Who Says Minelabs Aren't Sensitive To Tiny Stuff?

[Critterhunter]

I always hear people say that Minelabs aren't as sensitive to tiny targets as other detectors. That may very well be true. For instance, Tesoros will hit on fine gold chains and tiny gold earings better than a Minelab. On the other hand, I don't know about you guys but I've dug some pretty tiny stuff at amazing depths with my GT. I've dug shoe lace grommets (those tiny metal "washer" type things that your shoe lace goes through) at some pretty outstanding depths. I've also dug a tiny sterling silver piece of a necklace about the size of this "O" on the screen at any easy 6 or 7", and it gave me a really good solid signal and locked onto 176 on the ID meter. Had it been bigger it would have read 180 like all larger silver will. It was such a solid hit that I'm confident it could have been 3 or 4 inches deeper (or maybe even much more) and I still would have had a solid hit on it. I will say that while the stock coil was excellent on small stuff, these SEF coils seem to be even better at hitting hard on smaller items.

So let's hear your stories...How deep have you dug some tiny little things with your Minelab?

By the way, I used to own a few Tesoros and being more sensitive to tiny stuff isn't always an advantage. It made the detector much more noisey and I hated digging solid sounding targets only to find a small bit of foil in the ground.

 

[ExpIInut]

Silver or not - Never dug anything that small that deep - In fact I'd go as far as saying impossible - unless it had fallen back into the hole..........

 

[Jack Flynn]

Silver or not - Never dug anything that small that deep - In fact I'd go as far as saying impossible - unless it had fallen back into the hole..........

Impossible? I'll say not at all. I dig small grommets and tiny washers like that quite often at that depth. If it is brass or copper, stainless or aluminum , doesn't matter. Sounds like you are missing targets.................

 

[Critterhunter]

If you surf this forum back in the day when the GT first came out, you'll find quite a few messages from people who commented on how surprised they were at it's sensitivity to small targets. Better than the older Sovereigns they had used prior to the GT. Whether that's due to something in the box or just the fact that the GT had a better coil I don't know. Coil choice can make machines more or less sensitive to small targets.

I'm kind of particular about target recovery in that I like to know exactly where I find a target in a hole or the plug to determine depth. That small piece of silver I dug did not fall back in the hole. It was at the bottom of the plug still stuck in the dirt. Now, the signal may have been helped because the silver had built about a halo around it. But I've dug tiny non-silver targets deeper than this even like shoe grommets

 

[deepdiger60]

Is my GT sensitive ? i would say yes !! this past weekend i went on a large farm hunt here is a few tiny buttons i dug all the length of my digger or just about between 8-10 inches i was astonished at the depth of the GT to find such small copper buttons i placed a tiny silver 3 cent piece next to the buttons for size comparasion , very pleased at seeing that happen : settings .... iron on ,full volume set threshold barely audible,sens just out of auto,fix . GH Jim

 

[ExpIInut]

This is what's called a cut quarter (part of a silver coin) here in the UK - any seasoned Minelab user here would not claim to have found one of these at 6" deep - will take a GT out over the next few days and try again - who knows maybe 12 years experience counts for nothing................

 

[Critterhunter]

Today I dug a tiny button about the size of a pea around 6 to 7" deep and it gave me a perfect signal from any direction.

 

[matthias]

I dig targets deeper than my Gator digger. I'm always surprised at what the GT will pick up. HH. Matt

 

[Nauti]

Have to agree with CH.....i've found some tiny stuff with mine at fairly good depths.I'm from England and i'd just like to say to expllnut that i've found hammered farthings as small if not smaller than that cut quarter with my GT at good depths..Some targets have been so small i've re-checked the hole to see if there was a bigger target giving me the signal.I've had this experience with both the 10" tornado and little joey coils.

 

[Critterhunter]

Is my GT sensitive ? i would say yes !! this past weekend i went on a large farm hunt here is a few tiny buttons i dug all the length of my digger or just about between 8-10 inches i was astonished at the depth of the GT to find such small copper buttons i placed a tiny silver 3 cent piece next to the buttons for size comparasion , very pleased at seeing that happen : settings .... iron on ,full volume set threshold barely audible,sens just out of auto,fix . GH Jim

Nice finds. If you are digging buttons the size of a 3 cent piece down 8 or 10 inches then imagine how deep you can dig a silver dime in that soil. Not all soils are the same, of course, and depth will change somewhat according to that.

 

[Critterhunter]

Today I dug a tiny button about the size of a pea around 6 to 7" deep and it gave me a perfect signal from any direction.

By the way, that button read as 180 on the meter. Not sure why....It does look like it could be silver, though.

 

[Critterhunter]

One more thing. While I've dug some tiny stuff with the 10" Tornado I do feel that this 12x10 is even more sensitive/hits harder on small targets

 

[Critterhunter]

Went out today again for a short hunt. Dug a tiny little flat disc thing about the size of a pea at roughly 5". Gave me a good penny signal.

 

[kai_gold]

Size isn't the only factor. Metal type and shape also affect detection. A small silver stud earring or junk metal stud earring will respond better than a solid white gold earring of the same size. Small grommets and washers are both closed loop and will provide a stronger response than an odd shaped or open hoop gold earring of similar size. A small thin bit of metal will be harder to detect than a slightly thicker piece the same diameter. Usually the argument that the minelabs are less sensitive to small items relates to really thin gold chains, really small gold stud type earrings and not higher conductive items... To discredit this idea by claiming to find small non-gold items is flawed. I have found a lot of small higher conductors with minelabs, but I also have gold test pieces they wouldn't detect even when scraped across the coil. Is this bad, not really as they do well for small ring sized objects and larger. In the water I would rather not chase items too small for the scoop anyways so this lack of sensitivity in some of the minelabs is not important as they aren't intended to be as sensitive as gold prospecting detectors.

