Just a theory

[metman]

My son stops by in the morning before going to work and if he has time he will do a little MDing in the park next door. He stopped this morning and hunted for about 30 minutes and found 5 quarters, 1 dime and 1 penny. All within an area no bigger then 20' x 20'. We have hunted that area before. I know that it not uncommon for someone to hunt the same area only to find more treasure.

Here is his theory: The weather and moisture in the ground will effect the readings on the metal detector. He also suspects that the angle he places the coil makes a difference in the readings.

He is probably right, but has anybody else found this to be true? I tend to think that the more sensitive MDers may not support this theory. We hunt with a Garrett 250.

Even though it was only clad, not too bad for 30 minutes of hunting. Do you think he has the BUG if he has to stop by in the mornings to get his fix before going to work

[Lookn4Seated]

He is ABSOLUTLEY Right!

I have hunted hunted out parks, where some distinguished detectorists have hunted in the past.....from this forum... and have had multiple silver days. after a rain, the conductivity is better, and you get deeper readings....and clearer.

Check out Treasurefiends video from where i dug a silver half from live...It is an area where two VERY successful detectorists hit from EVERY angle.

Went back there today and got two more silver., wait till you see what everyone else got in a 4 hr. hunt.

You just Never know....Hit it from every direction you can... I call it "cross gridding", especially if your finding old coins.

Good luck, and see you in the field.

[Mayo South Elgin]

In addition to ground conditions, another thing that I wonder about related to the position of the coil is, what about if your sweep has the coil actually touching the ground or the grass as opposed to sweeping the coil just slightly above it? I could see getting that little bit more depth when the coil is actually on the ground but does it change things electrically? And does this vary from one kind of detector to another?

[Lowbatts]

Rain and moisture have a serious effect on ground mineralization and target masking. You will get targets easier in wet ground, but less depth due to masking. The deepest targets I've dug were 12+" in bone dry ground, the ground and other targets were not as noisy because it was dry.

It is easier to spot targets to medium depths in wet ground but remember that there has to be a lot of rain to soak the ground very deep at all, especially if the ground has good cover. Coil angle is a real factor when any other type of masking material is present or the coin itself has any orientation other than flat.

You'll see a lot of the guys noting that one area or another has targets that read well off or slightly off what they are used to seeing. To really see if this is a ground, target or coil issue you'd have to read the target with concentrically wound round coils, elliptical and DD coils. You'd find given all other factors, the round concentric coils go deeper and id better but suffer the effects of masking easier.

The relative new field of DD coils and the rigs they come on have opened up a host of targets that in some cases are surprisingly shallow that were easily overlooked by machine-coil combinations of the past. Most of those formerly overlooked targets are in ground that is quite simply too trashy for the formerly more common concentrically wound coils.

Yep, your son is on to something there.

[Trezurehunter]

Ditto - to all of the above replies.

[DPBOB]

Every thing said is true.
From experience moist ground makes the signal stronger. I love hunting in a nice drizzle or just after it rained.
I know my best coins are from very moist soil.
I'm not sure how the Etrac does in moist soil cause it;s been to dry to try it. But my xlt was great in it.

I return many times over to areas that have produced old coins and even when you think you got them all
you go over the area at a later time and you still will find something.

A month ago I went over to an area that has been pounded by me and a couple other machines and other guys The area is only
15' x 40' I managed to dig up a 1886 and a 1907 IH's

So what others are saying is true

[Pocket Spill]

I agree with alot others have said about getting good results in more moist soil. However, very dry soil can also have an advantage in my opinion. In the park I usually hunt, the ground is extremely dry right now due to the lack of rain the last couple of weeks. The dirt is sandy so it is not that bad to dig when it is dry. I am still getting some oldies in areas I have hunted alot and I think part of it might be that with the ground so dry that alot of the deep iron targets are not giving as strong as a signal that would mask out other signals. I think dry ground decreases the "halo effect" of iron signals. Just a thought.

[filthyflyer39]

I'd have to agree with his theory. It seems like you can go over an area time after time and still find something. Like my uncle tells us, no place is ever completely cleaned out, you always miss something