coil questions

[hardrockherk]

my girlfriend bought me a bounty hunter 505 since she knew i was thinking about buying a md. to start with i am a gold prospector not a relic hunter i was debating a higher end machine but wasnt sure i would have patients to metal detect so i really didnt want to spend 800-1000 on something to throw in the river. so.....what i am wondering since i havent been able to get this detector to pick up a plastic vial with 3 grams of gold in it lying on the grass in the back yard with the 8 inch coil it came with will purchasing a double d and/or the 4in coil make this machine perform any better for gold? most of the machines i was looking came the double d or 4in coil. it would be great to find out if i have the patients to detect and if so upgrade in a few months or so but if this machine wont perform even close to what i want i wont be able to give detectoring a fair shake and im not looking forward to telling my girl she wasted money on something i cant wont use cause i may find the detector someplace it should never go any input would be great thanks

 

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[TunnelRat]

Your bh operates at a frequency of 6.8 kHz. Most gold detectors operate in the range of 17 kHz or higher. The Fisher gold bug 2 pro actually operates at the frequency of 71 KHz. The higher frequencies are used to maximize detection of non-conductive metals such as gold. The lower frequencies are much more tuned to detect the conductive metals such as silver.

Rule of thumb here is that the lower the frequency of the detector the less likely it will be to favor gold. It might wind-up detecting a gold coin but will probably not work much for detecting small gold nuggets or pieces.

Machines that are meant for gold prospecting will start with the mid frequencies of 16-18 kHz and go up. I have been looking at gold/prospecting detectors for a while now and looking at the recommendations of the metal detector makers is where I would start. For example go to kellyco.com and click on their gold detectors icon and look at them. See what they have in common.. frequency, ground balance, ability to work in high minerals (if true prospecting) or ability to work around salt (if beach hunting) etc.. Usually smaller coils for pinpointing smaller gold. Larger coils will miss the smallest gold but go deeper. Write down the names of the gold detectors in your price range then look at the reviews for them on the metal detecting forums and the sellers web sites.. Eventually you'll get the feel for the kind of things you need in a detector and will begin narrowing down your choice to just a few.. Then it gets a little bit harder as everyone has their favorite. Hope this helps you a bit.

 

[Terry Soloman]

As TunnelRat said, the answer is no, a new coil won't help.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Terry and Tunnel Rat are correct. New coil want help, your detector is not a gold detector it is a general detector, it will pick up full size gold rings but small gold want work, as far as detector is concerned you don't have 3 grams of gold, you have 1 gram of gold 3 times, like links in a gold necklace.

 

[Sandman]

The above experts are correct. Think of those tiny flakes of gold in that vial as separate targets. They are not connected like a solid piece for the coils field to report. A smaller coil will help some, but not enough.The best would be a dedicated gold machine. Keep the GF, she tried.