air testing coils and detectors for gold

[1637]

is this a waste of time??i have a mxt and a gmz with about 3 coils for each.is it better just to bury some gold for testing different combinations.
thanks brad

 

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[beekbuster]

is this a waste of time??i have a mxt and a gmz with about 3 coils for each.is it better just to bury some gold for testing different combinations.
thanks brad

yes, it is a waste of time. Go to where you look for gold then place a picker in a spot that you would likely find gold: ie a crack in the bedrock. then do your testing. air test is meaningless. its like seeing how fast your truck can accelerate by jacking up your rear end and letting it free spool.

 

[beekbuster]

the mineralization of the ground is a tremendous factor. with my high end detector i can get a .5 gram at 5 inches in mild soil. In high mineralization I will be lucky to get a .5 gram at 3 inches. shape of the target makes as much of a difference as the soil type also. flat pieces laying flat are optimum. larger the profile in relation to the coil = better response. The only knowledge to be gained with an air test is to get your ear accustomed to the sound gold makes, but even that isnt 100% I recently passed on a blaring signal, and now ray mills is the proud owner of yet another 1 oz nugget because i passed on a very loud target. old habits die hard.

 

[A2coins]

Exactly right when you see people air testing machines for depth like the AT vs The Nox right there will tell you the person doing it doesnt have a clue... Ground mineralization ,soil, iron ect there are so many variables that effect a detecors depth and readings if you detect in air it might work but we dont and the testers results are absolutely useless. Take some machines that will hit a dime at 10 inches in a air test but wont get a good reading over 5 in mineralized ground lol Got to use it where you use it lol

 

[A2coins]

Yes test in the conditions you detect in my friend.....

 

[Goldwasher]

Believe it or not..and Maybe Beekbuster has experienced it.

Targets in the ground respond better and deeper. Than air testing.

air testing is pretty pointless.

 

[beekbuster]

Believe it or not..and Maybe Beekbuster has experienced it.

Targets in the ground respond better and deeper. Than air testing.

air testing is pretty pointless.

it is rare, and every time it makes me scratch my head. most times it is because the target is dissolved in the soil, and once you disturb it the signal diminishes. one occasion i thought i had a hot spot so i scraped an inch off. the signal was unchanged but had defined boundries. at about ten inches i recovered a .4 gram nugget. im convinced it just happened to be in a hot spot. I have never recovered a nugget that small at that depth.

 

[Rob in KS]

Air testing is the only thing we can compare. Everybody's soil is different. I built a PI years ago and I use air testing to make sure everything is working as it should. So it has some value.

 

[tinpan]

Hi, Ever thought of using blocks of hard wood of one species of tree as density stays consistent . Base can be a block of any wood place gold of about half gram on top . Then cover with 4 inch thickness ...test .......then add another 4 inch block on top and test and so on. You can compare detectors ,settings and different coils . TP

 

[meMiner]

it is rare, and every time it makes me scratch my head. most times it is because the target is dissolved in the soil, and once you disturb it the signal diminishes. one occasion i thought i had a hot spot so i scraped an inch off. the signal was unchanged but had defined boundries. at about ten inches i recovered a .4 gram nugget. im convinced it just happened to be in a hot spot. I have never recovered a nugget that small at that depth.

One quick response to your example. If the target disappears or diminishes as you dig for gold, put your dirt into a gold pan and you might be surprised how much smaller gold is present. Of course, little bits of oxidized iron can also be the cause.

As for air testing. It isn't useless. It tells you something. But it is better to do the test on the ground you are hunting gold.

 

[beekbuster]

as a gold detectorist, i can tell attest to the improtance of time in the field. the path to being successsful lies in the learning that happens in the field. I can air test my pin pointer with my 4500 when its in my backpack. Im sure some of you have noticed that the less interference you introduce to your coil the better it responds to a target... ie: when i have my pick, pin pointer, or any other metal object too close to my detector, the detector is hindered by the object that is not my target..... when i remove the object, be it my boots, gun, pin pointer, or any other metal object from the feild of 'view' of my coil the signal improves, dramatically. signal goes from nothing to something very quickly. just scraping a few pebbles out of the way makes more improvement than most people give credit for, regardless if it get the coil closer to the target.

 

[beekbuster]

is this a waste of time??i have a mxt and a gmz with about 3 coils for each.is it better just to bury some gold for testing different combinations.
thanks brad

i had a gmz. it was my first detector. it works very well. thought i didnt know it at the time. i sold it before i knew anything about detecting..... very simple and sensitive machine. it is a bedrock hunter. search out bedrock with it, if youre finding bird shot, youre doing it right.