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A METAL DETECTOR COMPARISON TEST The results of a club's comparison of many different metal detectors to determine which worked the best
(Click on metal detecting to return to the main metal detecting page or on main site to browse 70 other topics ranging from exotic kaleidoscope designs to the strange world of lucid dreaming.)
Mister Gary Silvernail graciously gave me permission to post his very interesting report on a test he organized of 14 different detectorists and their machines. The only changes I made were to delete a few club-specific references, add colored headers and highlight what I thought was the test's most important conclusion. I also added information Mister Silvernail provided about the types of detectors used and the experience levels of the people participating in the experiment. The results of a club's comparison of many different metal detectors to determine which worked the best
DETECTOR OBSTACLE COURSE RESULTS
By Gary Silvernail
The course consisted of thirty targets placed under numbered pieces of cardboard approximately 14" square. The targets were chosen for either their desirability or their ability to fool detectorists. I supplied most of the "junk" and "good" targets with the remainder supplied by Darold Allen. I was the only one who knew which targets resided under which squares. The contestants were given sheets numbered one to thirty with which to record their findings. On the sheets were three numbered columns and lines for detector brand/model and the detectorist's years of experience. They were to put a check by each number indicating whether they thought the target was good or junk based on what their detector was telling them. Also there was a line to write down the probable I.D. of the target. Fourteen detectorists, from all levels of experience, participated in the exercise.
I decided that anything over 75% correct was a good sign that most people would correctly I.D. a target as good or bad even though many experienced detectorists dig all signals.
Two detectors were Minelab XS's, 1 Garrett GTI 2500, 1 Whites 6000 DI pro, 1 Whites Spectrum, and the rest were White XLTs.
The experience levels were; 3 with one year, 3 with 2 years, 2 with 3 years, 1 with four years, 2 with 7 years, 1 with eleven years, 1 with thirteen years, 1 with 25 years The best score was turned in by one of the first year detectorists. The XLT's scored the highest and the lowest. Whatever that means with the majority of the detectors used being XLT's. The GTI 2500 turned in a -8 which was a good score.
Target one I made easy to start out with. It was a Buffalo nickel. 86% identified it as a good target. The probable I.D.'s were; nickel, 3 cent, ring, and pull tab
Target two was a common find, a round pull tab with a tail. 57% correctly I.D.'d this target as bad with probable I.D.s can, pull tab, gold ring
Target three was my first "fooler" it was a square pull-tab on top of a dime. This can be typical of a junky yard or park. 64% correctly I.D.'d it as good with probable I.D.'s of dime, screw cap, and penny.
Target four was common rusty iron 86% got this one right. Probable I.D.'s were; dime, iron, pop top, horseshoe, and nail
Target five was a dime 1" from a rusty nail. Many people only sweep a target from one direction. This would cause a false I.D. on this but sweeping it 90 degrees would help the reading. 79% got it as a good target with probables as; quarter, iron, copper ring, penny, can, 1.00, and penny with trash.
Target six was a Morgan silver dollar. 71% were right on this one as a good target. Probables were; hot rock, silver, trash, penny, can, 1.00 and half dollar.
Target seven was a smashed pop can 43% correctly I.D.'d this as junk with probables being; quarter, can, several coins, half dollar, junk, silver, and lead. When these are deep I sometimes think they are silver dollars.
Target eight was a seated half-dime. 64% correctly I.D.'d this with probables being; penny, jewelry, gold, bottle cap, Indian head, ?, and trash.
Target nine was an Indian head penny. 93% correctly I.D.'d this as a good target. Probables being; penny, 2-cent piece, and screw cap.
Target ten was a smashed screw cap. 43% I.D.'d this as junk. Probables were; penny, trash, two cent piece, screw cap, dime and ?
Target eleven was a seated dime. I'm happy to say that 100% got this good I.D. right! probables were; dime, penny
Target twelve was a common square pull tab. 57% I.D.'d this as junk with probables being; pull tab, junk, ?, ring, and nickel.
Target thirteen was a quarter along side some rusty iron. Only 21% got this right as a good target. Probables were; trash, iron, quarter, quarter with iron, nail, ?, Brian Bott shocked me by telling me the exact correct I.D. on this target before it was shown. Good trash work Brian!
