Metal Detector’s Blog

“Metal detecting started out as something for me and my wife to do with our children when they were little. Living in Florida, we would take the family to the parks and beaches. I would detect while they played, and often they would help dig. Now that they’re older my wife and I have more time to treasure hunt and we truly enjoy the hobby.

For about a year now I’ve been using the Minelab Excalibur 1000. My wife and I both have one and we are both completely hooked on surf hunting. Since July of 2006 we have found approximately 4ounces of gold, 75 rings (27 of which are gold), a platinum ring, several earrings, necklaces and rosaries.

But one of my favorite finds, and most valuable, was found earlier this year just a few inches into the soft, dry sand of the surf…

My wife and I started the day on the beach with our Excalibur 1000’s and a long handled scoop. We ventured into the wet sand and spent about an hour looking when I got a good signal. I started digging and there, just a few inches into sand was a diamond pendant known as a “Circle of Life.” Seeing those 28 diamonds glitter and realizing they were real, well I was excited to say the least After testing it with a gold tester and getting input from a professional jeweler, we’ve found out that its value is about $3,000.00.- Paul B.

Most treasure hunters already know that schools, churches and parks are some pretty good places to go coin shooting. But keep in mind that you have to hunt the older places if you want to find the older coins. (unless your just looking for extra beer money) Old houses built in the 40’s or before are good places to shoot. Back then people would burrie jars full of coins insted of taking them to the bank. River banks or the old swimming hole are a good place to go also, fisherman and kids playing around tend to lose coins while digging around in teir pockets. Coin shooting a school that was built in the 60’s or before is likley to produce silver coins and wheat pennies. Look for the older schools. It is not hard to tell an old school from the new schools. In some cases old schools have been torn down and new schools are built on the same property. This is where a little research comes in. Go to your local public office and look at the old land maps in the county records,You can see where the old schools used to be.Old churches are an excellent place to coin shoot, that’s where you will most likley find the oldest coins. Churches were usually one of the first buildings erected in a small town after the homes were built. Every Sunday most everybody in the town would go to church and children would play all around the church,in front, and in back of the church, losing coins along the way. Trees are great places to search under at an old church. It was a good place for people to sit and shade up on a hot day, and children would play in them. (not knowing some of their coins just tumbled out of their pocket)

Coins are found where money exchanged hands or could fall out of pockets or purses. Old drive-in movies are good places. Yes, they are full of trash, but there are ways to get around that. A smaller coil on your detector will allow the coin shooter to actually detect between pieces of trash. Discrimination options can cut most of the trash out. Some detectors have a bell tone alert or TONE ID which really sounds off on coins but gives a low hum on trash. Drive-in hot spots would be around the consession stands and ticket booth where people would be pulling money out of their pockets and at the playground in front of the screen.

The grassy areas between the sidewalks and the road are a good place for coins. These areas are useally deemed public property but the homeowner is responsable for the care of these areas, so make it a point to check with the homeowner before you start detecting. (after all what would you do if you saw some strange person digging up your wifes flowers) It is only common courtesy to ask first. Don’t forget to check around old parking meters if they are in the grassy area next to the sidewalks.

Old bleachers at the old horse track,the old stock car track,rodeo grounds or your old high school football feild. Alot of years of people losing money out of their pockets yes there’s a lot of trash, but is it worth digging up a little trash if you are finding old coins?

 Learn more about metal detecting and coin shooting at mountaintopsports.com

This article is about finding gold with a metal detector in the hydraulic mines of the Sierra Nevada mountains, California. The methods described are for the Fisher gold bug (GB) and Gold Bug 2 (GB 2) and the Whites Gold Master II (GM II) and Gold Master V/SAT (GM V/SAT).This information may or may not be applicable to other detectors and other areas such as stream beds or the desert areas of the south west.

Hydraulic mining was carried out during the gold rush but was pretty much stopped by a court decision in 1884 because of the millions of cubic yards of debris washed into the rivers.

