do you drag the MD on the ground?

EasyMoney said:
Well Terry, I try to put information out here for the benifit of those who can't quite understand the more technical or complex form. In other words, I try to bridge that gap to help people - not hinder them. This is why I normally refer to other even more qualified individuals than myself - and their advice - and that's why I write scrolls instead of simple less explanetory quips and quotes, so that people can refer to the Masters of the industry later on - if they have other questions. Additionally, I like to help people find the best detectors for their uses and to help them avoid blowing their hard-earned money on a detector that they someday will hate and wrap around a tree or stab with a bayonette (both of which I have seen after I came in behind them and found an expensive ring that they missed).

As you may have figured out already, I have no real brand favorite, and I like the cheap Chinese ones as well as the real spendy ones, and maybe even a bit more sometimes in some places. All I can say is which I prefer. The first half is a matter of preference - and the other half boils down to common reason.

My preferences are as follows:

And the reason I have left out Minelabs is because most are severely over-priced for their mediocre depth in my soil, and their slow performance, although they do have many followers in other parts of the country. Additionally, Minelab never did need to use different freq coils, the same affect could have been achieved via a toggle switch and a small chip or old-school R/C circuit. MIneab just wants our money, that's all. The reason I omit Nautiluses is because they are designed for particular type of hunting which I seldom become involved in - and I would really have no need for them except to play with them now and then. The reason I have omitted most Garretts is because they use antiquated circuitry tha disallows decent performance in my high iron soil, even with Garretts after-market chip designed to help that problem somewhat.

My preferences;

PI: White's new TDI

Multi-frequency: Any Fisher CZ

Tot lots: Compadre, Silver uMax, F-2, HP-1030, and 1236 x-2

Deep targets in open fields: F-75, T-2, White's TDI, cz3d,

All around hunting: F-70, Silver uMax, and Compass 13.77 Khz, M-6 and MXT

Salt beach hunting: White's TDI, Garrett Infinium

Gold nugget hunting: Fisher GB2 or Compass au2000

If I needed to chose only two detectors or could only chose two detectors, they would be either a cz3d, a Silver uMax, a Compass Relic & Coin, or a cz-70, and the other choice would (only) be the White's TDI PI, hands down. But with three allowed it all changes. Then there is cross-over performance to be considered.

As you know I already said that each person has different results than another - with the same detector. It's half preference and half knowledge, not much else.

For 3 detectors for you? I wouldn't know, but I don't think you would like to switch from using Garretts, or am I wrong? Your soil will decide much of that for you, but most people who buy Garretts complain a lot about medium depth, at best. They also complain about hot rocks and having a lot of trouble with highly mineralized ground. I have only seen 3 Minelabs and two Garretts in use in my hunting in Oregon, Washington, and California in the last 20+ years. And it's because of their lack of performance here. I do see a Garrett now and then in a pawn shop though. Minelabs too.

For me?

Tot lots and general coin hunting; American Hawks HP-1030

Salt beach or deep open field hunting; White's TDI

Nugget hunting; Compass au2000

But that's because I live in a very high mineralization area and all the above handle bad ground the very best. Every different area has different detector requirements because of many, many variables, interference included.

Hope I answered your question.

Easy $$$
Click to expand...
Thank you, Easy.
I am sending your reply to wordpad so I can go over it better when I have more time. I have mostly Garretts but actually my favorite is the Fisher Impulse 8, no longer made. A dynamite beach machine. Thanks again. TTC
 

Mr.Jody said:
Well Easy, its a BH, not 49 bucks though,but not far from it...lol its the quick silver.I have found rings and gold with it, so dont laugh to hard.BUT, If I hold it above the sand(beach) it will not work right,if i drag it on the sand, works as it should.Any thing other than the beach or freshwater, it just goes bonkers,so I only go to the beach or to fresh water creeks now with it, and no I didnt get the main box wet.I need about one more good trip to the coin collector to sell my "junk", then Im upgrading,to which one, I have no idea yet.
Click to expand...
Nuttin' wrong with Bounty Hunter. I used my (a Christmas present) BH 101 for over a year before I upgraded, and I only did that becasue I got a great deal on a White's Eagle Spectrum and was able to pay for it with my BH finds!
 

AF, thats exactly what I'm doing!!In the sand it works flawlessly,but on any other land other than sand,it just goes bonkers.It picks up trree roots even,lol
But I might try to adjust it,who knows.
i do scrub the ground with it though because thats where it works best,but not on the wet ocean sand.
 

