Advanced Technology: Expecting/Assuming Too Much?

[bigscoop]

During our last trip up north Miller433 & I ran into a curious situation that sort of left us wondering if some detectorist are expecting or assuming too much from today's machines, perhaps by setting their discrimination too high in order to ignore things like heavy iron nails. The reason we were left wondering this was because we water hunted a beach that was extremely clean, and I mean, “extremely clean”. Yet, we were still able to pull two heavy gold rings and one heavy gold/silver class ring from moderate depths. Out in the water on this beach we found no pull tabs, no bottle caps, and none of the other usual questionable targets. I know in the past while using various detectors it’s quite possible to set them too high which can cause the signals/tones of gold objects to breakup or to give a chattered tone very similar to the same broken tones they will produce on many larger iron objects, thus giving the detectorist a possible false report on the true nature of the object. Even heavier/denser gold items can signal different then thinner or lighter gold objects, etc. The angle at which they rest in the substrate can also cause broken responses similar to those of discriminated iron objects. I’m only bringing this up because that makes twice that I have come across this same strange situation (gold on otherwise extremely clean beaches) in the last month or so. This last situation took place on the public beach at Lake Otsego, just north of Grayling Michigan and these rings had been in the water for a while, all of them 4” to 10” deep into the substrate, perhaps one was even a bit deeper. Accept for these three rings and a couple of copper/brass jewelry targets found close to the waterline, it was obvious that this beach was being regularly cleaned of lost items. Miller433 was using an Excal with a WOT and he later told me that the 14k white gold band he found on this beach didn’t read as a solid good target until after his first failed scoop attempt. A bit more discrimination and he may not have gotten that first questionable response on it at all. I think in this era of improved technology it’s sometimes easy for us to assume too much and to forget that things like the shape, size, and the density of the target still have an effect on target responses. Discrimination can be a great tool, but using too much of it can also be counterproductive. Just passing these last few curious experiences along. Has anyone else noticed this same curious situation becoming more common place?

 

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[midnightmoon]

...we water hunted a beach that was extremely clean, and I mean, “extremely clean”. Yet, we were still able to pull two heavy gold rings and one heavy gold/silver class ring from moderate depths... I’m only bringing this up because that makes twice that I have come across this same strange situation (gold on otherwise extremely clean beaches) in the last month or so...

Interesting question. I haven't had this happen yet as I usually get a lot of trash and no gold. Makes me wonder if the Zambeachi had recently been by to clean the sand. It only sifts the top few inches, the gold could have sunk outta reach. And maybe you were the only one to swing a coil in exactly the right place.

Congrats on the finds!

 

[bigscoop]

It was late, I guess I was drifting a bit.

I guess I was just pointing out a couple of recent cases where I think too much discrimination was being used, or cases where perhaps someone has been "placing to much trust" in the technology of their machine. These are freshwater lakes, no heavy sand movements, pretty solid bottoms past the first few inches. I just think it's odd to find a scattering of gold on these otherwise cleaned out beaches at such modest depths. No coins, no pull tabs, no bottle caps, just a lot of iron objects and some gold rings. The only explanation I could come up with was, "they've been getting hunted with too much discrimination?" Just suggesting that perhaps we sometimes can place too much faith/trust in the capabilities of our machines?

 

[colorado14ers]

i only read the first sentence . but i only expect clad, rings are a honor to find :P

 

[Sandman]

Besides the disc being set to high you have to realize that many hunters expect the targets to just show up and swing like they were at a race and allowing change to goverer their luck. Those that use concentric coils have a narrow field at depth and by not overlapping are missing targets and only clean the top couple inches.

 

[davest]

slow and smooth is what I've been told, but what do I know, I use a seahunter mk ll

 

[bigscoop]

Besides the disc being set to high you have to realize that many hunters expect the targets to just show up and swing like they were at a race and allowing change to goverer their luck. Those that use concentric coils have a narrow field at depth and by not overlapping are missing targets and only clean the top couple inches.

Thought about that, but wouldn't you think there would be some missed deeper coins as well? Just appears to me that some MDer's are possibly expecting these new technologies to do too much of the work for them. If you take their advertising to heart they make it sound like all you have to do is to turn the machine on and it will find the gold for you like a well seasoned miner. I just wonder if some MDer's are expecting too much from these new technologies. For a while I hunted this beach with zero discrimination and I was finding all sorts of heavy iron nails, chain links, heavy bolts, etc., made me wonder if perhaps these were being discriminated out with too high of a discrimination setting, thus allowing the user to miss some good gold targets? Just can't explain why there was only gold and heavy iron objects on this beach, nothing else?

 

[digum smacks]

heres the thing you cant do "what ifs" unless you find gold and experiment on it "before you dig it".but i find thats almost impossible unless you know the exact sound of gold on your machine.i once went out looking for a ring and my discrimination was set on 17 and i still found it.it was out of town,and i believe it was lost for 3or4 weeks prior

 

[OBN]

I do believe that some metal detectors work better then others in different locations, Plus the ability of the person swinging the detector, his knowledge of the detector, and skills plays a major role in what is found or left behind.

OceanBeach's, Lake's, Bay's, Ponds Bottoms all change, just some change faster then others, A good storm, be it summer or winter can be the makings of a good day or a bad year.

Short and sweet, I don't think there is anyplace that is total hunted out.

This is what I have learned in my few years of detecting..Good Luck on your next outing.........joe