new bounty hunter T IV

stanski1980 · Mar 14, 2011

Hi i am new to MD and was wanting to know if you can use the 4 gold nugget coil in creeks and streams to help pinpoint some small traces of color :icon_scratch:

. I am new to this all around I just bought the T IV and the BH junior as well and went out and found a bunch of trash and a few old bottle caps and some rusted stuff that I can make out what it is. I try-ed to figure out how to block out the rusted stuff :dontknow:

to find the good stuff like coins and other stuff.

Thanks Stan

woof! · Mar 21, 2011

Stan, metal detectors don't detect "flour gold" in the natural setting, they detect chunks of metal. A BH TK4 equipped with a 4 inch searchcoil is capable of detecting good sized shallow nuggets, but there aren't a whole lot of those nuggets left lying around any more. For serious gold prospecting (meaning you hope someday to find at least one gold nugget, even if it's only worth US$20) you need a metal detector that has an all metals "autotune" mode with manual or computerized ground balance phase adjustment.

To put this in perspective: when it comes to finding coins and other lost items in parks and schoolyards, inexpensive metal detectors are often just as good as expensive ones, although in different ways. And the TK4 is a favorite for that kind of use. Gold prospecting on the other hand is highly demanding of sheer performance geared to that specific purpose. There's little comparison between an inexpensive machine like the TK4, and a truly capable gold machine such as the Fisher Gold Bug (which comes from the same factory as the TK4, so I can get away with mentioning it in this forum).

I'm not trying to sell you a Gold Bug, maybe gold prospecting is not for you anyhow, at least not yet. What I'm trying to do is to discourage you from the idea of going gold prospecting with the TK4, because that's a proposition highly unlikely to lead to anything but frustration and disappointment.

--Toto

stanski1980 · Apr 14, 2011

hey thanks for the reply Toto. like i said i am new to this and i have bin out a few times and i found some thing that looks like a small platinum nugget "but i don't think it is but it would be real nice". I know that this kind of thing is rear so i don't know what it is or how to test it

I have learned how to use the all metal setting and the coin shooting as well but i am still playing with it to learn it better.

well thanks for the input again Toto

woof! · Apr 16, 2011

Stanski, platinum is far, far, rarer a metal detector find than gold, and gold is rare enough for most folks even at the nearly $1500/ounce it hit today. That's with gold machines, which are as different from a BH as a Jeep is from a Honda Civic. Great cars, different capabilities.

I'm not saying that you didn't find platinum. I'm saying that very likely it's something else. If what you found seems to be a natural "nugget" without rust staining on it, giving a weak signal for its size, in a region where platinum has been reported, there's a slight chance you found platinum. And there's an almost vanishing chance you found a clue to a rich source. My personal suggestion is to get the dollar signs out of your head (if they were there to begin with), and to study the heck out of the situation using your local GPAA and University geology dept. resources. 99% chance it's a dead end and I wish you well on the quest for the 1% alternative, have fun! I like long shots myself.

--Woof!

ivan salis · Apr 16, 2011

more than likely you found a melted aluminum can blob / nugget * -- now having had and used for many years and still having a bounty hunter tracker IV -- i can you lots of tricks of the trade * like how to adjust the machine to not lose gold but cut out a lot of those annoying pulltabs (mind you I said a lot --NOT ALL-- ) since pulltabs and gold have a very similar electorical conductivity range ( they are quite close and tend to overlap a bit) they are hard to split apart without losing some very tiny gold items --however if you want ring sized gold items and up -- they can be broke apart --using the tracker IV --

do the following get a gold ring or a nickle if no gold is availible (nickles also ring up quite close to gold rings as well) also you need a pulltab of a aluminum can--

