Help finding a lost ring

[skeeterd]

This morning at work, I lost my wedding band. I have a general idea of where it slipped off my finger but haven't been able to find it. It was made from an 1895 $10 gold eagle. The area where I lost it has some deep grass and some bare ground. I have a minelab X Terra 705 metal detector but, I have never used it and don't know what settings to use. I'm hoping someone on TN can help me figure out how best to use my detector. There are a lot of nails, pieces of wire and other metal junk in the ground. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

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[jeff of pa]

post moved to where someone who likely uses a X Terra 705
may be able to walk you through the settings.

best I can suggest is if you can set it up to detect nickles
odds are it will detect the ring.

 

[signal_line]

Never used the X Terra but I would guess it would show up somewhere around a nickel, but if it's big it might read higher. Should give a fairly strong hit, but rings do not always give one clear tone, sometimes two quick tones almost together. Being on or near the surface just check your depth gauge for the shallow targets only. Never used the detector?, well trial and error. Put out a nickel and see what it sounds like.

 

[jeff of pa]

Never used the X Terra but I would guess it would show up somewhere around a nickel, but if it's big it might read higher. Should give a fairly strong hit, but rings do not always give one clear tone, sometimes two quick tones almost together. Being on or near the surface just check your depth gauge for the shallow targets only. Never used the detector?, well trial and error. Put out a nickel and see what it sounds like.

What I find is IF it is a Fresh Drop,
odds are it will be a nice Clear Loud Tone compared to surroundings.

So I just make sure I'm accepting all Tabs & Nickles and Scan.
then check everything that Stands out.
Last time I did this, First sharp Signal within Seconds was the ring

 

[Longhair]

I'll suggest a procedure for you step-by-step.

1)Turn it on.
2)Press the chevron button (top center below the display).
The first position on the menu now displayed is Sensitivity (@ 7:00). For this particular application anything over 20 should be fine. The +/- buttons change the setting. Once you start hunting if you experience a lot of random unrepeatable tones you can come straight back here and lower it no more than two clicks at a time until the machine is running stable.

3)Press the chevron button once to advance to the Noise Cancel menu.
Now while holding the coil parallel to the ground about a foot above the ground press the far left button with the pick & $ on it, and hold the coil still until you hear a series of tones letting you know that it has completed the auto selection of a Noise Cancel channel.

4)Press the chevron button again to advance to the Threshold menu.
Press the + or - buttons to make the Threshold tone clearly but minimally audible. With headphones it should be around 4. Without phones it should be around 8-10.

5)Press the chevron button once again to advance to the Volume menu.
Volume control with and without headphones is independent, meaning that volume set with headphones plugged in ONLY sets volume for when phones are plugged in. When no phones are used, the setting is ONLY for when no phones are employed. Set volume to where it is clearly and comfortably audible.
Note: Volume on an Xterra is proportional, so large or close targets are louder and small or distant targets are quieter (this is important...keep reading).

6)Press the Pinpoint button (directly below the chevron button) to exit the menu screen.
7)Press the Ground Balance button (on right with double ended arrow between coil and ground).
Then press the button with the pick on it, and start slowly raising and lowering the coil from just above the ground to about a foot above until you hear a series of tones indicating that proper GB has been selected. Do NOT actually contact the ground while doing this.
8)Press the GB button again to exit the GB menu.

9)Select Pattern 1 with the Pattern selection button (on the left with the numbers 1,2,3,4 on it). Each time you press the button it advances to the next pattern in a rotating cycle.

Now you're ready to start hunting for your ring.

Since it's a recent drop you don't need to scrub the ground with the coil. Hold the coil around four inches above the ground, and keeping it parallel to the ground start slowly sweeping side-to-side advancing with overlapping sweeps. Be careful to not tip the coil at the ends of your sweeps.

Due to a variety of factors such as size, shape, and orientation, a specific target ID number for your ring is impossible to guess. It's only safe to say that it will likely be between 6 and 40. This is why the proportional audio is important, and why you'll have the coil so far from the ground as you search. Investigate every loud repeatable tone.
Often times surface finds will produce more than a single tone. The detected object can sound off as it enters and leaves the detection field, so as long as it's loud and repeatable it's worth checking out.
Single loud high tones in the 40-46 range are often flattened soda cans. If you encounter one of these, raise the coil more than a foot off the ground and pass over it. If it still sounds off and is loud, it's something bigger and worth less than your ring......move on.

