GB_Amateur

One thing that isn't clear to me is how much the noise is from the soil and how much is from junk iron targets (like nails). He tosses around words like 'iron' and 'ferrous' but that isn't unusual as that happens all the time in metal detecting lingo (and even in chemistry). Can you tell from the tones & dTID's in the video which kind of iron (conductive or purely ferromagnetic) he is experiencing? Admittedly in the real world there are times where both variable ground mineralization and conductive iron are present. It would be good to know if an experienced user can tell the difference between the three situations (just non-conductive ferromagnetic, conductive iron, or both). When he dug the holes the ground appeared to be moist. Does that contribute, and if so in a positive way ('positive' meaning easier to determine target type), negative effect, or "it depends..."?

And to think -- analog detectors had zero lines of code. They sure worked (maybe I should make all this present tense...) pretty darn well. I assume even the (multifrequency) Fisher CZ series, for example, was all analog. Is that correct?

If I undestood what Dilek was saying (I don't mean understand her Engish, which is just fine), there were four testers who gave very useful feedback that led to the changes. I think she mentioned them getting the first new units out the door (even before the Nomads?), probably to confirm the changes took care of the issues they had. Are you getting one soon, C_C, or is that one of those things that if you tell us you'll then have to kill us?

Interesting. Always a concern with post-factory mods are things like heat dissipation. Typically an engineering design accounts for multiple issues whereas some of those things can be difficult to account for by later mods, even when they are known (and that often isn't the case, as we've seen with Equinox coil ear fixes, IMO). Maybe the best fix for the Equinox water ingress is the Deus 2.

Welcome, greenhornet_au! Please let us know more about yourself -- your detecting/mining/prospecting interests, experience, and equipment. Photos of finds are always welcome, too.

Welcome, androdetector! Lots of learning goes on here. Also people typically post photos of recent finds (but photos of past finds aren't forbidden). You can look through the archives to find thousands of those. And the door swings both ways 😁, so we'd like to see your finds, too. Can you tell us more about yourself -- where you live (at least the country), what your detecting interests are, and what (if any) equipment you've used, past and present.

Andy, thanks for the well done video. I do have a couple questions: 1) It seemed like some of the programs occasionally flashed a dTID in the 80's. But also I think you said one showed mid-30's (is that about the ferrous/non-ferrous breakpoint?). Am I correct? Without ground interference, where would you expect this target to hit on the scale? 2) Did the soil show signs of moisture when you dug it? Have you had precip. this winter that would explain why Beach mode (presumably with salt cancellation properties) did best among the four you tested? 3) Based upon knowledge of the frequency components (thank you, XP, for revealing these!) of the four modes tested, which one should have had an advantage on this particular target?

Excellent research pays off. Only 10,000,000 1868 IHP's (rather low for small cents), and likely few were kept as collectibles in that post-war recession period, so scarcer than several other later ones with similar mintage. Nice!

Past performance isn't necessarily a good predictor, but how long did it take XP to come out with accessory coils (outside the initial offering) for the Deus 1? The ORX was released in 2018 -- 9 years after the Deus 1. Were the white HF coils not available until then? Someone out there knows, hopefully s/he is still reading this thread...

Not all of them 😁 Only the clad quarter was dug. I don't know what the upper RH item is, but it doesn't hinge. All the rest do. But jury is still out on yours -- so many things it could be.

That's good, but my point #1 concerns the minimum bend radius of the cable (avoiding kinking) -- my bad for not making that clear -- and this occurring when the toe of the coil housing reaches one extreme and touches the shaft.

You keep teasing us with this and similar photos! Has this 2 box attachment come to market yet, and if so, how does one get one (and what does it cost)?

I also watched one just after the holidays(?), but don't know if it's the same one you saw. I thought it was on PBS but I later searched and couldn't find it. Maybe on the Discovery Network or History Channel or National Geographic. It was 2 hours long, with the second hour being mostly about the difficulties of food being brought from long distances (particularly inter-continental). But it definitely sounds like the one you describe, although there is basically one chain reaction (with multiple components) so could easily be two documentaries paralleling. After seeing that I was surprised things are going as smoothly as they are. (I'm sure it's worse in some places, and for some products that don't impact me.) (text removed regarding air shipping -- see phrunt's post below)

Since you're new here (at least as a poster), you probably missed this: Unfortunately (for everyone but one person) Steve sold it on Ebay and I (and presumably many others) failed to grab it.

