Test Garden

[cchughs]

I have been thinking about making me a test garden this spring. I was wondering, how many of you have done this? Do you think it is worth having one? Any tips on making one?

[PAPPY]

It CERTAINLY is worth having. Make you several test gardens of various depths. Put in coins, metal, nails, pulltabs, pop tops and anything else you can think of. Space the items approx. 1' apart. Draw the test gardens on paper and mark each item that you put in the garden so you will know what the item is by looking at the paper.
Get to know the sound and response of your detector on each item. When you are in the field then you will know what type items you are going over to dig and which to leave alone and what type response your detector is giving you.

[l38ranger]

Thats a good idea...get some experiance and learn the tones and get ready to go out into the world....good luck....

[cchughs]

Thanks for the advice Pappy. I probably should have done this when I started detecting. I am kicking around the idea of upgrading my detector from the ACE 250 to a who knows what yet. I am thinking that a test garden might help with the learning curve of a more complicated detector. So I guess this year instead of planting carrots I am going to plant "stuff".

[Harry(PA)]

My first detecting garden was full of clads and silver coins. I put in junk jewelry and some real silver rings. Than I tossed in bottle caps, various sized pulltabs and assorted metalic items.

All was well until I started to detect the garden.
I was using a TID machine which is a very good top of the line detector. It would not stablize. The numbers would not stop changing. Than after a while I happened to look up skyward and there was this big cable running along my road. 30,000 to 40,000 volts of interference causing the display to scroll. I left the coins in the ground and relocated my garden a few hundred feet away.

Just another day here in Happy Valley

HH

[cchughs]

That is dang good advice. I will look up before I plant. I am starting to gather "stuff" to plant and plan out my garden.

[bill(de)]

This is only my opinion and feel anything that may help the learning process is a good thing. BUT

There is NO WAY a test garden is going to relate to actual hunting conditions unless you set it up to exactly the conditions your hunting in. I have a zinc penny at 5" that was inadvertantly planted close to a piece of iron and that is my test garden. It's amazing how different detectors and coil combinations react to this setup. It's nice to know what your detector will read on various targets in ideal conditions but nothing prepares for the onslaught of decomposing iron,hotrocks,aluminum trash, bottlecaps, electrical interference and whatever else contaminates our ground and all mixed in together most of the time at many of my sites.

IN THE FIELD
Don't rely on accurate VDI's or target blocks
Don't expect the same target response using different settings and coil setups
Dig the unexpected signals in the field
Know when your detector is unstable due to soil or EMI conditions, Sensitivity and discrimination settings along with coil choices can negate the best laid plans on any site.
Choose the best detector for your objectives regardless how it reacts in a test bed. On and On the list may go. Care to add a few? HH Bill