Target fourteen was a shield nickel. 64% correctly I.D.'d it as good. Probables were; nickel, foil, ring, quarter, and pull-tab.
Target fifteen was a 12-gauge shotgun shell brass. 43% I.D.'d it as junk with probables being; Pull tab, trash, quarter, jewelry, nickel, foil, and gold. When hunting in the woods In Virginia I always think button when I hear these. I really hate them!
Target sixteen was a civil war Minnie ball. 71% I.D.'d this as a good target. Probables were; screw cap, penny, copper, ?, jewelry, Indian head. Some of these bullets go for hundreds of dollars.
Target seventeen was a nickel three-cent piece. Only 36% got this right as a good target with probables being; iron, penny, dime, foil, screw cap, jewelry, nickel, trash and three cent piece. This is a small tough target that even gets tougher in the ground. No wonder not many are found.
Target eighteen was my big fooler. It was a tin can full of 25 dollars worth of half dollars. Only 14% called this a good target. probables were; can, foil, iron, ?, junk, flat can, half dollar, and three cent piece. I say this poor showing may to be the blame for not many people finding caches.
Target nineteen was a silver three-cent piece. Better showing than the nickel one with 50% I.D.ing it as a good target. Probables were; screw cap, jewelry, nickel, pull tab, gold ring, trash, multiple targets.
Target twenty was a bunch of coins of different sizes laid out in about an 8" circle. 50% I.d.'d this as a good target. probables were quarter, penny, washer, can, dime, 3 cent piece, ?, trash, and multiple targets. I chose this one because I once passed up a large target that sounded good but was too big. I went back to it and hit it from a different angle and isolated one signal. I ended up digging about 20 pennies there with about half of them being wheat cents.
Target twenty-one was a 14K gold ring. Only 29% I.D.'d this as a good target with probables being; Pull tab, ?, nickel, junk, gold ring, and screw cap. Dig pull tabs for gold rings!
Target twenty-two was a silver ring. This was the only other 100% correct I.D. besides the silver dime. Probables were; penny, toy car, dime, silver ring, silver, and multiple targets
Target twenty-three was a small piece of tin foil. I chose this target because it often fools me into thinking it is a deep good target. 71% were right with a junk I.D. Probables were; trash, foil, nail, iron, penny, dime, 5" to 6" deep penny (you too huh?) junk and gold ring
Target twenty-four was a large smashed piece of tin foil. The type you find where people have had sandwiches wrapped in it or cooked in it. It often sounds good to me. 57% got it right as a junk target. Probables were; steel, gold ring, foil, gold, ?, nickel, trash
Target twenty-five was a 14K gold chain. Only 36% had this as a good target with probables being; penny, iron, quarter, junk, broach, silver, ?, pull tab
Target twenty-six was a gold 2 peso coin chosen because it was the only gold coin I had and is about the size of the American 1.00 gold coin. 50% got this right as a good target. Probables were; gold ring, foil, ?, junk, nickel, pull tab, jewelry.
Target twenty-seven was a mason jar lid. When these are about 10" to 12" deep they sound pretty good to me. 64% got this right as a junk target (what if it were attached to a jar full of coins?) Probables were; junk, nickel, foil, ring, pull tab, jewelry.
Target twenty-eight was a piece of coal. When these are in the ground sometimes they sound good to me. 79% got this correct as a junk target. Probables were trash, iron, junk, bobby pin, quarter with junk.
Target twenty-nine was a gold plated ring. 71% I.D.'d this as a good target. probables were screw cap, penny, copper, combo of junk and good, ?, dime. No one said jewelry!
Target thirty was a hotwheels car. Some may call this junk but as Rick Reichard collects them and some are actually worth something it is considered a good target. 64% I.D.'d it as a good target with probables being; quarter, big junk, screw cap, half dollar, big silver, trash.
Overall Results:
Of the thirty targets 66.66% of the targets were good and 33.33% of the total targets were junk
Of the twenty good targets 60.65% were correctly I.D.'d as a good target.
Of the 10 junk targets 60% were correctly I.D.'d as a junk target.
The best score was -7 for a 77%, the lowest was -17 for a 43%, the average score was -11.4, which is 62% right, calculated by throwing out the highest and lowest and averaging the remaining scores.
