pyledriver
Sr. Member
- Dec 5, 2007
- 416
- 88
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett AT Gold, CTX3030, SDC2300, GoFind 60, Whites TM-808, Dip Needle, EYES
- Primary Interest:
- Cache Hunting
I have a 6mo old Silver Umax that has been out on appx. 6 outings. This is my first detector! I don't think it has any problems, but wonder if it's normal to hear a beep when adjusting the discrimination knob? I've experimented with the coil being as far away as possible from any metal, and it still does it. It's no big deal, the detector does detect metal.. It really seems to like iron! I can discriminate small iron out, but big nails sometimes can't discriminate out? Still, it detects metal. One day I'll find some actual GOOD metal..LOL!
So my schedule is extremely busy and I decided to try some night detecting <insert mission impossible music here>. I went to a 'tot lot' near my house figuring on finding maybe a coin or two. I got around 7 hits at various points in the lot and once was a bottle cap, once was foil. All the other hits were on something I couldn't see! The common theme is that about 6-8" down is pea gravel that was the old playground base. I would dig, sweep, dig, sweep, and when the sweep told me nothing was in the hole (every time around 7" having been dug), I'd sweep the dirt and have a hit, then sift the dirt in my hands in front of the coil. Most times the detector would go off when I had a large clump in my hand, but then the signal would disappear as I filtered the dirt finer and finer-well past the point I should've found a coin or ring. One thing to note is that it has rained a lot here but we haven't had any rain today. Our soil is black gumbo clay (n. Texas), so what little I know of mineralization makes me think that wouldn't be a concern.
So what the heck was sounding off? I've heard of 'hot rocks' in the nugget shooting forum..but would a) this be a possibility in the pea gravel or b) my Umax be able to sniff that kind of thing out. Also, if it were the gravel, it seems there would at least have been a chunk left in my hand..but got NADA. I was careful to keep my watch hand away from the coil, and tried to keep my body away from the detector because of keys in my pocket. The only thing that I can think of that might've been an issue was my cell phone was not turned off, but have only recently found out about that concern. I've had it on me every other time and found all those cool nails anyway..
I am a total noob here, so I could just be falling victim to some simple quirk of detecting that others are well aware of..so help me out!
So my schedule is extremely busy and I decided to try some night detecting <insert mission impossible music here>. I went to a 'tot lot' near my house figuring on finding maybe a coin or two. I got around 7 hits at various points in the lot and once was a bottle cap, once was foil. All the other hits were on something I couldn't see! The common theme is that about 6-8" down is pea gravel that was the old playground base. I would dig, sweep, dig, sweep, and when the sweep told me nothing was in the hole (every time around 7" having been dug), I'd sweep the dirt and have a hit, then sift the dirt in my hands in front of the coil. Most times the detector would go off when I had a large clump in my hand, but then the signal would disappear as I filtered the dirt finer and finer-well past the point I should've found a coin or ring. One thing to note is that it has rained a lot here but we haven't had any rain today. Our soil is black gumbo clay (n. Texas), so what little I know of mineralization makes me think that wouldn't be a concern.
So what the heck was sounding off? I've heard of 'hot rocks' in the nugget shooting forum..but would a) this be a possibility in the pea gravel or b) my Umax be able to sniff that kind of thing out. Also, if it were the gravel, it seems there would at least have been a chunk left in my hand..but got NADA. I was careful to keep my watch hand away from the coil, and tried to keep my body away from the detector because of keys in my pocket. The only thing that I can think of that might've been an issue was my cell phone was not turned off, but have only recently found out about that concern. I've had it on me every other time and found all those cool nails anyway..
I am a total noob here, so I could just be falling victim to some simple quirk of detecting that others are well aware of..so help me out!
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