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Your hottest nickel machine (machines)

Dancer

Well-known member
Now there's a gang of different detectors that have been used by the forum members. I have only hunted 5 different detectors since I started back in 2000. It was brought up by my uncle that to find gold, you had to be sharp on nickels. But than there's the pull tabs. Anyways, I'm going to throw out my best 3.
My PI I use the Infinium. The AT Pro. And the Tesoro Compadre. In what order, depends on the ground / Water I'm hunting. What would be interesting to know about is what
other machines you guys recommend threw your experience. There's a lot of companies out there, with a ton of machines. One question someone might b able to answer is about PI's.
Are they all hot on nickels, or are some more so than others?
 
I have hunted with many detectors since 1973 and for me without a doubt the Minelab Sovereign with a good 180 meter gets me more nickles and not the pull tabs. The nickles have a tone all to them selves plus the meter will read 143-144 when calibrated to 180 for a new dime or quarter. The beaver tails off the old round pull tabs read 140-141 and sound different. The round pull tabs read 146 to 151 it seems, but that can vary to and sounds different then a nickle. War nickles sound like a nickle and I have seen some read all the way to 151. Myself This also has found several gold rings too as they may read as a pull tab, but sound different and smoother sounding. This is why these and the Excalibur's seem to be the most used beach detectors, but there is a learning curve and once you get to know it it is a very simple detector to use and understand.
The first year with Sovereign I dug more nickles than dimes for the reason most disc them out when they went to disc out the pull tabs.

Rick
 
Sigh. The nickels. I thought long and hard and yearned for a detector that could do well on nickels, because surely then it would do well on gold rings. Yep, everyone wants the good nickel machine. A nickel has similar conductivity as a gold ring, but in truth nickels and gold rings are very different targets. Say you even did find a detector that could ID nickels with 100% accuracy. Well...that's great, but then what about if you come across a low conductor that's iffy. How do you know if it's a pull tab or say a tilted gold ring? Or, conversely, something just as bad: a gold ring that happens to mimic a nickel so well, you pass it because you don't want to dig up "just another nickel." These are problems that plague detectors which operate in the frequency domain (VLF) and the time domain (PI) alike. However, detectors which operate in the frequency domain are much more likely to be thrown off by very unfortunate circumstances such as a small ball of foil next to a gold ring. This will more than likely give a junk signal on any VLF, and in general junk like foil can completely mask a good target to a VLF detector. However, this problem does not exist for a detector operating in the time domain for which pulse delay has been set sufficiently high (true elimination of the foil will exist). Hence, it is my opinion that to find the most most gold rings (not nuggets, we are not talking nuggets here), one should use a PI, set the pulse delay high, GB high, and dig all low tones. With high pulse delay and high GB, iron will be high tone and hence ignored, allowing one to focus on true low conductors. In case you are wondering, Dancer, this is the method I will be using on the field once my new digger arrives. I did the converse to find the high conductors: Low pulse, low GB. It worked, very, very well. I'm excited to see what this field will yield.

Johns Hopkins is developing a detector that operates in both the frequency and time domain. In other words, it's both a pulse and a VLF. They have patented their design; the detector was motivated by the need to facilitate land mine removal. http://www.jhuapl.edu/ott/technologies/technology/articles/P01968.asp

EDIT: I speak with regards to land hunting. If I'm on the beach, I dig basically everything except obvious bobby pin signals.
 
Jim & Rick , excellent information on the machines you've hunted. Myself I've never handled any of these. Should be of help to someone out there looking. Scallops yep once your in the field anything can happen, junk laying next to or over top a good target is a trickster. Maybe you could post a story about what you've found in that field so far. Relics type or old fairgrounds?
I'm always hunting when I'm out there. Just some days I detect better than others.
 
Hi,
Not so sure that Hopkins patent will have much of a chance when challenged.
At least not on an international level.
The guy that made the tone ID for the XL Pro has been working on such a project for years and even has units on the market already.
This basically voids patents from late comers as the patented technology is nothing new.
Check out the geotech homepage.

hh
skookum
 
Fisher 1265x with the small 3.75" coil.

Ron in WV
 
Pick up a CZ and " YOU will find nickels ".
Yes there are other nickel machines out there..But for shear ease the CZ's are unbeatable..
 
Its between my Coinstrike I have now and the CZ7a-Pro. I don't have enough time in the 3030 for a vote on it.
 
No problem finding nickles with the whites DFX VID is normalized it will have 19 as the dominant number.
 
Dancer, I agree with most all of the people who responded to your post. Fisher CZ's are in my opinion the best with the Etrac a close second. My current Fisher F19 is quickly gaining my confidence as a nickel finder, but I have not used it enough to say it is great. I have found twenty nickels in the four times I have used it and some were approaching 8 inches deep with accurate numbers. I think I might have something here.
 
undrpar said:
My vote is for the cz3d.. Whites mx5 is a nickle killer as well!!

By extension the MXT-Pro must be as well? To my knowledge there is nothing either the MX5 or M6 can do that the MXT-Pro cannot. :super:

-pete
 
Actually few gold rings Fall in the nickel range. Having found 116 gold rings and done quite a study on finding gold rings, I find most lost gold rings fall in the foil range. Most lost rings I find to be womens rings. Who wears the most gold rings. 90% of all white gold rings and 90% of platinum rings fall in the foil range. Small 14K yellow gold and most 10K fall in the foil range.Larger 14k yellow gold and ,larger 10K fall in the pull tab range.Just my two cents worth.....Jack
 
jackintexas said:
Actually few gold rings Fall in the nickel range. Having found 116 gold rings and done quite a study on finding gold rings, I find most lost gold rings fall in the foil range. Most lost rings I find to be womens rings. Who wears the most gold rings. 90% of all white gold rings and 90% of platinum rings fall in the foil range. Small 14K yellow gold and most 10K fall in the foil range.Larger 14k yellow gold and ,larger 10K fall in the pull tab range.Just my two cents worth.....Jack

Thanks for your input, Jack. It's the veteran hunters like you that can dish this wise advice that make this hobby better for me. The fact that gold rings do not respond like nickels most of the time is why I gave up trying to find the perfect nickel machine. What I was saying is that by using a PI with high pulse delay and high GB, I can find all true low conductors and in particular, a gold ring being masked by a small piece of foil will not be a problem. It'll be interesting, to say the least and I have no idea if it's a strategy I will stick with. I might chronicle my finds if I end up on some goodies.
 
Now we're getting some good Intel. here. Different machines that have been successful. Paying attention to the tones. And by Jackintexas , very interesting look at the gold ring range. It would be interesting if some pulse induction hunters offered some comparisons. I know with my PI the alum. tabs you peel off some bottles, and beaver tails suck me in every time. Most of the time I can call a newer tab but dig it just to clear a area.
 
it would be one that you learn exactly where a nickel comes in on the meter. the only one I ever really learned that on was the old white's 6000-di series 3. it had a tab reading and if the needle was right in the middle it was a nickel. a lot more tabs are thrown away than nickles are lost, so if there's a trick to separate them accurately then that would be the best nickel etector.
 
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