Has anybody air tested a cache?

[Pyledriver]

I did this with my Xterra so I could know what to expect with various coils. I filled a jar full of silver coins and promptly found out the steel lid was probably the biggest factor in detection depth! Anyway, has anybody done any testing with any Tesoro models? What were the results depth-wise? Probably a loaded question to some extent but I'm just gathering information since I may be looking at swapping detectors around in the somewhat near future.

 

[tvr]

An interesting thought.

Not sure that a modern canning jar is what I'd start with. Go back 60 to 70 years or so and many canning jars used zinc lids that were porcelain lined. Back another 40 to 50 years and many were glass topped with wire bales. What about wood boxes, ceramic or earthen jugs, leather satchels?

I've dug some of the zinc lids with porcelain liners. Upper mid-range conductance. If the top is up as burried, it would certainly mask or significantly alter what the detector said of what was under the lid. Have not dug anything that I'd consider more than a coin spill.

Any one out there with a cache find who can tell us what was holding the cache?
tvr

 

[Pyledriver]

I used a mason jar because it was what I had, but yes, the container could be just about anything. Maybe it would be better to frame the question along the lines of depth on caches the size of mason jars..LOL! Like I said, kind of a loaded question. Probably easier to compare depth of a specific detector to my 705 with the high freq 10.5 DD coil on the same target I guess. Seems no two caches are the same anyway!

 

[tvr]

LOL ... My mind was thinking a little tongue in cheek with the comment on the modern canning jar. Sorry. Was thinking that probably most caches were deposited prior to modern cans; but maybe not. There are still many people with hoarding and paranoid tendencies.

Could be interesting to see what would happen if a few somewhat standardized cache types were specified to test. The canning jar size, maybe with one of the zinc tops; filled with silver and copper could certainly be a good standard to start off with. It could give a whole new meaning to the test garden.
Cheers,
tvr

 

[Pyledriver]

My old boss told me today that as he was going through his parents estate (his mom passed recently), him and his sister found mason jar after mason jar full of silver coins. They weighed them for grins and had SIXTEEN POUNDS of silver! I told him he could borrow my redbook to find out how rich he was! So at least for one situation the good ol' mason jar was the container of choice.

I'm guessing almost anything could be used for a test though since cache hunting to me is an 'all metal' proposition and I'm gonna dig anything that I can tell has any size to it at all by doing the ol' coil lift method! I already have access to a two box but I like it more for the fact that it will ignore little stuff than for it's overall depth capability. I've been considering the Infinium for multiple purposes, cache hunting being one of them. The Tesoro will be my 'everything else and sometimes caches too' detector and likely be a Bandido, Eldo or Vaquero.

 

[silversmith]

Being paranoid is Ok if you know people are following you

 

[Pyledriver]

Whatchyou talkin' 'bout WILLIS!?? Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they AREN'T out to get me..bwaaahaaahahaaahhahaaa! NOW, I think you posted on the wrong thread? Fun diversion though!

I'll be doing some searching today!! Hopefully I'll have a real life comparison to be made between an Infinium and my Xterra. Not that I don't think the Infinium will WIN mind you, but at least I can compare and add to my notes.

 

[BarberBill]

I've never air tested what might be called a "cache", but I have air tested a number of metal containers and metal lids. As soon as we're talking any size, lid and larger on up to 2 or 3 lb. coffee can etc. the detectable distance multiplies impressively. Detectors see large metal at much more distance than small coin sized targets. It's worth playing around a bit to get an idea of just what your combination will do.
HH
BB

 

[Pyledriver]

Well I'm back after much detecting, digging, plowing through briars and brambles (you ought to SEE my arms and legs). I never found a target that the Infinium couldn't find, nor vice-versa. So for similar sized targets at depths around 8 inches to a foot or so, there doesn't seem to be much difference. I do know that I don't like digging too many targets at the foot plus range with the shovels I currently have!!

 

[BarberBill]

I hear ya. I don't care to try to retrieve deep targets unless it's in an area where I can use a real shovel and serious digging is okay. Not lawns, parks etc.
HH
BB

 

[slingshot]

When I find one, maybe I'll have the presence of mind to air test it>

 

[petersv]

Cool question.

As said there is probably no single answer.

I have an old mason jar which I dug 20 years ago from a garbage dump at the back of a property line, it has a wire type clasp. It is filled with 2.8 pounds of silver and copper coins. The total weight of the individual coins doesn't matter as much as the surface area of the top layer of coins and if they are slightly corroded together it would also help. All of this being said:

With the jar upside down and distance to the top of the coin layer. With the ring up the distances are the same but the target characteristics(profile) is slightly different since the machine is targeting the zinc ring.

Bandido II, not uMax, with standard doughnut coil 18" in AM manual tuning mode
Teknetics Mk2 with 10" coil 16" in AM
Garrett Ground Hog ADS with 3.5" sniper coil 15" in AM manual tuning mode

I once found an emptied cache, in my backyard just after buying my house. It was a tin about 4" down measuring about 12x12x2. In any other setting I would have ignored it as a sheet of scrap metal.

 

[Hombre]

A long time ago I tested a mason jar filled with modern coins out in my freshly plowed wheat field. I dug down to hardpan about 10 inches then back filled in the dirt over the jar. I was using a White's XLT and was getting some impressive coil lift over the hole. So I suppose quart jar full of silver would be detectable down to two feet or more. Buy the way the jar ID'ed as a dollar.

Randy

 

[Pyledriver]

Don't get impatient with me yet...I still haven't gotten my hands on a Tesoro to satisfy my curiosity! We all understand that this is an 'academic' question since, if we're smart, none of us will be talking about actual caches we did find!! Not only that, caches come in so many sizes, containers, etc. that the whole notion of a cache is a world unto itself. It's also understood that any decent detector should ring out pretty well on a buried Wells Fargo strongbox up to around a couple feet or more. I'm not worried about those for this particular question, but mostly the smaller, easily accessible i.e. not as deep, caches.

My deal is that I've begun to realize that my main interests are cache hunting, water hunting, and prospecting. I'm not detector shopping JUST yet, but probably soon will be-just because of the water aspect. My next comparison in actual conditions will be against a TigerShark. I understand that the Tiger is a Bandido in a bathing suit, so I guess I can get a good idea of what to expect out of one of those since I've been bitten by the Bandido bug like everybody else! I'm kind of using relics as a judge of both large target sensitivity as well as how the detectors react to iron. So far I've found a couple cans, jar lids, plow points, odd bits of iron sized 2" across and larger. The areas I have access to should yeild much more in terms of those type targets so I think I have good fodder for continued side by side comparisons. I suspect I'm just discovering why everybody has dedicated types of machines... What most of this really boils down to is that I may end up selling my current detector in hopes of funding two machines, and then maybe adding back the prospecting ability later as funds allow, since it's the least frequent activity I do. I may do nothing but just keep dreaming of the perfect machine too! LOL..