find a metal free spot outside --sweep it before in all metal mode to be sure its metal free --
then place the gold ring (or nickle) on one side and the pulltab on the other side of you at least 3-4 feet apart - flip the 3 way toggle switch to disc mode * --lower disc to level all the way to 0 -- run the coil over the pul tab --it should ring up --slowly up the disc level until the pulll tab no longer rings up -- once it no longer hits STOP -- NOW TAKE THE MACHINE AND CHECK THAT THE RING / NICKLE STILL RINGS UP --IF SO GREAT YOUR READY TO GO ---if not very very slowly back off until the ring /nickle does ring up .-- you are now set up to find as much gold as possible with as few pulltabs as possible with the tracker IV.-- its peak setting -- using this setting it should miss many pulltabs and chewing gum foil wrappers and most small iron items as well -- while finding all coins both modern clad and older silver and all but the tinest of gold items (say like a tiny gold earring)-- all rings should still be found however.-- listen closely to the sounds that the machie makes as it detects these differant metals -- differant tones mean differant types of metals -- I hope this helps

stanski1980 · May 3, 2011

hey thanks ivan your tips helped me out a lot now i have it set that way and i am leaving it like that for the wife and kids and me to use. i have tryed it and it works good now i am not getting as many pull tabs and now i am getting more coins :icon_thumright:

thanks stan

ivan salis · May 3, 2011

YOU WILL GET SOME TABS STILL --(TO "RING UP" GOLD YOU GOT TO ( SINCE THE ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY LEVELS OF GOLD AND SOME ALUMINUM ITEMS DO OVER LAP-- USING THE CONDUCTIVITY LEVEL OF WHAT THEY FIND IS HOW "HIGHER END" DETECTORS VIA ELECTRONIC GUESSING -- TRY TO FIGGER OUT WHATS WHAT TYPE OF METAL IT IS THAT THEY FOUND )--SO TO FIND SOME "ALUMINUM" PULLTABS IS UNAVOIDIBLE UNLESS YOU WANT TO TOTALLY GIVE UP ON GOLD ) BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS YOU WILL GET NOTICIBLY LESS PULLTABS SET UP THE WAY I SAID TO

NOW IF YOU WANT TO FIND HISTORICAL IRON RELIC TYPE ITEMS OR PROPERTY STAKES ---SWITCH OVER TO ALL METAL MODE * IT HAS "0" DISCRIMATION -THUS IT HITS ALL AND ANY METALS -- IT ALSO WILL GO THE DEEPEST AS WELL --TONE MODE IS GOOD TO USE AS WELL -- ITS A ALL METAL MODE (THUS DEEPER IN DEPTH) AS WELL BUT IT WILL GIVE YOU ONE OF 3 "SOUND" TONES TO GIVE YOU A BASIC IDEAL OF WHAT BASIC TYPE OF METAL YOU FOUND --LOW TONE =(GROWL NOISE) IRON AND MOST TRASH ITEMS --MID TONE GOLD / ALUMINUM --HIGH TONE (PINGY SORT OF SOUND) COPPER & SILVER COINS

BUT FOR THE BULK OF MOST FOLKS "WANT TO FIND" ITEMS --COINS AND JEWELRY * THE "DISCRIMATE" MODE SETTING FOR THE TRACKER IV--- I GAVE YOU IS THE "BEST SETTING" TO USE ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS

IF YOU GET BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP --ALL THE ALL THE DANG TIME * --FIRST TRY A FRESH BATTERY --IF STILL SCREWY -- THERE ARE A COUPLE COMMON ISSUES YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT -- HIGH LEVELS OF MINERALS IN THE SOIL & SEA WATER ARE OFTEN READ BY THE MACHINE AS METAL -- THE CURE IS TO LOWER YOUR SEN /POWER LEVEL TILL THE MACHINE NO LONGER PICKS IT UP -- YOUR MAKING THE MACHINE A BIT LESS "TOUCHY" BY DROPPING IT'S POWER / SEN LEVEL -- SO YOU LOSE A TINY BIT OF DEPTH (BUT) THE MACHINE CAN NOW BE USED ( SO ITS A TRADE OFF)--- IN GENERAL BEACH SALTWATER AREAS NEED THIS TYPE OF "ADJUSTMENT" - ALSO NEARBY POWERLINES CAN ALSO CAUSE ISSUES --SAME CURE APPLIES.

GLAD MY ADVICE HELPED YOU.-- MARK THE SWEET SPOT WITH A BIT OF NAIL POLISH OR OTHER MARK SO IF IT GETS BUMPED YOU CAN SEE IF ITS OFF THE SWEET SPOT. :wink: