Test Garden?

[lobo]

I would like to set up a test garden in my yard but I am not sure how to set it up. What size coins, depths, flat or upright, rings, a little trash thrown in?

Jerry

 

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[DetectorBase]

I've been thinking about doing the same. My plan was to replicate finds that I've found.. and then make it more interesting. Basically, dig holes at the deepest level for my area (6-8inches) and drop wheats and silver there.. and some holes try to add iron with the targets. I was planning on marking the holes by notching my concrete patio so I know the 'site' line. I think they'll need be in the ground for at least a year to get a accurate reading.. not sure on that. Either way, I think something like this is good to come back to make sure you're hearing the sounds you need to be hearing.

Maybe someone already has a working garden.. and they can let us in on some tips.

DB

 

[Sandman]

OK, here's my garden........ Find a clean piece of ground in your yard without any metal or dig any up. Draw a outline of your "garden" on paper with targets over a foot from each other to not interfer with your sweeps. Bury the different coins, some with a nail on top and a ring or two, gold and silver. Don't forget the different types of pull tabs. Mark each target on you paper and stick a white golf tee on top of each target. It helps to bury them at different depths with silver coins being about 8 to 12 inches deep.

They will sound off better with age too. However, not all locations are equal and you might not be able to detect that silver dime at 6 inches in your garden, but can detect it at 12" at your buddies. What it does is teach you how the different settings effect how the machine works an the sounds.

Make copies of the map and don't lose it or you won't know for sure what you are waving the coil over.

HH,
Sandman

 

[U.K. Brian]

I've got the best part of an acre on a gently sloping hill which means the ground ranges from low, through medium and on to high mineralisation.
After 18 years there has been no increase in depth what so ever apart from a few ferrous items, they do develop a 'halo'.
Put a few coins in at 45 degrees. Its interesting to see where they pinpoint and the depth lost. A good reason not to detect a field directly after ploughing. Give the coins a chance to settle back flat first.
If you have much livestock in your ground (moles etc) its best to glue the target on to a lengthg of plastic rod (or similar). My previous test bed got invaded by moles and things moved feet. One ring pull moved sideways a foot over a few weeks then disappeared totally.
Be prepared to find out how bad detectors really are both for depth and I.D.

Quote from one of the U.K.'s leading detectorists (Treasure Hunting magazine November 2006)
' I do not own or use a test bed, or buckets of 'mineralised' soil with buried objects. I do not stand over them waving a detector, adjust it to unrealistic detecting levels, and then claim how good it performs; these conditions are completely false. The true test of a detector is in proper detecting conditions at proper sweep speeds. It is impossible to simulate this in your back garden.'

My answer to this is that your more likely to find out how badly your machine performs than how well. You can also make notes with a new machine of air test and in ground figures not only to compare with other machines but also to register any performance drop off as componants start to fail or coils go off tune. Don't have a test bed at your peril !

 

[DetectorBase]

OK, here's my garden........ Find a clean piece of ground in your yard without any metal or dig any up. Draw a outline of your "garden" on paper with targets over a foot from each other to not interfer with your sweeps. Bury the different coins, some with a nail on top and a ring or two, gold and silver. Don't forget the different types of pull tabs. Mark each target on you paper and stick a white golf tee on top of each target. It helps to bury them at different depths with silver coins being about 8 to 12 inches deep.

They will sound off better with age too. However, not all locations are equal and you might not be able to detect that silver dime at 6 inches in your garden, but can detect it at 12" at your buddies. What it does is teach you how the different settings effect how the machine works an the sounds.

Make copies of the map and don't lose it or you won't know for sure what you are waving the coil over.

HH,
Sandman

That is great!!! Thanks for sharing.

DB

 

[Mirage]

Everyone has to have a garden. My garden has proven to be almost exactly what I have experienced in the field. It really has enabled me to compare detectors side by side.

I originally "cleaned" an area of iorn. Or so I thought. Put a couple coins in the ground and tried it out. Found that there was iorn next to one of the targets. :P So I moved the garden to an old section of my vegtable garden. That area was very clean.

TO bury the coins - take a pole and mark it at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 inches.

Push the pole into the desired location to the desired depth. Pull it out, put in coin. Verify coin is flat in hole(flashlight) and backfill and inch at a time. After each inch of dirt, pack it. Cap the top with a color tile or something to mark the spot.

I buried – Penny at 4, 6 and 7
Indian head at 6
Nickel at 6
Silver dime at 4, 6 and 7
Silver quarter at 10
Pull tab at 6

The 7 inch penny and the 7 inch dime are the hardest to hit. The 10” quarter surprisingly is not. Indian head more machine dependant.

The key to remember about this is that it is only one test. But at least it is a test.

 

[chirper97]

I agree that all MD'ists should have a coin garden.

My Father in 1984 created an excellent coin garden, complete with grid map, in the red clay of Cross Lanes, West Virginia.

I went back 15 years later, with Dad's urging, and dug a few coins....the copper pennies had 'melted' in this soil to about 1/2 of their size! The signal diameter from the melted pennies was huge, and it was difficult to pinpoint them with accuracy.

 

[mark.]

yes, here's an easy way to do one.............

