RELIC HUNTING WITH A COMPASS

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

As you wander the hills and fields you can get a line on relics by watching your compass. When the needle deflects you are close to an iron deposit. By circling the spot you can pinpoint close enough to probe before digging. Only digging will determine whether you have a worthwhile target. Used this to find a buried steam tractor that had been in the ground more than 50 years. Also used it to find the motor from a German ME-109 that went in nose first in 1945. May also work for bottle dumps but since I've never tried I can't confirm that. Exanimo, SS

[Charles,Oak Island]

check my reply to your "cheap magnetometer" page 1 3 rd par. re. compass

[jsan711]

How about a large amount of gold,does that emanate anything that could be detected?Joe

[Darren in NC]

Sorry, Joe. Gold isn't ferrous and therefore not magnetic to affect a compass.

[Siegfried Schlagrule]

G'day Joe, Darren is right that gold will not be detected by a magnetic compass but you could detect the container if it is iron. A man named Louis Matacia wrote a book on treasure auras and described a technique using SX-70 film to get visual pictures of treasure auras. His newest system involves digital cameras. I don't know how to use a digital camera the right way let alone the way he suggests. I do know that you will take a whale of a lot of pictures at a buck apiece with an SX-70 before anything extra shows on the photo. The only one I've ever had appear was an accident. I wasn't trying to get the aura I was just testing the camera at a treasure site. Some people call that dowsing with a camera and others say that it will work whether you can dowse or not. exanimo, ss

[Ken/CO]

Actually, compasses have been used for a long time to indicate any interuption in the magnetic flux of the earth, including gold.
The spanish needle operated with this principle, and later "dip needles" , which is basically a compass that can be used vertically to indicate any change in the magnetic flux. Some compasses, that can be used perpendicular to the earth, will make it even more sensitive than parallel to the earth.

Good Luck,

Ken/CO