Tesoro on nickels

[ToddB64]

I got into this hobby in mid Feb. 2010 then saved up all my dirty clad from day 1 and around Christmas that first year Harbor Freight had one of their big sales so that, and armed with a 25% off coupon, I sprung for a double barrel tumbler.
This pic was taken after I cleaned all that clad I was hoarding for months.
I felt like Scrooge McDuck...had a great time separating, stacking and counting all those coins.
Had even more fun spending it eventually.
In the 6.5 years I have been doing this I have averaged somewhere around $200-$250 a year in clad, just that amount came close to paying for all my detectors and accessories I have bought over the years for this hobby.
The funny thing is clad to me is just a byproduct, love to find it any time but it is just something I pick up while I search for other things like old coins, relics and jewelry.
Not bad for something that is a secondary target and goal.

Gotta love a hobby that actually does pay for itself in so many different ways.

digger27 has done well !

IMHO, one thing big success in this hobby requires is that we have decent health. This allows us to hunt for long hours at a time (4-6 hrs.) or frequently for shorter periods of time (1-3 hrs.) or a combination of both, but the bottom line for the kind of success digger27 has demonstrated normally requires that we accumulate a lot of total hunting hours every month.

Otherwise, the only way I can see to get around some of the large amount of monthly total hours is by research (libraries, satellite maps, observations while driving, etc., etc.) to locate the most promising and lucrative hunting areas, then add to that persistence and having the right equipment for the type of targets we hope to recover, being savvy with all other aspects of metal detecting and we shouldn't forget a bit of luck always helps too !

One other aspect of metal detecting for big success in less time when hunting on land is the method of target recovery. Let's assume you use a pin pointer, but then there are a few usual methods of digging that are listed below. I have not listed a totally removed plug, as this is a destructive method that can lead to the plug being jerked out of the ground by a power mower, or killing the grass and leaving an ugly brown spot. Which method does digger27 prefer I wonder ?

#1..Hatch or Trapdoor (square or rectangular), cutting three sides, leaving the fourth as a hinge and bending the flap back to expose the soil and then searching for and recovering the target.

#2..Probe and Round Shank Screw Driver good for manicured lawns and when done correctly, leaves no dead grass or evidence of digging. Use probe to locate target, then insert screw driver into ground at 45° angle so tip is under target, hold rear of screw driver shank with other hand for support and pry target up and out of ground in one continuous motion.

#3..Slit Technique good for manicured lawns and when done correctly, leaves no dead grass or evidence of digging. Use a knife and fingers to open the turf, then search for and recover target from the soil.

Note: Complete details on above methods are fully explained at the following link:
http://goldpanprospectors.com/files/METAL_DETECTING_RECOVERY_METHOD11.pdf

Looking forward to comments, opinions, etc..

ToddB64

 

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[tabman]

I've hit super deep nickels so hard with my Tesoro detectors that they knocked the dates completely off of them. I've got pictures to prove it. LOL

tabman

 

[pinenut]

they all get nickels..

I managed to snag this one last Monday with my Bandido/8", and had disc set just past the foil range ('bout "4½"). Signal sounded like a coin and good enough to dig but I wouldn't say it "hit hard". Had I used my Tejon with it set set similarly (just past foil), it would really have sounded solid, but on Tejon steel bottle caps do too in that disc range..and there were plenty around. It was a trashy old camp area where I wouldn't use a Tejon.

This one's a '12D and in fine/very fine.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Congratualtions on the V-nickel

My Outlaw is an absolute playground and grass area coin/jewelry magnet. I have many other machines, but when hunting these sites the Outlaw is my first selection. I like the fact that it beeps and I dig...repeat (many times).

 

[pinenut]

Congratualtions on the V-nickel

My Outlaw is an absolute playground and grass area coin/jewelry magnet. I have many other machines, but when hunting these sites the Outlaw is my first selection. I like the fact that it beeps and I dig...repeat (many times).

Thanks! I was very pleasantly surprised to dig that up, especially when knowing that area had been detected quite a bit over the years. It was about 5" down, and about a foot out from a tree trunk. Thought it was a foreign coin, 'till I put my glasses on!

Outlaw is another awesome Tesoro, especially in trashy spots. I think my Outlaw has even cleaner discrimination and slightly better depth than my Bandido, but it doesn't sound quite as good to my ears.. Bandido has a really high pitch beep.

 

[ToddB64]

Tesoro on Nickels (Sub-title: "Up-Averaging" on Nickels.)

Hi Digger27,

Your "Up-Averaging" theory in post 13, page 1 of this thread, raises a new-to-me phenomenon !

