Horseshoe Button, Relic Hunting

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

Took my 600 on its maiden relic hunt at an early 1800’’s cellar hole in PA I have pounded with my previous detector.

I was able to recover a handful of mid/high tone typical relic targets today in a 2 hour hunt. I was quite pleased, but know there is more there.

I was running in Park 1. There is a lot of iron at this site. I was digging deep nails and large rusty chunks of iron that rang up pretty high so I started using the horseshoe button. Almost every signal, there would be some iron grunts and low numbers. I passed on the ones that were 75% and higher iron swing numbers and dug the ones that were high tone numbers more than 50% of the time. What do most experienced users do in high iron cellar hole areas?

Also, some signals were perfect clean high tone one direction and disappeared or were iron signals when turning and swinging 90 degrees. I passed on these as they were always iron targets with my last detector. What do most users do in this situation?

Dig it all is pretty much impossible at this site because of the roots and some of the signals (I suspect iron) read much deeper after clearing 8-10” of dirt.

Here are a couple of my first relic keepers from today.

Thx!

 

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[dirtlooter]

very nice, consider watching Calabashes latest videos, he talks a lot about iron and iron grunts etc. he really likes the pitch tones and does extremely well with how he hunts with it.

 

[Calabash Digger]

Iron hunting takes some practice because a lot of the signals are distorted. The 90 degree trick in iron can be a bad mistake in iron sometimes. Dig a few hundred of those iffy signals and you will see a pattern start to develop . Like your brain recognizing what the machine is trying to tell you. There is no quick way to do it other than dig 100s of those signals. Perfect signals in iron are few and far between. Check this video out,,,,,,

 

[HighVDI]

Thad, when we set up your machine....park 1 was just a starting point. People claim more seperation in park and field 2 but I've had good success with 1 too.

You could up your iron bias when you get over a signal that seems suspect. Might give you enough info to make a better dig/no dig decision. You also have to remember that your old machine was a low gain detector and wasn't as prone to falsing on those small iron nails and bits. I agree with Calabash. Once you get some hours on the machine you will see reoccurring vdi sequences tipping off certain targets. If you pay attention to audio, number patterns, and pinpoint as a whole you will get a feel for it.

 

[vferrari]

The reason I use Field 2 (preferred)/Park 2 for relic hunting is not so much regarding separation but because those modes are optimized (based on their higher frequency weighting) for detecting mid-conductive targets like brass and small lead which are the metals of which most desirable relic targets are made vs. Park 1 which is weighted to the lower frequencies and is therefore more optimized for high conductive targets like copper and silver. This still does not preclude me from finding high conductive (e.g., silver and copper) targets. As a matter of fact, I found my most recent Seated Liberty silver coins and a worn copper using Field 2 (in addition to minie balls, buttons, knapsack parts, percussion caps, and the breast plate in my Avatar). The "2" modes are my go to's for relic hunting followed by Gold Mode 1 in thick iron situations. Park 1 (and Field 1) will definitely find you relics too. Just because they are optimized for high conductive targets, does not mean they can't sniff out mid-conductive relics too (just as silver can be found with the "2" modes) and as evidenced by those nice relic finds above, but I personally prefer Field 2 or Park 2.

Regarding the horseshoe button. It definitely helps with hearing the iron, but as Calabash has shown, non-ferrous targets can give a mixed ferrous/non-ferrous signal as the coil comes off the target so the only way to be 100 percent sure of anything is to be holding the target in your hand and looking at it with your eyes. Obviously, it is not always possible to dig everything so you have to play the odds. When you play the odds, you will win some and you will lose some. HTH

 

[HighVDI]

The reason I use Field 2 (preferred)/Park 2 for relic hunting is not so much regarding separation but because those modes are optimized (based on their higher frequency weighting) for detecting mid-conductive targets like brass and small lead which are the metals of which most desirable relic targets are made vs. Park 1 which is weighted to the lower frequencies and is therefore more optimized for high conductive targets like copper and silver. This still does not preclude me from finding high conductive (e.g., silver and copper) targets. As a matter of fact, I found my most recent Seated Liberty silver coins and a worn copper using Field 2 (in addition to minie balls, buttons, knapsack parts, percussion caps, and the breast plate in my Avatar). The "2" modes are my go to's for relic hunting followed by Gold Mode 1 in thick iron situations. Park 1 (and Field 1) will definitely find you relics too. Just because they are optimized for high conductive targets, does not mean they can't sniff out mid-conductive relics too (just as silver can be found with the "2" modes) and as evidenced by those nice relic finds above, but I personally prefer Field 2 or Park 2.

Regarding the horseshoe button. It definitely helps with hearing the iron, but as Calabash has shown, non-ferrous targets can give a mixed ferrous/non-ferrous signal as the coil comes off the target so the only way to be 100 percent sure of anything is to be holding the target in your hand and looking at it with your eyes. Obviously, it is not always possible to dig everything so you have to play the odds. When you play the odds, you will win some and you will lose some. HTH

No doubt. I dug a very deep (IMO) Barber dime in park 2. The "2" modes will definitely hit the high conductors also.....and vice versa.

