Over 90 gold jewelry numbers for the E-trac

After learning how to detect gold rings out “in the pan” during the negative spring tides, I was forced to learn how to detect smaller gold jewelry higher up on the beach during the off season. Light weight gold jewelry moves with the sand when the tide is right. Over a short period of time, gentle tides will cause it to sink in the low density sand until a denser sand/material is encountered (sorting). When the tide is right, this lighter sand is pulled off the beach, or moved to one side of the beach. Some of this light weight gold jewelry caught in the denser sand/material is now within detector range.

Most of the small gold jewelry that I’ve detected during the fall and winter months were found in the wet sand, and have had very low conductive readings, in the 01 to 04 range. But the ferrous readings were mostly quite high, usually at 35. I only dug a few iron (ferrous) objects that regularly fell into the 35-01 to 35-04 range, and they were hair pins, small fishing hooks, small batteries, and stainless steel. The mass majority of the dug items in this range were small, non-ferrous junk that litters the top few inches of sand. Using an all-metal pattern for low conductive targets, and only using ferrous discrimination for higher conductive targets seem to allow maximum sensitivity to the very low conductive targets, which were mostly non-ferrous.

Locating a very productive beach, then learning when and where to hunt for small gold jewelry on the beach is the major challenge. Once you’ve located a productive beach, how much small, low conductive junk you are willing to dig for some small gold jewelry becomes the main issue.

There’s probably a lot more low conductive small gold jewelry lost than the larger, more conductive rings. And because this smaller jewelry is often in the foil range of a detector, it is probably often overlooked on the beaches.


The jewelry is separated into 2 major categories: rings, and other. Most of the jewelry is separated by the carat amount, and then sorted by weight.

Row Col = the location of the jewelry piece in the photo above, by Row (left to right) and Column (top to bottom)
ID = inner diameter of the ring (in millimeters)

Tests are done with the Pro coil using auto-sensitivity = 16, unless otherwise noted
Rings are tested parallel to the coil, unless otherwise noted.

PLATINUM RINGS
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1   1   plat  19   14.63   4”   12-22     7”      PT950
 1   2   plat  19   10.09   4”   12-15     7”      PLAT

GOLD RINGS (21k to 18k)
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1   3   21k   20    2.44   4”   12-12     8”      KDN21
 1   4   18k   17.5  7.66   4”   12-19     7”      lots of holes
 2   1   18k   15    2.42   4”   12-03     7”      750 white gold
 2   2   18k   15.5  .65    3”   13-01     5”      (hollow) with black strip


GOLD RINGS (14K)
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 2   3   14k   23   19.67   4”   12-35    10”      2 small stones, 6 tiny stones
 2   4   14k   21    8.26   4”   12-15     9”      inscribed “OUR LOVE IS ETERNAL – SUSAN 2-3-1969”
 3   1   14k   19    6.87   4”   12-15     8”      white gold
 3   2   14k   17.5  5.32   4”   12-16     7”      14k – PW (palladium white)
 3   3   14k   20.5  4.51   4”   12-13     8.5”    5 small stones
 3   4   14k   17    3.80   4”   12-20     7”      plain wide band
 4   1   14k   17.5  3.78   4”   12-10     7”      1 small stone, 2 tiny stones
 4   2   14k   8     3.46   4”   12-14     8”      white gold and gold mixture
 4   3   14k   21    3.41   4”   12-14     8”      plain band
 4   4   14k   20    3.41   4”   12-19     8”      design around rim

Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1   1   14k   20    3.40   4”   12-19     7”      interlaced hearts around the edge
 1   2   14k   16.5  2.81   4”   12-02     6”      1 small stone, 3 tiny stones
 1   3   14k   16    2.67   4”   12-10     7”      3 stones
 1   4   14k   20.5  2.63   4”   12-14     8”      plain band
 2   1   14k   20.5  2.56   4”   12-12     8”      plain band
 2   2   14k   16    2.49   4”   12-13     7”      plain band
 2   3   14k   17    2.39   4”   12-04     7”      2 white stones, 1 black stone, missing some
 2   4   14k   15    2.14   4”   12-11     6”      asterisks around the edge
 3   1   14k   16    2.02   4”   12-04     6”      2nd crucifix ring
 3   2   14k   16    1.90   4”   12-12     7”      Russian Orthodox marked .565
 3   3   14k   17    1.89   4”   12-05     6”      1 small stone
 3   4   14k   16    1.77   4”   12-11     6”      fire opal
 4   1   14k   17.5  1.66   4”   12-06     7”      thin
 4   2   14k   16.5  1.49   4”   12-01     6”      1 red stone
 4   3   14k   16.5  1.41   4”   12-03     6”      1st crucifix ring
 4   4   14k   14    1.35   4”   12-02     6”      red heart-shaped stone

Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1   1   14k   14.5  1.27   4”   12-02     6”      1 stone
 1   2   14k   13    1.21   4”   12-02     6”      2 tiny blue stones
 1   3   14k   14    1.16   3”   12-02     4”      1 oval stone
 1   4   14k   12.5  1.15   4”   12-06     5”      2 tiny turquoise stones
 2   1   14k   17    1.14   4”   12-01     5”      1 tiny stone, white gold
 2   2   14k   14.5  1.05   3”   12-01     5”      1 oval red stone
 2   3   14k   14.5   .95   4”   12-02     6”      tiara shaped ring
 2   4   14k   12.5   .85   4”   12-03     6”      1 red stone
 3   1   14k   13     .80   3”   12-02     6”      tiny heart ring
 3   2   14k   13     .78   3”   12-01     5”      heart(s) ring missing stone
 3   3   14k   13.5   .74   3”   12-01     5.5”    “baby” ring
 3   4   14k   11     .60   3”   12-01     5”      tiny “3 dash” ring
 4   1   14k   14.5   .49   3    12-01     6”      thin
 4   2   14k    5.5   .22   .5   13-01     1.5”    miniature diamond ring


GOLD RINGS (10K to 9k)
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 4   3   10k   18    2.07   4”   12-03     8”      design around center
 4   4   10k   16    1.75   4”   12-07     6”      dark gold ring with purplish stone

BROKEN GOLD RINGS WITH FACES (tested with ring face parallel to coil)
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1   1   14k   ----   .96   3”   12-05     4.5”    14k partial signet ring
 1   2   10K   17.5  4.36   4”   12-16     7”      (face down) class ring missing insignia (glued)
 1   3   10K   ----  4.00   4”   12-12     6”      (face down) 1966 class ring
 1   4   10K   18.5  2.63   2”   12-01     4”      10k plumb (glued)
 2   1   10K   ----  2.55   4”   12-13     6”      10K partial signet ring
 2   2   10k   ----  1.77   3”   12-03     4.5”    part of 1949 class ring
 2   3    9k   18    3.64   4”   13-08     6”      Forster 9k ring (glued)

Note: Orientation in the ground is a major factor on detection depth.


GOLD RINGS WITH FACES (tested with ring parallel to coil and face parallel to coil)

Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 2   4   14k   15    3.21   4”   12-05     6”      “J” initial    (ring parallel to coil)
                            3”   12-08     5”                     (ring face parallel to coil)
 
 3   1   14k   14.5  2.69   4”   12-06     7”      screw top      (ring parallel to coil)
                            3”   12-05     4.5”                   (ring face parallel to coil)

 3   2   14k   15.5  1.83   4”   12-02     7”      2 asterisks    (ring parallel to coil)
                            2”   12-06     4”                     (ring face parallel to coil)

 3   3   14k   16    1.30   4”   12-01     6”      heart ring     (ring parallel to coil)
                            2”   12-01     3”                     (ring face parallel to coil)

 3   4   14k   13.5  1.13   3”   12-03     6”                     (ring parallel to coil)
                            1”   12-02     2.5”                   (ring face parallel to coil)

 4   1   10k   17    3.80   4”   12-16     8”      1963 class     (ring parallel to coil)
                            3”   12-15     5.5”                   (ring face parallel to coil)

Note: A ring’s orientation in the ground can affect both depth and tone/ID values, especially if the ring has a large face.

GOLD RINGS WITH FACES AND SPLITS.  Tested with: 1) ring parallel to coil with split closed (ring compressed to electrically close the split),
                                                2) ring parallel to coil with split open, 
                                                3) ring face parallel to coil with split open.

Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1  1-2  14k   17    3.70   4”   12-02     8”      RC initial (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                            1”   12-10     1.5”               (ring parallel to coil, split open)
                            2”   12-12     4.5”               (ring face parallel to coil, split open)

 1  3-4  14k   15    1.39   4”   12-02     6”      “N” ring   (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                                           .25”               (ring parallel to coil, split open)
                            1”   12-02     3”                 (ring face parallel to coil, split open)

 2  1-2  14k   14.5  1.10   3”   12-01     5”      HR initial (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                                           .25”               (ring parallel to coil, split open)
                            1”   12-05     2.5”               (ring face parallel to coil, split open)

 2  3-4  10k   21    7.57   4”   12-15     10”     1945 class (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                            3”   12-20     4”                 (ring parallel to coil, split open)
                            4”   12-28     7”                 (ring face parallel to coil, split open)

 3  1-2  10k   19    7.31   --   -----     ---     RB signet  (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                            3”   12-18     4.5”               (ring parallel to coil, split open)
                            4”   12-23     6.5”               (ring face parallel to coil, split open)

Note: Detecting rings with splits is very dependant on the ring’s orientation in the ground, the thickness, width or surface area of the ring face. 



GOLD RINGS WITH SPLITS.  Tested with: ring parallel to coil with split closed (ring compressed to electrically close the split),
                                      and ring parallel to coil with split open.

Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 3   3   14k   17.5  1.98   4”   12-12     7”      plain         (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                            1”   12-01     1.5”                  (ring parallel to coil, split open)
 3   4   14k   ----   .83   ---  -----     ----    bent up       (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                            .25” 12-01     1”                    (ring parallel to coil, split open)
 4   1   10k   14.5   .65   2”   12-01     3.5”    2 stone       (ring parallel to coil, split closed)
                                           none                  (ring parallel to coil, split open)

Note: A thin uniform ring with a split is very difficult to detect, even with a high manual sensitivity level while using a small coil.
      Orientation in the ground is another major factor.

GOLD JEWELRY (24k to 22k)
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1  1-2  24k   ---- 32.25   4”   08-50    10”      24k Ganesh (hollow) base parallel to coil
                                                   Turned out to be gold plated 24k

 1   3   22k   ----  1.68   1”   12-01     1.5”    earring
 1   4   22k   ----  1.10   1”   12-01     3”      long earring


GOLD JEWELRY (14k)
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 2   1   14k   ----  3.28   4”   12-05     7”      “J” pendant
 2   2   14k   ----  1.12   .5”  12-01     .5”     gold crucifix
 2   3   14k   ----  1.75   4”   11-01     5”      bird pendant
 2   4   14k   ----   .91   .25” 14-01     .25”    hoop earring (hollow)
 3   1   14k   ----  5.06   3”   12-02     4”      Rosa bracelet
 3   2   14k   ----  1.77   1”   12-01     2.5”    Mary pendant
 3   3   14K   ----   .32   1”   12-01     2”      tiny heart pendant
 3   4   14k   ----   .82   1”   12-01     3”      heart pendant with platinum heart with stone
 4   1   14k   ----  3.23   3”   12-02     5”      7 bluestone

GOLD JEWELRY (10k)
Row Col  carat ID   grams depth  FE-CO  max depth  description
 1   1   10k   ----  2.51   3”   12-03     5”      Adolfo chain
 1   1   10k   ----  2.47   4”   12-04     7.25”   Adolfo nameplate
 1   2   10k   ----  1.98   4”   12-11     5”      UAOD pendant
 1   3   10k   ----  1.28   2”   12-17     3”      gold dental crown
 1   4   10k   ----   .74   3”   12-03     4.5”    small earring
 2   1   10k   ----   .47   1”   12-01     2.5”    Nike swoosh pendant
 2   2    9k   ----  1.09   2”   12-02     3”      heart pendant (hollow)



GOLD NECKLACES AND CHAINS
Coil type                             Pro coil     4.5x7 SEF   Minelab 8”  18x15 SEF
Indoor sensitivity                    Auto = 16    Man = 24    Man = 22    Auto +3 = 19
Noise Cancel #                        NC = 11      NC = 10     NC = 10     NC =  10

Chain necklace     clasp              ¾”           1”          1.5”        ¼”
14k  14.53g        lengthwise         2”           2”          2”          1.5”

Thin necklace      clasp              0” barely    1”          ¾”          none
14k  5.62g         lengthwise         none         0” barely   none        none

Note: Gold necklaces and chains are very difficult to detect, unless the necklace has a large enclosed clasp or a pendant attached.
      Gold chains are also difficult unless the chain’s individual links are large enough to detect. Both necklaces and chains are
      detectable if properly oriented in the ground in a conductive ball, but that’s very unlikely.

