Detecting Silver Coins In Anchorage, Alaska

[spencer@wy]

Very informative post. thanks.

[sjmpainter]

Hi Monte, I did find a 5'' dd gold bug coil for the F19. I only have had time to put it on once to check the stock coil. The only reason I am considering the small NEL is it is epoxy filled and the issue with the stock coil seems to be moisture getting in and causing falsing. That and the 3x6 shape may be really good for working bedrock crevices.

Maybe I should work with the 5 inch coil before I acquire one more thing to haul around.

Thanks for the info it is a help.

[Monte]

On 12/17/2015 at 10:59 PM, sjmpainter said:

Hi Monte, I did find a 5'' dd gold bug coil for the F19. I only have had time to put it on once to check the stock coil. The only reason I am considering the small NEL is it is epoxy filled and the issue with the stock coil seems to be moisture getting in and causing falsing. That and the 3x6 shape may be really good for working bedrock crevices.

I've had my 5" DD 'Greek-series' coil for six years this coming March, and I have used it for urban coin hunting, a lot of relic hunting in old town sites and such, and even some water work in streams and I have never had a problem with it in any way.

The 5" DD Teknetics/Fisher search coil is just a fraction under 5" and it has worked for me in confined spaces.  I've never used that smaller-size NEL coil.

On 12/17/2015 at 10:59 PM, sjmpainter said:

Maybe I should work with the 5 inch coil before I acquire one more thing to haul around.

Thanks for the info it is a help.

Yes, I definitely think you should give the 5" DD coil a fair chance to prove itself.  In a Threshold-based All Metal mode you shouldn't have a concern, but if hunting in a silent-search Discriminate more, I suggest you make sure of the allowable sweep speed for the environment you're hunting.  If it has a lot of rocks, black sand, or iron trash, a slower, more methodical sweep speed might prove much better than a fast-motion sweep speed.

Best of success with it.

Monte

[gambler]

thanks for sharing so much experience with us Monte.

[fredmason]

I have always preferred small or large coils to get an edge over stock coils.

Monte, your comments about testing with a pile of silver coins got me wondering about my 3030. So, I borrowed a silver dollar and 4 half silver dollars and tested them with my small 3030 coil...I was surprised that the readout went so high to the upper right corner that it nearly disappeared...i think the readout was like 1:46...the sound was right but I might have passed up a similar reading a few days ago in my favorite old park...I won't do that again!

thanks for the education

fred

[Cabin Fever]

I have always preferred small or large coils to get an edge over stock coils.

Monte, your comments about testing with a pile of silver coins got me wondering about my 3030. So, I borrowed a silver dollar and 4 half silver dollars and tested them with my small 3030 coil...I was surprised that the readout went so high to the upper right corner that it nearly disappeared...i think the readout was like 1:46...the sound was right but I might have passed up a similar reading a few days ago in my favorite old park...I won't do that again!

thanks for the education

fred

Big silver will read up in the top right corner in the High Trash and Ground Coin mode.

It should read closer to the 12 line in Ferrous Coin.

Bryan

[Monte]

On 12/18/2015 at 8:46 AM, fredmason said:

I have always preferred small or large coils to get an edge over stock coils.

Monte, your comments about testing with a pile of silver coins got me wondering about my 3030. So, I borrowed a silver dollar and 4 half silver dollars and tested them with my small 3030 coil...I was surprised that the readout went so high to the upper right corner that it nearly disappeared...i think the readout was like 1:46...the sound was right but I might have passed up a similar reading a few days ago in my favorite old park...I won't do that again!

thanks for the education

fred

• I use over-size (aka Large) search coils only for Cache Hunting or some contract searches.  Standard search coils I use occasionally, like maybe 5% of the time when hunting sparse-target, wide-open places such as plowed land, soccer fields or big, open parks, or a rare occasion beach hunt.  Smaller-than-stock coils get used at easy 90% to 95% of the time on every detector in my working arsenal.

•  Your visual and audio response on the CTX-3030 didn't really surprise me.  I don't own a '3030' and haven't evaluated them with all of my test samples or in-the-field scenarios, but I have done some of them, like my 'NBPT,' and wasn't very impressed for working dense iron infested sites where I generally hunt.

•  The test sample that I use to simulate a small leather pouch of silver coins stacked together causes quite a surprise to most people with a wide range of detectors, all depending upon the factory default, automated, or manual Ground Balance setting.  It's very interesting to learn the type of GB each detector in your arsenal has.

Do you know how the CTX 3030 is designed?  Is it fixed (preset or imbedded in the digital circuitry), or adjustable (automated, tracking or manual) for the search mode?    A quick glance at the Owner's Manual left me wondering if adjusting the GB has a direct effect on the search mode, and if so, just how much added GB (positive setting from preset) it might have.