A METAL DETECTOR COMPARISON TEST The results of a club's comparison of many different metal detectors to determine which worked the best
(Click on metal detecting to return to the main metal detecting page or on main site to browse 70 other topics ranging from exotic kaleidoscope designs to the strange world of lucid dreaming.)
Mister Gary Silvernail graciously gave me permission to post his very interesting report on a test he organized of 14 different detectorists and their machines. The only changes I made were to delete a few club-specific references, add colored headers and highlight what I thought was the test's most important conclusion. I also added information Mister Silvernail provided about the types of detectors used and the experience levels of the people participating in the experiment. The results of a club's comparison of many different metal detectors to determine which worked the best
DETECTOR OBSTACLE COURSE RESULTS
By Gary Silvernail
The course consisted of thirty targets placed under numbered pieces of cardboard approximately 14" square. The targets were chosen for either their desirability or their ability to fool detectorists. I supplied most of the "junk" and "good" targets with the remainder supplied by Darold Allen. I was the only one who knew which targets resided under which squares. The contestants were given sheets numbered one to thirty with which to record their findings. On the sheets were three numbered columns and lines for detector brand/model and the detectorist's years of experience. They were to put a check by each number indicating whether they thought the target was good or junk based on what their detector was telling them. Also there was a line to write down the probable I.D. of the target. Fourteen detectorists, from all levels of experience, participated in the exercise.
I decided that anything over 75% correct was a good sign that most people would correctly I.D. a target as good or bad even though many experienced detectorists dig all signals.
Two detectors were Minelab XS's, 1 Garrett GTI 2500, 1 Whites 6000 DI pro, 1 Whites Spectrum, and the rest were White XLTs.
The experience levels were; 3 with one year, 3 with 2 years, 2 with 3 years, 1 with four years, 2 with 7 years, 1 with eleven years, 1 with thirteen years, 1 with 25 years The best score was turned in by one of the first year detectorists. The XLT's scored the highest and the lowest. Whatever that means with the majority of the detectors used being XLT's. The GTI 2500 turned in a -8 which was a good score.
Target one I made easy to start out with. It was a Buffalo nickel. 86% identified it as a good target. The probable I.D.'s were; nickel, 3 cent, ring, and pull tab
Target two was a common find, a round pull tab with a tail. 57% correctly I.D.'d this target as bad with probable I.D.s can, pull tab, gold ring
Target three was my first "fooler" it was a square pull-tab on top of a dime. This can be typical of a junky yard or park. 64% correctly I.D.'d it as good with probable I.D.'s of dime, screw cap, and penny.
Target four was common rusty iron 86% got this one right. Probable I.D.'s were; dime, iron, pop top, horseshoe, and nail
Target five was a dime 1" from a rusty nail. Many people only sweep a target from one direction. This would cause a false I.D. on this but sweeping it 90 degrees would help the reading. 79% got it as a good target with probables as; quarter, iron, copper ring, penny, can, 1.00, and penny with trash.
Target six was a Morgan silver dollar. 71% were right on this one as a good target. Probables were; hot rock, silver, trash, penny, can, 1.00 and half dollar.
Target seven was a smashed pop can 43% correctly I.D.'d this as junk with probables being; quarter, can, several coins, half dollar, junk, silver, and lead. When these are deep I sometimes think they are silver dollars.
Target eight was a seated half-dime. 64% correctly I.D.'d this with probables being; penny, jewelry, gold, bottle cap, Indian head, ?, and trash.
Target nine was an Indian head penny. 93% correctly I.D.'d this as a good target. Probables being; penny, 2-cent piece, and screw cap.
Target ten was a smashed screw cap. 43% I.D.'d this as junk. Probables were; penny, trash, two cent piece, screw cap, dime and ?
Target eleven was a seated dime. I'm happy to say that 100% got this good I.D. right! probables were; dime, penny
Target twelve was a common square pull tab. 57% I.D.'d this as junk with probables being; pull tab, junk, ?, ring, and nickel.
Target thirteen was a quarter along side some rusty iron. Only 21% got this right as a good target. Probables were; trash, iron, quarter, quarter with iron, nail, ?, Brian Bott shocked me by telling me the exact correct I.D. on this target before it was shown. Good trash work Brian!
