just a quick question

[last12know]

recently bought a bh discovery 1100 to find property markers.. found some stakes but there seems to be a little disagreement on if they are it or not so i'm getting it surveyed anyhow...

meantime, i've been playing with the detector thinking i have it i mite as well use it.... it's a good change up from geocaching.. my observations from using it for a day or two.....

1. if i get multiple readings within a short space it's probably trash...
2. if the depth guage doesn't read and the detector indicates a high tone it's probably a pull tab...
3. if the depth guage doesn't read and the detector indicates a deep tone it's probably a nail or something with a sharp irregular shape
4. if the depth guage doesn't read period with any tone good indication it's something undesireable....

so in short i should be getting some kind of depth reading with a repeatable tone if it's worth checking?

want to try and find a engagement ring lost in a yard in the late sixties... but there are nails, pull tabs, mason jar lids and washers scattered throughout the yard... i should try to ignore everything without a depth guage reading of any kind? and mixed signals?

i should be getting a medium or deep tone with a depth reading for a diamond ring? would greatly cut on false finds if this is the case... otherwise any good tips for trying to find just the ring? should i discriminate the the iron reading and just rely on the med or silver/copper reading? or leave it on all metal?

it would be awesome to find this ring....

thanks

brian

p.s.... found an old steel car
a match box car
a wood chisel i lost ten years ago... perfectly fine after cleaning
one penny
and numerous nails, washers, tabs and foil....

 

[mwaynebennett]

You said that the stone in the ring is a diamond, however metal detectors cannot detect diamonds, just the mounting and you did not mention what the mounting metal might be. If it is gold then it will give a honking "pull tab" or "aluminum tone, which means that you should be digging most every signal. That is the reality of the situation.

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[bountyhunter1972]

You mentioned high tones those are most of the time a dime, silver, pre 80's penny, quarter and such high tones you want to dig, choppy tones are most of the time trash but dig all tones until you learn your machine.

 

[last12know]

so i could discriminate the iron or deep tone? setting i believe is gold... and for the most part i get just a tone period big it high medium or low when i'm moving the detector... should it lock when it's setting on a find? as far as the sensitivity.... i've been using it max and when i do get a reading there is usually something there.... would it help to say run it at 50 percent to just read the top four or so inches of soil? the high tones are plentiful but the iron tones out run them by a big margin.. if i could rule just the iron or deep tones out it would help tremendously... the only thing i found with the iron were stakes, washers, nuts and nails... but i didn't want to rule it out if the ring would fall into that category...

thanks

brian

 

[mwaynebennett]

If you discriminate out iron, you should still pick up gold but it will be in the aluminum-zinc range.

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[wasp]

Just be careful that you don't disc out nickels. Depending on size and gold content gold rings will be in the nickel to zinc range. White gold can read in a little higher range than yellow gold. Some smaller rings and those with a low gold content could fall into the foil range and if the ring is tipped on edge all bets are off as to how it will read. You also have to consider that the ring may be near enough to a piece of junk metal, or even coins, to give a broken or bouncing signal. In other words, if you know for a fact there is a ring in the ground you will probably have to dig everything unless you get lucky.

You could give yourself a head start if you could find out the size and metal composition of the ring. Then you can put a similar ring on the ground and see how it reads out on your detector. If that is not possible I would start out by going over the yard digging repeatable signals in the nickel range. If the ring is not found, then I would dig repeatable signals in the pull tab range....then the zinc/penny range.

Good luck and let us know if you find the ring.

 

[last12know]

nickel range? hmmm... have a discovery 1100 get three tones ... copper/silver.....mid range and iron... so i should get a reading in the copper/silver or midrange then? the tabs were reading in the copper/silver....

 

[mwaynebennett]

Well, 99% of pull tabs I have dug were NOT in the copper/silver range on my machine.
My guess is that a gold ring would be in the midrange on your machine.

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[last12know]

i will have to watch a little closer next time i take it out.. thought they were in the silver... basically i hear two tones constantly the lite one and the deep one... i am positive the tabs weren't in the deep tone... had been more or less using it by listening... only thing i really watched was the depth indicator and after a bit gave up on it... sounds like i have it too sensitive and that i should pay more attention...

rained today and across the street is a roller rink that has been closed for twenty years that is about to get bull dozed..... i know the guy who bought it and i don't think he'd care if i went over there.. i'll ask him next time i see him there... outer edge of parking lot be a good spot to check? mostly gravel and when it's plowed in the winter it gets pushed to the edges is what i'm thinking... i recently bought the main parking lot for it and it's mostly paved but wouldn't the same hold true? outer edges?

thanks

 

[petersv]

Edges are good for sure as are old gravel parking lots. I hunted an old site that used to be a drive in theatre, tons of old silver coins between where the cars used to park. The snow piles from malls are great eye ball hunting as they melt away in the spring.

As everyone else says, most rings show up in the pull tab and nickle ranges, especially ladies solitaires.

 

[last12know]

well found lots of pull tabs and a nickel in the middle range... also found some pennies that also registered in the middle. and one fairly large case pocket knife that looks like it was buried up next to the cement foundation of the roller rink... rather rusty but still opened.... handle is in great shape... will have to figure out a way to clean it.. also got a belt buckle that registered in the silver range and had no rust... couldn't possibly be silver could it? lots to figure out... the pocket knife was all over... all three ranges... will check the edges later.. guy said go ahead.. so the best looking is after they bull doze? found too many nails up next to the building.. the roof has been coming off for years and carrying nails with it... lots of guys telling me of making out behind the rink with their girl....grown up real bad and lots of metal stuff against the wall like garage rails etc...

got the pinpointing with the detector down... usually within a three or four inch circle.....the depth thing is kinda iffy yet...

brian

 

[mwaynebennett]

I) Many pocket knives had steel blades with brass liners. Such a target will give you mixed signals.
2) The depth is only good for coin sized/shaped objects.
3) If the pennies were made of zinc, they will appear in the middle range. Copper ones appear in with the silver.
4) Test the buckle now that is out of the hole. If it is shiny like silver and still registers silver and is dense (heavy for its size) it is a good bet that it is silver.

Mark
Elite 2200

 

[last12know]

i checked the buckle after i found it and it still read silver... and yes it was shiny and had no rust... can't remember if it was heavy or not though...
so basically if i want coins and jewelry i could discriminate the iron?

thanks for the input... i'm basically starting from ground zero...

brian

 

[mwaynebennett]

That is pretty much it, however, sometimes coins are in jars with steel screw lids. Some people find "relics" like old guns and knives etc but since those items are made of iron, if you discriminate out iron, you will miss them. In most lawns and parks etc, that is not a consideration and discriminating out iron will allow you skip the nails and old steel bottle caps MOST OF THE TIME. Sometimes rusted steel/iron shows up as silver. I don't know why but that does sometimes happen.

Mark
Elite 2200