Is Discrimination As Great As We Think?

[Michigan Badger]

I'm of the old school having now 42 years experience with metal detectors.

There were times when I owned as many as 8 detectors at one time. I threw away a lot money in those days before ebay and the forums. Back then one was lucky to get back 1/3 of what one paid for a new machine even if it were in mint condition. I paid as much as $1000 for a PI machine and sold it for about $150 a few months later. I'm really thankful today for ebay.

Anyway, the subject is discrimination.

When I started all we had were BFO/TR all metal machines (zero adjustable discrimination).

Funny, back then I didn't even mind. In fact, it seemed everyone was happy with all-metal only machines and boy did we find the loot!

Don't ever let anybody tell you the old BFO machine guys only found hubcaps and manhole covers. While they weren't any match for today's machines some were killers down deep enough to fill the pockets with silver and pre-1900's coins. I recall one day in the mid 60's hunting our local park I had almost 100 coins plus a gold ring by noon lunch break.

When discrimination came into my life I gained weight and my finds went down. It sure seemed nice to only have to dig a few tabs. But what was a bummer was the ring count dropped way off to almost nothing. Back then we all figured we had dug all there was to dig.

Last summer I was using the Minelab Explorer and someone challenged me to lay a coin by a large square nail and see what the Explorer would do. I got no signal until I moved the coin about 5 inches from the large spike.

I've been looking more into this and don't like what I'm finding. If there's large iron in the ground our detectors aren't worth a darn at pulling out those tiny seated coins. And gold rings...ha! forget it.

One day at a remote site where I can dig all I want I dug out a large section and screened all the dirt. I wish I had taken a picture of the trash I found. From one area not bigger than 10x10 feet I dug enough iron trash to fill a large wheelbarrow!

Comments?

Badger

 

[BarberBill]

When one hunts really trashy spots, disc. and a smaller coils are helps. However, as you point out, masking can be a big problem and unfortunately most rings and jewelry hit in the range we typically disc. out. I've made the argument for hunting in all metal, then trying to disc. out the signal in order to ge a hint of what the target may be. At least in all metal, you will get a target signal in a masking situation. How you handle it from there is up to you. Yesterday I was hunting an area that was extremely trashy with melted aluminum trash from campfires. The targets came up on my display as anything from pennies to quarters and I dug a lot of them. I did get a few that really turned out to be quarters though. Some of the signals had a bit different sound and those usually turned out to be the real thing. The frustration that builds after we have dug many trash targets undoubtedly does contribute to using more disc. and missing good finds. Those that have the patience and perseverance to hunt in all metal will generally bring home more goodies than those of us that get frustrated or lazy. My two bits.
BB

 

[Michigan Badger]

really great in many situations.

Back a few years ago I was using the Nautilus IIb mostly with the 10 inch coil. One day I slipped on the 6 inch and right off dug a buff and silver ring at a hammered site. Both were only 3-4 inches deep and I couldn't figure out how I missed them. But I found out the objects were surrounded by trash.

Smaller coils can detect coins and rings closer to large iron.

I've been noticing on You.Tube that more people are starting to use smaller coils for most hunting. I guess the ideal would be to use the large coils to find the high trash areas and then change over to the smaller coils.

But I do think we're missing a lot more today than we think. This is not all bad because it leaves lots out there for the future.

 

[BarberBill]

I think you've pretty well nailed it. When I first started I thought bigger is better like we usually do with a lot of things, but now I prefer to use the stock coils and smaller much more than I use larger ones. In fact, on my Tesoros, I use the 7" concentric a great deal of the time. Recently, I obtained a 5.75" coil and have to say I'm impressed with the depth of that one for its size. Smaller coils are a joy to swing and pinpoint with as well and, as you pointed out, we probably are missing some good targets where depth really isn't a big factor anyway. Keep diggin'
BB

 

[tvr]

There have been a couple of recent threads on Findmall trying to get to how the newest and more expensive detectors handle masking. Some of the tests showed that pretty much any detector can hit the good targets when not discriminating, but once discrimination is added, there isn't a magic bullet detector yet.
tvr

 

[Michigan Badger]

n/t

 

[slingshot]

Hey Badger! Every once in a while(when my back can stand it), I take the BFO to a tot lot BECAUSE of a test I made. They will ever so slightly decrease in beat over paper clips, hairpins, small nails, etc.but will find ANYTHING under these items, and I'm talking about gold! They will find the tiniest gold chains at 2-3". They are so close to nails that the larger nails and nuts and bolts will cause a signal. Ever so often, I'll lay my Silver umax aside and try it.

 

[kd8hf]

Now I wonder why I don't just take out the PI machine and dig it all.

Garu

 

[harvdog42]

I can't imagine hunting a park with a PI machine. I can't walk three feet in my front yard with my PI without getting a dozen signals. What I like to do when land hunting is set my discrimination real high for about the first ten minutes to a least get few coins in my pocket. For me it gives me sort of a psychological boost to know that I already have some good targets in my pocket. Then I start going for the gold which we all know ain't that easy. When I get tired, I walk back to the car with my discrimination set real high again just to get a few more coins in my pocket, otherwise I'd never get back to the car. Most of the tot lots are as clean as a whistle in my area even when running with little or no discrimination. My two cents

Harvdog

 

[Michigan Badger]

had a form of discrimination but it was done by the ears and not with a knob.

 

[Michigan Badger]

what you mean about high trash levels, One old yard I'm hunting now is so full of trash I sometimes have to walk 30+ feet to find a spot big enough to ground balance the Tejon.

Badger

 

[Michigan Badger]

a place where I dig several very old coins I'll rope-off an area maybe 20x20 feet and dig every single target.

If the site is out in the wild country I may even use a shovel and dirt sifter and dig down a foot. I've done that and recovered old pottery, marbles, figurines, jewelry, silver spoons, and coins.

Badger

 

[OzarkTom]

a place where I dig several very old coins I'll rope-off an area maybe 20x20 feet and dig every single target.

If the site is out in the wild country I may even use a shovel and dirt sifter and dig down a foot. I've done that and recovered old pottery, marbles, figurines, jewelry, silver spoons, and coins.

Badger

That is the only way to ever get a place hunted out. Discrimination has caused us to miss a lot of valuable objects over the years. A Cracker Jack Superman ring can be worth up to $25,000. Discrimination will miss that. Friend found an Annie Oakley ring the other day. TID meter said not to dig, but he dug it anyway and was very glad he did.

 

[David]

Michigan Badger, metal detecting in the old days in the mid 60's there was less modern trash and most all areas were mainly virgin ground so all the goodies were there for the first time picking with All-Metal TR and BFO.(Like the first people on the bonanza gold rush ground in the 1800's before it was worked out.) In the mid 60's there were so many goodies available in the ground that digging some trash did not discourage as much and kept the spirits up.

I had a BFO in about 1972 or 1973. I know what it is like being the first with my Compass Judge I Automatic TR in about 1974 or 1975 in those virgin areas. Wonderful old shallow silver and copper for the picking!

"Back in the old days we had a form of discrimination but it was done by the ears and not with a knob." Yes going by EAR and TONES and SOUNDS for discriminating out trash is how it worked for me back then!

There is so much modern trash now and hammered worked out areas that discrimination is needed to a high degree sometimes at the cost of missing goodies with the use of a small size DD coil to reduce masking. These two things. BUT on low trash farmers fields and homesteads that is when you can open things up with low or no discrimination with big coils.