Do You Have a TEST GARDEN?

[Burdie]

I had a test garden years ago but I am thinking about making another. I am not getting out as often or as long of time as I use to. I am just not learning my machine as well as I would like. Thought the garden would help.

Do you have a test garden? If so, how did you set yours up? Would appreciate your thoughts and ideas.
Thanks for your replies and looking before hand.

Burdie

 

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[The Beep Goes On]

Here's a few past posts on the subject...

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,65126.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,61484.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,117666.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,106208.0.html

HH!
TBGO

 

[Schrecky]

Yea, I have a small one. I planted quarters at 6", 8" and 10" in my back yard and another of the same further back in the yard where the mineralization is very low. I marked the spots by off setting stakes out a foot from the coin locations. You should here the laughs I get when people look at my yard and ask about the stakes.

 

[Michigan Badger]

Our landscape changes so much with my wife's love for flowers that I usually change my coin garden every year.

The coin garden is valuable and everyone should have one. This goes double for those who only hunt occasionally.

Coin gardens are best for learning sounds and understanding the effects of trash masking. I'd recommend burying most targets at 3-5 inches deep and some with trash nearby. Most real finds are within this 3-5 range anyway.

I also like to build what I call a descending ladder. I bury cull silver dimes at 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 inches deep where there is no trash. The purpose of the latter is to check depth. It's amazing how many detectors can't detect a silver dime at a true 5 inches deep. Some top brands have all they can do to hit on a dime at 4 inches. Others give a good signal at 7 inches. My Tejon could do 8 inches if I set it to being unstable.

I've yet to find a detector that can give a solid signal on a buried dime at 10 inches. I'm hoping my SE will but I'd bet against it. But to detect a dime at 10 inhes a detector would have to air test at at least 13+ inches. To date the only machine I know of that can air test on a dime at 13+ inches is a Nautilus IIB maxed-out with the 15-inch coil. However, I never tried it on a dime at 10 inches in my garden.

Is the coin garden a great deal different than long time buried targets? Up until a few weeks ago I would have said yes. Now I'm not so sure. I mean, if time makes that much difference, why would my Tejon do 8 inches and another brand of similar cost and features only get 4 inches on the same dime? No, I'm not sure at all the time thing holds water.

I think it was Georgie (the inventor of the Nexus) who said all detectors lose at least 30% in ground as compared to air tests. As a rule I'd agree with that. The detector is essentially a radio transmitter and all transmitters lose distance when faced with material obstacles. You can prove this with a set of walkie talkies. This is the main reason they build radio towers so high.

I may open a can of worms and turn some friends against me but I don't buy Minelabs thesis that their machines get greater in-ground depth than air distance. That just doesn't make sense.

So, before I write a bigger book here, I'll say this, yes, make a coin garden because coin gardens don't exaggerate.

JUST ADDED: Since I've "let it all hang out" here I might as well include another radical statement. I personally think that in actual hunting situations we're covering a depth of from 0-6 inches deep no matter what brand we're using. Now and then we'll slow down and recheck an object and get that rare 7+ incher. But our true average hunting depth is much shallower than most people think.

Badger

 

[Burdie]

This is the type of in depth information I am looking for. Thank you Badger. I welcome other thoughts on this subject.
Burdie

 

[Michigan Badger]

This is the type of in depth information I am looking for. Thank you Badger. I welcome other thoughts on this subject.
Burdie

Glad you liked it, Burdie.

One interesting observation is to carefully watch all those YouTube detecting videos. If you look very carefully you'll often see a shallow find of less than 6 inches deep and/or a very bad pinpointing job.

Contrary to what some people think, not all really old finds are deep. I know people who hunt ancient Copper Culture relics that are 6,000 years old and they're 4-9 inches deep. Usually the only reason they're that deep is many are dug near rivers where there is a lot of erosion, etc.

Back in the 60's when we were using those shallow seeking BFO units people dug large cents, seated, etc.

Badger

 

[Nana40]

JUST ADDED: Since I've "let it all hang out" here I might as well include another radical statement. I personally think that in actual hunting situations we're covering a depth of from 0-6 inches deep no matter what brand we're using. Now and then we'll slow down and recheck an object and get that rare 7+ incher. But our true average hunting depth is much shallower than most people think.
Badger

I'm hanging out with ya, Badger!
I totally agree. I had this conversation just a couple of days ago with ME. Most of my older coin finds are no deeper than 5 or 6 inches and are usually around 3. I did find a 1/2 at 8, but that was in a flower bed that was build up around an old oak tree. I can see where it would be different though, hunting in the sand or hunting plowed fields or if fill dirt has been brought in to the site, but for the most part, I have found over the past couple of years of hunting in Alabama that the coins I've recovered really haven't gone that far down in normal circumstances and neither have the buttons. And nooooo...I don't want to change detectors! I love my MXT!
Ya'll take it easy on us!

Nana

OH, Burdie...you might want to put that garden in the back corner. Don't want Momma getting all mad at you this time of year!

 

[Michigan Badger]

JUST ADDED: Since I've "let it all hang out" here I might as well include another radical statement. I personally think that in actual hunting situations we're covering a depth of from 0-6 inches deep no matter what brand we're using. Now and then we'll slow down and recheck an object and get that rare 7+ incher. But our true average hunting depth is much shallower than most people think.
Badger

I'm hanging out with ya, Badger!
I totally agree. I had this conversation just a couple of days ago with ME. Most of my older coin finds are no deeper than 5 or 6 inches and are usually around 3. I did find a 1/2 at 8, but that was in a flower bed that was build up around an old oak tree. I can see where it would be different though, hunting in the sand or hunting plowed fields or if fill dirt has been brought in to the site, but for the most part, I have found over the past couple of years of hunting in Alabama that the coins I've recovered really haven't gone that far down in normal circumstances and neither have the buttons. And nooooo...I don't want to change detectors! I love my MXT!
Ya'll take it easy on us!

