... I suppose it depends how you define "relic." 
It looked like it wouldn't be raining hard enough to wash out any bridges today, so Hal and I decided to do a little local detecting. As opposed to the usual "drive around and look for a spot" method, I did little map research last night. We looked over the charts I had printed off while having a tasty Popeye's biscuit, and Hal pinpointed what he thought was the best option. It appeared to be a house site and that was good enough for the both of us. So off we went.
We hadda do a little scouting from a far hillside to find the spot shown on the old topomap ( 1918 ), but we got close enough to see our location. After a brief hike, checking out the many deer tracks along the way, we were there.
"There," as it turns out, was mostly just a bush-hogged patch of hilltop, by my reckoning. Hey, I'm a school-yard trash hunter for the most part, so I admit I wasn't too hopeful.
Hal, on the other hand, is a die hard relichead. To him, every patch of sparkleberry is a CW camp, every bit of scrub oak an old house site. At least that's the way it seems to me. I prefer to know why and where I'm going detecting; Hal just goes to it!
Within seconds, he was swinging his T-2 and had gone glassy eyed with the hypnotic rhythym of the search. That wicked chopper shovel of his lifted high and came down with a vengeance every few feet. He was in the zone faster than anyone I've ever seen! I admire that.
What we found was a farming site by the look of the recoveries. We both agreed first quarter, 20th century at the latest. Most of what we coaxed from the earth was implement related, and we didn't find anything of a personal nature. No buttons, no coins, none of the stuff we always hope for.
That being said, there was plenty of iron stuff as you might imagine, which I'm pleased to say was easily handled by the 1236-X2 I was using today. I found myself hunting in "0" DISC often, then just clicking over to "IRON" preset to check the signal. Anything that still signals after the switch to "IRON," you dig.
It really is that simple with the 1236 while relic hunting.
I'm also happy to say that the 1236 is a good, deep seeker. Whenever I checked Hal's signals, I had no trouble getting hits on what his T-2 had detected. I did get the wrong ID on a shotshell, but that was me, not the detector. I just wanted to see if it could keep up in depth with the T-2 and it did, at this site.
I rather doubt that it is an ultimate match for the Teknetics, but I was happy with the outcome. I think the 1236-X2 makes a decent relic detector and offers many of the right things:
1. Light weight.
Not as light as the T-2, but not heavy at all. You can hunt with it all day.
2. Simple to operate.
This is "beep and dig" detecting at it's finest... set a few knobs and go to it. No meters to be eyeballing, very easy to pinpoint with.
3. Very Good small iron discriminator.
It signals strongly on iron at low DISC settings - which is helpful when relic hunting.
But it also discriminates iron well, when desired, with it's characteristic snaps and pops.
Using the Pinpoint broadens the signal as a final check that it is iron.
4. Good low range conductivity detection.
I found some tiny brass snaps and such, and many 1/2" brass tacks without any problem.
5. Adequate depth.
Like I said, pretty good. There was little modern trash on this site, so I max'ed the SENS into the "Threshold Zone." This makes a difference.
All in all it was a nice hunt. I'm hoping we can work it over some more in the future. Here are my gleanings from the site...
Trash stuff and whatzis'es - -
[attachment 110599 100_0132.JPG]
The ball looking thing is just that: one half of a ball and socket joint. I reckon it's part a harness pivot attachment of some sort. Once fitted with a wooden bar, the rivet is still in place, while the wood has long since rotted away. The large round white things are ceramic canning jar liners. The round tubular object to the far right appears to be a brass pen cap; at least some sort of end cap.
In the middle are the itsy bitsy's: brass tacks, snaps and what looks an unfired 9mm bullet, which Hal found.
At the bottom are some of the many iron "toasties," including a horsehoe. Those are always fun to find.
All surrounded by umpteen lengths of brass wire that turned up. Wonder what they did with that stuff? Probably something to do with fences...
The Meager Keepers - -
[attachment 110600 100_0133.JPG]
A key plate and an equipment tag of some kind, with the number "47" struck on it.