Detecting since Feb, 2010
E-trac with 18"x15" SEF, 13" Ultimate coil, Pro coil, Minelab 8" coil, 4.5"x7" SEF, Sunray target probe
CTX3030 with 17"x13" DD coil, 11" DD coil

WOW...awesome post. Thanks for all that info !!!!

I'm especially impressed w the fine chains!

We're they found in the dry sand or surf? (I'm wondering if it's locked in salt mode like the Excal and CZ 21)

I've never bothered to test the Etrac w small gold like that as I don't dig to much foil in the dirt and haven't used it on the beach.


Great post thanks



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/14/2012 09:20PM by Aaron.

thanks for the post.

Wow! Thank you for putting together all that information, very interesting post.

The last chain and thin necklace - do you have the Fe-Co numbers?

That's a lot of work! Commendable!

Notice........... the lower the conductivity (lower CO numbers)..... the less the detection depth. Most of these jewelry items are in the 'foil' range. Imagine the amount of 'foil' that still remains unrecovered...... (is undetectable)......... because it does not take much depth to be out of detectable range. This is to say: Your 'foil' collection would be MUCH greater........... IF they could be detected. This would further instill the fact that 97% of the gold/platinum jewelry in this world ID's as "foil".

I'm a bit surprised that the (nearly 1/2-ounce) large platinum ring is only detectable to a range of 7".

For base-reference...... would like to see you add the data for a common nickel.

The overall/aggregate "Max Depth" on all of the items ... is quite poor. They parallel the Excal's numbers and a high powered CZ (whilst in 'salt' mode). This is where current technology is ..... at this present time. It would be nice if most gold rings could be detected to the same depths of a small coin.......... say...... a U.S. dime. . . . . . . which is detectable to about 11" in wet salt..... with the E-Trac. Most rings are larger in diameter than a dime. I also wonder if these (Max Depth) numbers would be a bit less...... if actually buried in wet-salt....... whereby the internal Grnd auto-track engineered into the Minelab ... would then be balanced/compensated in real-time ... for conductive wet salt. Ground Balance...... whether automatic or manually adjusted...... can make a tremendous difference in detectable range.......... especially when 'wet salt' balanced.

I commend you for all the fruits of your labor... in this labor-intense evolution. KUDO'S!!! ...... and thank you!

With all that foil range stuff thats in dry sand, sounds like a GREAT place for the Au-21X!

Wow lots of work put into this post and tip of the hat for a job well done as though Explorer series are known to be top silver coin hunters they will get the gold jewelry also.

May be a lot of work but just like on land and more so in dry beach hunting as far as digging damned if you do and damned if you don't as chances of gold jewelry both large and small are greatly increased in this enviroment...

Aaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm especially impressed w the fine chains!
>
> We're they found in the dry sand or surf? (I'm
> wondering if it's locked in salt mode like the
> Excal and CZ 21)
>
> I've never bothered to test the Etrac w small gold
> like that as I don't dig to much foil in the dirt
> and haven't used it on the beach.
>
>
> Great post thanks

Both chains were found in the wet sand near or at the tide line as the tide was going out. The area was stripped of much of the sand, and was below a shallow cut.

The larger, heavier chain on the left was shear luck. Was using the large 18”x15” SEF coil on a very productive 15m x 35m patch, that overall produced over a dozen gold jewelry finds, mostly old jewelry. I visually spotted part of the gold chain above ground. The large coil couldn’t detect it at all on the beach.

The smaller chain on the left was found right at the tide line as the tide was going out. Was walking the large 18”x15” SEF coil on my right side parallel along the tide line. Got 1 very low tone hit. Sweep the coil over the single low tone hit area and saw a small part of the chain above the ground. That was the sixth gold for the day, 5 from the 15m x35m patch, and the gold chain further down the beach at the tide line.

Both chains were partially exposed by the outgoing tide.

Detecting since Feb, 2010
E-trac with 18"x15" SEF, 13" Ultimate coil, Pro coil, Minelab 8" coil, 4.5"x7" SEF, Sunray target probe
CTX3030 with 17"x13" DD coil, 11" DD coil

Johnnyanglo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The last chain and thin necklace - do you have the
> Fe-Co numbers?