As you explained, there are three conditions suspected of causing up-averaging on a nickel, i.e. (a) the presents of an iron object(s), (b) sufficient ground mineralization and (c) sufficient coin depth.

My understanding of Up-Averaging is that when one or more of the above conditions are present, this can cause the detector circuitry to interpret a higher-than-normal conductivity for a nickel and of course, the circuitry then signals that reading audibly and/or visually.

IMHO, that phenomenon would not normally be considered a good thing, because the reported signal, including for example the dial position on a Compadre, is actually a false reading, misleading the operator into thinking the target has higher conductivity and better-grade metal.

As you said, Keith Southern mentioned this effect has happened to him using many different brands and I assume you suspect it has happened to you in the past. This phenomenon adds another conundrum to the puzzle we must solve when trying to decide whether or not to dig reported trash, like pull-tabs; the safe alternative being to dig it all, because that pull-tab signal could be a ring !

I wonder if detector manufacturers have recognized this Up-Averaging as a problem and tried to invent solutions for the three suspected causes ?

ToddB64

 

[doggoneitdignit]

Very nice "V" nickel, wish you more on your most Tesoro favorite machine the Bandido II uMax!

 

[digger27]

Hi Digger27,

Your "Up-Averaging" theory in post 13, page 1 of this thread, raises a new-to-me phenomenon !

As you explained, there are three conditions suspected of causing up-averaging on a nickel, i.e. (a) the presents of an iron object(s), (b) sufficient ground mineralization and (c) sufficient coin depth.

My understanding of Up-Averaging is that when one or more of the above conditions are present, this can cause the detector circuitry to interpret a higher-than-normal conductivity for a nickel and of course, the circuitry then signals that reading audibly and/or visually.

IMHO, that phenomenon would not normally be considered a good thing, because the reported signal, including for example the dial position on a Compadre, is actually a false reading, misleading the operator into thinking the target has higher conductivity and better-grade metal.

As you said, Keith Southern mentioned this effect has happened to him using many different brands and I assume you suspect it has happened to you in the past. This phenomenon adds another conundrum to the puzzle we must solve when trying to decide whether or not to dig reported trash, like pull-tabs; the safe alternative being to dig it all, because that pull-tab signal could be a ring !

I wonder if detector manufacturers have recognized this Up-Averaging as a problem and tried to invent solutions for the three suspected causes ?

ToddB64

I am sure the engineers know about and understand up averaging, I don't presume they consider it much of a problem since it is physics and as Scotty used to say you can't change the laws of physics.

Up averaging in my dirt is an asset, to me anyway, in my difficult mineralized iron infested dirt.
Using my Fisher it is built into the programming to be enhanced, I consider it a great feature that can lift better targets high and into areas I can notice them easier.
With my Mojave it happens too and without screen numbers and behavior to observe I might dig a bit more trash but not much more...the way I hunt with thumbing the knob up and then back down most trash targets still act similarly, kind of noisy coming back no matter where they actually come in on the knob position normally or higher.
A few won't disc out at all that should in certain conditions here, deeper pull tabs for instance, a few other things maybe too but not all the time and good targets like coins still seem to have a slightly different and sharper sound so I don't care if I dig a bit more trash using that one...more than my share of good targets still seem to make it into my treasure pouch.
As much as I prefer to avoid digging tons of trash I don't mind digging some and my share, I am out there to dig and not just to walk around swinging the coil after all.
You just learn to deal with and adapt to anything and everything that comes your way out there no matter what tools you are using.
Machine languages might have different accents here and there but they are still languages...you just learn them and all their little quirks and just get on with your life.

Here is the result of a decent hunt I had recently with the Mojave in one of the oldest parks in my city.
Dedicated in the 1880's, probably used to be farmland before that.
It has a ton of trash as most really old parks do, tons of iron here also and despite being mostly black dirt it is still mineralized somewhat...ground balances in the lower to mid 60's on my Fisher.
I don't have a picture of all my trash but that included some tabs, small bits of iron wire, screws and nails, some crown and screw on caps, can slaw and even some foil.
Most came in higher than normal if they were deeper and most fuzzy as I dialed down but I dug them anyway just to be sure in an old site like this, on several I was fooled by some more solid ones and thought they might be better than trash but weren't...just the nature of the game in this hobby.
If everything was super easy everyone would be doing this stuff all the time everywhere.
Overall I still did not dig a huge amount of trash compared to what is here and still came home with all this.
Up averaging...not a problem and it can be an asset if you learn to utilize it.