Things I look for in site machines or I dismiss them...

I have a couple of criteria in my site machine choices or I usually dont even bother with them past the testing and a few inqusitive hunts..

One it has to hit a dime on my deck on edge in between nails with a non nail tone....

and also and this is the deal breaker for me...and Im sure all of you have dug old Overall buttons...take the old corroded overall button the kind with the iron backs full of rust with brass face....

burry it in the ground face down 3 inches in your dirt.....if you can get your machine to hit the Overall button backside up with a non iron tone or atleast a intelligent iron/high tone roll while still rejecting a 12 penny nail clean or intelligent sparky sound then you have a machine that will work in iron for unamasking ...

What machine's do I have that will do that..


DEUS/GMP

F19 ( G2/Gold bug )

CoRe

remember just site machine test/////But on a side note the first two take a variable tone break adjsutability to match the last one thats not adjustable...Weird???

Keith



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2015 08:35PM by Keith Southern.

Bic pens, overall buttons half steel half brass......outside the box stuff going on here......interesting.

Loving the F-19 myself! Lightweight and great in heavily nail infested sites! The red backlight is awesome to for nighttime recon work

Walt,

From the GA-FL line

Silver microMax, CTX 3030, Excal 2, ATPro

Hi Keith,,,I'm thinking that moisture/rain could skew/change your deck test results regardless of how well it is waterproof....I'm kinda shocked that your new upgraded F-75 is not among your list....Whatever happened to your high regards to the T-2 and At Pro?.....JJ

Keith do you have one of those overall buttons in your test garden?? Would be nice to see future detectors performance over one when you do your videos.

It says machines I have...

At Pro not in my possesion..

T2 and F75,,, well they are limited without tone break...I dont consider them 100% site machines...Great units but not pickers...

Hey Jimmy you over think things LOL!!!! You sure theres not no Southerns in your family Tree!!!

Mositure in the deck...what about the dirt? ....Nothing is foolproof..Gotta love it..your after my own heart...but sometimes you gotta just pick up a machine and go hunt...



Keith



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2015 10:56PM by Keith Southern.

I find the Euro one cent coin a good test, it's a steel coin covered by a very thin copper coating, size 16.25mm
My xterra 70 reads it as solid iron with the 7.5khz coils, the 18.75khz coils give a beautiful clear non ferrous tone, even in all metal there is no mixed iron/non ferrous tone.
The one cent is the hardest to get a non ferrous tone on, the 2 cent is easier and the 5 cent is simple, burying the one cent coin down a few inches in some bad dirt would be
a very good test for a detector. As I recall my old Explorer 2 used to hit them all as solid iron......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2015 11:00PM by james1969.

Yes I have many buttons and bullets and iron things burried in the back of the yard along a clean line ...

Problem with my yard is its loaded in ferrous and non ferrous artifacts itself...theres an old 1840s house site on it...I moved the chimney rock and filled in the well hole....

Keith

Ahh steel covered coins... Very good....

Seems we all have our little test we like to use..

how accurate??? Who knows..

Peace of mind while hunting goes along ways though...

higher freqs do better on conglomerates it so seems...Of course we then have the problems of Higher Freqs loving round iron, flat iron, tin and such..

One thing I keep an ear out for is when people say their machine digs crown caps....I like a machine that digs those for relic hunting...Tin back Confederate buttons sound the same,,, face down epsecially...

Keith

My TDI hits on silver quarters below 2-4-6-8 even 10 rusty crowncaps.

Mind you, on top of ground.

But it tells me something.

No VLF or other PI i have can do it.

Thats why the TDI can seem like looking through iron for some folks, depending on what item is actually masked for >VLF s.

Yes TDI's are great at times for high conductors in trash..

Good for you.. outside the box hunting!!!

Shh dont tell too many!!

Keith

Hi Keith,,,thanks for the quick reply.....Yes,yes dirt that's one of the points I have been trying to get across to people....New machine & different coil Vs.old machine,, testing the same spot on different days the moisture content can make you think you just stumbled on to something great,when in reality the new machine might not be any better than the old one.....the angle of approach is another variable....When you say site machine you are talking about relic hunting I assume.... Because these rules/criteria don't necessarily apply to a park hunting scenario....I say the only way to grow a brain is to make inquiries about certain topics/subjects....At times it might sound like I'm picking on certain people but I'm not, I'm just trying to grow a brain..LoL.....I can't stop trying to input more data into my brain....JJ


edit: had to add "one" after old



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/11/2015 11:34PM by jimmyjiver.

In reply to JimmyJiver......I had a G2 a couple of years ago that would flat SLAM on a buried bullet at 11 inches. (It might have been 12 inches! can't recall) But I was doing my testing while the ground was damp!!! Well, time passed and the spring came and went and the ground dried so hard that it would bend the point of a Lesche knife....(exaggerated).....and my G2 couldn't even make an iron grunt over the bullet!!! And all during the time that the ground was damp......I was on here telling folks about how freakin deep my G2 was!!!!!! I don't know about other units but the G2 in damp ground is pretty hot! But in bone dry ground....it is..........well......I'm looking to upgrade.

OldandBold Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My TDI hits on silver quarters below 2-4-6-8 even
> 10 rusty crowncaps.
>
> Mind you, on top of ground.
>
> But it tells me something.
>
> No VLF or other PI i have can do it.
>
> Thats why the TDI can seem like looking through
> iron for some folks, depending on what item is
> actually masked for >VLF s.

How did you set up this test? What settings on TDI? I could take out the T2 and dig a bunch of rusty caps and try it with my TDI.

Discrimination is the root of all evil.

