How well do gold machines do at discrim pull tabs?

Carolina Tom

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If you are contemplating getting an AT Gold vs. AT Pro in hopes of digging fewer pull tabs, you will be disappointed either way.

Unfortunately, the pull tab, is a reality in the MDing world. I avoided them for a long time, but also could not find a buffalo nickel to save my life. The guys that dig gold rings, dig thousands of them. With practice, you will get better at dodging them, but we all dig them.

Discrimination is best used to hide the iron signals (lower end of the scale), pull tabs are aluminum, so you would have to turn the discrimination up to 50 or 60 to eliminate them. That will kill your depth... and you will miss gold rings and nickels. The best discrimination is to learn the machine really well, and let your brain make the decisions, instead of the machine (IMO).

I am not qualified to completely discuss frequency, I do know that the higher frequencies hit small gold items better. I use mostly 12Khz on my Deus, primarily for coin shooting.

I hope that this helps. Someone else should chime in shortly. Don't hesitate to PM me if I can be of help. Best of luck to you!
 

Treasure_Hunter

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If you try to discriminate out pull tabs you will be discriminating out some gold, especially white gold, 10, 12, and some 14 k .......
 

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haxor

haxor

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Ok. well that sums it up well. Thanks guys.
Sounds like I'd be better off looking at a saltwater/beach then gold machine. (I'm *not* looking to upgrade for a long while. I'm more likely to build a machine first)

I guess I'll be a one man aluminum recycle machine :)

Had one day I probably got more in scrap aluminum then in face value clad
 

Terry Soloman

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...
 

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Tom_in_CA

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haxor, when you say "gold machine", are you talking about machines that can be used for gold nuggets ? It depends on which "gold machine" you're referring to. If you're referring to a machine that's used as a cross-over (eg.: MXT, 705, etc...) then they can disc. pulltabs out as well as any other normal coin machine can. But if you're talking gold machines that are STRICTLY coin machines (not meant for cross-over use @ coins/relics), then they would be very poor at disc'ing out tabs. IF they even had disc. on them to begin with, it's oft-times only for ID'ing iron (and they do a poor job at that beyond the top 4 or 5").
 

Captain Caveman

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Why would you want to discriminate pull tabs? I would never get to use my digging tools if I did that?!?
 

TheHunterGT

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My Scorpion Gold Stinger is a bit older than the newer toys....but no tabs = no gold = no nickels. But it then becomes a decent quarter/dime/penny machine.....so I just get my coin fix on in parks and head to the hills for gold.
 

Charlie P. (NY)

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haxor, when you say "gold machine", are you talking about machines that can be used for gold nuggets ?

What he said. "Gold machines" are tunded to find tiny nuggets and dust. And may run at relatively high(er) frequencies. Any good detector will find large nuggets and jewelry . . . but jewelery reads like pulltabs quite often.

So are you looking for jewelry or "wild" gold?
 

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haxor

haxor

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Was looking for a machine for jewelry mainly. But its all been answered.
Might have to start smelting aluminum. :)
 

Tom_in_CA

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Was looking for a machine for jewelry mainly. But its all been answered.
Might have to start smelting aluminum. :)

haxor, the "trick" to finding gold jewelry does not lie in which machines are "better for gold". Or which machine can tell a tab or foil apart from gold (they can't). None of those are relevant questions to the prospects of finding gold rings. ANY MACHINE can find gold jewelry: All you need to do is turn down your disc. knob, and I gaurantee you that the parks are loaded with low & medium conductors. So you hardly need a machine that is *better* at lows & mid, to avail yourself of gold jewelry.

The trick to finding gold jewelry is this: Location location location. Go to swimming beaches. Even if only at the water's edge and the towel line. The ratios of jewelry there is much better, and sand is easier to dig in :) The LAST place you want to try to be a "hero" and find gold rings, is junky blighted parks.
 

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