Target fourteen was a shield nickel. 64% correctly I.D.'d it as good. Probables were; nickel, foil, ring, quarter, and pull-tab.
Target fifteen was a 12-gauge shotgun shell brass. 43% I.D.'d it as junk with probables being; Pull tab, trash, quarter, jewelry, nickel, foil, and gold. When hunting in the woods In Virginia I always think button when I hear these. I really hate them!
Target sixteen was a civil war Minnie ball. 71% I.D.'d this as a good target. Probables were; screw cap, penny, copper, ?, jewelry, Indian head. Some of these bullets go for hundreds of dollars.
Target seventeen was a nickel three-cent piece. Only 36% got this right as a good target with probables being; iron, penny, dime, foil, screw cap, jewelry, nickel, trash and three cent piece. This is a small tough target that even gets tougher in the ground. No wonder not many are found.
Target eighteen was my big fooler. It was a tin can full of 25 dollars worth of half dollars. Only 14% called this a good target. probables were; can, foil, iron, ?, junk, flat can, half dollar, and three cent piece. I say this poor showing may to be the blame for not many people finding caches.
Target nineteen was a silver three-cent piece. Better showing than the nickel one with 50% I.D.ing it as a good target. Probables were; screw cap, jewelry, nickel, pull tab, gold ring, trash, multiple targets.
Target twenty was a bunch of coins of different sizes laid out in about an 8" circle. 50% I.d.'d this as a good target. probables were quarter, penny, washer, can, dime, 3 cent piece, ?, trash, and multiple targets. I chose this one because I once passed up a large target that sounded good but was too big. I went back to it and hit it from a different angle and isolated one signal. I ended up digging about 20 pennies there with about half of them being wheat cents.
Target twenty-one was a 14K gold ring. Only 29% I.D.'d this as a good target with probables being; Pull tab, ?, nickel, junk, gold ring, and screw cap. Dig pull tabs for gold rings!
Target twenty-two was a silver ring. This was the only other 100% correct I.D. besides the silver dime. Probables were; penny, toy car, dime, silver ring, silver, and multiple targets
Target twenty-three was a small piece of tin foil. I chose this target because it often fools me into thinking it is a deep good target. 71% were right with a junk I.D. Probables were; trash, foil, nail, iron, penny, dime, 5" to 6" deep penny (you too huh?) junk and gold ring
Target twenty-four was a large smashed piece of tin foil. The type you find where people have had sandwiches wrapped in it or cooked in it. It often sounds good to me. 57% got it right as a junk target. Probables were; steel, gold ring, foil, gold, ?, nickel, trash
Target twenty-five was a 14K gold chain. Only 36% had this as a good target with probables being; penny, iron, quarter, junk, broach, silver, ?, pull tab
Target twenty-six was a gold 2 peso coin chosen because it was the only gold coin I had and is about the size of the American 1.00 gold coin. 50% got this right as a good target. Probables were; gold ring, foil, ?, junk, nickel, pull tab, jewelry.
Target twenty-seven was a mason jar lid. When these are about 10" to 12" deep they sound pretty good to me. 64% got this right as a junk target (what if it were attached to a jar full of coins?) Probables were; junk, nickel, foil, ring, pull tab, jewelry.
Target twenty-eight was a piece of coal. When these are in the ground sometimes they sound good to me. 79% got this correct as a junk target. Probables were trash, iron, junk, bobby pin, quarter with junk.
Target twenty-nine was a gold plated ring. 71% I.D.'d this as a good target. probables were screw cap, penny, copper, combo of junk and good, ?, dime. No one said jewelry!
Target thirty was a hotwheels car. Some may call this junk but as Rick Reichard collects them and some are actually worth something it is considered a good target. 64% I.D.'d it as a good target with probables being; quarter, big junk, screw cap, half dollar, big silver, trash.
Overall Results:
Of the thirty targets 66.66% of the targets were good and 33.33% of the total targets were junk
Of the twenty good targets 60.65% were correctly I.D.'d as a good target.
Of the 10 junk targets 60% were correctly I.D.'d as a junk target.
The best score was -7 for a 77%, the lowest was -17 for a 43%, the average score was -11.4, which is 62% right, calculated by throwing out the highest and lowest and averaging the remaining scores.