Looks like a new company with currently limited distribution (map only shows European outlets). The Hybridscan appears interesting, but do you need to change coils to go from PI to VLF? Is there much demand for PI's in Europe (compared to parts of the world where native gold is more prevalent)? Their aftermarket coils are made for many major detector brands. Do they offer something that the other aftermarket coil manufacturers don't? (I only see two models and one appears to be either a work-in-progress, or at least their website page for that is.)

I like garage mods, particularly when they look professional, as this. But a couple concerns: 1) How much stress on the cable occurs when the coil is rotated such that the toe of the coil touches the shaft? 2) I would use a rat tail file to both remove the sharp edge and elongate (make elliptical) that hole in the first picture to reduce stress concentration at the contact zone between housing and cable. Hope it works for you (and other water detectorists).

20 meters sounds like an exaggeration, even for a large, continuous target such as an automobile. If it's the show I watched, I think they were saying there was purportedly refined silver, possibly stacked bars. A natural vein is a completely different ballgame. Others here are in better position to say if a 2 box detector will work for that. Meanwhile, here's a thread where Steve H. talks about 2 box and highlights the White's TM808.

Yes, that's the right way to do it. (I even learned a couple things watching this.) It is more difficult when dirty, but the method he shows is still the right way; it just takes a little more time and patience when dirty. At the end he mentions that some people use silicone or tape. If that's to make it waterproof, maybe, but it'd better be a water tight seal or you've made yourself more headaches (with silicone). You definitely don't need any of that for it to stay in place. I can't imagine it coming off on its own -- it's really a snap tight fit.

Here's my large skeleton key from a school yard (probably not old). I should have put in something for scale. The key is about 4 1/2 inches long (my photo expertise cut off a bit) and the handle end is about 1 5/8 inches across. Does sort of look like what you found. On yours, does it look like the attach point hinges? Is it threaded there? If so, possibly a drawer pull.

Nokta Makro Nomads, Garrett Groupies, what's next? 😏 I don't recognize any of those people as posters here, but hard to know since there they use their real names (I assume). I have my favorite testers here so I'll wait to see what (more) they say before drawing conclusions.

As is often the case (even for professional journalistic works), the (thread) title doesn't tell the entire story. Watch the video for details. I'm stumped -- what/who is the 'Nomad' she refers to? Surely not this....

Here's that company's webpage (note you can select the language you prefer). https://www.blackdogcoils.com/

It can be a bit scary. I've removed mine dozens of times now over nearly 4 years. (I don't hunt in water, so my situation isn't as extreme, though.) Rather than grabbing it on one edge and trying to pull it off in one step, I work my way around, loosening locally as I go. Sometimes it snaps back into place (when I wish it didn't) but at least I've broken any tension that might be localized there. Think of the coil cover as a delicate but inflexible piece. Avoid any action that will fold it back upon itself. Go slow. (I wonder if someone has done a YouTube video on this. Not I as I feel an accomplishment just successfully taking a still shot....)

Excellent results, and well chronicled, strick. Those dimes look to be in good shape, except for that one gouge on the 1870.... I know you didn't do that. (I've gotten yelled at for asking about the origin of damage before -- won't make that mistake again. ) I'll go a couple deeper -- make the 1870-S a half dime, quarter, or dollar. You'll be able to retire early (and get some fame to go along with the fortune). 1870 was an odd year for silver coins minted in SF. (That happens to be the first year the nearby Carson City -- CC -- mint was in operation, which likely explains this.) I think only the half dollar had a high mintage; 50,000 dimes produced is pretty low (second lowest of any Liberty Seated dime from the SF mint), but pales in comparison to its three siblings. No quarters are known and only one half dime. Regarding the silver dollar, here's an excerpt from Bowers's A Guide Book of the United States Mint: In 1870 a silver dollar of that year and mint was put in the conerstone of the second San Francisco Mint. Subsequently there was a small production run that was not entered in the records. Today only about 10 are known. Gold coins were also produced that year in SF, and the $3 piece is also an extreme rarity (only one known). While most gold denominations had considerably lower mintages (which is m/l typical) than even the dime of that year, the $20 Double Eagle was an exception with almost a million produced. (Not that you'd mind finding one of those.)

Good stuff, Gerry, especially the big one, but I think your pick needs a shave. How deep were your finds? Besides going deeper, are there other reasons that a PI should be better at finding meteorites? Ignoring hot rocks ('cold stones' as you like to call them), or does that risk throwing the baby out with the bath water?