Thanks for looking.
It looked like it wouldn't be raining hard enough to wash out any bridges today, so Hal and I decided to do a little local detecting. As opposed to the usual "drive around and look for a spot" method, I did little map research last night. We looked over the charts I had printed off while having a tasty Popeye's biscuit, and Hal pinpointed what he thought was the best option. It appeared to be a house site and that was good enough for the both of us. So off we went.
We hadda do a little scouting from a far hillside to find the spot shown on the old topomap ( 1918 ), but we got close enough to see our location. After a brief hike, checking out the many deer tracks along the way, we were there.
"There," as it turns out, was mostly just a bush-hogged patch of hilltop, by my reckoning. Hey, I'm a school-yard trash hunter for the most part, so I admit I wasn't too hopeful.
Hal, on the other hand, is a die hard relichead. To him, every patch of sparkleberry is a CW camp, every bit of scrub oak an old house site. At least that's the way it seems to me. I prefer to know why and where I'm going detecting; Hal just goes to it!
Within seconds, he was swinging his T-2 and had gone glassy eyed with the hypnotic rhythym of the search. That wicked chopper shovel of his lifted high and came down with a vengeance every few feet. He was in the zone faster than anyone I've ever seen! I admire that.
What we found was a farming site by the look of the recoveries. We both agreed first quarter, 20th century at the latest. Most of what we coaxed from the earth was implement related, and we didn't find anything of a personal nature. No buttons, no coins, none of the stuff we always hope for.
That being said, there was plenty of iron stuff as you might imagine, which I'm pleased to say was easily handled by the 1236-X2 I was using today. I found myself hunting in "0" DISC often, then just clicking over to "IRON" preset to check the signal. Anything that still signals after the switch to "IRON," you dig.
It really is that simple with the 1236 while relic hunting.
I'm also happy to say that the 1236 is a good, deep seeker. Whenever I checked Hal's signals, I had no trouble getting hits on what his T-2 had detected. I did get the wrong ID on a shotshell, but that was me, not the detector. I just wanted to see if it could keep up in depth with the T-2 and it did, at this site.
I rather doubt that it is an ultimate match for the Teknetics, but I was happy with the outcome. I think the 1236-X2 makes a decent relic detector and offers many of the right things:
1. Light weight.
Not as light as the T-2, but not heavy at all. You can hunt with it all day.
2. Simple to operate.
This is "beep and dig" detecting at it's finest... set a few knobs and go to it. No meters to be eyeballing, very easy to pinpoint with.
3. Very Good small iron discriminator.
It signals strongly on iron at low DISC settings - which is helpful when relic hunting.
But it also discriminates iron well, when desired, with it's characteristic snaps and pops.
Using the Pinpoint broadens the signal as a final check that it is iron.
4. Good low range conductivity detection.
I found some tiny brass snaps and such, and many 1/2" brass tacks without any problem.
5. Adequate depth.
Like I said, pretty good. There was little modern trash on this site, so I max'ed the SENS into the "Threshold Zone." This makes a difference.
All in all it was a nice hunt. I'm hoping we can work it over some more in the future. Here are my gleanings from the site...
Trash stuff and whatzis'es - -
[attachment 110599 100_0132.JPG]
The ball looking thing is just that: one half of a ball and socket joint. I reckon it's part a harness pivot attachment of some sort. Once fitted with a wooden bar, the rivet is still in place, while the wood has long since rotted away. The large round white things are ceramic canning jar liners. The round tubular object to the far right appears to be a brass pen cap; at least some sort of end cap.
In the middle are the itsy bitsy's: brass tacks, snaps and what looks an unfired 9mm bullet, which Hal found.
At the bottom are some of the many iron "toasties," including a horsehoe. Those are always fun to find.
All surrounded by umpteen lengths of brass wire that turned up. Wonder what they did with that stuff? Probably something to do with fences...
The Meager Keepers - -
[attachment 110600 100_0133.JPG]
A key plate and an equipment tag of some kind, with the number "47" struck on it.
Thanks for looking.