Nana

OH, Burdie...you might want to put that garden in the back corner. Don't want Momma getting all mad at you this time of year!

Hi Nana! I don't get up much in the finds section where you hang out most of the time. Good to see ya down here in the basement, so ta speak.

I've never tried the MXT but I've heard nothing but good about it. I'll get one one of these days.

Badger

 

[Burdie]

JUST ADDED: Since I've "let it all hang out" here I might as well include another radical statement. I personally think that in actual hunting situations we're covering a depth of from 0-6 inches deep no matter what brand we're using. Now and then we'll slow down and recheck an object and get that rare 7+ incher. But our true average hunting depth is much shallower than most people think.
Badger

I'm hanging out with ya, Badger!
I totally agree. I had this conversation just a couple of days ago with ME. Most of my older coin finds are no deeper than 5 or 6 inches and are usually around 3. I did find a 1/2 at 8, but that was in a flower bed that was build up around an old oak tree. I can see where it would be different though, hunting in the sand or hunting plowed fields or if fill dirt has been brought in to the site, but for the most part, I have found over the past couple of years of hunting in Alabama that the coins I've recovered really haven't gone that far down in normal circumstances and neither have the buttons. And nooooo...I don't want to change detectors! I love my MXT!
Ya'll take it easy on us!

Nana

OH, Burdie...you might want to put that garden in the back corner. Don't want Momma getting all mad at you this time of year!

Ever since I brought up the idea of a garden the sleet and wind is all we get here. I want to see if my machine can get past 5 inches on coins. On the relic side I would like to see if it will go 12 inches down. The other thing I want to look at is how well it will find a coin in trash.
I agree on the depth of coins in yards and parks. Wondering about in the woods though. Are they a little deeper because of the loam build up?
Burdie

 

[Michigan Badger]

I agree on the depth of coins in yards and parks. Wondering about in the woods though. Are they a little deeper because of the loam build up?
Burdie

Yes, the woods and beach are totally different. At an ocean beach a coin can be on the surface one day and 5 feet deep a week later.

Open fields and undeveloped lands mean finds will be mostly shallow. I've found old coins in yards at 3 inches and at 10. Those found near the houses were deep due to backfill.

Depth is important but most sites hunted today by most weekend THers have shallow finds. Those with the super deep detectors have a definite edge when it comes to those heavily hunted sites.

 

[BamaBill]

MichiganBadger, I've been trying out a 12X10 concentric coil on my Eldorado and I'm noticing that its a bear to ground balance. I know you used a fixed GB with yours, but have you tried an adjustable model with a 12X10? Just curious if you found it a little difficult to GB with that 12X10 on it?

 

[Michigan Badger]

MichiganBadger, I've been trying out a 12X10 concentric coil on my Eldorado and I'm noticing that its a bear to ground balance. I know you used a fixed GB with yours, but have you tried an adjustable model with a 12X10? Just curious if you found it a little difficult to GB with that 12X10 on it?

Bill I never tried the 12x10 with a ground balancing detector. I used it with my Silver uMax and it was great. I found deeper coins with it than I did with my Tejon and even Sovereign GT. But I've heard some don't like the 12x10 so it must be for the reason you mentioned.

The difficulty in balancing it is probably due to the greater sensitivity. I'd lower the sensitivity until after the GB process. That's how I always ground balanced my Nautilus IIb's. If the power and sensitivity are too high it's nearly impossible to ground balance a Nautilus.

Difficulty in ground balancing is not always a bad thing. It can show the detector is very deep and is picking up metal deep in the ground and thus the balancing problem. To properly balance any detector one must have ground devoid of metallic objects large enough for the machine to detect.

This is one major reason why some people think the Tejon and Nautilus detectors are not deep. They're trying to ground balance them over trash metal and you can't do that and get depth. In super trashy areas it's best to walk away to an open spot and ground balance the detector there. Then go back and hunt that trashy area with that ground balance.

When I used the Tejon I rarely ever changed the ground balance. Our soil here is sandy and very low in minerals. This is the main reason the presets work so well here.

Badger

 

[Doctor Detroit]

I once asked Sandman about a test garden and he said it was a good idea and told me how to do it. However I have since moved into a new condo and have no dirt that would be all mine to dig into.

 

[Michigan Badger]

I once asked Sandman about a test garden and he said it was a good idea and told me how to do it. However I have since moved into a new condo and have no dirt that would be all mine to dig into.

Use plastic flower pots.

 

[Burdie]

Here is another idea I came across. Take a clear storage plastic container like this one.


Take the lid and tape three different coins or junk on the inside. Turn the container upside down. You can be consistant in depth and know what the meter says. You can see if it is correct. Pinpointing can be checked this way also.
Burdie

 

[Michigan Badger]

Here is another idea I came across. Take a clear storage plastic container like this one.



Take the lid and tape three different coins or junk on the inside. Turn the container upside down. You can be consistant in depth and know what the meter says. You can see if it is correct. Pinpointing can be checked this way also.
Burdie

That's an idea but without dirt you're not really getting a lifelike testing.

One small pot per coin is a better idea because you can separate them a greater distance apart. Make sure there is no metal in the floor.

Badger