mh9162013

44 minutes ago, Chase Goldman said:

Well, if your soil is bad/hot, the Vanquish would be the last detector I would get.  It has fixed ground balance and is terrible in hot soil.  Simplex is a good budget alternative to Vanquish in hot soil as it has adjustable GB.  Also, since you already own a carrot, I would save the 100 bucks spent for the F pulse and put it towards your new detector.  I use a carrot just fine in the hottest soil around in Culpeper Virginia.  I always use max sensitivity, balance against the ground, and use instant one button press senstivity reduction to zero in on the target.  HTH

Thanks!

Chase: the ultimate reason for my question is to help narrow down what my next metal detector will be.

If my soil is as bad as I fear, I may end up getting the Fisher F-Pulse and a Vanquish or Equinox. If my soil isn't as bad, then machines such as the Fisher F70, F75, AT Pro, etc. are still in contention.

Of course, if I end up finding an absolute steal on any of the machines in consideration (like an AT Max for $250 shipped), I'll probably go that route, but there's no guarantee I'll come across one of those deals.

Thanks for your insight.

I went into my backyard and dug until I got to the orange clay/soil. With my Garrett Carrot on medium sensitivity, there was no falsing. But when on high sensitivity, a clump of orange clay the size of a baseball would set off the Garrett Carrot. This same clump would not set off my Fisher F2, however.

Is it safe to save that my orange clay has high mineralization? Or would this just be medium mineralization?

Thanks!

12 hours ago, Rad Rocks said:

    I Finally picked one up (midi)for my Daughter(9).... Happy to say that she loves it..  Fits her small arms and size perfectly and it doesn’t weigh her down like when she (comedically) attempts to drag around the spare Garrett.... It seems very well made and doesn’t have that cheap “kids toy” feel.. No,This Midi Hoard screams quality.. We played with it on the front lawn all afternoon so she could get the hang of it, as she quickly did..(she even wanted to go back out after dark to look for more stuff)..  Yeah, It’s pretty cool as a parent when you manage to get your kids something that they genuinely like.... Especially when it’s something that you can both enjoy together...Super Rad..

 

Thanks for the review, Rad Rocks.

I'm thinking about either the Midi Hoard, Mini Hoard or Vanquish 340 as my son's first machine.

The problem with the Mini Hoard is that while the size is perfect, the interface is too basic for him. He's able to understand my Fisher F2 interface just fine. Ok, so then get the Midi Hoard. Well, that's heavier than the Mini Hoard and costs $120. For that price and weight, I'm thinking, "why not just get the Vanquish 340?"

Still, from what I'm hearing, the Mini and Midi Hoards are great machines and the Midi Hoard is currently in the (slight) lead...

Maybe it's my OCD, but I'd be surprised if Minelab came out with an Equinox "900."

I can see them coming out with a machine that's a step up from the 800 (although that recent price hike may not support this idea), but if so, wouldn't it be the Equinox 1000 or 1200?

Going from 600 to 800 to 900 just seems a bit...odd. Not saying it can't be true, but unlikely in my opinion.

Or maybe that's just me.

57 minutes ago, kac said:

I did pretty good in an old school yard where sprinkler systems were installed. The dirt had been excavated leaving some large cents near the surface. Dirt was pushed in from the old farm that used to be there. Bit of research on your property might lead to some clues. One place to look is www.historicaerials.com where they have a viewer. On the flip side, I found a 1960's class ring very deep where some drainage pipes were put in so finds can get burried deeper.

Do have to be mindful of any electrical work that might have been done.

I'll check that website out, thanks.

As for electrical lines, I've already clipped one!

Live an learn...

2 hours ago, kac said:

The Nokta machines hit silver pretty well. If the Multi Kruzer is too much the single frequency 14khz one will do well too. I use 14khz for the most part now and only use the other 2 frequencies in special cases as depth difference is minimal between the 5, 14 & 19.

Did you go around the foundation of your house?

I have not. But this Merc was found about 8 feet from one of my house's corners. However, I don't know it's original position, as it was part of the dirt that was churned up when some PVC drainage pipe was installed a few years ago. But I can't imagine it being more than a few feet from its original location.

6 hours ago, KellycoDetectors said:

Time might have turned the fasces into one gnarly log, but a Merc is till beautiful even when it's been through the wringer.

The Merc is the prettiest and coolest coin I've ever seen, in person or online.

7 minutes ago, F350Platinum said:

Nice coin! First American silver I found was a 1917 Mercury dime. 😀 It's still the only American silver coin I've found. My backyard produced some colonial buttons, and the front gave me some clad from when my house was built. It was a great place to practice.

I know my yard and neighborhood have so much more silver, but I'm afraid it's too deep to realistically obtain unless someone has some piping installed in their yard.

2 minutes ago, Againstmywill said:

Finding that first silver coin is special. Finding that first gold ring is even more special! Keep having fun looking! Congrats!

Thanks!

29 minutes ago, Tom_in_CA said:

Congratz on your first silver.   Many more to come !

I hope so! 