Mr.Jody said:
AF, thats exactly what I'm doing!!In the sand it works flawlessly,but on any other land other than sand,it just goes bonkers.It picks up trree roots even,lol
But I might try to adjust it,who knows.
i do scrub the ground with it though because thats where it works best,but not on the wet ocean sand.
Click to expand...
Yeah, lower end BH's do have issues with balancing in mineralized soil.
 

Like I said guys, the BH GB is adjustable internally. All you have to do is open the box and look for the pot. If you don't know which pot it is, then go online and look for the schematic. Radio Shack might be able to help you too, even with a schematic (diagram).

You could also go to the nearest junior college along with a soil sample and see if the electronics department can show you which pot it (and) the threshold pot is. That would be a piece of cake for a one year ET student.. In all likelihood the students or an instructor would enjoy your inquiry to the max.

Good luck, and have fun.

Easy$$$
 

I changed my mind, I'll take the Silver uMax for tot lots instead.

EZ Money
 

The depth in ground is almost less than in air, so I think it makes no great difference and is even better to hold the coil some inches above the ground to reduce effects of mineralization. With this you get also surface finds better.
 

Treasure_Hunter said:
You dont want to physically drag it on ground, but for every inch above ground is 1 inch less underground.
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Not really, if the ground is mineralized. So let's say you have a depth of 4 inches in the ground and 8 in the air, an inch above ground makes not such a difference. But the mineralization has less effect, so finally you have more depth.

By the way the "Norfolk Wolf" recommends in the book "Advanced Detecting" a coil height of 2 inches especially for bigger coils.
 

Jacza said:
Not really, if the ground is mineralized. So let's say you have a depth of 4 inches in the ground and 8 in the air, an inch above ground makes not such a difference. But the mineralization has less effect, so finally you have more depth.

By the way the "Norfolk Wolf" recommends in the book "Advanced Detecting" a coil height of 2 inches especially for bigger coils.
Click to expand...

I worked for Minelab and Kellyco, for 5 years, I had a test garden with coins buried at depths from 4 inches to 24 inches in 1 inch increments, the higher I raised the coils above the ground the less targets it would see in the ground.

You never drag the coil on the ground, I keep mine about an inch above the ground.
 

I've had lots of weak target signals while scrubbing the sand at the beach totally disappear if I raised the coil up. If distance through the air didn't make any difference, we should be able to detect a dime 3 feet, 30 feet, or more away shouldn't we? The closer you are to the target, the more likely you are to get a good signal, mineralization or not.
 

At a certain height you get less depth for sure, but I think for heavy mineralized soil (I speak of hard, dry, loamy ground, not a wet or sandy garden) the ideal height is some inches above ground with a bigger coil, especially for objects with lower conductivity (which will be masked by this mineralized type of soil).

coil_height.png
 

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Jacza said:
At a certain height you get less depth for sure, but I think for heavy mineralized soil (I speak of hard, dry, loamy ground, not a wet or sandy garden) the ideal height is some inches above ground with a bigger coil, especially for objects with lower conductivity (which will be masked by this mineralized type of soil).
Click to expand...

My tests were done under both wet and dry conditions and covered all manufacturers and coil sizes, I personally only hunt with 11 inches and larger coils.
 

Treasure_Hunter said:
You never drag the coil on the ground, I keep mine about an inch above the ground.
Click to expand...

This can be already the ideal height but it depends on the manufacturer. I read somewhere Minelab recommends 1 inch, but Makro in the manual for the Multi Kruzer 2 inches.
 

Jacza said:
At a certain height you get less depth for sure, but I think for heavy mineralized soil (I speak of hard, dry, loamy ground, not a wet or sandy garden) the ideal height is some inches above ground with a bigger coil, especially for objects with lower conductivity (which will be masked by this mineralized type of soil).

View attachment 1941036
Click to expand...

I have a beach with moderate to heavy black sand. The tighter I can push that coil on the sand the deeper it goes. This also goes for every detector I have owned. This week I was working the 15" Minelab coil for the Equinox, for the first time. The tighter to the sand the better. A skilled person can tell the black sand/mineral ticks from targets.

Someone is feeding you malarkey.
 

I've hunted Florida beaches for a number of years now and I keep my coil above the sand by about an inch or half inch for all the reasons cited by EasyMoney. I found that this works best for signal stability and overall performance. Do I lose a bit of depth? Yes, as stated by Treasure_Hunter. But could I also miss targets by the potential instability created by dragging my coil along the ground? I'm sure I have and that's the reason I no longer let the coil touch the sand.

Just the view from my foxhole....
 

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