DEPTH CHART how low can you go POLL

[Michigan Badger]

Okay, we've all see these before and most have ruled them out as "rediculous."

Personally, I believe them

So far I've found the test on the Tejon, Nautilus IIB, Sovereign GT, DeLeon, and Silver uMax are dead center accurate when tested as he tested them.

I've had a few thank me in PM's for posting about the super depth of the Tesoro uMax with 12x10 inch coil. I got the original idea from the 1st chart at this site. He used a web 9x8 concentric coil in his test. I used the 12x10. After trying the Silver uMas with the 12x10 at my old sites I sold my Tejon. My Tejon wasn't nearly as deep. The last straw was when I got a nice solid signal with the Silver and couldn't get even a tick from the Tejon. I dug a silver War Nickel at about 9 inches deep.

What do U think? Do tell all...

SEE CHARTS:

http://www.staffsmetaldetectors.co.uk/depth_test.htm

 

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[EasyMoney]

PI's are something else.

My White's Surfmaster gets 2 inches more in the ground than it does in the air (8" + compared to 6") , normal for a PI, but has little discrimination save for light tinfoil the size of a pea and smaller and very light or small steel like a less than a 1/2" brad. It's real good for coin sized things though, but nothing like that Infinium. It won't hunt tiny nuggets either and I believe the Infinium does.

 

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[Michigan Badger]

The only PI I've ever owned was a "Deep Scan" sold by K______ back in 1983. It was a piece of junk. I understand the U.K. maker got busted for false advertisement.

I paid nearly $1000 for it and sold it a year later for $125 (before ebay). I didn't know it but K_____ already knew this machine was going to be dumped when I ordered mine. After I got it and found it worked so poorly I contacted K_____ many times but never got any help. I didn't buy a detector from them for another 10 years or so.

At that time my opinion of PI wasn't good. It was like a very low grade BFO homebrew unit. That thing had few adjustments so there really wasn't much to learn. It couldn't detect a quarter 4 inches deep.

OH MY! Bad memories.

Badger

 

[Willy]

Yup, there's a world of difference between your regular PI and the Infinium. With the dual tone and the adjustable pulse delay a fair amount of trash can be ID'ed/eliminated. It also has the fast/slow ground tracking that is more or less essential (unless one has a manual GB) when hunting on dry land on over tough ground. I have a 3 grain test nugget that even the 10x14" DD would see.. but it had to be close with the big coil. ..Willy. BTW.. It's also waterproof to 200' and uses 8 AA's.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Yup, there's a world of difference between your regular PI and the Infinium. With the dual tone and the adjustable pulse delay a fair amount of trash can be ID'ed/eliminated. It also has the fast/slow ground tracking that is more or less essential (unless one has a manual GB) when hunting on dry land on over tough ground. I have a 3 grain test nugget that even the 10x14" DD would see.. but it had to be close with the big coil. ..Willy. BTW.. It's also waterproof to 200' and uses 8 AA's.

Sounds very good Willy. I kid a lot (too much) but I do know you know what you're talking about.

I don't know if you followed my threads but I ended up with the SE mainely due to a trade deal with a dealer. I had a defective used Explorer II and he took it in to check out and gave me a great deal on the SE. There must be one heck of a big markup on these. But this SE better be a whole lot better than that Ex.II I had or it's gone.

Up here where I live there aren't many old house sites and lawns to hunt legally. I've been thinking of working some of the beaches and shallow waters of our Great Lakes for Copper Culture artifacts. Maybe more plowed fields too. That's why I'm giving the Infinium some thought.

I've been thinking this machine might just be the thing for our deep sandy beaches.

Badger

 

[EasyMoney]

Badger and Willy, I want to pass something along to both of you.

A couple of towns here in Oregon they are big enough to have "villiage greens'. These are the newer grassy areas right near downtown malls and office buildings. In the biggest town here it is too dangerous, busy, and too cramped to detect there. These p;aces are usually away from main streets and on early Sunday mornings there are few people to be seen anywhere. The towns are still asleep. I use the fastest and lightest detectors that I own there, to avoid any problems. One is almost right next to the City Police station too. Even an old TR works very well there. The soil is usually conglomerate sod and not true soil so it has few if any minerals in it. Every time I go to one I find some kind of jewelry, plus a lot of clad. Busses don't run that early so I hunt those too, but only the quieter ones away from main streets, yet right in the middle fo a 200,000 population town. Currently these are the best producing places I have found in more than 10 years.

Hope this interests you. It works for me.

EasyMoney

 

[Michigan Badger]

Badger and Willy, I want to pass something along to both of you.

A couple of towns here in Oregon they are big enough to have "villiage greens'. These are the newer grassy areas right near downtown malls and office buildings. In the biggest town here it is too dangerous, busy, and too cramped to detect there. These p;aces are usually away from main streets and on early Sunday mornings there are few people to be seen anywhere. The towns are still asleep. I use the fastest and lightest detectors that I own there, to avoid any problems. One is almost right next to the City Police station too. Even an old TR works very well there. The soil is usually conglomerate sod and not true soil so it has few if any minerals in it. Every time I go to one I find some kind of jewelry, plus a lot of clad. Buses don't run that early so I hunt those too, but only the quieter ones away from main streets, yet right in the middle fo a 200,000 population town. Currently these are the best producing places I have found in more than 10 years.