Ground Balance often has a lot more to do with a metal detector's performance than most people think, and it is one of the detector functions I take into serious consideration in day-to-day searching as well as evaluating in all search modes.  Evaluating includes not only field use, but dedicating some 'bench testing' as well to learn a detector well in order to gain peak performance.

Here's a quote from the CTX-3030 Instruction Manual, Pg. 21:

"Ground Balance should not be enabled in most detecting conditions where ground

mineralization is mild. This includes most beaches, parks and sports grounds."

An interesting manual and default settings design.   On Page 51, under Factory Settings, it states:

"Ground Balance -- Enable Off"

I like 'simple,' and a simple look at these statements suggests to me:

The Ground Balance is 'Off' and not Enabled, and shouldn't be Enabled in "most detecting conditions where mineralization is mild."  Furthermore, if the design engineers presume that "this includes most beaches, parks and sports grounds" then they are suggesting the already established (aka preset or imbedded in the digitally programmed circuitry) Ground Balance is already set (not Enabled) for a broad range of sites that represent "mild mineralization."

Then, by their description, GB CAN BE enabled to adjust the GB setting for more moderate mineralization and even more sever mineralization, and to do so, the GB adjustment has to be increased for a more positive GB setting than and unEnabled factory default setting.  Hummm, kind of makes me wonder just how positive the GB setting might be adjusted for the motion search modes, and with the increased, positive setting, is there any impairment in performance?

Like I said, I don't own a '3030, ' but I know how the detectors in my personal arsenal perform, and am comfortable with their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to a functional Ground Balance in the motion Discriminate modes.  It can affect both the audio response as well as a visual read-out on most detectors I have evaluated.

Maybe you could use your test sample and experiment with your CTX and learn if there are any pros or cons between the default Vs automated GB adjustment?

On 12/18/2015 at 11:03 AM, Cabin Fever said:

Big silver will read up in the top right corner in the High Trash and Ground Coin mode.

It should read closer to the 12 line in Ferrous Coin.

Bryan

Bryan,

• Very correct that "big silver" such as one US silver Dollar will usually have a read-out as described in the Ground Coin mode, but the test sample I use to mimic a lost or hidden poke of just five silver coins stacked/bunched together can really be a surprise.

• I see in your profile you list a Tesoro Vaquero.  I had three, but that was after they were first released.  I currently have my favorite Tesoro's in my personal arsenal, two of which are a Bandido II and a Bandido II microMAX.  If I recall correctly, the Vaquero has a functional design similar to many of the Tesoro models where the manual GB setting for the Threshold based All Metal mode can be set as desired, but the motion-based Discriminate mode (by design) has a somewhat positive off-set from the All Metal mode adjusted Ground Balance.

Like my Tesoro's, and possibly yours, if a GB is adjusted too positively, they might not signal on a big silver Dollar, and some might not respond to a Half-Dollar or maybe even a Quarter.  That's what I learned over 32 years ago and have done my best to learn how (if possible) I can get the best GB setting for a motion-based Discriminate mode, even with models that are a silent-search type.

This is how I coined the term and technique way back then of "Power Balance" that lets me control the Disc. mode's  GB setting for peak performance in that mode ... but not all makes and models provide operator control of that adjustment in a Discriminate mode.  I just make sure I know all I can about detectors that work for me, provide the performance I need, and don't fail a lot of real-life scenarios.

Sorry to ramble, but hope there might be some help you'll find in it.

Monte

[fredmason]

Thanks, Monte; You are way too smart for me...

I guess this thread has morfed a bit...I always ground-balance my 3030 and have not seen much ground or any beach on the west coast that qualifies for no GB...

The readings definitely change with the coin mode selected.

Even in all metal there is some iron discrimination so it is not true all-metal.

I am just a dilettante in the detecting world so I have no answer to most of your questions-I am confident that Steve or others could.  

I did go out to my park yesterday and climbed up a hill I visited years and years ago.  I was much surprised to dig a 1917 Canadian penny on my way up...nothing exciting after I got there...went back to the park and got a 1927 merc...lovely weather and a good day detecting.

fred

[Steve Herschbach]

The CTX does not use normal subtractive ground balancing methods but instead uses methodologies more akin to those employed in pulse induction machines. A frequency domain detector employing time domain methods if you will. I found its default operating modes with a little extra gain applied to be most effective for me. All I know is it and it's kin are some of the deadliest silver turf hunting machines ever designed as evidenced by the success of the BBS and FBS detectors worldwide, and no slouch on the beaches either. I do little turf hunting these days and at the moment had little use for my CTX, so since mine just ran out of warranty I figured I would sell it and hold out for the next version, whenever that may be. I would miss it if I were not so busy focusing on other detectors and detecting tasks at this time.

[Steve Herschbach]

OK, another great spot to look for silver coins is of course older school grounds. Here are the construction dates for all schools in the Anchorage School District.