Well this was random: dug a power line

[JunkLover]

Lately I've been out in my own backyard poking around and generally trying to figure out how my detector works. I think I'm getting the hang of it, and one particular area of the front yard has been beeping a lot (I have a massive yard out in them thar hills). The first few digs yielded soda and beer cans that were buried pretty deep; the only can that I could read was a 1985 Coca Cola Classic can. But today I dug up part of a power line. I couldn't dig the whole thing because it started to rain by the time I figured out what it was.

From what I know, the area I've been detecting was a cow pasture before the house was built on the land. Why there's so much garbage buried there is beyond me, but where there is garbage, there might be treasure too. So not a wonderful or valuable find... just an odd one, and sadly my most interesting find so far.

 

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[golden sluice]

Any signals that are long swathes are generally going to be buried utilities. Becareful out there.

 

[g-olden years]

We don't want you electrocuted! My dad's friend was electrocuted because he "assumed" the power was off.

Please take care, avoid that power line totally, and let us know what future goodies you dig up in your big yard! Have fun! Andi

 

[JunkLover]

I'm pretty sure this wasn't attached to anything or live. The casing/tubing was shredded and the cords inside were exposed. I'm not sure where it ended and I didn't pick up a long, continuous signal, so I'm thinking it's a loose hunk of wire. It just looks like someone hacked a section off a hanging power line. Or maybe it's attached to a device. I didn't get to dig that far.

I love my detector, but I hate that the readings are, "This could be a nickel! Or foil" and "This is a dime/penny/quarter! Or an aluminum can." So I have to just dig everything that isn't iron.

Sorry, like I said, I know it's not too interesting in terms of detecting, but it's a heck of a lot more interesting than the cans. Though I would have liked the old Coke can if it was still in one piece.

 

[Zodiacdiverdave]

It looks like you have one heck of a nice test garden in your yard. Your yard may have been used as a dump site for a while and you may get tired of digging in there but like you said, it may yeild some nice goodies.
I don't know what type of machine you are swinging but you are right about the numbers on the display, they only give you a hint as to what you may have. You have to listen to the way the tones sound and how loud it's coming through. Check out the Garrett web site, they have some excellent training videos on learning how to listen to the tones. I watch them all from time to time, it helps me remember what I should be listening for.
There have been some real nice finds posted from your area so I can't what to see what your going to haul up from the great state of Pennsylvania.
Keep at it and good luck,
ZDD

 

[g-olden years]

Some days when I feel low energy, I dig only the small coin/jewelry sounds, avoiding most junk. On high-energy days, I go "all metal" with my Bounty Hunter, which is exactly how I dug my two gold rings last year! First gold ring was in nasty, iron-infested beach which other detectorists had given the cold shoulder for years, but I got the gold! That ring was in same hole with a corroded old junk spoon. Second gold ring was in abandoned old road cut surrounded by beer bottle caps & random metal junk. I think we have the most fun and most finds when we allow ourselves to detect differently on different days, as our mood directs us. HAVE FUN! Andi

 

[beez0404]

With limited experience in the hobby I have come to two conclusions.

1. To find old stuff you have to dig on old land.
2. The more you dig the more you find.

Number two tells me I got into the hobby about 20 years too late as the knees and back won't allow me to dig nearly as many targets as I would like.

 

[AnnieF]

What a boost it was to read this thread!

I live in an area settled more than 400 years ago (coastal MA) and think that just because my house was built in 1980 I won't find anything good in my own backyard, but how stupid is that? 100 yards away is a house built 200+ years ago! And there's ALL KINDS of junk in my yard, INCLUDING square nails and I know from my research there was a nail mill a mile from here.

You just never know what you'll find, even though there's so much junk! Like you, I am constantly amazed how how much CRAP is underfoot! What a bunch of slobs we are, huh? Good grief!

Reading this thread makes me want to hit my yard again!

THANK YOU!

 

[WilliamH]

Yes this is a great thread. When I was younger my uncle was out in his fields on the tractor and lost a chain. A couple years later my father and I were walking to the lake and found the Chain. In a straight line in a random field my uncle didn't even think he was in. Power line or chain junk ends up everywhere. Happy hunting the back yard. WH

 

[mirage83]

Any signals that are long swathes are generally going to be buried utilities. Becareful out there.

