What are your thought's on lightning ???

We have had a decent amount of rain this past winter and it really made for some easy digging since about Christmas time...Seems like some of the spot's I have worked on got to where they had stopped producing even with the damp soil....

well the Spring is being damp also but the Afternoon thunderstorm's are really getting going with lot's of lightning...Well I have returned to some of the "dead" spot's and started finding more target's in red clay area's not deep but still in the 6 inch range....

I started noticing that the site's will produce form morning till about mid day after a previous evening electrical storm toward's the afternoon the find's will drop off again...

anyone think there's a chance the dense clay is becoming electrically charged for a period of hour's?


Or and I have thought about this for year's......

Do you think the air ( Atmosphere) get's cleared of electrical static (noise) for a few hours after the storm.....

I know I used to do a lot of Shortwave and the background noise on a receiver would really drop off after a good electrical storm....

Could be that a detector just runs to the full potential with no silent RF problem's masking??

I have also noticed in the hot summer month's in the evening's when you get a lot of Shortwave Skip going on seems like you do not find as much with a detector...Could be getting alot of un-noticeable Rf noise in the machine's...

Do ya'll think it's all atmospheric or terrestrial or a combo???

and what has anyone else noticed?


Keith

I have experienced this also. . . . and do believe that it is the 'clearing' of residual electrical charge...in the air. The reduction of EMI and silent EMI is quite important.

Good observation.

I'll have to try that after the next storm...the clay is really prevelent where I hunt.
Thanks

Combo with varying and unique influences.

So you think its acting much like the reaction you might get from the release of a small nuke? Enough charge to affect the normal flow of EMI in an area? I should be digging the heck out of targets with all the lightning we are getting up here right now lol.

Dew

I personally think it may energize good objects in the ground but its a two faced sword and also energizes the junk.

Having said the above humid, dry, hot, cold days may influence the operation of your particuliar unit and weather does have an effect on the hobby, depth, stability, and general performance but to what degree have no idea..

Metal detectors are radio tranceivers.........operating on the principle of electromagnetic energy; subsequently, are subject to all of the rules that apply to the RF and EMI world.

I hunted an area that had red clay in the gold country the G2 couldn't pick up any targets..I couldn't ground bal but did manage to ground bal at 40 and most of the time we bal at about 70-85...I would hit a target and then lose it...Just was so strange to be so powerles for the first time....Seems this area dates back to the 1840 but my detector is not going to be of any help...

LowBoy

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I have found a few areas that can be "on" or "off" by what appear to be environmental variables.

It would be great if there was some window of predictability of these variables.

I don't want to be struck by it

the Atmospheric EMI cleansing/sanitation after the storm as the culprit for the few hours of enhanced performance...

So many variables it's a wonder we can find anything....Just goes to show how amazing it really is for a detector to see into the ground however limited it may be....

Keith...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2011 04:48AM by Keith Southern.

to cope with.........

I am at a constant battle with it here in N.Ga

I want a fast machine like the f-75's T-2's and such but to be honest there depth is limited....when running them you have to tune your ear to a sweet round sound iron tone to investigate for they will become good high tone's once out of the ground.......One thing I like about the AT it is sort of like a T-2 but peeks in the bad ground better just a tad but gives a little more audio enhancing attribute's to hear in the bad dirt....It will roll iron sound on both sides of a good target in clay but it will high tone in the middle compared to the T-2 just low toning 100% alot of time's...
Explorer's will get down in the Clay real well but are noisy with the added hot rock's!!

The infinium's and TDI's really make a difference in the bad dirt as long as there's not ton's of iron trash to contend with they will really show you some find's....

I wish the Minelab 5000 was not so high I would be swinging one....But not in this economy....

I hope someone can get a Discing P.I. before too long at a realistic price.....maybe keep at around $2K...

Keith

I have dug some of my best finds after lighting storms, in hunted out spots too, I always thought it charged the ground to find the stuff easier

better than analog....

here's a shot of a analog TV set picking up EMI...our detector pick this stuff up also....And you know it has to compromise signal quality to a degree....



Uploaded with ImageShack.us


a good clean digital signal is the future....

I know I have an X-Terra that uses digital technology and it is one of the most sensitive machine's you will find at the HF freq and it is usually a very clean sounding and stable machine...

Keith



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/25/2011 04:31AM by Keith Southern.

Hey Dew,
After you move to FL you'll have plenty of time to work on this since central FL and W central FL in Particular are the lightening capitol of N. America. You will have some awesome displays for both visual wonderment and head scratching with your detector! Tom is due east from this area so he too gets.a big dose of Thor throwing the bolts during the summer!

Wally

I had a good hunt years ago right before a storm and found 2 neat relics that day.
I was using a Whites 6000 Di Pro SL and the approaching storm with lightning was
causing the detector audio to false along with the meter jumping from the atmosphere
electrical charge.
One item was a molded brass horseshoe used for advertising with the following written on it.
" Take Simmons Liver Regulator In Time"
The other one was a railroad travel baggage brass tag that has MC&T RR Co written on it
That Railroad company was in operation if memory serves me correct between
1852 and 1878.

That is a hunt I will never forget as I had to run quickly to my truck right before the storm
hit where I was.
I really can't state the approaching storm helped with detection since I only hunted
there that one time.
I wish I knew all the dark arts to help make good finds, haha, maybe I should take up
remote viewing, hmmm... probably not though since I would have to believe in it to try it.

Do you still have that MC&T RR bag-tag? I have one of the world's premier RR collector at my fingertips.

Yes, I still have it, I might part with it if the price was right.
It stands for Mississippi Central and Tennessee RR Company.

Steve,

I sent you a PM.

Hi All,, Lightning is a beautiful but deadly natural phenomenon. But I don't really think lightning is causing anything special with regards to detection of objects in the ground....If it was charging up the ground to some degree then probably every earthworm in the county would probably be on top of the ground while you were detecting(they are sensitive to electrical charges).. What a slimy mess this would be while you are detecting..Lol..I do however believe that it is possible that humidity in the air and the moisture in the ground can and does change target responses in relationship to a metal detector and how it responds...Perhaps it changes the air gap in between the search coil and the ground...I also believe that iron reacts with a better response with an increase in the moisture content in the ground tin foil does this too.. Solar flares probably have alot better chance of affecting a metal detector to some minute degree probably more so than lightning does. As far as skip radio waves or skywave propagation (refraction of radio waves in the ionosphere) sorry but I'm not buying into that theory at all...I would say that the electromagnetic waves that metal detectors omit (low power) have about had it once they are shot into the ground....But point your search coil towards the sky when the conditions are right who knows that's anyones guess.. Lol.. Well that's my thoughts on lightning....JJ

Gee I hope you are not swinging out there when its lightning out (sort of a death wish)

Heck major golf tournaments continue in the rain to a degree but one bolt of lightning and play is suspended..

Not saying golfers are smarter than detectorists but lets hope we both respect Mother Nature alike...and being an ex fisherman can relate to Jimmyjiver comment rel earthworms as we used to shock them up using a homeade rig and battery and his comments have merit...

Not at all Dan, that was a "surprise" as I didn't know the storm was coming.
So no, not me. I don't go out there if there is an electrical storm.