Jump to content

Steve Herschbach

Administrator
  • Posts

    19,577
  • Joined

  • Days Won

    1,555

 Content Type 

Forums

Detector Prospector Home

Detector Database

Downloads

Everything posted by Steve Herschbach

  1. Basically any detector is going to see the aluminum and nothing through the aluminum. It’s all about exposed surface eddy currents. Granted, a Pi can’t give a target id number, but that’s kind of secondary to what is really going on here. A PI with a fast pulse delay will see the aluminum but not the coin under it. Increase the pulse delay enough, the aluminum becomes literally invisible to the PI, and now it can only see the quarter.
  2. The same way gold nuggets do... by being washed and tumbled in streams. Copper nugget... I’ve got a jar full of them somewhere that I panned over the years. Always wanted to go detect here for copper and silver nuggets.... https://pubs.usgs.gov/bul/0448/report.pdf Page 80: Native copper is associated with silver and gold in the gravels of Chititu and Dan creeks. It occurs in pieces that range in size from fine shot to masses weighing several hundred pounds. Two or three tubs of fine copper are secured at each "clean-up" of the sluice boxes on Chititu Creek and give much difficulty in cleaning the gold, since the finest of the copper has to be removed by hand. Many of the nuggets contain native silver, which shows that the copper and silver are here closely associated in origin. The remarkable similarity in form and appearance between the copper nuggets of the Nizina district and the larger masses of copper taken from the stamp mills of the Lake Superior region is evident to anyone who compares the two, since the chief differences are that the placer copper has a slightly smoother surface and an oxidized coating. The copper and silver are derived wholly or in part from the greenstone. Assays of chalcocite from the Bonanza mine and from other copper ores of the Nizina district have shown the presence of both silver and gold in the copper deposits. Small particles of native silver were found in a freshly broken specimen of greenstone from a bowlder on Chititu Creek, and an assay of the rock also showed its presence. The silver was associated with calcite in small fractures. Silver nuggets up to 7 pounds in weight have been found on Dan and Chititu creeks, but where silver is associated with copper in the same nugget copper predominates, and in general silver is seen only as small particles in the copper. Copper is found only in those tributaries of Dan and Chititu creeks where greenstone pebbles and bowlders form part of the stream gravels; consequently it occurs only where the gravels have been formed in part by streams flowing through greenstone areas or where there is a foreign element in the gravels that Avas derived from a greenstone area and brought to its present position by glacial ice.
  3. All I can say is I barely read the instruction manual, only used the detector twice, for a few hours each time. Found gold both times. I’m ok with that!
  4. Thanks Keith. Like I said, the pinging was a non-issue for me. I was plenty happy for a first run. I simply mentioned it for completeness in the report. I'll take any and all suggestions under advisement for future trips. There is a good chance I'll be visiting with Dimitar soon, and may even get him on this location, so we will see how he thinks he should set the machine to deal with it.
  5. Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind. I have to admit I am not one to do a lot more than get to settings that make me happy, and it would be a mistake for anyone reading my report to think the pinging was bothering me. I seem to have a very efficient mental filter that has my ears focused on what I want to hear and the rest rapidly becomes a sort of threshold sound for me. I run my volume a lot lower than most people probably would, which is how I turn noisy settings into a pleasant experience. It also does not hurt that the MDT high tone falls into my high frequency hearing loss range, so does not jump out at me like the mid tone does. Long winded way of saying I found settings that worked for me pretty quickly and after that just got on with the business at hand. I’m the first to admit that I am not a settings wizard and I usually hesitate to tell people my settings. They invariably tend to be noisy. A dead quiet machine kind of freaks me out. It’s like I crave some sort of continuous feedback. My only criteria is that I’m seeing the kind of targets I like. In this case targets are not lacking so I just don’t worry about it a lot. But I will take a look at this on the next outing. Thanks!
  6. I took the MDT 8000 up to Tahoe this morning for a few hours of wading. Beach is heavily loaded with magnetite sands. There is a lot of deeper sandy material, but also some scoured out areas with gravel and rocks. The sand tends to have few targets. The gravels are the base and thick with targets in some areas, including lots of deeply rusted ferrous stuff, some of it quite large. I like hunting the gravels due to the target density. It however is not very VLF friendly stuff due to hot rocks and magnetite sand. The MDT struggled to stay quiet in the gravels. Due to the target density I decided to run in 18 kHz DISC for this session, but the high tone pinging was pretty continuous. The good news is I was after mid tone targets so this was not a huge issue. The mid-tone false signals were far less prevalent. Still, I wanted to see what I could do to make the machine run quiet. With Sensitivity 6 I could get a good manual ground balance at 614. I tried Salinity 15, no improvement. I turned on Black Sand mode. No improvement. I lowered sensitivity to 2, so DISC Mode, GB 614, Black Sand On, Salinity 15, Sensitivity 2.... no real improvement on this high tone pinging. However, at DISC