Jonnty

Hello. I'm new here. 😀 I have recently bought a new 540, after having had an Explorer for years. Now that I'm back working from home instead of away, I have more time to use a detector, so I thought I'd invest in a good one. I have all kinds of places to go and search, but recently decided to try my luck in a small river nearby. I have never detected in water before, but my reasoning was that this stretch of water has been a ford for centuries, so surely there have been interesting things dropped at some point. Anyway, I have found a strong signal at 40/41 and managed to pinpoint it in the water. It's fast-flowing, but only about 8" deep, with smallish rocks and pebbles and gravel in the riverbed. I've managed to dam it up at bit at one side which has made the interesting area a bit shallower, but obviously I can't build a proper dam - it would be helpful, but I'd get into trouble! If I were in a field, my instinct would obviously be some sort of coin, maybe even gold, but I'm not very scientifically-minded really, so I wondered if you guys might answer a couple of questions before I try to find a way of getting at the object. (I do have a pinpointer too, which has also picked the signal up. I don't think it's all that deep, but of course as soon as I move a rock or pebble the hole begins to fill up again.) So, firstly, does the object being underwater affect the signals at all? Secondly, is there a good way of getting at things in water that you can recommend? (I have thought of taking an old colander and using it as a sort of scoop!) Looking forward to hearing about all sorts of things and learning some new things too. Kind regards, Jonnty

Thank you all for your welcome and advice. 👍

Greetings to all. I have just invested in a new Minelab Vanquish 540 + other kit after a decade of general wandering about casually fulfilling my twin interests of walking outdoors and history/archaeology with a second-hand Explorer XS. I'm very happy too: first time out in a field found the best horseshoe ever at 10" and a poor-quality English penny, probably 18th century, at a measured 14" down, both in the same field. But I'm not scientific-minded, so I wanted a forum where I could ask various questions, and you guys popped up in my search. I'll see if I can find an appropriate thread in which to ask my question, as hinted in your rules, but if anyone else lives near here, maybe they would get in touch. Kind regards, Jonnty