Hope this interests you. It works for me.

EasyMoney

Good post Easy but I thought youse guys over there still rode horses and carried six shooters? I mean Buses? That totally destroys my idea of Oregon.

Anyway...what you say makes sense. Many times the best spots to hunt are so obvious that we miss them. My biggest problem is I'm too well known in this area and about 1000 people would love nothing more than to see my name in the police blotter. Because of this I have to be extra careful. Sometimes I find myself admiring the factory workers and people without public sensitive jobs.

So, every place I hunt I have to get solid permission and many times that's not possible. One seldom is able to reach the person with the real authority. But when one does most usually they'll say something like "thanks for the offer but no." Gees! you'd think they'd be thankful that I wanted to dig up the lawn in front of the new courthouse! That's people for ya.

How do you handle all this? Do you have any problems with permission or accusations of vandalism?

Badger

 

[EasyMoney]

Good question:

Let me see.. Well, I'm 6'1", 210 pounds, bearded, and look like a half-crazed German maniac/Charles Manson wannabee. Nope, not many people bother me. And besides all that truth, the cops don't seem to care anyway. As I said, these places (and the nice new grassy areas down by the river) are fairly well obscured and the working office people are home early Sundays and Saturdays too. I have tried in more open areas near them but that's just a good place to get a lot of attention and get nto a fight. I don't have reverse..

Hey, I have another few sets of disguises in case you want to go incognito n your town. Dark glasses? Wigs? Fake biceps? And yes, sometimes I do see some biker guys go into bars wearing guns on their belts here, but most of the horses are under the butts of 16 year old girls. A few goats get ridden and some of the jackalopes (you know, the half Jackrabbit/half altelope ones?) do too, but only out on the plains, wherever that is.

 

[Willy]

Hey Badger, lose the hair and the pirate hat.. you'll be a lot more inconspicuous. ..Willy.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Hey Badger, lose the hair and the pirate hat.. you'll be a lot more inconspicuous. ..Willy.

Ya, that's what everybody tells me.

What do you think Willy, is the F-2 going to replace the Ace 250 and all Minelabs?

Badger

 

[Willy]

Nahh, it's basically just a tempest in a teapot brought on by foul weather and cabin fever. Personally, I'm not even remotely interested in the F2.. inappropriate for how/where I hunt. I do, however, think that Garrett should get a move on and come out with something new/improved. Their imaging is basically a turkey, since it only works with the 2 large coils.. how 'bout they incorporate the sizing from the GTP in the higher end detectors? Also, lose the clunky green setup; I don't have forearms like Popeye and few do. Put camlocks on the detectors 'cause the so-called 'ramrod' design looks so d@mn cheap and perception is a big part of marketing. Also, a decent higher frequency gold/crossover detector (15KHz groundhog ring a bell?) instead of that embarrassing Scorpion Gold Stinger. Talk about the model T of detectors. Despite the griping, I like Garrett machines; the GB'ing ones work pretty well in bad ground. Haven't tried them out with the new chip, but found that down in AZ and up in BC, they still managed to get good depth.. when not overloading on the black sands. I think Fisher should drop the price of the F75.. it's a $500-600 detector that goes for a grand, which smacks of Minelab's PI's without the performance advantage.
When all is said and done, people will argue the relative merits of their favorite detector till blue in the face.. until something shinier and newer catches their attention. What should happen, though, is that we'll be getting better detectors at lower prices and give the chinese a run for their money (or make them WORK to get ours). That should encourage them to come out with decent detectors instead of the hyped up garbage they, and their minions, are peddling (can you say, hmmmm, kelyco?). Aside from that, I think that Fisher has a chance to rise up again, now that they've dumped the idiots (I sincerely hope they have) who ran it into the ground with totally uninspiring product releases and have the marketing savvy and big bux of first Texas behind them.
When it comes to replacing all Minelabs and such.. ain't gonna happen. The F2 and F4 might be decent detectors, but side by side prospecting up in my ground will most probably have them given a whuppin' by my XTerra70. If the heat gets too intense for ML, they can always cut down their profit margin to compete.. or come out with a cheaper whiz-bang machine to appeal to the 'unwashed masses' out there. Anyway, that's enuff ranting for now. ..Willy.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Good writeup Willy.

I haven't taken Fisher very seriously for years. Back in the early 80's I bought my last Fishers and only one was good (1260-X). Remember that 1260-X Willy? It sure rocked the boat in the industry. My first year with that machine I dug more Barber and Merc dimes than I can even recall today. It seemed like almost ever hunt I got 1-3.

It's funny but it seems just a few weeks ago I was reading all sorts of negative stuff about the F-75 and now all of a sudden they're wonderful. I don't get it?

