Air tested my returned Vaquero with 5.75 concentric coil...Great results

[yelnif]

Hey Scott, I did not mean to infer that you were making any kind of "claims". I agree that the surrounding ground mineralization, in your ex, probably affected the MD ability to find such a small target. This just supports my thought- that the target, if placed in the hole- should be covered with dirt so the soil mineralization is there for the MD to deal with. I have been considering setting up a test garden- I was thinking of using a piece of chain link fence 'top rail' to make a plug cutter which could pressed into the ground at different locations/ depths, and then deposit different targets (coins, tabs, rusty nails, etc.). Then push the pipe plug cutter with the plug still in it back in the ground and use a wood dowel to push down on the plug while I pull the cutter back out. This way the soil is not 'disturbed' , and mineralization of the soil is intact with the surrounding soil. Make a detailed map of the garden- object disc. and depth, in case you ever have to retrieve the silver coins or the wifes' gold jewelry. In other threads/forums I have noticed a lot of the fella's (and you also ladies) have test gardens that they go to, to either check their MDers or 'practice' on with different detectors. Having known targets at known depths makes a lot of sense to me. I tend to do the beep/ and dig method right now as I am still learning what my MD is teaching me. HH

 

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[atomicscott]

Hey Scott, I did not mean to infer that you were making any kind of "claims". I agree that the surrounding ground mineralization, in your ex, probably affected the MD ability to find such a small target. This just supports my thought- that the target, if placed in the hole- should be covered with dirt so the soil mineralization is there for the MD to deal with. I have been considering setting up a test garden- I was thinking of using a piece of chain link fence 'top rail' to make a plug cutter which could pressed into the ground at different locations/ depths, and then deposit different targets (coins, tabs, rusty nails, etc.). Then push the pipe plug cutter with the plug still in it back in the ground and use a wood dowel to push down on the plug while I pull the cutter back out. This way the soil is not 'disturbed' , and mineralization of the soil is intact with the surrounding soil. Make a detailed map of the garden- object disc. and depth, in case you ever have to retrieve the silver coins or the wifes' gold jewelry. In other threads/forums I have noticed a lot of the fella's (and you also ladies) have test gardens that they go to, to either check their MDers or 'practice' on with different detectors. Having known targets at known depths makes a lot of sense to me. I tend to do the beep/ and dig method right now as I am still learning what my MD is teaching me. HH

No worries. I just recently made a depth test capsule out of a 5" piece of pvc and 2 end caps. I put the dime in the bottom and fill capsule with surrounding dirt. I then tap it or shove it into the ground. I dont glue the top so I can fill it with the dirt from whatever area I am hunting. I've only made a 5" depth capsule using a dime so far, but you can make them as long as you like and use larger diameter pvc for quarters, etc...I think it's a great idea to practice in test gardens but I have alot of power lines about 30 feet from my house and the emi is not good, so I can't run my machines very hot.

 

[atomicscott]

Hey Scott, I did not mean to infer that you were making any kind of "claims". I agree that the surrounding ground mineralization, in your ex, probably affected the MD ability to find such a small target. This just supports my thought- that the target, if placed in the hole- should be covered with dirt so the soil mineralization is there for the MD to deal with. I have been considering setting up a test garden- I was thinking of using a piece of chain link fence 'top rail' to make a plug cutter which could pressed into the ground at different locations/ depths, and then deposit different targets (coins, tabs, rusty nails, etc.). Then push the pipe plug cutter with the plug still in it back in the ground and use a wood dowel to push down on the plug while I pull the cutter back out. This way the soil is not 'disturbed' , and mineralization of the soil is intact with the surrounding soil. Make a detailed map of the garden- object disc. and depth, in case you ever have to retrieve the silver coins or the wifes' gold jewelry. In other threads/forums I have noticed a lot of the fella's (and you also ladies) have test gardens that they go to, to either check their MDers or 'practice' on with different detectors. Having known targets at known depths makes a lot of sense to me. I tend to do the beep/ and dig method right now as I am still learning what my MD is teaching me. HH

I do like your idea of making the test garden(s). It sounds like it would work well. Seems like you could get pretty accurate results and learn alot from it. Let me know how it works for you, I may steal your idea! I saw the idea of the test capsules in Western & Eastern Treasure magazine. Happy Hunting!

 

[DigDugNY]

Hey Scott, I e-mailed you a while back...did you get it?

 

[yelnif]

I do like your idea of making the test garden(s). It sounds like it would work well. Seems like you could get pretty accurate results and learn alot from it. Let me know how it works for you, I may steal your idea! I saw the idea of the test capsules in Western & Eastern Treasure magazine. Happy Hunting!