This method used high pressure jets of water from cannon like nozzles called monitors or giants to cut into the gold bearing gravels and wash it into large sluice boxes.

The most productive areas for this method were ancient stream beds that were covered by volcanic debris forty million years ago (give or take a couple years).

Today, these mines are open areas with a few stunted trees, many stacks of rocks and in most of these mines, a lot of exposed bedrock.

The size of these mines range from a couple acres to well over a square mile. Most of the hydraulic mines in California are north of Highway 50 although there are a few to the south.

Once you have seen a two or three of these mines, you will easily be able to recognize others even from a couple miles away. To get an idea of the scale of these mining operations, there are three guys standing in the lower left of the photo.

What you need Metal detector

While any metal detector is capable of finding gold, you really need a machine designed for prospecting.

Unfortunately, these detectors aren’t very good for much else. Some of the features that set these detectors apart from coin or treasure machines:

They usually use a higher operating frequency for increased sensitivity to small pieces of gold. Elliptical coils which have some of the advantages of a large round coil (depth) and a small coil (ability to detect small targets). They also get into tighter places. Multi turn ground balance controls for very precise adjustmets in highly mineralized soil. No automatic ground balance here. Basic tools

Having spent many weekends in these mines, I have had the opportunity to see what kind of stuff other nugget shooters carry while detecting.

Some folks strap the detector box on their chest and put on a belt with two loaded tool pouches and other tools hanging from the belt loops. I come from the minimalist school. I have a belt with a tool pouch and one loop.

The pouch has a small pocket that holds a plastic gold bottle, a larger pocket to hold trash and the largest pocket holds a Jimmy Sierra tray (more on this later). I carry the detector and a small pick with a 15 inch handle.

The belt loop is usually empty unless I think I might need something special like shears for lopping off low growing manzanita branches.

Recommendations:

* Fisher gold bug 2 detector. A Whites GoldMaster II or V/SAT is an excellent (and less $) second choice. Don’t forget a coil cover. They are much cheaper to replace than coils when they wear out. * Fisher ear phones are the best I have found for either Whites or Fisher detectors. They are quite sensitive and they have a built in diode that quiets the very loud signals. * The pick I use has a 15 inch wooden handle with a magnet at the end. The head is made from an automobile leaf spring. It is about two inches wide at one end and tapers to a point at the other. This pick has the weight to hack into bedrock and the strength to pry small boulders from their homes. I have seen a pick advertised in the mining magazines which looks similar called the Mag-Na-Pick. * The Jimmy Sierra tray is a black plastic tray about six by eight inches. If you can find a similar size tray, just cut the lip off one end and it will be close enough. * An unbreakable container to hold your gold. A 35 MM film container will work. * A small but detectable piece of gold stuck on a plastic bottle cap or something similar to be used as a test piece. I just used tape to stick mine on. If you don’t have any gold yet, use a flat piece of lead maybe about twice the size of a pin head.

A few other items can be handy up in the digs:

A small coil for your detector can dramatically increase your gold finds. You do lose some depth (not much though) but you gain by getting between and by getting closer to rocks and other obstructions that others have passed by.

This can be virgin ground even in the hardest hit areas. Someone I know is using the six inch elliptical coil on his Gold Bug 2 almost exclusively and he is doing very well. I am starting to move in that direction too.

My problem is, if I head for the hills with two coils, I’m always worrying about having the wrong coil on the detector no matter which one I am using.

For cutting branches, small or large lopping shears or even a pruning saw will do the job.

A small rake or a three prong hand cultivator works well for breaking up soil.

They work even better if you weld a piece of flat bar stock on top of the teeth so you can turn it over and use it as a scraper. These rakes work especially well under bushes (right in photo).

If you get into a nail patch, a magnet rake helps to clean it out. These patches can be productive because no one has really detected them.

The rake is made from two pieces of 3/4 inch aluminum conduit and the teeth are cow magnets . This idea came from Larry Salle’s excellent book “Zip Zip” (left in photo).