Mode, GB 614, Sensitivity 6, BS Off, Salinity Off, the unit was well behaved on the sandy material. It is just the gravels where it was noisy. The reality for me, since I was not hunting coins was.... I don't care. Rather than dumb the machine down I just ran the higher settings in the gravels and ignored the high tone pinging. Simply chased mid-tones. There was some mid-tone falsing but not enough to be an issue for me. I'm used to running machines hot and noisy and hunting by ear so was actually happy with the resulting setting. Like I say though, a coin hunter might get frustrated. The results below, all the recovered targets. Nothing was super deep, but that is no surprise here as this is normally the kind of stuff I'd run a PI in. Was getting the right kind of targets and only a few items tricked me, three bottle caps heavily encrusted with rust being of note. There is also one dime and one quarter than came up mid-tone, but I recovered nails with both so I think that skewed the target id. As far as target id numbers, I have no idea. I was just digging any halfway decent sounding mid-tone. Like I said, I am happy with the mix. I like to see tabs and nickels and unfortunately corroded zincs - all gold range targets. And a 14K white gold cross pendant, breaking a gold jewelry drought I've been experiencing lately. I'm still a MDT newbie, but basically find the machine easy to run and quite capable of doing what I want it to do. If my mention of the ground noise is off-putting, do not let it be. This is some really nasty stuff, and any VLF is going to suffer here. I thought the MDT did quite well.
  7. In a nutshell, yes. For every possible target id number there are both aluminum and gold items that will signal. So my “inclusive” gold range is from ferrous up to and including zinc pennies. If I want to narrow that down, I might knock off a couple low single digit numbers to get rid of the smallest foil, and maybe knock out zinc pennies, or both. I often dig all non-ferrous up to but not including zincs as kind of a default “jewelry hunting program.” The choice then is simply dig everything, or, dig only targets that have a tight, single target id return. Bottom line is I have found it’s best for me to not overthink it. It’s more about location than anything. A great location you better recover all non-ferrous in a given range. A poor location, cherry pick those, tight, round signals. There is no right or wrong as long as you are having fun. I like detecting, and can go dig aluminum for a few hours and call it fun. The main thing for me is to not be plugging, but only popping shallow targets with a screwdriver. It’s easy so it’s fun, and volume matters more than depth in most cases.
  8. There are various requirements, but the claims system has essentially devolved into a leasing system, and as long as the appropriate agencies get their money, claims can be help almost indefinitely with almost no requirement to ever set foot on them. Concepts such as a valid discovery have become a joke. I’d institute a much stronger “work it or lose it” policy, but the entrenched powers that be will insure nothing substantial ever happens to change the existing system. The whys do not matter at all. The claims are either valid on the books or not, and if valid then prospecting on them without permission is a potentially pursuable criminal offense. Contact the owner of record.. you literally have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.
  9. Willy, I want to personally thank you for your calm responses to my sometimes pointed questions. I am quite grateful to have you here putting up with me and providing such great information!
  10. I added the chart to your post. With Tesoro now gone and White’s extremely questionable, it could get a lot shorter soon. I really have a hard time taking the SDC 2300 seriously, so it is getting down to the Sea Hunter, Impulse, and ATX as brand new full warranty options. I had no idea this would have so many looking for a “solution”. To me it’s just a side note to know about, something to be aware of, and then work around. For mask and snorkel work it is a total non-issue. However, if you are a wader with shallow water flats that extend a very long way, where the connector would be right at that magic depth over a very large area, then it could be a genuine problem. My fix would be to go mask and snorkel, but that is not always an option for a lot of people. I have to admit getting in cold water gets less appealing to me every year. Yes, many detectors were sold hardwired with coil options. Fishers own CZ-21 with 8” or 10.5”, and Excalibur once upon a time with 8” or 10”, to name a couple. Though Minelab did discontinue the 8” version of the Excalibur.
  11. Oops, my mistake, I looked at the “last update” date in the Kickstarter page. Not that I was honestly worried about it. I want one anyway. The whole thing weighs less than a bare scuba tank. For my desired use at Lake Tahoe, where I would need to possibly pack some distance at times down some steep hills, this looks perfect. And frankly for anyone that keeps their wits about them diving at less than 10 feet is no big deal. The air quits, you are less than two body lengths to the surface. I have done a lot of detecting at 6-7 feet, literally on tip toes with my snorkel barely out of the water and with enough weight to be negative in the water. Get a target, tuck and dive to bottom, and fan while holding breath. I can normally get the target in one or two dives, and it is a great way to build lung capacity! Anyway, there are places at Tahoe where people dive off rocks, and a little extra depth and ability to stay down longer could do some magic. I’ll probably order one of these today with a couple spare batteries.