Well it kinda worked- the first plug cut was @ 2" deep, it came out of the ground great and was reinserted into the ground- OK. The second plug cut was 4" deep and it also came out of the ground in good shape but when I tried to replace the plug by pushing it out of the pipe cutter it didn't budge. After @ 10 or 12 wacks with a 4# hammer on the wood rod the plug came out, only problem was when I put back in the hole now it is @ 2" short of being flush with the surrounding ground. (soil was compressed because of having to DRIVE it out). Back to the drawing board. hahaha . HH

 

[DigDugNY]

I don't know if this makes a difference but when you guys put the battery into the Vaquero does it kind of stick out a bit? It seems to do that with mind and idk if putting the battery cover on pushes it in completely. I still get a long battery check but could it still affect performance?

 

[63bkpkr]

I believe an air test done Uniformly each time, all the time [same location, same electronics on in the area, etc.] yields a useful in air test value for comparison of coils and coins. Yes to really know what the machine will do when detecting in dirt you need to put it over dirt because dirt has a variety of mineral components, target situations, EMI from location to location.

I also believe that any "tuning" of the system, detector with coil, was done to the electronics package in the box and then a comparison test was likely done to compare the customers coils to confirm useful conditions for all the coils involved. The detector coil is a sealed unit and is not easily opened without damaging it. The functioning guts of the coil or antenna are lengths of wire and to make any changes to the coil you need to remove wire and that just is very unlikely that the company went to all that trouble. A few screws loosened on the electronics control box gives access to the components that are truly adjustable and this is where I believe the adjustments were made. To air is human, to adjust is what we all need from time to time. Let the detecting begin! Happy Hunting to all.............63bkpkr

 

[atomicscott]

I believe an air test done Uniformly each time, all the time [same location, same electronics on in the area, etc.] yields a useful in air test value for comparison of coils and coins. Yes to really know what the machine will do when detecting in dirt you need to put it over dirt because dirt has a variety of mineral components, target situations, EMI from location to location.

I also believe that any "tuning" of the system, detector with coil, was done to the electronics package in the box and then a comparison test was likely done to compare the customers coils to confirm useful conditions for all the coils involved. The detector coil is a sealed unit and is not easily opened without damaging it. The functioning guts of the coil or antenna are lengths of wire and to make any changes to the coil you need to remove wire and that just is very unlikely that the company went to all that trouble. A few screws loosened on the electronics control box gives access to the components that are truly adjustable and this is where I believe the adjustments were made. To air is human, to adjust is what we all need from time to time. Let the detecting begin! Happy Hunting to all.............63bkpkr

Rusty specifically said to me that they had to "re-spin" the coil. He said it takes a few days for the epoxy to dry. He also chipped my coil cover when removing it and gave me a new one to replace it, not sure how else he would chip the coil cover unless it was done when he removed it.

 

[atomicscott]

Well it kinda worked- the first plug cut was @ 2" deep, it came out of the ground great and was reinserted into the ground- OK. The second plug cut was 4" deep and it also came out of the ground in good shape but when I tried to replace the plug by pushing it out of the pipe cutter it didn't budge. After @ 10 or 12 wacks with a 4# hammer on the wood rod the plug came out, only problem was when I put back in the hole now it is @ 2" short of being flush with the surrounding ground. (soil was compressed because of having to DRIVE it out). Back to the drawing board. hahaha . HH

You never know til you try! Still sounds like it could be a workable idea with a bit more experimentation. Thanks for the update, let me know if you make any more progress

 

[Tee1up]

If you are looking to get a comparison feel for different detectors, I think air tests are a great way to set some benchmarks with different metals. The only problem is that guys are notorious liars/exaggerators when it comes to describing length and depth.

So as some of you know I got my Vaquero back with both my stock and 5.75 coils being re-tuned. I haven't been able to do an air test until now. I haven't tried the stock coil yet, but just did one with the 5.75 concentric because thats the one I will be using most of the time and I will tell you that it being re-tuned gives it a huge advantage now.

My settings were Threshold maxed, Sensitivity maxed, and discrimination set to the notch between iron and nickel. So I pretty much had it supertuned. I set the ground balance by doing the 5 turns counter clockwise and 2 turns clockwise. Here are my results

Quarter=13-14"

Penny=12-13"

Dime=11-12"

And I am not kidding you...this was with the 5.75 concentric coil. I don't what they did, but this makes me extremely happy!

If I get a chance soon, I'll try to do one with the Stock Coil..but I'm assuming if you add 1" or 1.5" to each coin, thats what it would be

 

[luvsdux]

This thread has gotten quite long, but I feel compelled to put in my two bits. IMHO air tests do have a useful function. They can be used to see the different performance between coils, give a base line to test against if the detector seems to have lost performance and even to compare the performance of two detectors (only fair that they have similar sized coils). However, for real world results of course the results in the field on true in ground targets is the last word in true, useful perfomance.
luvsdux