matter what it was, I was goona revcover it[/quote]
just love that "sweet clear hightone?"
Most of my old coin digs gave this but I did dig some very deep Indian cents and wheats that gave a more clipped or blunt sound when I was hunting with FOIL discrimination (Tejon). After I dug down a bit the sweet sound kicked in.
Myron
just love that "sweet clear hightone?"
Most of my old coin digs gave this but I did dig some very deep Indian cents and wheats that gave a more clipped or blunt sound when I was hunting with FOIL discrimination (Tejon). After I dug down a bit the sweet sound kicked in.
Myron