2-box expectations?

[Ism]

I placed this question here because of my intended use (cache hunting) and I believe most people with 2-box experience probably frequent this forum.

I recently acquired a Whites TM600 (same as TM800 electronically).
I am curious what depth I should expect on a quart jar of coins (glass lid with a wire bail).
I have no idea if it's an underperformer or if it's working normally.

In my yard, I have that jar buried 12" and it barely registers. I have an old 6" vertical iron pipe about the same depth that registers with a huge footprint (very nicely).
I placed another jar (same type) full of quarters on the surface of the ground and it detected nicely.

I'm not sure what I should realistically expect from this unit since I have no experience with them.

 

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[alec]

The problem you are going to have with a two box is the way it "sees" the target. Since on coil transmits and the other receives the target you are looking for needs to be a decent size. For a two box a single jar of coins is a pretty small target. Depending on the soil and moisture you are going to get better results with a regular cache hunting metal detector (something like a Tesoro Tejon or a pulse induction machine by Whites or someone else) than with a two box on the smaller targets like a single jar of coins. You also need to keep in mind that the jar's lid is a different kind of metal than what is in the jar (and would be on an old cache also) so if you are using any type of descrimination you will be tuning out a portion of your target, making it even smaller and harder to "see". I know your test target has a glass lid but you are back to how much of the target the detector is seeing. If the jar is perfectly vertical in the ground then the target is smaller than the actual jar itself because the detector will read the top layer of metal on the target.

Realistically, on a two box if you get three feet on something the size of a large car battery or bigger you will be doing good. You might get some faint signals at 4 feet but only if the soil is right.

 

[Frankn]

Ok, here's my cache hunting experience.

First, I have only used TRUE 2 Box detectors, that is a unit composed of a pole with the coil and transmitter in the rear and the coil and receiver in the front. I prefer this setup.

Now, I have used an older Whites 500 CX 2 Box with this arrangement. It would go 12' in air for a car size target by actual test. I lost this unit in a fire or I would still be using it.

I now use a Hays 2 Box That I picked up used for $250. It has found a cache in a .50 cal metal ammo box at 6'. The tuning of the perpendicularly between the coils is super critical to get depth.

2 Boxes get there depth from the spacing of the two coils. This is also the reason that they won't pick up small objects. My Hays will not pick up anything smaller than a softball.
This can be a problem on a very small cache, or a blessing in a junky area.

If I was looking for a small jar of coins, I might just use my Whites Surfmaster PI. It would go down to app. 4 ' for it.

What you have to realize is that most small caches, like jars of coins are, usually one foot or less deep to the top of the jar.

I should mention that a 2 Box also picks up to the side. You can walk beside a wall and pickup at least 6' to the side.

Hope this info helps, Frank

 

[Ism]

All makes sense to what I am experiencing. It does go very deep on larger objects.
Thank you for the detailed replies, sets my mind at ease.

 

[old man]

I placed this question here because of my intended use (cache hunting) and I believe most people with 2-box experience probably frequent this forum.

I recently acquired a Whites TM600 (same as TM800 electronically).
I am curious what depth I should expect on a quart jar of coins (glass lid with a wire bail).
I have no idea if it's an underperformer or if it's working normally.

In my yard, I have that jar buried 12" and it barely registers. I have an old 6" vertical iron pipe about the same depth that registers with a huge footprint (very nicely).
I placed another jar (same type) full of quarters on the surface of the ground and it detected nicely.

I'm not sure what I should realistically expect from this unit since I have no experience with them.

Ism, If you want a really deep seeking detector for cache hunting?
I will let you in on a little known secret. Get rid of the 2 box detector, if you really want depth.

I spend 95 percent of my time hunting underwater. But!!! The pulse detector that I use with the 18 inch search coil detects soda and beer cans to a depth of 4 feet when I am beach hunting for coins. When I bought my first unit over 20 years ago, I bought it because the advertisment said it would detect a cannon from 40 ft away using the 1 meter coil.

I used this unit to detect a huge amount of sil er bars from 50 ft deep in water and under 3 feet of sand, with the 1 meter coil.

The unit had doubled in price over the years,but is a great unit because it will also tell you if the target is ferrous or non ferrous metal.

The unit is made in Germany and can be purchased from Kellyco metal detectors near Orlando, FL. The unit is called a ( pulse star ll )

 

[Frankn]

Old Man makes a good point, but he is talking in the $3K+ range. If I was going to spend that big, I would look at the 2000 series PI units from Accurate Locators. just a thought, Frank

 

[Ism]

Thanks Old Man, Actually I should have passed on the two box but I had always wanted one. Now I find its rather unstable in the field.
I have a Whites TDI and I have made several coils for it, I plan to make an 18" coil for it this winter and get it back out into the cache hunting business.

 

[Frankn]

No one picks up a 2 Box and finds things right away. You have to learn what it is trying to tell you. When you walk, you go up and down but don't realize it. The detector is so sensitive it pickes it up and produces a slight beep in normal operation, but when it hits something, it really sings out! Setting it up properly takes practice and know how earned with experience. My old Hays will go at least 6' while ignoring small junk that would drive you crazy with a regular TR.
Sure those $3K+ PI units will go deeper, but they will pick up small piece of junk also.
Basically, it's a matter of matching the detector to the target you seek. Frank

 

[Ism]

Yeah, I noticed that effect when I walked Frankn
Thanks for the feedback.

 

[TreasureGrabber]

I am curious what depth I should expect on a quart jar of coins (glass lid with a wire bail).

On the mentioned size objects buried up to 2' would be better just to use bigger coils like 15"-18" on general metal detectors...

 

[pyledriver]

Except that those coils will go off on smaller bits all over the place! I got my two box because I want it to ignore the 'chaff' and only hit the big targets...

 

[Rawhide]

Depending on the detector, you can detune your detector to ignore the first few inches to help ignore that small junk also.

 

[goldenrecoveries]

Great info. Could you please qualify your statement " My old Hays will go at least 6' " . By that I mean, it doesn't matter if it detected my mobile home buried at 6', but if it detected a coffee can at 6' that would be awesome! Not trying to be smart, I'd really like to know.

By the way, I agree with you about the Accurate Locators 2000 series. I could REALLY use the one with the blanket detector, because it says, "two people can cover a football-sized area in an hour". I have so many "Hot Spots" to cover, but going over a 160 acre - 400 acre old farm would take forever even with a two-box?