F350Platinum

I guess I'm equally dubious and curious about this subject of "unmasking". 🤔 It's been mentioned many times in this thread, and yet Tekkna doesn't seem to do that at all. It merely "plucks" a desirable target from an abundance of junk. The goal is to get a consistent repeatable signal. "Unmasking" to me is the ability to ignore an undesirable target using discrimination or any other filter to locate a desirable target that is either nearby or under an undesirable target. I have only used one machine with which I was able to do that, literally set discrimination at a level that completely ignored the iron nails placed over a silver coin, by first dialing them out before placing them on the coin. No sound at all passing the coil over the nails alone. That machine is a Tesoro Vaquero, I'm told that many of the other models made by Tesoro are also able to do it. However, the machine only indicated a target was there, not what it was. That's less cool than what Tekkna does in a sense. At least you have the additional ID information. What is under the nails could be anything. I tried the Deus 2 and the Equinox, both excellent modern digital machines, first by ignoring the iron signal separately using discrimination and then notch, hoping to "see" the coin ID with the nails placed on the silver coin. Sorry about the detail, but I didn't wish to be thought mistaken in my method. If I am that might be the explanation I seek. 🙂 Both the Deus 2 and the Equinox failed the test at any response level, either generating an iron tone or nothing at all. There might have been a slight chirp but nothing indicated the coin was "unmasked", no steady tone or ID. I would not have made the dig decision. I performed this test on a board with two very old nails, covering a Barber quarter and dime with them. All Tekkna does is discriminate one ID, and utilizes fast reactivity and very little filtering, with whatever other unknown advantages Sensitive FT has. I can pretty much get the same effect from other programs by just cranking up reactivity. Ultimately depth is lost, as I don't hear as many targets the faster I turn up reactivity/recovery. So, I'm curious, what is this "unmasking" mentioned many times here? I watched one video posted in this thread as some sort of truth, but to me it was doing only a "nearby" comparison. To be fair I have not tried this under V2 on the Deus, perhaps that will help.

Thanks NJ, Looks like you had a pretty spectacular run lately too, thanks for posting it. 🏆 It's been the best year ever for me so far. Really hitting stride with the Deus 2, the V2 update made quite a difference. I've been finding a lot of gold and silver this year, I really hope that carries over to beach hunting this spring!

Thanks VL, Probably the first point I'd make in a book would be that in order to score big you have to be where the stuff is. 🤔 The hardest part is getting permission to look. I can say for certain that there are many others that do as well as I do, but some only post now and again. I've met a few people who are very secretive about what they find. There are risks to sharing, luckily for me other types of hunting are more popular here. I have definitely learned a lot, and have posted some of the methods I use here. I have considered writing it up in a book but finding a publisher that would make it worth doing is probably difficult. As long as Steve H doesn't mind, I'm happy enough to share it with all of you that are specifically interested, and I appreciate the kind comments. I've found however that I can wave any detector around pretty much anywhere and find a great amount of stuff, and the finds get better as I learn the tool. Having a place to talk about it with others is the key.

Thanks Colonel! Sure was a bit of soldiering, we put in about 6 miles of walking. It's a big place but we got the unusual benefit of being able to park closer to the area. Sadly the farmers are going to be in a bit of a rush to get the fields planted now, we're looking at a long rainy event late next week. This year has been a banner year for me, so I don't mind. When I'm near the end of beach season I look forward to relic season, and now I'm looking forward to the beaches. 🤔 I like relic season more because it's quiet and solitary for the most part, but I get tired of stepping on corn and bean stalks, you should see what they do to my shoes, never mind the mud. I do consider myself fortunate to live where I do, I probably would not have got into this hobby otherwise. 🙂

Thanks JCR, The photographer in me just had to stick the detector in that flower patch. It ended up being a better day than expected, we were supposed to go the day before but I had to cancel, and luckily it was a bit cooler. Mid 70s days are pretty common here in March, this El Niño season has been incredible. It started raining the minute we left. I'm pretty sure what the gnats are is flying ants, they don't bite but simply get all up in my face. It's a yearly swarm that only lasts a few days.

Thanks Lodge, There's no rush like finding precious metals, especially old ones, but yeah, I'd say that was a unique find as it is whole. A while back I was able to reunite two broken halves from around 1607, but this whole one is pretty awesome. Found it totally at random in the middle of the field. All that is missing is the iron pin.

Thanks strick, I'll take a buckle like that any day. Really. The "helmet" is an RCDIGS mount, it fully encloses the remote, and provides for running the waveguide into it. It will not allow the remote to fall off. Very precision made, and not expensive. https://rcdigs.square.site The maker of them not only makes them for the original Deus 2 shaft, but also for SteveG's CF shafts.

