GB_Amateur

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

Never had this happen before. ...

In the last few days I've gotten a message that my 'like' hasn't been recorded.  This seems sporadic/intermittent.  Next time it happens I'll try to get a screenshot.

Steve has the F19 manual archived here.  I went to his Detector Database, found the model, looked at the bottom of that page to find his links.

18 hours ago, phrunt said:

 

OK, Simon.  I know you often identify detectors in photos, on TV shows, etc.  I see three here.  What's your conclusion of the model families?  (IMO, one is easy; I have a guess for one, but the third I have no clue.)  Others should chime in, too.  I just address Simon because it was his post and I know he's done similar ID'ing previously.

1 hour ago, Steve Herschbach said:

They could not find my registration information in their system, even though I had provided the serial number and date I registered it online (3/5/24). Process stalled until I prove I'm under warranty. Luckily I kept a copy of the email confirming my registration so have sent a copy back to them. I also pointed out the detectors have only been made for a year and the warranty is three years.

'Disappointing' is too mild of a description for this.  I assume you are dealing with Minelab of the Americas.  But also presumably the data you uploaded went to an all-encompassing international (headquarters) database?

If ML keeps shooting themselves in the foot they soon won't have a leg to stand on....

28 minutes ago, MantiDiver said:

I used it yesterday using out of the box settings....

Which search mode?

47 minutes ago, phrunt said:

I wanted Garrett to be having some impact on them, it's good to have very healthy competition spread across many brands.  It's safe to say Minelab don't dominate the VLF market like they once did, it's more balanced now, a healthier market.

Finally(!) competition is biting Minelab in more places than one.  If Garrett comes through as many are hoping/expecting, that's likely one more chunk out of Minelab's hide (err, bottom line).

1 hour ago, abenson said:

Odd that he has such a wide range for the $5. Could be that a Liberty Head reads different that the Indian head. My Liberty head $5 reads 49-50.

Probably not simply that as since 1866 the weight (8.359 g), the composition (90% gold, 10% copper), and the diameter (21.6 mm) have been held uniform.  However, the diameter did change in 1866 and both composition and weight were different prior to 1839.  Is the $5 piece you're referring to have a date earlier than 1866?

Back on the general topic of Manticore ID values, I often wonder if mode choice in particular, and other variables like recovery speed have an effect.  It would seem that the calibration isn't perfectly linear from one group of settings to the next so to make a perfectly matching VDI scale would take a lot of effort on the part of detector designers/prototypers/manufacturers.

1 hour ago, Chase Goldman said:

The next enabling technology for advancing the sophistication of both visual and audio target ID representations from where they are today probably resides in the detector designers' effective harnessing of the power of artificial intelligence/machine learning.  Imagine a detector that gets smarter/more effective at target identification (and has the ability to evolve how it presents that more effective data to the detectorist) the more you swing it.  That is probably the next frontier or evolution/revolution in advancing the state of the art in metal detection.

I'm in agreement, at least in a theoretical view.  Training takes quite a bit a lot of input data.  But maybe detectorists could collaborate, uploading results to common database website.

There may also be a downside to this, acceptable by some but maybe not by others.  That is the partial (or more) removal of the skill of the detectorist.  Here's a loose comparison which probably instigates its own debate, but I'll go with it anyway.

How much gold is $1 worth?  I'm not going to look up the spot price but recently I think I've seen USA $2400/ozt so I'll go with that -- at least its ballpark for this argument.  Divide those two numbers and you get 1/2400 of a troy ounce of (pure) gold is worth $1.00.  480 grains (abbreviated 'gr') per ozt, so a grain of gold is worth about $5.00.  1 gr is about 0.065 grams (abbreviate 'g') so 0.013 g of gold is worth $1.  Folding in purity of nuggets, let's say 0.015 g.

Do people get satisfaction from digging an 0.015 g of gold?  Many do; however it's obviously not because of the monetary value but rather the difficulty of doing that, both from a skill standpoint but also in some sense the rarity of even this size nugget's findability.  Compare that to the accomplishment of finding four USA 25 cent pieces (aka 'quarters').  Yes, some see that as an accomplishment and this isn't meant to demean anyone.  But for a lot of people there is a big difference.

OK, now create a tool that is so good that the novice and the seasoned veteran have the same chance of finding a tiny nugget.  (They still have to be placed in the right spot, another skill which isn't equally shared....)  Does that deteriorate the feel of accomplishment for some.  (Yeh, I know, the detector manufacturers don't give a rat's a__ if they lose a hundred experts for every thousand novices they gain.)

I think this falls in the category 'the rich get richer', but before anyone labels that comment as 'envy', the only thing I'm envious of is being someone who puts as much effort into the entire endeavor (including research) as Andrew.  Sometimes people get lucky, but no one gets *that* lucky.  Well done (again).

Did soldiers in that area & time period get paid in small denomination gold?  I recall an article by Tom D. about the subject but his was for pre-CW (~1850, Florida) soldiers when (according to him) only the highest ranking received gold; the others silver.