Kevin B Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In reply to JimmyJiver......I had a G2 a couple of
> years ago that would flat SLAM on a buried bullet
> at 11 inches. (It might have been 12 inches! can't
> recall) But I was doing my testing while the
> ground was damp!!! Well, time passed and the
> spring came and went and the ground dried so hard
> that it would bend the point of a Lesche
> knife....(exaggerated).....and my G2 couldn't even
> make an iron grunt over the bullet!!! And all
> during the time that the ground was damp......I
> was on here telling folks about how freakin deep
> my G2 was!!!!!! I don't know about other units
> but the G2 in damp ground is pretty hot! But in
> bone dry ground....it is..........well......I'm
> looking to upgrade.
=============================================

That's where the term

"it's hard to find silver when the ground is dry" comes from Kevin

it's not JUST the "G2" that reacts to dry conditions that way!

The reason for my mimimum test is..

The first establishes recovery/separation ability..

The next establishes resolution..

two important factors for working iron...

Keith

Keith with all your expertise...why not write a book( Keith's Konclusions ) comes to mind...Just kidding my friend as your testing and expertise and willing to share make you an excellent forum member for sure...
Although I don't own or have used a lot of the new units I always read your posts....

I see a lot of tests done on the ground can someone build a test garden in the dirt, maybe glue the targets on a board then test them on the ground first to see if you get the hit your looking for. You know the nail and the coin or button and nail and so forth. You create a hard test and have some of your best units be able to pass that test and then put them in the ground and do it again and then see over the months and seasons if it changes and if it gets harder...you try some of the new machines you test and see if they pass this test??????? I think I am on cold medicine so you don't really have to answer this

LowBoy

TAKE A LITTLE TIME KICKBACK AND WATCH SOME OF MY DETECTING VIDEO'S BELOW ON YouTube

[www.youtube.com]

If you don’t dig it, then how are you going to know what you’re missing!
How can you have your pudding if you don’t eat your meat!

hey Jimmy I call a machine I work through iron a SITE machine...

I guess at times I get carried away with my lingo...

But I guess anywhere you use a detector would be on a site ....

I think maybe im shortening it from SITE SPECIFIC....

I love the free flow of communciation the fourm allows us to achieve...

things a decade ago we had to wonder/ponder about our detetors by ourselves...now we know theres others out there in a WANT TO KNOW state of being..

Keith

Dug quite a few of the steelcores with the F19.
Sometimes you can get one to hit and then loose it when you open up the hole.
But if the F19 hits non-ferrous on something. You can be pretty sure some non-ferrous is in the mix.

The X-terra's with the high frequency coils are great for this kind of hunting too.
Still sad I sold the 705 with the elliptical coil :-)

james1969 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I find the Euro one cent coin a good test, it's a
> steel coin covered by a very thin copper coating,
> size 16.25mm
> My xterra 70 reads it as solid iron with the
> 7.5khz coils, the 18.75khz coils give a beautiful
> clear non ferrous tone, even in all metal there is
> no mixed iron/non ferrous tone.
> The one cent is the hardest to get a non ferrous
> tone on, the 2 cent is easier and the 5 cent is
> simple, burying the one cent coin down a few
> inches in some bad dirt would be
> a very good test for a detector. As I recall my
> old Explorer 2 used to hit them all as solid
> iron......

HH
Johnb

Keith,

this is a good/worthy thread and why I brought it back to the top,

interested in hearing if have any new machines to add to the original list above in your OP?

Just wanting to hear your thoughts as I have a couple in mind to add and am wanting to see if your choice/s match as it's been 3 yrs exactly since you posted this.

Hi wayne!!

I was just actually testing a few units in the past month or so on that very object..Iron back button..

and hard to believe so many units to come out in that time span..

We can Add :

Racer's
Impact
T2-C.
DTVG 30
Fors Relic/FG+

Somewhat but not as clean
RA-71
Chaser 14khz

Keith

“I don't care that they stole my idea . . I care that they don't have any of their own”
-Nikola Tesla

I keep odd items i find for testing with other detectors at home, i like this old rusty nail with the lead washer on it. When i can hear both the iron grunt, and then the hit on the lead i'm set to go!
It don't look like much, but it could just as easily be a gold hilt on a rusted out dagger or similar, i wouldn't want to miss that.

Down and dirty..ballpark at best...how can you imitate a target buried 100rs. plus???????

They can be buried a 1000yrs, but when a fields ploughed over and they come near to the surface, some items act as if their freshly buried.

Dan-Pa. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Down and dirty..ballpark at best...how can you imi
> tate a target buried 100rs. plus???????



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/04/2018 12:42AM by ghound.

Keith Southern Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hi wayne!!
>
> I was just actually testing a few units in the pas
> t month or so on that very object..Iron back butt
> on..
>
> and hard to believe so many units to come out in t
> hat time span..
>
> We can Add :
>
> Racer's
> Impact
> T2-C.
> DTVG 30
> Fors Relic/FG+
>
> Somewhat but not as clean
> RA-71
> Chaser 14khz
>
> Keith

Interesting you put the T2-C on the list Keith,

I've witnessed it with all the Nok/Mak machines and the original units you listed above but didn't have the T2c long enough to find if it could/couldn't achieve the task and I've not tried DTVG 30 so no idea there but I'll take your word for it on the 2

Like Ghound above said = I too hunt plowed fields with a ton of iron so I look for and must have a unit that has the resolution to see and pick out the iron back buttons in/among the iron.

If it can achieve that then you know you have a good chance at nabbing the 2 piece tin backs and/or small gold coins, silver .03/stars, etc in heavy iron

CTX will do it too if setup correctly and you go slow enough -- I've plucked a few ironbacks out of the iron with mine.

My Pirate and Thracian from Bulgaria past that dime test.