test bed vs real world

how much different. and why. is a test bed vs a real world hunt.

You can learn a lot from both if you think about what you are doing. One is a practice field, the other the playing field.

Chris

One is a controlled environment that can reveal limitations, strengths and weaknesses while in the wild all bets are off and anything goes!

I think test beds are good to get to know your detector and what it can do. It also shows basic strengths when doing comparisons against other detectors. But the real world is the proof the detector performs at infinite scenarios. When I watch videos I usually have more faith in live dug targets especially when comparisons are being made.

test tubs dont usually contain things like hot rocks and ceramics and bricks that will mask silver coins and gold coins
they always use clean soil to mislead folks
i use ceramics and hot rocks in my tubs

... therefore it is necessary to do serious testing of detectors right on several differently mineralized natural test fields. / from 1 to 6-7 bar Feo3 / .. and where some of these fields are also contaminated with ceramics, coke and iron ..

But also a small test site .. which contains a specific type of terrain .. can be very helpful in understanding the work as well as in finding the optimal setting of the detector for the given terrain ..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2022 07:55PM by EL NINO.

If you have hot rocks, nails etc in your test bed, you need to know their position from the metal you are testing you unit on. If you aren't aware there is masking material in the soil or its location, you won't know why your detector is acting a certain way.Therefore your test will be inaccurate, a failure and you will not know it or why. Giving you false information about your $$ unit. A sanitized test bed along with a staged bed will be a better tool along with knowing the minerals degree of your testing soil.

We are AT where we are today......... BECAUSE of test-gardens. They are CRITICAL.

I am actually in the process of building a new, additional test bed made up of the mineralized red iron ore clay soil I hunt in many local sites. My current established test garden is natural sandy soil that is only mildly mineralized. I brought the dirt in from off my 15 acres where my home is with the tractor front end loader. I included the hard black & soft crumbly red iron ore rocks and some of the sticky underlying red clay. It will all end up a homogenous mixture instead of naturally layered but it will serve my purpose. It reads 4/5 bars on the Anfibio in Gen D with ISAT @ 01 with stock 11" coil. 11 feet long X 2 feet wide X 1 foot deep. 7 permanent targets 18 inches on center with room to ground balance & introduce test trash. I think it will prove educational.

Chris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2022 03:43PM by JCR.

THAT'LL be an eye-opener!

I hope so. I also hope I have to add on a DEEPER section to find the limits of the Tarsacci MDT & the new Legend.

Chris

When you test on the test track, you have numerous limitations, soil, temperature, and interference. These are comparative tests only, they only give an idea, unfortunately, many now believe that if you bury something under certain conditions, it is reliable and you can really compare the equipment. It is not. Anyone who has spent many hours in the field knows that it all depends on the setup and conditions and the driving of the coils. Even EMI in a given location affects performance, and these disturbances are not always identical. The impact is not linear.

The basic meaning of the "test field" is ..that you can repeat these tests 10 or 50 times .. and compare with the results of previous different periods throughout the year ...

And the very basic points of the "test field" is the possibility of testing a given detector under certain relatively constant "standard conditions" .. which will be the same .. for each tested detector ...

you can also find and also verify your use of the detector, but you can also find the settings of your detector for depth or better separation of good targets in iron ........ this is perhaps the most important thing in terms of testing .. ...

You can also compare the results with another ... detector and thus find out which detector is better in a given situation ...


whether from the depth point of view of the given test targets, or from the separation point of view of iron and the given nonferous test targets.

That is why the really serious and binding testing will be reflected in the good detection tests of the results in the field .... and also in the next live detection ...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2022 10:20AM by EL NINO.

I pretty much completed the High Mineral test bed I mentioned previously in this thread. Ended up with 6 test targets & a GB spot.
Small cuff button size Copper rivet @6"
Cu 1 cent @ 6"
Nickle 5 cent @6"
Clad Quarter @8"
Brass 3" square clock frame @ 8"
50 cal Minie @10"
The soil is a homogenized mix with the small Iron Ore rocks(some hot), little bits that will stick to a magnet & natural clay left in. The surface hot rocks were removed & the holes back filled with screened soil. Any man made iron/metal was removed from the entire bed. The natural iron was left.
Even though the targets are fresh they have been instructive so far. It really drives home the huge effect mineralization has on attainable depth, best gain levels, etc, etc...
With the exception of the clock frame, Anfibio, AT Max, F5 can only see the targets in All Metal w/ no ID. Vista X hits all well with proper tone. Tarsacci MDT 8000 w/ stock coil hits them all but the Disc tone & TID struggle.
This is the information I want. Now I can work on fine tuning settings & experiment with a sense of purpose. Not exactly the same as my hunting sites because the soil is mixed up. Natural sites should actually be less demanding. Same type soil though.

Chris



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2022 02:51PM by JCR.

Chris........ you will find yourself using that test-garden a lot more than expected.

Any suggestions for helping a new test bed/planted target get settled in to better mimic a "wild" target?
Other than watering in & packing the ground I'm out of ideas.
How long a time before it comes close to "wild"?

Chris

JCR, you can come close to virgin compaction by packing the soil in lifts. In other words, pack it every 1" of back fill. Dampen the soil before hand but not to mud. The difference will be that the order of the soil won't be the same as the surrounding soil, unless you can plug it out.
If you can put all the dirt on a cloth then back in the hole, you'll know it has been compacted beyond virgin if the end result ends up as a divot.
I'm pretty sure you know all this, have fun.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/02/2022 04:35PM by ozzie.

That is basically what I have done. Time in the ground must still play a part. I'm just impatient.

Chris