 

[Critterhunter]

That's true. I'm not claiming a Minelab is as sensitive to thin gold chains or small gold earings as something like a Tesoro for instance. That can be a drawback, however...I use to own a few Tesoros and got really sick of digging holes on solid sounding objects only to find a small piece of foil in the hole. It also makes them more noisey and eratic to hunt with when passing over objects like this. On the other hand, if you are hunting gold rings there is nothing as deep as a Sovereign or Excal. My GT hits much harder on gold rings in my tests than my Explorers ever did. Why is that? I'm not sure, but I think part of it is due to the long drawn out audio signal of a Sovereign. There is more "meat" there to hear and listen to.

 

[Neil]

Size isn't the only factor. Metal type and shape also affect detection. A small silver stud earring or junk metal stud earring will respond better than a solid white gold earring of the same size. Small grommets and washers are both closed loop and will provide a stronger response than an odd shaped or open hoop gold earring of similar size. A small thin bit of metal will be harder to detect than a slightly thicker piece the same diameter. Usually the argument that the minelabs are less sensitive to small items relates to really thin gold chains, really small gold stud type earrings and not higher conductive items... To discredit this idea by claiming to find small non-gold items is flawed. I have found a lot of small higher conductors with minelabs, but I also have gold test pieces they wouldn't detect even when scraped across the coil. Is this bad, not really as they do well for small ring sized objects and larger. In the water I would rather not chase items too small for the scoop anyways so this lack of sensitivity in some of the minelabs is not important as they aren't intended to be as sensitive as gold prospecting detectors.

Also position in the ground such as a coin laying flat versus a coin on edge. Minelabs can find small stuff but I think ExpIInut is more correct. Alot of numbers thrown around here and if you do a little investigating you will see they do not match up. The reality is most of us never actually meaure each target and we guess at depths. You want to really see how accurate your guesses are, try guessing some depths and then actually measure them and you will see you probably come up short most of the time. Unless your pulling a plug or have dug down right next to a coin how can you say it hasnt fallen back in the hole with any truth? Im not saying the Sovs not gonna get stuff deep, but Ive done enough testing with it and hunting with it to know what is true and what isnt, at least for around here in my soil. Now if you wanna believe you can hit small silver O like Critter posted at 6" or 7" then Ive got a bridge to sell you because thats flat out crazy. Also a small piece of tin, iron, any garbage metal can block out the smaller targets signals like smaller gold and silver so where in the heck are you guys hunting? Even our beaches here have debris scattered through them, forget on land, part of the reason we do better on beaches is due to less interference from other metals and cleaner soils.

 

[kai_gold]

Now if you wanna believe you can hit small silver O like Critter posted at 6" or 7" then Ive got a bridge to sell you because thats flat out crazy. Also a small piece of tin, iron, any garbage metal can block out the smaller targets signals like smaller gold and silver so where in the heck are you guys hunting? Even our beaches here have debris scattered through them, forget on land, part of the reason we do better on beaches is due to less interference from other metals and cleaner soils.

Neil, Was that directed at me? I said I have found small silver which is true. I never said it was the size of an O or 6" deep. Even my gold bug 2 doesn't pick up something that small at that depth in my soil. The smallest I have found with the etrac is a silver stud earring and an earring back which were each less than half an inch deep and were weak signals. A similar size earring in gold that I have is not detected at all. I never said anything about believing critter's size or depth claims. If you read my post it was about the limitation on detecting the small items. My main point was that for someone to claim that because the sovereign will pick up a smaller higher conductor does not mean that it is necessarily sensitive enough to pick up gold of a similar size and that closed loop items such as grommets provide a stronger signal than other similar sized items due to the shape and so these examples of higher conductors don't really reflect the sovereigns performance on small gold items like open hoop earrings or odd shaped bits of gold jewelry.

 

[ExpIInut]

No he was referring to the original post of a small silver ring at 3/4mm in diameter being detected at 6/7", which is where I came in. Still say its not possible.

 

[hershey1]

I have dug several ear rings and ear ring backs that were a couple of scoops deep with my Excall while beach and water hunting. And it is nothing to dig small rivets and small buck&balls 10+ inches with my E-Trac while hunting CW relics with the Pro-coil. Usually with my E-Trac I set gain at 24 deep on and manual sensitivity 29 or 30 ground difficult and fast off relic mode with 1-38 edited out to stop iron wrap around. Now I will adjust according to the area I am hunting in but most of the time sensitivity is the only changes I make. This is in TN with the red clay and sand stone ground. So if people are not getting but 7 to 8 inches depth it sounds like the ground matrix may be the problem. HH

 

[Critterhunter]

Neil, that's how deep it was...stuck in the bottom of the plug. I don't care if you believe it or not, it's the truth. And I did say that I bet it must have had help from a built up halo around it. My digger is marked for depths. I don't guess how deep a target is when I want to know that. I simply look at my digger. And I didn't say it WAS the size of this "O". I said it was ABOUT the size of this "O", which is admittedly not the best way to convey size. Not everybody is using the same size computer screens to use as a gauge. So I'll put it this way...about the size of a small pea. Not a big pea, but a small pea. Come to think of it, I think I have a picture of it somewhere. I'll see if I can dig it up and post.

I've also dug small earning backings at these depths and tiny shoe lace grommets that deep too.

Is the Sovereign good on tiny gold or thin chains? Nope. Would never claim that. There are much better machines for doing that out there. But I am saying it's better on small targets then most people give it credit for. I also believe the 12x10 improves this ability somewhat based on how hard small stuff seems to hit with it compared to the stock coil (which was still good on small stuff too).