Another way to clean up nail patches is to get one of those magnets you see advertised that is supposed to lift 500 pounds or something similar. Just attach the magnet to a stick and it’s ready to go (center in photo).

One other item to think about are the shoes you wear while nugget shooting. Gold detectors are very sensitive and will “see” any metal in your shoes from a surprising distance. In addition to the obvious metal eyelets etc, many hiking boots and shoes have metal shanks in the soles.

Usually, there is information on the shoe box or a tag attached to the boots describing the features. Try to find a pair that doesn’t have any metal in or on them.

Finding Gold Throughout the rest of this article, I am going to suggest experiments and other things to try. These suggestions should help to make using your detector more comfortable and hopefully, flatten the learning curve a little.

They are best done in the area where you will be searching but you can do most of them at home if you can find a “clean” place.

Warning - Beginning of soapbox - In the preceding section I left out the most important thing you need. That is the patience and perseverance to learn a new skill and to never think you’ve learned it all.

You may have purchased your detector from a dealer who implied all you have to do is wander around the gold country waving your new detector and you will get rich. It doesn’t work like that!

I didn’t find anything but trash for the first two weekends but on the third, I found one - and then another - and then another ….. and it got easier after that. These machines are very sensitive and are constantly talking to you. You have to concentrate and try to figure out what they are saying.

My advice for beginners:

* Make sure you are in a place where there is detectable size gold. * The ground should have low mineralization and it shouldn’t vary much. * If you are in such a place and you aren’t finding any gold, Figure out what you are doing wrong instead of looking for a new place. * If there is someone around that is finding gold, most will be willing to take a few minutes to help you get started. * Dig everything at first but try to guess what it is. * Leave the spouse, kids and dog home while learning. I have seen a lot of frustrated folks who have to stop and look for the dog or the kids start saying “when do we go home?” - “I’m tired” - “I’m hungry” etc. * Never stop experimenting and learning.

- End of soapbox Adjusting your detector This includes the physical set up and tuning of the detector. The intent is to focus on stuff that either isn’t in the manual or isn’t emphasized. Setting up

The first thing to think about is setting up the detector for your body dimensions and style of searching. When you are swinging the detector all day, these adjustments are critical.

Usually, the coil should rest on the ground a few inches in front of your feet when you are standing straight up. If the stem is too long, the detector will be unbalanced and your arm will eventually let you know.

If is too short, you will be slightly bent over and your back will complain. When you think it’s about right, try one notch either way for a couple hours and see how you feel.

When you know it is right, mark the hole so if you collapse the detector for storage etc, you can set it back quickly. Oh, don’t forget to tighten the collar.

The Gold Masters have an alternate mounting location for the control box under the arm rest. I recommend you at least try this location for a day or two to see if you like it.

It makes the detector perfectly balanced but I found it a little more awkward to twiddle with the controls and it got in the way when I was separating a piece of gold from the dirt. It may work great for you though.

The gold bugs are light enough so you don’t have to worry over such things unless you are using a 14 inch coil. I have a big coil and found that after a couple hours of swinging it, I thought my arm would fall off!

After I got home, I decided to try belt mounting the control box and adding a weight equal to the box (about a pound) under the arm rest. It feels a lot better now. If you decide to belt mount the Gold Bug box, here is a trick that works great.

Call up the nice folks at Fisher and order the little bracket on the stem that the box slides on to. You can then attach the bracket to a belt using flathead screws and T-nuts. Countersink the bracket for the screw heads and put the nuts on the inside of the belt Be sure the screws don’t protrude from the nuts.

With this arrangement, you can slide the box on and off the belt in a couple seconds instead of threading the belt through the slots.

The coil should be adjusted so it doesn’t flop around but it does need to be able to move fairly easily. It is very important to keep the coil parallel to the ground so you will be moving it often as the slope changes.