I’m pretty sure they both air-tested at 01 conductivity, I think the ferrous value was slightly above 12. Gold that is barely detectable almost always comes in at 01 to 03 conductivity (I don’t know how tiny 24k tests) , and the in-ground ferrous value usually jumps around in the ferrous range.

Detecting since Feb, 2010
E-trac with 18"x15" SEF, 13" Ultimate coil, Pro coil, Minelab 8" coil, 4.5"x7" SEF, Sunray target probe
CTX3030 with 17"x13" DD coil, 11" DD coil

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That's a lot of work! Commendable!
>
> Notice........... the lower the conductivity
> (lower CO numbers)..... the less the detection
> depth. Most of these jewelry items are in the
> 'foil' range. Imagine the amount of 'foil' that
> still remains unrecovered...... (is
> undetectable)......... because it does not take
> much depth to be out of detectable range. This is
> to say: Your 'foil' collection would be MUCH
> greater........... IF they could be detected. This
> would further instill the fact that 97% of the
> gold/platinum jewelry in this world ID's as
> "foil".
>
> I'm a bit surprised that the (nearly 1/2-ounce)
> large platinum ring is only detectable to a range
> of 7".
>
> For base-reference...... would like to see you add
> the data for a common nickel.
>
> The overall/aggregate "Max Depth" on all of the
> items ... is quite poor. They parallel the Excal's
> numbers and a high powered CZ (whilst in 'salt'
> mode). This is where current technology is .....
> at this present time. It would be nice if most
> gold rings could be detected to the same depths of
> a small coin.......... say...... a U.S. dime. . .
> . . . . which is detectable to about 11" in wet
> salt..... with the E-Trac. Most rings are larger
> in diameter than a dime. I also wonder if these
> (Max Depth) numbers would be a bit less...... if
> actually buried in wet-salt....... whereby the
> internal Grnd auto-track engineered into the
> Minelab ... would then be balanced/compensated in
> real-time ... for conductive wet salt. Ground
> Balance...... whether automatic or manually
> adjusted...... can make a tremendous difference in
> detectable range.......... especially when 'wet
> salt' balanced.
>
> I commend you for all the fruits of your labor...
> in this labor-intense evolution. KUDO'S!!! ......
> and thank you!

Just about every small gold find was in areas where much of the sand was stripped.

One of the platinum rings was very iffy, and it was a curiosity dig that found it.

Max depth is based on air tests using Auto sensitivity setting a 16 as a standard.
I'm hoping this info is helpful.

Uh oh, you said "Auto-sensitivity", you just lost your hard earned "creds" w Tom, he's not a fan of "Auto-anything". : )

In all honesty I end up running my Etrac and CTX in +3 Auto most of the time anyway otherwise I get falsed up the wazoo in my mineralized dirt.

What I'm wondering is are you running it in auto in the dry sand too? I wouldn't think you'd need too, not sure about salt though....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/2012 10:05PM by Aaron.

Different ships, different long splices. Old sailors adage.

In the right spots auto plus three works pretty good for me. I found the Ultimate 13" coil tends to run higher sens numbers anyway. Last trip on Daytona it was running between 24 and 29. That's pretty high on an E-Trac in auto. Down on the treasure coast it likes lower sense in auto. Usually runs 16 to 20 in auto plus three.

Sometimes when it drops below around 18 I'll switch to manual to try to run above 20. Sometimes it's good sometimes it's audio overload. It's pretty much site specific.

How about your beaches Digs_alot? Do you find they're too noisy above 16?

NASA-Tom Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The overall/aggregate "Max Depth" on all of the
> items ... is quite poor. They parallel the Excal's
> numbers and a high powered CZ (whilst in 'salt'
> mode). This is where current technology is .....
> at this present time. It would be nice if most
> gold rings could be detected to the same depths of
> a small coin.......... say...... a U.S. dime. . .
> . . . . which is detectable to about 11" in wet
> salt..... with the E-Trac. Most rings are larger
> in diameter than a dime. I also wonder if these
> (Max Depth) numbers would be a bit less...... if
> actually buried in wet-salt....... whereby the
> internal Grnd auto-track engineered into the
> Minelab ... would then be balanced/compensated in

The air-tests were conducted using Auto sensitivity level at 16, only as a baseline for comparison. To find very small or very deep gold, manual sensitivity is a must for the Pro coil. Manual sensitivity running around 24 to 26 is adequate at the beach where I hunt. After locating a target, I usually switch to auto sensitivity to test the depth or size. Very small targets or very deep targets almost always disappear when this is done. Auto sensitivity is a must when using the 18”x15” SEF coil because the mineralization causes a lot of falsing in manual sensitivity at this location. This big coil in auto sensitivity has located the majority of medium and large size gold rings far out in the low tide zone, and some have been quite deep. A quick sweep speed with the big coil will miss much of the corroded tiny pieces of aluminum can near the surface, but will cover a lot of ground and pick up larger targets at depth.

