A few quick questions

[qsaimik]

Hello All,

My sons and I had a great first few weeks of metal detecting. I had my suspicions that this would be a fun hobby that my boys and I could do together, and was right. I’ve learned more about our local history over the past few weeks than I have over the past few years… researching where to go detecting, and why (Royersford, PA, lots of history in these parts thankfully).

I have a few quick questions. I’ve use the Bounty Hunter Quick Silver; don’t want to dump too much money into this hobby until we know it is a long term pastime for us. We’ve gotten purdy good at guessing what the detector is “telling” us… actually, we place bets on it (I’ll do your chores tonight if this isn’t a… post 1982 penny, etc). And I am very satisfied with how easy this detector is to use for my young boys. My only concern is the “depth” capabilities.

Last night we had fun inside by turning it on and passing items through the detector. We played another “guessing game” while doing it. While I was doing this, I took a quick measure with a ruler and noticed that it wasn’t picking up quarters until they were within 6 inches. Does this accurately reflect the depth I can detect buried coins or other small objects when buried? I was under the assumption that it could read up to 8" for small items.


Since I am new to the hobby, I’m worried we are passing up the “older stuff” which has dug itself deeper over time. We will be going out to a site this weekend which used to be a fairground in the late 1800s. It’s just a wooded lot now-a-days. Maybe I will gain a bit more confidence after we spend some time out there.

So far we have pulled up some fun things, a few wheat pennies, a bunch of newer coins, a old fire truck door handle, a diamond charm (fake), and my son’s favorite… a chunk of magnetic rock which passes the “home meteorite tests” (I don’t have the heart to tell him that we were detecting on an old foundry site and it is probably a bi-product of those days). The oldest coin we’ve pulled up is 1946… I'm not sure if that is because the older coins have buried themselves beyond our current detecting capabilities, or if the park we have been hunting has been "hunted out".


If so, I’ve been eyeing the ACE-250 as our next upgrade. I’m hooked.

Thanks again for the great community,

Qsaimik and Sons

[TonyinCT]

Let me know if I can help you when you're ready to upgrade.

[qsaimik]

Thank you Tony... I put in some new batteries (even though the "low battery" indicator hadn't come on yet) and noticed a distinct increase in sensitivity... went from 5.5 inches detection on a quarter to 7.5 inches detection.

I guess there is a decrease of sensitivity even before I am warned of the low batteries?

Any other Bounty Hunter users experience this?



Thank you,
Qsaimik

[ECACE]

Qsaimik,

I have two BH's that are backups to my main unit (Fisher CZ-3D). Couple of things that might help out. First, when you do an air test as you described, it gives you a little idea about how far it might be able to detect, but real world dirt can be a different story. When you add in the 'Dirt Matrix', it changes things quite a bit. Depending on the mineralization of the soil where you are at, it can either hurt or help your depth. For example, even with my CZ, in an air test, I can detect a quarter to about 8", but in the ground, I have dug them up in the 10" - 11" range. So the dirt can make a bit difference. Now if I were in very heavily mineralized soil, I would not be able to reach that depth.

Probably the best advice I can give you, which you probably have already read over an over is...practice, practice, practice. If you can, log what you find and the depth you found it at. Use that to learn what exactly it is telling you. Log even the junk and what the MD was telling you it 'thought' it saw. Over time, you will gain an appreciation of what it is trying to tell you and you should start digging less junk and more good finds.

Below is a link to a PDF from another site that has some excellent information about MD'ing. It is primarilly geared toward Fisher detectors, but the info is valid for any mfg. Hope this helps and welcome to the hobby.

http://www.fisherlab.com/hobby/docum...gence5thed.pdf


Also, don't be too concerned about passing up the good stuff. I have found and have read many times on this site how people find good things at only an inch or two. This fall, I found a 1917 merc dime at 2". Yes, if you go deeper, you may have a better chance of finding older stuff, but you will also pick up more junk. A more expensive detector may be able to discriminate better at the deeper stuff, but at this point in the game I would suggest against that. By the way, you mentioned the ACE 250. There are a lot of people on this site that use them and I have heard a lot of good things about it. I have played with one for about 1/2 an hour, so I can't give you too much info about it.

Best of luck, welcome to the hobby and to TQ. If you have any questions, this is the place to ask them. TQ is filled with people that have a lot of experience and are ready to help.

Eric

[qsaimik]

Thanks for the responses all... I will take a look at those stories and websites tonight after the boys go to sleep.

Hope it isn't too cold tomorrow! Winter is NOT a good time to pick up a new outdoor hobby *growl*

Qsaimik