Today Chase came down for a "do your own thing" sort of hunt, we went to a permission of mine that almost guarantees at least something old. It was pretty cloudy today but exceptionally warm for mid March, there was a threat of rain all day but it never did, thankfully. The ground is still wet from the last storm under the surface, but the high winds blew the surface dry. I always fear Chase will come all the way down and not find much, but he did ok, just about the same as me but more buttons. It ended up being a good day despite the heat and the gnats that were everywhere. I only got 4 buttons today, one may be a small boss, but the biggest one is a silvered Dandy button. The smallest one has backmarks, and the top left one has some gold flowers on the front. I have no idea what the extremely figured piece of metal is top center. I even got a 1996 dime, my pay for the day 🤣 Of course the feature item I found today was the complete spectacle buckle, my book says pre-1650, so it's pushing 400 years old. 😎 This might be the first complete one I've ever found, I usually find them in pieces. Overall it was a great day to get out there, it won't be long now until the fields are planted. Only a handful of junk, this place isn't too trashy.

I've had a feeling that this was a "muster" site since the first time I hunted it, I dug a dropped Gardner bullet and a very crude button with military marks on it, which I gave to the owner. It was his great/grandfather's house. I'll have to ask him. That button was probably more rare. Couldn't find it either. The spot I found the coins and buttons and pits on is on a prominent rise, it would have been a great place for tents. The items were all on the back slope of it trailing down to the woods. 🤔 Looks like I'll be going back there 🤣

Thanks! 🙂 I've hit a bunch of firsts this year so far, I'm really enjoying it. Looked at the nickels again this morning and one is clearly an 1857. That button is pretty unique, might have been a visitor or maybe a hired immigrant to harvest whatever crop was planted at the time, and that was the only coat the person had. Doesn't make much sense for it to be here otherwise, nor the 3 ring Yankee bullet. 🤔 Kinda like finding a potato masher on the beach? 🤣 Maybe we're all entering a dimension... I guess when I go to Myrtle Beach in April, I should expect to find an egg beater or something 🤔 So far the Z-Flip is working ok for me, it fits nicely in my pocket or a pouch with a backup battery connected. I've had it a year and the only thing I have had to do is remove the screen protector as it cracked in the middle. Honestly it's better without it. 😬 I'm very worried about it getting dirt in the hinge and clean it often, I have a great case for it made by CaseBorne, a company that makes Milspec cases. Also have a "no fault" replacement policy on it 😁

I went to the area using the 13" and Relic mostly, when I couldn't find any more with the 13" I went to my cart and got the 9" WS6 Master, which also has Tekkna and my Relic program. Got the ball button and the other small object that looks like a button but may have been a bell. I switched between the programs which is harder to do on the WS6, as it only stores your saved program next to the original. While the WS6 Master is for all intents a whole Deus 2, using it is not as easy for me. I looked at the lead object again and it's definitely a seal, I found a sharper spot on the side where a piece of wire passes through it.

Thanks mn, I like to write, so I appreciate the nod now and again. 😅 These milder winters allow me to get out there, and I hope some vicarious pleasure can be had by those snowed or frozen in, or that just need the inspiration to get out there. 🙂 I probably have about 2000 acres of hunting permission now, but most of the prize spots are pretty well cleaned out. I can hope for new stuff to be turned up but it will be less than before. 😢 For the most part replenishment is just trash.

Thanks NJ, Despite this area being farmed for almost 400 years now, I don't find many seals, and they are much smaller. I've been over the house site rather well, but what I missed was due to inexperience and yearly turnover. 😅 This area contributed food and people to the Civil war, but no battles were fought here other than in 1812, and that was a very short skirmish. I've found the Union army minié ball, and a dropped Gardner that I gave to the landowner along with what I think was a very rare local militia button. The 3 ringer doesn't appear to have been fired either.

Thanks Colonel, I'm glad to have found a hotspot near the end of the relic season, no matter how small. It was a hunch that played out much better than I expected. 🙂

Thanks VL, It certainly is an odd assortment, despite finding stuff in two places far apart, it all appears to be from the same era.