Badger

 

[EasyMoney]

I just had a chat with one of Fisher's factory reps here in Sweet Home. He indicates that we won't see a big change in about 2 years for the bulk of metal detector companies.
He didn't want to talk much about it though. It seems that there are some things new coming out around then, but don't sit too long waiting on the front porch for it to happen.

Oh, I forgot to say, he told me that the f-2 and F-4 have basically the same circuitry, but the F-4 has manual ground balance. Not a lot of difference, except for the price. Maybe that's why they both get the same depth with the 4" coil.

He also said "the F-75 is a completely different animal".

 

[Michigan Badger]

I just had a chat with one of Fisher's factory reps here in Sweet Home. He indicates that we won't see a big change in about 2 years for the bulk of metal detector companies.
He didn't want to talk much about it though. It seems that there are some things new coming out around then, but don't sit too long waiting on the front porch for it to happen.

Oh, I forgot to say, he told me that the f-2 and F-4 have basically the same circuitry, but the F-4 has manual ground balance. Not a lot of difference, except for the price. Maybe that's why they both get the same depth with the 4" coil.

He also said "the F-75 is a completely different animal".

If I like the F-2 I may get the F-4 to get the ground balance. If I were a Fisher dealer I'd bet on that F-2 and F-4. Lots of people want ground balance. In this area our ground is very consistant and GB isn't that big of deal.

Badger

 

[~MetalDigger~]

Why don't we all Make our own chart, Every one with a Ace 150-250 gti's 150 2500, Minelab eterras 30-70, Explorers, SE etc, Whites, fishers. Like me I'll be keeping track of my best depth, over next few weeks. ,months. We all do this a for what ever MD we have, and take our average best depth on lets say dime, penny,quarter dollar, iron. And build a accurate chart.

Dirt Composition ect,compile our info and see what we come up with. Dont leave it up to one man to deside.

And dont be egzagerateing.
True best Depth

 

[Willy]

Problem is, most people (I believe) have better things to do than measuring the depths of holes dug. I think, for the most part, that people get a fair idea re. depth by eyeballing it. Also, to get an accurate assessment of the depth af an object requires some really careful digging.. archaeologist style. I think that many times a target 'falls' deeper into the hole and by the time it's retrieved it seems to have come from a tremendous depth. Anyway, we're talking more effort than most are willing to put out, not to mention time wasted cataloging that could be spent swinging. But hey, if somebody wants.. great. ..willy.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Why don't we all Make our own chart, Every one with a Ace 150-250 gti's 150 2500, Minelab eterras 30-70, Explorers, SE etc, Whites, fishers. Like me I'll be keeping track of my best depth, over next few weeks. ,months. We all do this a for what ever MD we have, and take our average best depth on lets say dime, penny,quarter dollar, iron. And build a accurate chart.

Dirt Composition ect,compile our info and see what we come up with. Dont leave it up to one man to deside.

And dont be egzagerateing.
True best Depth

Right on! Besides, unless we all see it for ourselves do we really believe it?

Build your own testing plot (coin garden). Or at least fill some plastic pots/buckets with the dirt from your favorite hunting sites. These may not accurately replicate actual hunting but they do help tremendously when comparing machines.

Badger

 

[Michigan Badger]

Problem is, most people (I believe) have better things to do than measuring the depths of holes dug. I think, for the most part, that people get a fair idea re. depth by eyeballing it. Also, to get an accurate assessment of the depth af an object requires some really careful digging.. archaeologist style. I think that many times a target 'falls' deeper into the hole and by the time it's retrieved it seems to have come from a tremendous depth. Anyway, we're talking more effort than most are willing to put out, not to mention time wasted cataloging that could be spent swinging. But hey, if somebody wants.. great. ..willy.

Time is a big issue that's for sure when it comes to testing a machine's true capabilities. But it also takes a lot of time to earn the money to buy detectors.

Maybe a little more time invested in testing could lead to less time waisted sweating it out at the work place to earn the money to buy yet another disappointing detector.

What if everyone had a little test area that takes maybe 15 minutes to construct and lasts a lifetime. I mean, mark off an area, bore holes to desired depths with a piece of pipe, place coins into holes, fill holes and compress the soil. Each year that passes the test area gets better and better. But right from the get go it's awesome for comparisons.

Contact the members at the local treasure club and invite them over to show what their machines can do. That could help in deciding what machine to buy.

One of the best reasons to have a test garden is for your own piece of mind. If you know your detector can detect a dime at 9 inches in your garden, you are not going to be so easily turned against it by postings on the various forums. Make sense?

So you see, yes, it takes time. Most things worth anything do.

Badger

 

[Willy]

I don't have a test garden, but a highly mineralized trashy beach. I take every new detector there for testing. ..Willy.

 

[The Beep Goes On]

I once found a Chinese coin with my detector...it was on the other side of the Earth, so I couldn't retrieve it.

HH!
TBGO

 

[~MetalDigger~]

You must had an up link with a satillite