The Pro coil in the wet sand, while using a high manual sensitivity, sometimes can cause an amplifying affect on the audio, and seems the give a slightly stronger target signal. Shallow water hunting (+ 1 foot), on the other hand, can cause a dime or penny to sound as strong as a 2 oz. round fishing weight. Going from wet/dry sand to shallow water can be a problem because of the difference in signal strength.

Noise cancel #11 appears to be slightly more sensitive to small, very low conductive targets (perhaps because of the noise cancel target ID shift), but can be very noisy when using a high manual sensitivity, and have to discriminate out ferrous-conductivity number 01-50.

Using a high manual sensitivity with the Pro coil in the wet sand areas has produced +10” 2g to 4g gold rings, and some larger rings at +13”. The main problem of detecting with a high manual sensitivity using the Pro coil on a mineralized wet sand beach is falsing, which I learned the hard way is due to poor coil control. An extremely smooth, level, constant velocity sweep (except at the ends of the sweep) has eliminated most of the intolerable falsing. Which has now allowed more sensitivity to very small targets and very deep targets.

Detecting since Feb, 2010
E-trac with 18"x15" SEF, 13" Ultimate coil, Pro coil, Minelab 8" coil, 4.5"x7" SEF, Sunray target probe
CTX3030 with 17"x13" DD coil, 11" DD coil

Aaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Uh oh, you said "Auto-sensitivity", you just lost
> your hard earned "creds" w Tom, he's not a fan of
> "Auto-anything". : )
>
> In all honesty I end up running my Etrac and CTX
> in +3 Auto most of the time anyway otherwise I get
> falsed up the wazoo in my mineralized dirt.
>
> What I'm wondering is are you running it in auto
> in the dry sand too? I wouldn't think you'd need
> too, not sure about salt though....

With the Pro coil, mostly run manual sensitivity at 24 to 26 in the wet sand, and rarely hunt in the dry sand area because at this beach, that’s where much of the small, corroded aluminum resides. The wet sand beach area is very mineralized, and had to learn how to sweep the Pro coil there to lessen the falsing.

With the 18”x15” SEF coil, pretty much have to use auto sensitivity in the wet sand area. The low tone falsing sounds similar to small, very low conductive targets, like small gold jewelry.

Detecting since Feb, 2010
E-trac with 18"x15" SEF, 13" Ultimate coil, Pro coil, Minelab 8" coil, 4.5"x7" SEF, Sunray target probe
CTX3030 with 17"x13" DD coil, 11" DD coil

sailorman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Different ships, different long splices. Old
> sailors adage.
>
> In the right spots auto plus three works pretty
> good for me. I found the Ultimate 13" coil tends
> to run higher sens numbers anyway. Last trip on
> Daytona it was running between 24 and 29. That's
> pretty high on an E-Trac in auto. Down on the
> treasure coast it likes lower sense in auto.
> Usually runs 16 to 20 in auto plus three.
>
> Sometimes when it drops below around 18 I'll
> switch to manual to try to run above 20. Sometimes
> it's good sometimes it's audio overload. It's
> pretty much site specific.
>
> How about your beaches Digs_alot? Do you find
> they're too noisy above 16?


The first several months, there were certain locations at that beach that I refused to detect at because of all the falsing. Other areas, ran manual sensitivity at 29 with very little falsing. As it turns out, some of those areas that I regularly skipped over were loaded with small gold jewelry. I didn’t know how to detect such areas, what to dig, and how the high mineralization affected the ferrous values on targets there. Skipped over very low conductive targets thinking it was all foil or small pieces of non ferrous trash. Because very small gold jewelry (and very deep larger gold) has a high ferrous reading in these mineralized wet beach sands, any discrimination on the low conductive targets here limited detection depth.

Last year, finally learned how to detect these locations, and recovered gold that had been accumulating/washed into these areas over the decades. The importance of sweep control when using a high manual sensitivity in such areas was the key to detecting in such areas. The falsing has dropped considerably.