Notice the screw that attaches the coil to the stem is plastic. The implication of this is that the less metal near the coil the better. Since the cable has metal in it, one or two wraps around the lower stem is the maximum.

You can wrap the rest of the cable around the upper stem near the control box but if you use two coils, it is quicker to wrap the cable horizontally between the stem and the bottom of the box when changing coils.

It is important that you never put any strain on the cable (wires will break) but you don’t want the cable moving too much in relation to the coil (false signals) either. I set the coil a little past perpendicular to the stem and wrap the cable over the top of the stem (the cable comes out on the left side of the coil so it should wrap from left to right over the top of the stem).

If you find you are getting a lot of false signals because the cable is floppy or you don’t have enough range of movement, you should make adjustments right away.

Tuning

The proper tuning of your detector (and keeping it tuned) will be a big factor in how much gold you find or even whether you find any gold at all.It is a fairly quick and easy procedure that will become second nature to as you gain experience.

Tuning is simply setting the the electronics in your detector to the local conditions (such as ground mineralization, temperature etc) and your equipment (such as headphones and the coil you are using).

The three controls that aren’t fully covered in the manual are the , threshold and ground balance.

Sensitivity

I always try to run the sensitivity wide open (and with the GB2, audio boost on) but there are many high mineralization areas where it will drive you nuts and you won’t be able to distinguish between a real target and all the other noise.

Trust me, in these locations, you will find more gold even when you desensitise your detector. The mode and mineralization switches on the GB2 and the VSAT switch on the GM may help in these conditions (see the manual).

As you gain experience and learn what the different sounds mean, you may be able to increase the sensitivity in the hot areas and hopefully find more gold. When in doubt, drop your test piece on the ground and make sure you can hear it.

Threshold (Gold Bug) or Tuner (Gold Master)

Although this control changes the loudness of the threshold tone you hear, it is *NOT* a volume control. Simply stated, the lower you set the tone (and still hear it OK) , the more sensitive your detector will be.

This implies you should set the volume control on the gold bug to max before setting the threshold because you can then lower the threshold and still hear the tone at a comfortable level. If you use headphones with built in volume control/s, you need to adjust them so you can hear the tone OK but won’t blow your ears off when you wave the coil over a railroad spike.

There is one annoying problem with all the gold detectors I have used. The tone drifts when the temperature changes. You have to keep readjusting the threshold in the morning as the temperature goes up and again in the evening as the temperature goes down. Sometimes you even have to fiddle with it when moving from sunshine to shade or vice-versa.

Salars Family Website http://www.salars.net

Metal detecting is gaining popularity as a hobby these days. You’ve seen scores of people using metal detectors on beaches and at parks. Your neighbour’s kid told you how he found a historic gold coin in the backyard using his metal detector and made a tidy sum selling it to the antique shop down the street. Your friend has just bought one of the sleekest looking metal detector and can’t wait to show it off. All sound good, but WAIT, before you jump onto the bandwagon, be sure you know how a metal detector work and how to get the ideal piece for yourself.

Although there are many brands available, hobby metal detectors all have common parts and components. Normally, the metal detector consists of the stabilizer which keeps the unit steady as it is swept to and fro, the control box (which contains the circuitry, controls, speaker, batteries and microprocessor), the shaft which connects the control box and the search coil, and the search coil to detect the buried treasure.

Metal detectors operate based on the principles of electromagnetic induction. The search coil produces an electromagnetic field around itself when a current passes through it. In the presence of a metal item, this magnetic field is altered and induces electric currents called eddy currents in the metal item. The eddy currents induce their own magnetic field and generate an opposite current in the coil. This in turn generates a signal indicating the presence of metal.

The price tag of a metal detector range between $100 and $600. Of course, added features and greater sensitivity come with a higher price tag. Here are some considerations before committing on your metal detector:

Type of hunting activities - What do you use the metal detector for - gold prospecting, home or work use,jewellery hunting, relic hunting, coin shooting or beach hunting? While most common detectors in the market are “general purpose” metal detectors, there are models which cater to specific activities.