I think my neighborhood has a ton of silver, but I have a feeling most of it is at least 10+ inches deep. Without churned soil, my Fisher F2 doesn't stand a chance.

Any recommendations on what machine I should get to find that deep silver?

54 minutes ago, Rick N. MI said:

Definitely an S mint. Nice find.

I figured and thanks!

Can't imagine what would have happened if it was a D...

1 hour ago, PimentoUK said:

"A rectifier diode of some sort? Not quite sure what that's doing in a simple 8 cell AA pack"

It's wired from the + of the charging socket to the + of the battery. It conducts ( forwards biased ) when the pack is charged ... but importantly : it prevents discharge via the charging socket, if something metallic gets in there accidentally. It's a pretty standard safety precaution.

TIL

Thanks for the explanation!

If it can be done with NiCds, it can be done with NiMHs, most likely using the same process. 

While NiCds don't use the same charging algorithms as NiMHs, the "brain" for the charging circuitry will probably reside in your charger, not that pack...I think? If my assumption is correct, then just get a smart/peak charger than can handle 8 NiMH cells and attach the appropriate plug to it.

EDIT: just looked over the pics at the eBay listing. Looks like it's just a plastic shell with metal contacts and a charging plug. I did notice what appears to be a rectifier diode of some sort? Not quite sure what that's doing in a simple 8 cell AA pack wired in series, though.

Maybe someone else here can enlighten me? Perhaps it's a thermistor?

Also, this might be of use: http://www.metaldetectingintheusa.com/v3i-batterypack.html

37 minutes ago, JCR said:

Sorry to hear that did not help. Keep trying to skin that cat.

It could be my machine. I've been tinkering with it for some time, including using AAA batteries with it with the help help of a 9V booster. I doubt that's causing the poor ratcheting even with detuning, but it's a possibility.

21 hours ago, JCR said:

If you will back off of the target until the Carrot is just at a low response to retune, it will give you more "range". You can repeat if needed.

I tried that this morning and did not notice any positive difference. The ratcheting or closing range remained poor despite puling back to detune.

1 hour ago, Goldpick said:

here is second point of detection further up the TRX shaft that can possibly simultaneously pick up on other targets in the hole.

Yeah, I saw that in one video. I've noticed that pinpointers have "barbell" or "hourglass" shaped detection areas. The TRX seems to do a good job of putting as much space as possible b/w the two detection ranges such that it provides the "flashlight" effect. So the TRX's detection range outline looks more like a barbell while most others look more like an hourglass.

52 minutes ago, dogodog said:

Low batteries will sometimes cause some problems.

I've noticed that extra voltage (about 1 volt extra) seems to "supercharge" the Carrot, with louder beeps and possibly greater sensitivity.

Right now, if I do get another pinpointer, it will be the White's TRX or XP Mi-4 (it has some pretty good closing range, based on the brief clips I've seen on youtube).

I really hate the Mi-4's built-in battery, but from my research, it appears that the whole unit is supposed to be easily repaired by the end-user with readily available spare parts. Also, the battery seems to be relatively easy to acquire from 3rd parties.

1 hour ago, Geotech said:

General rule-of-thumb is that the higher the sensitivity, the less closing range you get. That's because close targets overload the front-end analog circuitry and once that happens you only get a solid beep.

The F-Pulse can ratchet down to about an inch on a coin before it becomes a solid beep. I played around with a few ways of extending this but they created some really weird effects. So it is what it is. The TRX can ratchet down all the way to a coin touching the tip so for what you want it would be the better choice. If you can find one.

 

I was wondering when you'd chime in, Geotech.

Thanks for your insightful advice!

7 minutes ago, JCR said:

If you will back off of the target until the Carrot is just at a low response to retune, it will give you more "range". You can repeat if needed.

Good to know, thanks.

The closing range of the TRX seems to be superior to the Carrot (starts at 3:30):

Now, the question is if the F-Pulse has better closing range or "ratcheting" than the TRX.

3 hours ago, GB_Amateur said:

I don't know which is best, but the White's TRX is very good with this feature.  Of course White's is out-of-business so that makes it harder (but not impossible) to get one.  Some of us hold out hope that Garrett will re-introduce the TRX now that they've bought White's rights, etc.  Those are the optimists among us, not the pessimists who claim Garrett would never 'compete' with their own Carrott by re-introducing the TRX.  Afterall, car companies never put out diffferent models to let the consumer choose....

 

I refuse to support White's as a company, but since they're out of business, I've considered buying a TRX. If it has good closing closing ranges (at least compared to the Carrot), I'd probably get it over the F-Pulse. Or maybe I'll get both, then compare, then sell one. But I'd rather just buy one and save the money.

3 hours ago, Tiftaaft said:

Have you tried detuning the Garrett when going after a target? 

I have, but it doesn't help much. If I try detuning it when I'm getting a solid tone (or close to it), the "closing range" is extremely limited...far less than it would be in a non-detuned mode. And the closer and closer I get, the less effective detuning become as the "closing range" becomes even more limited.