V3i and gold rings

digginintn

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Just got the V3i last month after swinging a DFX for almost 6 years. Was doing some air testing on different targets to get use to the frequency dominance on pinpointing. I thought gold would always be more dominant at 22.5 khz, but not so.
I tested two 10k and two 14k rings. The 10k were dominant at 22.5 khz, but the 14k were both dominant at 7.5 khz. Every time, including on the analyze feature. Is this normal?
The 14k rings are a bit larger. Is that where the difference lies?
Any comments welcomed.
 

I have a V3i and I have only found a few gold items. However I believe the 22.5 was the dominate frequency on the few items that I found.
 

Just got the V3i last month after swinging a DFX for almost 6 years. Was doing some air testing on different targets to get use to the frequency dominance on pinpointing. I thought gold would always be more dominant at 22.5 khz, but not so.
I tested two 10k and two 14k rings. The 10k were dominant at 22.5 khz, but the 14k were both dominant at 7.5 khz. Every time, including on the analyze feature. Is this normal?
The 14k rings are a bit larger. Is that where the difference lies?
Any comments welcomed.

You got it right diggin. I thought the same thing myself until I hit large gold rings, they hit dominant at 7.5 every time. Try a class ring for kicks. The smaller bands come in at 22.5. I was surprised to see this too when I started. A class ring and a stinkin lincoln will analyze real close to the same thing.
 

Thanks for the imput guys. The weather here hasn't let me get out for much real use time, so I've been doing a lot of testing indoors. Wasn't sure if the readings were accurate or maybe something inside was throwing things off.
18 degrees outside now with low tonight around 3 degrees. Looks like a few more days of reading instead of hunting.
 

Hello digginintn,

Interesting findings, so I did my own test with dug items and the V3i.

1. Gold 10k men’s ring – 7.5k dominate freq.
2. Gold men’s ring – 7.5k dominate freq.
3. Gold locket – 22.5k dominate freq.
4. Gold bracelet – 22.5k dominate freq.

Perhaps 1 & 2 are due to their metallic make-up other than gold is responsible. Anyway, too cold to detect, so this is the next best thing!

Regards,
 

I have found two 14k rings with my vx3 and they both rang in with zincolns.
 

Seems like I'll still be digging a lot of junk to get the gold. Not really surprised, was just hoping the V3i would narrow it down more. The 14k rings that I've found were with my DFX, all hit with VDI's in the 40's. None are really big rings, around 8-10 grams, but one has 8 small diamonds. The 10k rings all hit like foil or nickels.
No matter. I'll keep on diggin!
 

Diggin...I believe the reason you see the difference in the dominate frequencies is because class rings and wedding bands are usually not 24k gold. Depending on what other metals are mixed with the gold to achieve the 10k or 14k state, make all the difference in the signal displayed on the polar plot or pinpoint.
 

Diggin...I believe the reason you see the difference in the dominate frequencies is because class rings and wedding bands are usually not 24k gold. Depending on what other metals are mixed with the gold to achieve the 10k or 14k state, make all the difference in the signal displayed on the polar plot or pinpoint.

Any small bands that are 10k or 14k hit with 22.5 dominant also. It seems to be more a size thing than a carat count on the dominance. The most important thing to remember is that if its a solid signal in the gold range your going to have to dig it to find it. As soon as you think you have something figured out, the next guys going to be digging your gold.
 

DOH! as Homer Simpson would say. There's no counting I could do on the number of signals not being dominent at 22.5 over 4yrs of hunting that I've passed up. The V3i with it's analytical and colorful displays, can actually be misleading. I doubt that I would dig all of those non-22.5 dominant signals if able to do it all over again but this thread should be good for anyone assuming that the V3i has little discrepancies. How many gold rings would I have found in 4 years had I used an M6? How many with an F2? etc.
 

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I just wish the weather here would give me a couple of days to get out and dig. I've always dug any signal that could be a ring, and will continue to do so. Have filled many a pouch with pulltabs! It took many hours of hunting and reading to get the hang of the DFX. I expect no less with the V3i.
 

We all wonder if we would have been using one of our other detectors when you hit on something that don't ring up the way you think it should and then think back about what you may have missed. In reality we all know the better we know our detectors the more we will have gut feeling what we dig.
 

My philosophy has always been dig everything that could be gold! I do dig a lot of plugs and find pull tabs, foil...etc, but I also find lots of jewelry. On the beach, I dig everything it's easy in the sand.
 

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