I bought Quattro because

[gofer]

One main reason I bought Quattro about a year ago was Field Test by Andy Sabisch in February 2005 issue of Lost Treasure magazine. On page 46 he states in part "Switching between the two types of audio response is quite simple and with a little practice on known targets, you can easily identify targets that other detectors would have a tough time differentiating such as gold rings & pull tabs..."

I have not found this to be the case. I have found no gold rings and cannot tell difference between gold ring and pull tab in air tests. I need to find gold rings for my wife to increase my digging time.
Has anyone had success easily finding gold rings with this method?

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Andy Sabisch is a better detectorist than I, for sure. I've only been at this for about 6 years. But I have found a buttload of gold rings, with Garrett, Whites, Fisher, and Minelab machines. And I will state for the record that IN MY OPINION, there is no machine that can tell a gold ring from a pull tab with any certainty. And I believe that many will back me up on this. The fact is, if you want the GOLD you have to dig the ALUMINUM...plain and simple.

That said, as somebody who has found many gold rings, I can tell you that there were many times I THOUGHT I had something good based on the sound and it turned out to be a pull tab. But MANY of the times that I found a gold ring I KNEW I had something good (and gold) based on the sound and distinct tonal quality. Which I believe is what Andy is talking about. It's not something that can be easily described, other than to say it's a "quality thing". There will be pull tabs that read 15 to 20 and there will be gold rings that read in the same exact range...forget the meter readings for gold. But when you hear REAL gold and that "round sound" (don't ask, can't do it) your eyebrows go up slightly and you have a keeper. It's all about swing time and knowing the machine. I use an Explorer II now but I found a few gold rings with my Quattro when I had it and I think the ferrous tones are best for me. When I'm detecting the beach with my Excalibur or my Explorer and I hear a gold tone I feel like I have a pretty good degree of confidence in knowing when I need to try extra hard to get that target before a wave takes it. I can still get fooled though, like anybody with any machine.

When I hunt with my Fisher CZ-70 it has the ability and depth to hunt the beach with the best of them but it only has 2 of it's 4 possible tones that are likely to be a gold ring. One is the tone for "Relic" and one is the tone for "Nickel". The tone for Hi-coin and Iron are not likely to be a gold ring, though possible. But all the aluminum and all the gold is going to be one or another tone on that machine and that's what you get. No possible way to tell a gold ring from a pull tab on that machine...dig and hope. So what you get with the Minelabs, aside from superior ground filtering and depth from 17 or 28 frequency technology, is a significant amount more information and criteria by which to make your decision "To DIG or NOT to dig..." which of course IS the question. It takes time to learn to harness that information. Some give up and go back to the simpler machines. Others hang in there and the "light bulb comes on" one day and that's all she wrote. Minelab builds a lot into their machines and it's up to us how much we use and how we use it. If you run the Quattro over a pull tab it WILL find it. If you run it over a gold ring, it WILL find it. I'm definitely NOT one who proposes digging everything...not in my land hunting anyway. But at the beach that is the best policy if you want gold. And it's the best policy for a new user until they learn the nuances of the Quattro or any machine. Hope that helps some...probably not what you were looking for though.

 

[mtdoramike]

also if you descriminate out foil, same thing. Now, I will dig some foil & a load of pulltabs, until I get tired of diggin them and if no gold in my pouch, then I pass them up. But, you can have any machine you want, will it help you find more gold? in most cases NO. If it aint there, you aint going to find it.

I just got back from a couple of days at Daytona Beach and took the Quattro, CZ5 & GTi1500 and I didn't find the first piece of gold, actually, I didn't find the first piece of jewelry. Can I blame the machines? NO, either it was there and my coil never passed over it, or it wasn't there. I dig everything at the beach except iron.

Now as far as the Quattro goes, I was diggin clad at better the 10 - 11" deep in the wet sand. I read that part about chaning from one to another and it will help you tell what the target might be, but I have tried that and I'm not really buyin it. Some might be able to do it, with if they can then they have better ears then me.

 

[therover]

Gofer...basically what Mike VA and Mt Mike stated is unfortunately 100% true. You gotta dig the junk to get the gold. I have been detecting for over 10 years and use both target ID machines ( DFX and CZ6a) and non-target ID machines ( X5 and HH wader ) and there is no way on the beach I will not dig almost everything...especially if it sounds good or target ID's good. Even deep iron, if it fools me, I wil dig and chalk it up to cleaning up the beach.

If I keep hitting pulltabs that ID on the DFX as a 35-37 ( or whatever) , and on the CZ as the pulltab sign, does it mean everyone there after I will not dig up because the machine says so. Heck no...there may be a gold diamond ring with that same conductivity and make up under the coil and I am not wiling to pass on that. Same with the X5 and Wader.

I am not sure how some hunters can tell 'round' sounds from 'squishy' ones but I believe over time, those hunters get to know their machines very well and the audio on them helps them distinguish those types of sounds. I do know on my machines how to tell 'good' targets from 'bad' based on cleaner sounds and the audio not breaking up, but that is by experience.

You have a great detector in the Quattro. Keep using it and if you are on the beach, did everything until you are confident with the iron sounds or ID, but DON'T discriminate out foil or pulltabs and dig ALL those targets because I assure you that at some point one of those sounds will be the gold ring you are looking for.

Stay safe...JC