I hope that this helps, and good luck finding it!
If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

 

[cudamark]

Nice tutorial Longhair!

 

[Longhair]

It's just the basics, but hopefully enough that he can find his ring.

I do want to stress what I mentioned about "slowly sweeping side-to-side".
It's not a weed eater! Swing it fast and it will sound like a Kaliope on crack. A steady pace of 12"-16" per second is nearly perfect.

And if you ever decide to get serious with that Xterra skeetered, let us know. There is a lot of good information available, as well as a number of experienced users willing to point you in the right direction.

Good luck finding your band!

 

[Truth]

This morning at work, I lost my wedding band. I have a general idea of where it slipped off my finger but haven't been able to find it. It was made from an 1895 $10 gold eagle. The area where I lost it has some deep grass and some bare ground. I have a minelab X Terra 705 metal detector but, I have never used it and don't know what settings to use. I'm hoping someone on TN can help me figure out how best to use my detector. There are a lot of nails, pieces of wire and other metal junk in the ground. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I'm going to say a prayer that you find that beautiful piece of art and the beautiful meaning behind it.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bart@Big Boys Hobbies]

I'll suggest a procedure for you step-by-step.

1)Turn it on.
2)Press the chevron button (top center below the display).
The first position on the menu now displayed is Sensitivity (@ 7:00). For this particular application anything over 20 should be fine. The +/- buttons change the setting. Once you start hunting if you experience a lot of random unrepeatable tones you can come straight back here and lower it no more than two clicks at a time until the machine is running stable.

3)Press the chevron button once to advance to the Noise Cancel menu.
Now while holding the coil parallel to the ground about a foot above the ground press the far left button with the pick & $ on it, and hold the coil still until you hear a series of tones letting you know that it has completed the auto selection of a Noise Cancel channel.

4)Press the chevron button again to advance to the Threshold menu.
Press the + or - buttons to make the Threshold tone clearly but minimally audible. With headphones it should be around 4. Without phones it should be around 8-10.

5)Press the chevron button once again to advance to the Volume menu.
Volume control with and without headphones is independent, meaning that volume set with headphones plugged in ONLY sets volume for when phones are plugged in. When no phones are used, the setting is ONLY for when no phones are employed. Set volume to where it is clearly and comfortably audible.
Note: Volume on an Xterra is proportional, so large or close targets are louder and small or distant targets are quieter (this is important...keep reading).

6)Press the Pinpoint button (directly below the chevron button) to exit the menu screen.
7)Press the Ground Balance button (on right with double ended arrow between coil and ground).
Then press the button with the pick on it, and start slowly raising and lowering the coil from just above the ground to about a foot above until you hear a series of tones indicating that proper GB has been selected. Do NOT actually contact the ground while doing this.
8)Press the GB button again to exit the GB menu.

9)Select Pattern 1 with the Pattern selection button (on the left with the numbers 1,2,3,4 on it). Each time you press the button it advances to the next pattern in a rotating cycle.

Now you're ready to start hunting for your ring.

Since it's a recent drop you don't need to scrub the ground with the coil. Hold the coil around four inches above the ground, and keeping it parallel to the ground start slowly sweeping side-to-side advancing with overlapping sweeps. Be careful to not tip the coil at the ends of your sweeps.

Due to a variety of factors such as size, shape, and orientation, a specific target ID number for your ring is impossible to guess. It's only safe to say that it will likely be between 6 and 40. This is why the proportional audio is important, and why you'll have the coil so far from the ground as you search. Investigate every loud repeatable tone.
Often times surface finds will produce more than a single tone. The detected object can sound off as it enters and leaves the detection field, so as long as it's loud and repeatable it's worth checking out.
Single loud high tones in the 40-46 range are often flattened soda cans. If you encounter one of these, raise the coil more than a foot off the ground and pass over it. If it still sounds off and is loud, it's something bigger and worth less than your ring......move on.

I hope that this helps, and good luck finding it!
If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.

Great post! Loud repeatable sounds are a huge key!