Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ Test

[Telewanger]

I wrote a post the other day about my Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ. I bought it for searching old gold mines in North Carolina, but I ended up using it to locate underground plumbing pipes in my plumbing business for the past few years, and it has worked great! The gold in NC, for the most part, is fine gold. The detector didn't really find any nuggets.

I was asking some questions about the best settings for beach detecting, and got some good advise. Yesterday I did a test on it. I buried some items in a glad plastic bag, one at a time.

A gold wedding band, penny, quarter, a German 5 mark piece, an Iraqi coin, a Hungarian coin, a beer top, and a nickel.

I measured the hole to 12" deep, buried each coin individually and covered with sand.

When I ran the sensitivity and threshold wide open, the machine picked up every one of them at 12" deep. As I buried them deeper the machine started to lose it.

This machine produces the most irritating " crying baby lamb " sound you've ever heard, with the controls set to max depth. After a while it is really gets on my nerves. Even after 3 years it is really hard to get use to it. I think that this is one reason that I have not used it for prospecting, only plumbing work, but I have not really taken the time to play around on the beach either.

I was doing some plumbing work last week in a customer's house. He showed me a $17,000.00 wedding ring that he found out on the beach about five miles from my house, and his wife was standing there smiling from ear to ear! It was huge with gold, emeralds, and diamonds in it. There are a lot of multi-million dollar ocean front homes here, and I do a lot of plumbing work in them. I ask him where he found it, and he just smiled and said "Out on the beach"! Many of the customers I deal with have big Rolex watches, huge ear rings, giant gold necklaces, so it doesn't surprise me at all that you can find really expensive jewelry here. Anyway, I just ordered some RTG Sand Scoops this week. Maybe I'll find a giant ring or something!

I guess I still feel a little like a scavenger hanging around in front of the houses with a metal detector, like a bird of prey. When I was a kid we use to make fun of the "metal detector guys". They looked like Seagulls digging for food. I used to tell my Dad to go give them a few dollars so they can buy something to eat. That is not a joke, I really thought that they must have needed money or something.

Question:

If you found a $17,000.00 ring, would you try to find the owner, or just keep right on walking?

 

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[Michigan Badger]

I guess one would never know the true answer to your question until one was actually faced with the real situation.

One thing is for sure though, if your friend is going to keep it your friend would do well to keep his mouth shut. If the authorities catch wind of this tale it could mean jail time for him plus a big fine.

We don't discuss this much here---it's sort of a pirates code thing if you get me. But, if you can keep this under your sky piece I'll share it with ya...it's technically illegal to keep any found valuables without making an honest effort to locate the owner.

Here's another scenario. Lets say you own some land with ruins on it. Unknown to you a THer slips in without permission and digs the relics. He has just robbed you just as surely as if he had entered your home and carried off your belongings.

The only legal and ethical way to do this hobby is to first gain permission to hunt and then if something of real value is recovered to give the land owner opportunity to claim it. If he says "keep it" it's yours (with certain exceptions).

So see, we're all honest here. Some are maybe just a smite more honest than others.

Badger Kidd..RRRRRrrrrrrr

 

[The Beep Goes On]

I'm not sure about the exact wording, but anything found worth over a certain dollar amount is supposed to be turned over to the police for a period of time (30 or 90 days...not sure which) and, if no one claims it or they don't have a report to match it with, its yours.

Rule #1: Don't tell anyone what you found, especially if it is of high value. Sounds strange to say on a forum where people display all their finds every day, but most of them are relics, coins or not worth a whole lot. Most/some detectorists will try to return an item if it has identifying markings (like a class ring).

Would I keep it? I don't know.

HH!
TBGO

 

[Telewanger]

I really didn't ask the customer when he found the ring. I would guess that it was not all that long ago. They didn't say a great deal about it, they just smiled a lot.

I didn't know that you are supposed to report things that you find on a public beach. Tourist come down here, spend a week, and then drive 500 miles back to Ohio, Jersey, Virginia, New York, etc. The next week, a whole new crew comes down for a week. I guess it would be really hard to ever find them again. It would cost a lot of time, research, and effort.

As far as the police goes: I have a security system. If it goes off, the police don't even show up half the time, or it takes them 30 minutes. I don't think that I will hand them anything of value. Our Police Department got busted for hijacking cargo trucks coming out of Florida, and selling the contents at local auctions.

I, myself, have not found anything yet. I have been out to the beach twice, in the three years that I have had my detector, and have only found bottle caps and a small hand full of change. I am just getting into the hobby and trying to find out as much information as I can before I start.

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[The Beep Goes On]

Hey, I've never turned anything over to them and probably never will. If I can't find the person myself, its mine...muawahahaha.

HH!
TBGO

 

[rmptr]

Telewanger,

Sorry to hear you feel like a scavenger... that's not so good.

Try my bit... Something dropped may be lost forever.

Those two folks you mentioned were both very happy with the found ring, and when they eventually off it, someone else will also be happy with it.

So, you are a recovery expert!

It improves the whole of society to recover lost value.
Even rings melted down for scrap may be used for medical electronics used in hospitals, or

Sry to hear your enforcement types are freebooters.

If you find something of value and wish to return it, frequently it is possible to post a free ad in local newspaper. Do NOT post your home phone number! Maybe use a new Email account just for that.

"Ring found at Sunrise Beach on 1/07/08. Must identify. Contact [email protected]"

MD is a lotta fun, and you have a nice machine, You'll do well!

R M P T R

 

[Michigan Badger]

I really didn't ask the customer when he found the ring. I would guess that it was not all that long ago. They didn't say a great deal about it, they just smiled a lot.

I didn't know that you are supposed to report things that you find on a public beach. Tourist come down here, spend a week, and then drive 500 miles back to Ohio, Jersey, Virginia, New York, etc. The next week, a whole new crew comes down for a week. I guess it would be really hard to ever find them again. It would cost a lot of time, research, and effort.

As far as the police goes: I have a security system. If it goes off, the police don't even show up half the time, or it takes them 30 minutes. I don't think that I will hand them anything of value. Our Police Department got busted for hijacking cargo trucks coming out of Florida, and selling the contents at local auctions.

I, myself, have not found anything yet. I have been out to the beach twice, in the three years that I have had my detector, and have only found bottle caps and a small hand full of change. I am just getting into the hobby and trying to find out as much information as I can before I start.

Thanks for your feedback!

You make a good point. What I posted above is technically correct. But then there are all sorts of other thoughts that can enter the picture.

What usually happens when a high dollar item is lost by accident (or on purpose) is the owner will file a report with his insurance company. After a time the owner gets his money back. Some of these people would hate you for returning the item. They were bored with it and simply wanted to lose it. One can do this maybe once or twice within a 5 year period and will probably get by with it if one is a big regular customer for the insurance company. See, this is a very old game the rich play.

People with money usually have everything of significant value insured.

I have always believed this is what's behind 90% of those super giant jewelry finds. Some can also be loves that went sour. A couple has a fight at the beach and she says here's your ring...dive for it you &^%$$%%.

Today's modern woman is much smarter. She'll just sell his ring on ebay.

Throwing away rings was common practice in the 40-60's. Remember Sonny James and the "Southern Gentleman?" He had a big hit about going down 20 feet into the muddy muddy water to find a ring his X-lover had thrown off a bridge. Ah, those were the days!

Anybody for bridge diving?

Badger