 

[relicmeister]

The reason I use Field 2 (preferred)/Park 2 for relic hunting is not so much regarding separation but because those modes are optimized (based on their higher frequency weighting) for detecting mid-conductive targets like brass and small lead which are the metals of which most desirable relic targets are made vs. Park 1 which is weighted to the lower frequencies and is therefore more optimized for high conductive targets like copper and silver. This still does not preclude me from finding high conductive (e.g., silver and copper) targets. As a matter of fact, I found my most recent Seated Liberty silver coins and a worn copper using Field 2 (in addition to minie balls, buttons, knapsack parts, percussion caps, and the breast plate in my Avatar). The "2" modes are my go to's for relic hunting followed by Gold Mode 1 in thick iron situations. Park 1 (and Field 1) will definitely find you relics too. Just because they are optimized for high conductive targets, does not mean they can't sniff out mid-conductive relics too (just as silver can be found with the "2" modes) and as evidenced by those nice relic finds above, but I personally prefer Field 2 or Park 2.

Regarding the horseshoe button. It definitely helps with hearing the iron, but as Calabash has shown, non-ferrous targets can give a mixed ferrous/non-ferrous signal as the coil comes off the target so the only way to be 100 percent sure of anything is to be holding the target in your hand and looking at it with your eyes. Obviously, it is not always possible to dig everything so you have to play the odds. When you play the odds, you will win some and you will lose some. HTH

Can you elaborate on the use of gold 1 in iron sites?
What are the benefits you see in it?

 

[vferrari]

Can you elaborate on the use of gold 1 in iron sites?
What are the benefits you see in it?

Sure. I need to back up a little. I mainly relic hunt in nasty, mineralized soil in Virginia. In fact, the CW encampments in and around Culpeper VA are located on known VA gold fields which are also typically rich in iron oxides.

So the gold modes help not only in iron trash environments but also high mineralized environments because that is typically where natural gold can be found. So I pick gold 1 or 2 depending on soil mineralization (Gold 2 if highly mineralized).

The reason I try Gold mode for relics in thick iron trash is because it is set up as a VCO audio mode which means that target strength determines the pitch and intensity of the audio signal. This has two advantages it helps you better separate small (e.g., buttons) from large (ferrous farm trash) targets in plowed fields or former home/building sites, so it can tend to unmask better than the tone modes (Park/Field) in some instances. Also, since gold mode is high frequency weighted for mid-conductive natural gold, that is also where the majority of the brass, lead relics also reside on the conductivity scale, so it, similar to the "2" modes, is also optimized for typical relic targets. However, since it is high frequency weighted and "hot", it is designed to look for relatively shallow gold, so I would not use Gold if I were trying for deep relics (that is where Field 2/Park 2 are preferred). In thick iron, though, I am just trying to unmask shallower keeper targets that may have been missed by others because they have been hiding amongst the iron. HTH.

 

[Calabash Digger]

That's a mode I got to try out sometimes. I have tried it in the yard but not in the field.

 

[vferrari]

That's a mode I got to try out sometimes. I have tried it in the yard but not in the field.

Takes some getting used to as it is not as "responsive" as using pitch mode on the Deus. Not sure which is better, perhaps the Deus and HF coil, but if I come across an iron patch in the field using the Equinox, I'll switch to Gold rather than going back to the truck to fetch the Deus. Just another tool in the toolkit that is Equinox.

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

Great findsAt heavy iron CellAr holes in CT

I was having frustration with nails falseing especially the hammered hand made ones

My only resolve is I search completely open in all metal (HORSESHOE)
And the strong repeat tones I dig from multi directions

I am in field 2, set to 5 tones and bias at 3 and recovery 5
I have found tiny bronze and copper items
That got discriminated in regular Park 2
I still get falsing but when doubt I drop down to 5khz
And if it blanks or mixed signal I walk
And or I check with
a user program set in park 2
Set at 2 tone, I adjusted tones where iron is at 1 and low volume
And tone 2 at 20 pitch and louder volume
If it is iffy and numbers and sound all over the place
I walk and don’t dig

when I doubt the ability of the machine to do a good job separating nails from good objects and I dig jumpy or one way signals, i get nails again

 

[Wild Colonial Boy]

have to try this gold mode technique, thanks

 

[sgoss66]

pa-dirt -- NICE digs, on your maiden voyage with your EQ.

What's the "coin-looking" item? Not a coin I recognize; a button of some sort? Never seen one of those...

Steve

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

pa-dirt -- NICE digs, on your maiden voyage with your EQ.

What's the "coin-looking" item? Not a coin I recognize; a button of some sort? Never seen one of those...

Steve

It’s a flat button, from Alberts Button Book (ID thx to Steve in PA)

Diplomatic or Patriotic use

 

[sgoss66]

Thanks for the info, PA-dirt. VERY cool find!!! Looks early half of the 1800s to me; any info on the age of it?

Steve