Sounds like the class was well worth it!  Ditto what Simon (phrunt) said about confidence -- that's one of the things (and most important, IMO) the class gave me.  Well done by the teachers and the student.

Those are pretty good size for a well hunted area.  Did you find them in the burn barrel vicinity or did you have access to some other spots? 

Manticore+M8 are getting more tantalizing as a small native gold finding system.

To be clear, I'm not charging for a service.  I'm helping out a friend/acquaintance or even stranger.  (In the last case I certainly limit my effort, but even for the other cases there is only so much time I'm willing to expend.)  To me it's like getting asked to find a lost valuable such as a jewelry ring.

As such I'm not going to the courthouse, etc.  The property owner can do that.  But here are some things I've 'learned' from my limited experience:

1) Get as much info from the land owner as possible.  This includes asking about where s/he thinks it is -- hopefully based upon a past viewing.  Ask for the locations of other known corner markers.  This helps in two ways:  a) if adjacent corner markers it can get you in the ballpark, and b) if you can see one and test it with the detector, assuming the same material or type of object was used for other corners you'll get a good dTID value to watch for.

2) Unless the marker has been driven deeper by unscrupulous persons (e.g. when putting in a sidewalk), it shouldn't require a high sensitivity setting so turn it down and go after the strong signals.

3) Other common good detecting practice such as choosing the right coil (e.g. if near fences, light poles, etc. where a small coil is best) go along with the technique.

I've certainly found property markers by accident when detecting, as I assume many of you have done as well.  Sometimes they sound off with a high dTID -- possibly bronze or brass or maybe a steel rod but with a brass cap.  Yesterday's markers showed a red underlined 64 with iron grunt (only) on the ML Manticore so clearly a purely ferrous target.

Welcome back, Herb!  I'm sure there's still some keepers out their with your name on it.  I look forward to you sharing the results of your 'therapy'.

15 hours ago, Chet said:

The attached chart shows that the magnetic field of spiral wound coils...

Very nice plot, but more info would help.  E.g. pulse characteristics, how long after the pulse was the field measured, how was the field measured?  Could you provide a reference?  Was the pulse generated by an actual commercially available detector running in a mode, etc. available to owners?

Get ready for a deep discount sale on (some) Minelab PI's.  🤣

You've gotten quite a bit of good advice answering your specific questions.  But since this forum is more than simply about specific questions or those who ask them, I'm going to throw a curve ball.

Most of us have limited time to detect -- i.e. we wish we had more.  Learning how to set up and use detectors is a necessary part of the endeavor.  But adding a new detector and its learning process takes time away from learning about the one already in possession.

In your specific case you seem to be a bit frustrated (at times, anyway) with the complexity of the Deus 2.  I don't have one of those so can't comment specifically, but in my experience with other detectors, the better I get to know a detector the less complex it becomes.

I occasionally get asked to find property line markers that for whatever reason have been lost/buried.  I've had mixed success accomplishing this.  Around where I live they are posts (usually steel but I don't think that is always the case) driven vertically into the ground.  I've also found some by accident while detecting for coins.

I'm headed out Saturday for another assignment.  Any advice is welcome.

Here's another of Andrew's excellent videos (from April 2024) showing the Manticore+M8 finding desert gold:

It seems like the $1200 USA price for the Minelab Manticore was aimed at that the XP Deus 2 market.  Now it looks like the M'Core is still lagging behind by quite a bit!

Minelab may be feeling the heat from investors for their lagging sales.  Competition (above mentioned Deus 2 but also possibly Garrett's upcoming entry) is threatening part of 'the monopoly'.

8 hours ago, phrunt said:

I'm unsure how the US is set up for fibre, often countries that are not well into their fibre rollout will have fibre to an exchange then copper to the houses,

That's the old way and some areas probably still have that.  The new way is like yours -- optical fiber carries the signal all the way into the building (home, office, etc.).

The fiber cable between (neighborhood) junction box to private residence does have a fine wire, the purpose of which is to attach a transmitter so the fiber line can be traced by a detector.  But this is only activated for the purpose of utility line location determination -- e.g. when digging/excavation is going to occur and no one wants to cut the line.

In my yard, the fiber line is quite shallowly located -- less than about 6 inches (15 cm) deep!  I tried to pick up the line with a detector when it wasn't hooked to a transmitter and it did seem I could sense it, not by EMI but just from the presence of the fine wire.  Might have been fooling myself, though....

I doubt the VDI would be slightly lower than a dime if they are more/less dime size and made of aluminum.

Recovered after almost 60 years:  read here.

More great finds!  The 1900-O dime is not common, particularly in higher grades (F-12 and above).  I hesitate to give my opinion of the grade as photos typically don't show enough detail, but you can try your hand here.

Unhunted sites are pretty difficult to find.  Thanks for the report and well done!

Finding even one silver half dollar is a great day, IMO, let alone two!  I find your depth measurements interesting/enlightening.  It makes me wonder what my 'hunted out' areas are hiding deep down....

I suspect you are getting in every free moment to detect that location before the inevitable 'development'.  Milk it for all it's worth!