A friend of mine thinks it may have been used as a backgammon piece. 👍

Thanks RVP, I saw that immediately when I looked back at the photo. 😀 Kinda similar to the Ducks Unlimited stickers I see on lots of vehicles here. 🤔 The sun coming in under it looks like an eye... In another lifetime I was a photographer, the camera on my Z-Flip 4 isn't as good as the ones on my previous cell, but I'm getting the hang of it. Too much of a pain to bring one of my cameras, it's a PITA to transfer photos from them anyway, the files are too big. It's enough work to keep the dirt out of the hinge on this phone. I bought the "Z" so I can keep a PD battery on the phone to keep it charged for tracking. While wheats are kinda commonplace, anything 1924 and older is 100 years old, I'd be happy with one. 🙂 Heck the last one made is a year older than me! 😅

And as I've written, it's not for everyone everywhere. As a matter of fact, it's very specialized for me, I prefer Relic overall. Notch at 00-00, set your tone preferences, and go. Vary Disc IAR to taste (thanks Chase). I've found Tekkna doesn't work well for me with any coil, just the 9". Relic works with all of them. If you're in a field with lots of really old iron, it will pick the cherries, apparently. It's kinda useful in a super trashy house site, but be prepared to dig a lot of non ferrous junk as well, I don't know how it is in the UK but people here just threw stuff all over the place. 🤣 Mebbe the Romans were more select. 🤔 Or didn't have aluminum 😁

Aww man, I have the same thing happening here, many of my spots are drying up, I'm not getting the quantity of stuff. It's back to the pounded sites with a different program and attitude 🤣 That is an awesome potato masher! 🏆 Congrats! 🤣

Nice rifle badge NC! You don't always find them in silver, it's older if it says Sterling. 🏆 Shame the rings are junk, is the shiny one Tungsten Carbide? Double silver and a V nickel in great shape. That's a really good day. 👍 I really like the 13" coil too, it doesn't miss much. 😎 Congrats!

I thought of that, usually the seals are split or have wire through them? This one is almost as big as a penny 🤔

Thank you, Okara. 🙂 Went out with low expectations and was quite happy with the returns! I've looked everywhere for that button, but I don't have the resources or knowledge some here do. It would be great if it was very rare.

It's been rainy the last few days, yesterday was so windy it wasn't worth going out. Today was supposed to be warm, it got up to 65 but was 42 in the morning. I loaded up my WS6 Master with the 9" coil and my Deus 2 with the 13", and went to the field about a half mile away. I haven't been to this spot in a couple of years, an old house stood here, and I got lots of coins and other late 19th century stuff. I really didn't think I'd get much today, but I did. I walked around where the house was for a while, really behind it. I found a couple of things , and decided to head out to a small corner that I only searched for a short time but found some buttons and a couple of IHPs long ago. Little did I know the spot was a small hotspot, I kept finding coins and buttons in there until there was nothing left. The area was only about 50x50 feet, maybe less. There was evidence of cooking pits there and chunks of sandstone indicating a much older structure. Each pit had large iron in the bottom, I assume a kettle long rusted away, and lots of oyster shells. That is always a good sign. I dug 3 IHPs, the only one I could read was an 1888. The other two are toasted, one slick and the other very encrusted. When the spot dried up I went back to the house area. A big surprise was digging my first Flying Eagle cent! It wasn't until I cleaned everything up that I found I had a second one. They're pretty toasted but I can make out enough of the 8's to know they aren't all that rare, but that's about it. It was kind of a thrill to know I got two today. That wasn't all though. Here's the stuff I probably can't fit in a display box, Looks like I dug a broken and bent musket trigger guard: Got some sort of tap or plug, some recent dog tags from 2006, a lock slide, a parasol slide, and a D Buckle full of the iron pin. Here's the trash, looks like a lot but it fits in my hand: It's all just buckshot, bits of lead and aluminum. I think there's a mangled spoon bowl in there. Ok, now for the finds: I got a Buffalo and a V Nickel at the house site, no date on the Buffalo but the V is probably 1893. At first I thought it said 1882 but that would not be my luck. 😀 Got a skeleton key, a Yankee minié ball, a small brass salamander with enameled toes, and 3 buttons, a fantastic ball button, a small thick Gilt button with some gold left, and my favorite: It says "Colombia Libertad". I looked it up and while there are many celebrating the liberation of Colombia from Spain in 1810, I cannot find this one anywhere. The back has "Colour" on it, so I assume it was made in England or an English territory. I don't know where the nicks came from. 🤔 It's definitely the 1810-1850 style that is single piece. I also dug this interesting lead coin, it has lettering on it. If anyone has any information about the Colombian button I would appreciate it!

Thanks strick, I'd probably go for the Anderson rig, got this pretty cheap but you get what you pay for. Took almost a month to get here. 🫤 I may go that way yet. 😀 "Zip ties are almost never long enough to do what you want to do, so buy a lot of them"... ... Would be my quote. 🤣

That's a good padded bag, bought one 3 years ago and use it to carry my detector(s) when traveling. Great price, about 50% off. It will fit 2. Gotta say that it might make some people nervous in some places, it looks like a rifle bag. 😎