Where - Where do you intend to search for the coins and those gold nuggets? Most brands will tell you that their coils are water proof, but what that means is that they can be used in shallow water, like on the beach. If hunting treasures underwater is really what you want, get a model that are made for this purpose. On the other hand, make sure you ask for one with good ground balancing properties if it is intended for use on sandy grounds.

Frequency of Use - How often do you treasure hunt? If you plan to use a metal detector several hours a week, look for a model with more electronic features and higher accuracy. Nonetheless, bear in mind what we said earlier, added features means a bigger price tag.

Experience of user - Metal detectors come in different sizes and complexity. Many brands have fuss free models developed specially for juniors.

Gender - As a rule of thumb, ladies prefer light-weight models that allow them to be carried around effortlessly.

Price tag - Metal detectors are relatively inexpensive on their own. However, you may want to include in your budget accessories such as headphones, digging tools and carrying bags on top of the equipment itself. Buy the accessories together with the detector and the merchant will normally give you a discount.

Warranty - Check out the warranty period for the product. Most brands provides a 5-year warranty for their products.

More importantly, do your research! There are many review websites for metal detectors that offer comparisons amongst brands and models.

A metal detector to suit you is out there somewhere. You just have to look around in the right places to find it.

Is the ideal metal detector for treasure hunting eluding you? Or, you have no idea where to start when looking for precious metals? Read more about the latest in metal detecting. For even more information on metal detecting, visit Metal Detector 10.

The london Science Museum has just released the ‘Metal Detecting R.C. Car’.

The car has a small sensor embedded in it’s undercarriage that detects small metal objects when it rambles thru fields, parks and yards. You are enamored with beeps and lights when the car discovers a metal object.

Although it is a novel idea, it is more geared towrds helping kids understand magnetic fields. I can imagine this thing picks up all kinds of pulltabs, bottlecaps and all kinds of other junk. It actualy  even comes with some fake gold coins to practice with.

Even tho this is not for a serious metal detector enthusiast, I still thought it neat to post it, and I would not recommend trading in your new Minelab on one.

Somewhere in Tennessee police searched a muddy city parking lot where workmen discovered a (container-pot) of gold coins that may have been buried during the Civil War. The U.S. gold pieces are worth (conservatively) up to $3,000 each but it’s unclear how many were found since the workmen made off with most of them. “We have accounted for 177 and that’s just by talking to people who said that they had possessed some,” said the Mayor. “There may be a good bit more than that.”

Many of the coins already have been sold to gold dealers. The coins were unearthed by city workmen resurfacing a downtown parking lot and other people apparently have visited the site since then. Word of the discovery spread through the town of 42,000 residents and the Mayor ordered city employees to seal off the area.

A policeman with a metal detector began the city’s official search of the parking lot, which was cordoned off with yellow tape saying “Crime Area. Keep Out.”

“I’ve asked the court to determine who the owner of the coins would be,” the Mayor said. “You can get as many different opinions as there are lawyers. Every lawyer has a different version. “One guy says if it’s money, it belongs to the finder. Maybe that is true. I don’t know,” he said.

“One guy says if it’s a treasure trove, it belongs to the property owner. What is a treasure trove? I don’t know. One guy says that the finder in this case is the city because they were in the employ of the city at the time they found it,” he said.

If the money belongs to the city, the Mayor said he will take legal steps to recover it, although he noted such as undertaking would be complicated. The coins were $2 1/2, $5, $10 and $20 gold pieces. “The face value is not very important” said the Mayor. “The value of the coins is much more than the face value. “The latest mint date was something like 1857, something like that. I may be off a year or two. Some of them were back to the 1840’s and the 1830’s.”

Union soldiers occupied Jackson, Tennessee during the Civil War. “Probably somebody buried that money in 1861 or 1862 when the troops came in to keep them from getting it” he said, “and then died before they recovered it.