  12. Just a loosely related side note. There were a lot of TDI detectors that got replaced by White’s under warranty. How do I know this? White’s often simply replaced detectors that had a warranty issue instead of repairing them immediately. I’m not sure why, but that is what they did. These units were repaired at some point, and then offered to dealers at discount as “factory refurbished” with a full warranty. I took advantage of this as a dealer for a couple purposes. I had full warranty refurbished models I could sell you for quite a bit less than my competition. I also could circumvent White’s dealer advertising restrictions by advertising these as “used” detectors. Nearly all of these looked exactly like a new detector in a box, with the exception of a blue slip explaining they were factory refurbished. Long story short is White’s had an endless supply of these detectors. I probably sold more refurbs than new TDI detectors, as I never had anyone balk at saving $200-$300 dollars and still getting a full warranty. My theory is they actually were more reliable than a normal new unit, as they had been looked over quite well before getting that blue slip. I tell this tale only in that it made me wonder why so many of these detector were returned to White’s. The TDI generated a lot of heat. And I speculated that perhaps the failures were related to component failures in the amp system. I don’t know for sure, but I just want people to know that boosting the voltage is not entirely without risk. The detector is not bulletproof. With the White’s factory closing their doors, getting repairs done could develop into an issue, especially if parts shortages develop.
  13. Another vote for Lortone. There are several models. A tumbler works best when half to three quarters full so pick the size to fit the quantity you will most often process. The 3 lb is probably the most popular size. You can use fillers when short. Cleaning Coins With A Rock Tumbler Rock Tumbling Guide
  14. https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/3534-minelab-coil-on-whites-tdi/?do=findComment&comment=39321 Up to 18V is mentioned but the consensus seems to be that 16V is the “safer” maximum. But any boost at all is at your own risk.
  15. I’m getting the depth so getting some older targets for sure, like the older tabs and a buffalo nickel is a sure sign. Plenty of nickels and most have some age, on,y one recent drop. Running a PI the place hardly feels detected at all, but I know that’s not true. It’s just that the magnetite is crazy thick here. I’m tempted in a couple spots to just dig everything as one area has enough largish steel it could be masking quite a bit of stuff, including older silver. Be a good place to maybe pull some quarters and halves, maybe even a silver dollar.
  16. Naw, I am that guy that keeps old blue jeans. Stuff works, I use it until it dies. Kind of a cheapskate really, though I prefer to think of myself as frugal.
  17. The “somebody” I confirmed all this with was Alexandre Tartar, which is why I am posting it here. The setting suggestions are based on his suggestions. The Infinium is a low power detector by comparison, and also running at a lower pulse delay. So it is already inherently less prone to the issue. It’s worse on the AQ than it was on my several Infiniums.
  18. It’s a stainless steel scoop, quite strong. It works. So what’s the problem? I’m a practical guy. If something works, I use it. If not, I get something else. I did actually order another scoop, but I think I’ll just keep that one to myself. Probably also not up to standards. I often use no scoop at all. https://www.detectorprospector.com/magazine/steves-mining-journal/garrett-infinium-kaui-hawaii-gold-jewely/ https://www.detectorprospector.com/magazine/steves-mining-journal/beach-detecting-hawaii-garrett-atx/
  19. First off, I want to point out that what I am about to describe is not uncommon with high power detectors that have a coil that can be disconnected. The only way to really eliminate the problem is to hard wire the coil, which is another reason for why this option is chosen by so many manufacturers of underwater metal detectors. The White's TDI Beachhunter is a good example. The problem has its root in coil capacitance and the high voltages involved, and the difficulty of getting good shielding using a removable connector. If the Impulse AQ is submerged halfway, so that the water level is anywhere in roughly the area indicated in the photo below, you will get continuous false signals. Just holding the unit stationary in the water at this level will cause signals as the water moves around the connection area. If you are not aware of what is happening it is every easy to mistake this for electromagnetic interference (EMI). The problem is worst in the Tones mode, which I just happen to be using a lot. It is accentuated by a short pulse delay, high sensitivity settings, and low ATS settings. If you want to reduce the false signals, here are some solutions: Use the All Metal or Volcanic modes instead of Tones Increase the Pulse Delay to 9 or higher Reduce the Sensitivity to 4 or lower Increase the ATS to 8 or above Or some combination of the above. In practice this only occurs when wading, and only at a certain depth. My solution was simply to stay either deeper or shallower. This does leave a strip or area unhunted. You can either switch the settings as suggested above, or do something to change the height. Like hunt that strip with mask and snorkel, for instance. Anyway, hopefully this is put in the manual as it is something inherent in the operation of the detector, and can drive you nuts if you run into it and do not know what is going on. It took me several hours of detecting to put two and two together, and it was then confirmed that yes, that is the way it is.
  20. I highly recommend that anyone considering hookah get SCUBA certified, even though they do not require it.
×
×
  • Create New...