Hunting a Civil War site

[erick byrne]

A couple detecting friends and I have the great honor to hunt on a privately owned piece of land that saw a lot of Civil War action during the Battle of Manassas (VA). The owners are planning a Wounded Warrior Rehab facility on the site and they are looking for artifacts to put on display in one of the buildings. Since I have only been able to swing my CTX for about 30 hours total I was hoping someone would have a few settings tips for me? I really want to find something for them to display! Thanks in advance.

 

[hershey1]

Put your machine in relic mode and try there first. You may have to do a manual ground balance because some areas in Virginia have some tough ground. Take your time and the targets will come. I have dug bullets 16 to 19 inchs deep in this TN. red clay with the sandstone rocks. Ain't no magic settings just hunt and let the ground dictate what you need to do. If you do a ground balance don't forget to dis-enable the ground balance box when you go to another place. That CTX will find it just have a good digging tool. Best of luck to you and your friends you are doing a good thing. HH

 

[erick byrne]

My thoughts exactly hershey1. I wanted to get second opinions, to make sure I didn't forget something important that would mean the difference in being able to find and contribute something good to a great cause.

 

[jtalley007]

Relic mode, open screen. You will need to play with the gain, maybe leave it at stock setting which I think is around 25 but not sure if you have bad ground.

Try leaving in auto GB and the machine to determine ground settings and if you find that is not working go to manual.

I don't have bad ground here but have been told ground coin works well in bad soil.

You will need to play with tone modes as well, I would not use any ferrous mode, if the ground it bad is will constantly sound off like iron, at least that is what happened with the explorer in FE mode.

Manual sensitivity will tell you a lot start with stock settings and if noisy go down until it is smooth of you get an occasional blip which puts you right on the edge of unstable and the deepest you can run in that ground.

If smooth increase until it gets choppy and back off until you get the same blip on occasion or if that bothers you until it is smooth.

You can also try Auto sensitivity, in good ground manual is always best IMHO but you will be the best judge of that under your exact conditons.

OH, be sure to noise cancel frequently especially when you change modes

Here I have settled on 50 conductive tones so I don't miss anything and once I get a reading look at the cursor, numbers and/or switch screens where I believe there is just a tad of iron disc.

I not an expert with bad soil for sure but have a feeling any disc will hurt you in depth and/or ID. Good luck and let us know how you do.

Jerry

 

[erick byrne]

Thanks Jerry, I'm slowly learning this machine! I just wish I was independently wealthy and didn't have to work 40-60 hours a week like I do. Damn work is cutting into my swinging time!

 

[jtalley007]

I know, daily reading about these guys that detect every day, live by the beach, etc. Happy for them but woe is me too.

Here in VA I will read the Outer banks is eroded in the winter and for one I am over 4 hours away and always have too much going on to pick up and go.

I need a fast track to retirement as well, too bad I am only 52 and self employed 26 years with no pension or health benefits except what I make on my own.

For me detecting does not pay enough to give up the day job. Keep the posts coming.

Jerry

 

[erick byrne]

A little update on the Civil War Site. There were three of us hunting about 10 acres. We did a little research and the site was active during the civil war. One of the buildings across the road from our hunt site served as a generals office and the building next to it was a store active from the 1700's to the early 1960's. Guess what we found....NOTHING. No cans, no pull tabs, no clad change. "Cleanest" soil I have ever seen. Some house history...Built in 1975, 11,000 square feet, the house and the surrounding grounds were used for many social events for over 20 years. And yet, we found nothing of interest. Nothing you wouldn't find on any other ordinary rural farm. We were a bit disappointed to say the least. We are hoping to get back and hunt again after the fields die back in the fall.