1..clean out an area with your detector.
2..Use a section of 3/4" pipe & drive it into the ground how deep you wish.
3. gently tape a test target to the bottom of a piece of PVC pipe the exact length you wish. ( 2" ..4" ...6" etc ) Drive it into the previously made hole with the metal pipe. Using the metal pipe temporarily ensures your targets stays taped on your plastic pipe. Leave the top open so the rain & elements can enter. Makes it more realistic. This way you know it's 4" deep if you use a 4" piece of PVC pipe drive into the ground.
4. Drop it into the hole flush with the ground.
5. Mark it. I used a sheet of paper & placed it between 2 pieces of plexiglass bolted together so water won't ruin it.
6. I made all my targets in a straight line so they are easy to find.
Here's my test map:



I placed painted bricks between sections to make it easier to figure out where targets are.
Simply walk to one end of the test field & start swinging.
It's easy & effective.
Good luck............see ya mark

 

[chirper97]

yes, here's an easy way to do one.............

1..clean out an area with your detector.
2..Use a section of 3/4" pipe & drive it into the ground how deep you wish.
3. gently tape a test target to the bottom of a piece of PVC pipe the exact length you wish. ( 2" ..4" ...6" etc ) Drive it into the previously made hole with the metal pipe. Using the metal pipe temporarily ensures your targets stays taped on your plastic pipe. Leave the top open so the rain & elements can enter. Makes it more realistic. This way you know it's 4" deep if you use a 4" piece of PVC pipe drive into the ground.
4. Drop it into the hole flush with the ground.
5. Mark it. I used a sheet of paper & placed it between 2 pieces of plexiglass bolted together so water won't ruin it.
6. I made all my targets in a straight line so they are easy to find.
Here's my test map:




I placed painted bricks between sections to make it easier to figure out where targets are.
Simply walk to one end of the test field & start swinging.
It's easy & effective.
Good luck............see ya mark

Thanks Mark!
I'm probably slow on the uptake. Can you confirm my understanding?

4. Drop it into the hole flush with the ground.

What are you dropping?

My take is that you create the hole with 3/4 inch iron pipe, tape the coin on the bottom of variously measured PVC pipe, insert the PVC pipe/taped coin into the hole, fill the inserted PVC pipe with the soil, then move on (no removal of the PVC measured pipe). Is this correct?

 

[TerryC]

Along with the garden should be a notebook. Narrow the variables to a checklist with conditions - soil, weather (Current and recent past)- finds... Then, as you build your data base, you can tune the machine accordingly. TTC

 

[chirper97]

My test garden has not good results even after 13 years nothin changed. .... PPete

I think your results are valuable and your test garden has been very successful.

Thank you for your post!

 

[liquid1]

My test garden has not good results even after 13 years nothin changed. Depth some detectors do very good and others don't. all do better in unbroken ground to some goodly amount. It changes with different detectors. Allcoins deeper than 5 or 6 inches id as iron still in my garden, around say 4 inches the id is all over. only shallow coins read half ways good. cause id is so bad, disc also don't work much neither. small shallow iron reads and discs out just like you'd hope, but large iron will not id or disc anything close to undisturbed ground. in the garden it discs out just fine as iron but inthe normal unbroken ground it won't. if you'll be wanting a idea about discing, try air tests that'll give ya a decent notion of what will happen in unbroken ground. air test depth also varies to each detector and how its gonna play out in unbroken ground you gotta figure out the relationship on each model. if you'se gonna check depth in test garden, don't use any discing cause different models today is programmed different and acts differently when you're usin disc. and some models will lose a lot a depth with any disc. One good thing is that the test plot will give you a purty good idea just bout how your model will act in ploughed ground. So don't use disc, don't trust id on that kind of broken ground so dig it all and gitterdone. PPete

..Sounds great to me..I'm with ya on the dig it all and gitterdone part..

 

[mark.]

yes, here's an easy way to do one.............

1..clean out an area with your detector.
2..Use a section of 3/4" pipe & drive it into the ground how deep you wish.
3. gently tape a test target to the bottom of a piece of PVC pipe the exact length you wish. ( 2" ..4" ...6" etc ) Drive it into the previously made hole with the metal pipe. Using the metal pipe temporarily ensures your targets stays taped on your plastic pipe. Leave the top open so the rain & elements can enter. Makes it more realistic. This way you know it's 4" deep if you use a 4" piece of PVC pipe drive into the ground.
4. Drop it into the hole flush with the ground.
5. Mark it. I used a sheet of paper & placed it between 2 pieces of plexiglass bolted together so water won't ruin it.
6. I made all my targets in a straight line so they are easy to find.
Here's my test map:




I placed painted bricks between sections to make it easier to figure out where targets are.
Simply walk to one end of the test field & start swinging.
It's easy & effective.
Good luck............see ya mark

Thanks Mark!
I'm probably slow on the uptake. Can you confirm my understanding?

4. Drop it into the hole flush with the ground.

What are you dropping?

My take is that you create the hole with 3/4 inch iron pipe, tape the coin on the bottom of variously measured PVC pipe, insert the PVC pipe/taped coin into the hole, fill the inserted PVC pipe with the soil, then move on (no removal of the PVC measured pipe). Is this correct?

you are correct.
The reason I use a metal pipe first is to ensure the coin stays on the bottom of the plastic pipe.
Once I drop it into the ground, it stays there...........see ya mark

 

[chirper97]

Thanks for the clarification and great idea for test garden, Mark.

I plan to replicate your garden this week!