Yeah, I try to watch that myself with really long runs, though so far it's always been a buried section of barbed wire fencing. But if it only runs a foot or three I know I would be leaving either a bayonet or a sword behind if I didn't check it.

 

[Hot zone]

Raise the coil 6 to 8 inches off the ground and you still get a strong signal, it is probably to large to be a coin... Use the coil and sound to determine how large it is... Lay some coins on the ground and swing your coil over them... You should be able to tell a coins relative size by swinging over it! A beer can and a silver dollar deep are hard to tell the difference... But there are not a lot of silver dollars out there and beer cans are everywhere... Dig up a few to decide that an area is littered with them, then leave them for someone else... Junk can hide treasure, and some iron objects are pretty cool, but we want treasure!!! Don't despair, there is treasure to be found!

 

[JunkLover]

I've got a Eurotek Pro, and from what I can tell, it makes louder noises for higher readings. If I get a skippy signal or one that goes up and down wildly, I tinker with the sensitivity. If I can swing the detector quickly over a spot and get a solid series of beeps with the same general reading, I stay at that spot and lower the sensitivity (default is 7/10 or 8/10). If it still gives me something solid at a sensitivity of 2/10 or 3/10, I try and dig.

I unfortunately don't have anything gold I could use to test, but I did throw some coins on the ground to get an idea of what kind of readings they give. Quarters, pennies and dimes all gave similar signals (high 80s or low 90s) and the nickel gave me a reading of 56-57. The thing is sometimes the detector will say something is iron despite giving me a really high reading, so I wind up digging anyway because I don't know which to believe. I set the discrimination to 55 last time I dug to include possible nickels (or gold), which should rule out all iron.

Another thing I notice is when I wave the coil over a coin at close range with no ground in the way, I get a strong solid signal. But as I take the coil up higher, the reading changes more. Like a nickel will yield a reading of 56 when the coil is an inch above it, but if I raise the coil a few inches, the range of the readings might flicker between 53 and 58, so it's hard to tell if something is what I think it might be.

At the very least, all this digging is letting me practice digging plugs and cleaning up the spot. I want to make sure I know how to do that well before venturing outside my yard. Even I can't tell the exact spots where I've dug the last few days.

 

[Hot zone]

I've got a Eurotek Pro, and from what I can tell, it makes louder noises for higher readings. If I get a skippy signal or one that goes up and down wildly, I tinker with the sensitivity. If I can swing the detector quickly over a spot and get a solid series of beeps with the same general reading, I stay at that spot and lower the sensitivity (default is 7/10 or 8/10). If it still gives me something solid at a sensitivity of 2/10 or 3/10, I try and dig.

I unfortunately don't have anything gold I could use to test, but I did throw some coins on the ground to get an idea of what kind of readings they give. Quarters, pennies and dimes all gave similar signals (high 80s or low 90s) and the nickel gave me a reading of 56-57. The thing is sometimes the detector will say something is iron despite giving me a really high reading, so I wind up digging anyway because I don't know which to believe. I set the discrimination to 55 last time I dug to include possible nickels (or gold), which should rule out all iron.

Another thing I notice is when I wave the coil over a coin at close range with no ground in the way, I get a strong solid signal. But as I take the coil up higher, the reading changes more. Like a nickel will yield a reading of 56 when the coil is an inch above it, but if I raise the coil a few inches, the range of the readings might flicker between 53 and 58, so it's hard to tell if something is what I think it might be.

At the very least, all this digging is letting me practice digging plugs and cleaning up the spot. I want to make sure I know how to do that well before venturing outside my yard. Even I can't tell the exact spots where I've dug the last few days.

i am not familiar with your detector but the deeper a coin the more erratic the readout... The sound should be the same tho and tuning your hear to hear the right sound and dig if it sounds good... Big iron is tough because it is very conductive and produces high coin numbers and overrides the ability to cancel it out...If it is over a foot deep it probably is not a coin! Over 6 inches can be considered a deep coin...