Tahts-a-dats-ago
Sr. Member
- Apr 30, 2014
- 254
- 563
- Detector(s) used
- Legend,
Anfibio multi,
Apex,
ORX,
Deus,
Vanquish 440
Equinox 800
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Yesterday provided a brief respite from Old Man Winter's grasp so I grabbed my just-delivered TRX, along with the MX5, and headed out the door. My plan was to hunt a recent permission farm field that had yielded a couple of IH pennies on my first try. The site dates back to the mid 1700's and up until 5 or 6 years ago the house was still standing, though it was in a state of terrible disrepair.
First — a bit of background.
I'm a bit of a photography nut and it is that passion that opened the door to this particular permission. Prior to the dismantling of the old house, I had taken a photograph of the place and ended up including that print in a local art display. One of the family members (the property has remained in the same family for over 250 years) happened to see the photograph and made a comment to the person in charge of the art gallery. Upon being informed of the comment, I decided that the best place for that print was with the family that owns the property and ended up introducing myself to the patriarch so I could provide them with a memento of their heritage. In the course of the conversation the topic changed to other avenues and I mentioned one of my other hobbies — metal detecting — and ended up gaining permission to hunt the grounds after the crops were harvested. That was several years ago.
Last week I was heading to another location (to detect) when I happened to see one of the property owners checking greenhouses. I stopped, of course, and asked him about hunting that property [location of the 1700's house] and was granted permission again. I told him that any artifacts found would be his if he wanted, and that all trash found would be properly disposed of.
I dug a good amount of trash in that hunt; most of it on purpose. I am convinced that there are old silver coins in that location and I'll need to deplete some of the trash to find what I'm looking for. I also wanted to make it clear, to the property owners, that my word was good when I said I'd haul out the trash that I find.
Back to the story of my first hunt with the TRX.
I hadn't quite arrived at the location when I knew my day wasn't going to be as planned. The field was busy with tractors and workers were scattered all over the place as they hastily worked to get their seedlings in the ground. I stopped anyway, knowing I wouldn't be hunting this field until sometime this fall, and spoke with one of the property owners. In the course of that conversation I was informed of a bit of property (they owned) that had once had an old house on it. The property was just a couple of miles away and it was not farmed.
I got a bit excited once I received the directions to the old place. This particular area was one of the first areas to be settled and dates back to the mid-1600's. The property owner didn't know when that house was built, but it turns out (according to the research I did last night) that this house wasn't built until the later 1800's and was torn down sometime in the 1960's.
I expected lots of trash at this location; it just seems to always be the case with the old homesteads that I most like to hunt. But this place was so filled with trash that I couldn't find a silent spot to balance the MX5 — every slight sweep of the coil was met with multiple grunts to high-pitched squeals. If anything, there was more trash in this location than there had been at the older location (now being planted).
My first target sounded great; I was sure it was a copper penny or, perhaps, a dime. It just had that sound to it and the numbers were right where I expected them to be. Move the coil ever so slightly though and the numbers went through the scale — convincing me that I had a good target buried somewhere in a pile of trash.
Out comes the TRX for its very first duty and it sounds off no matter where it is pointed — almost as though I'm detecting on top of a sheet of metal. At this point I wasn't sure if the TRX was defective, or if there was just that much trash in the ground.
I dug a flattened aluminum beer can some 6-7 inches down. I kind of expected as much when I didn't find the copper penny in the first 2-3 inches but kept digging anyway because I figured I'll have to clean out the trash if I want to find the good stuff.
That's the way the rest of the time went — digging trash. Some of it small and several more flattened aluminum beer cans. I never did find a single good target. Don't worry though; there's plenty more aluminum beer cans to dig. (Most of which I know what they are because of the size, but that first one really fooled me)
On the bright side of things: I was able to finally get a good ground balance on the MX5 (once I cleaned all the trash out of a small area).
The TRX performed well. It is a bit different (I'm used to the Garrett pin-pointer) but it does the job very well. I made good use of its ability to ratchet down [becoming less sensitive to the target] but will need to become more acquainted with the ability to change modes (depth).
I was surprised at the depth the TRX gets. I used it as set when I received it and the depth still surprised me (sometimes that wasn't a good thing in this trash-filled location). I couldn't recall how to reduce the depth though, so I used it as set and just reduced the sensitivity so I could hone in on the smaller targets.
I think the TRX is a winner though. It is significantly deeper than the Garretts pin-pointers I own (the older versions) and seems to be far more sensitive. It played nice with the MX5 (something the Garretts don't do). Next I'll use it along side the V3i and the Sport so I can see how it plays with those machines.
I'll be going back (again and again) to this latest permission location; cleaning out trash in the hopes of opening up the good stuff that I hope is there. I think I'll probably put the 4X6 coil on the V3i the next time I hunt this location — maybe it'll sniff out the goodies without having to remove all that trash.
First — a bit of background.
I'm a bit of a photography nut and it is that passion that opened the door to this particular permission. Prior to the dismantling of the old house, I had taken a photograph of the place and ended up including that print in a local art display. One of the family members (the property has remained in the same family for over 250 years) happened to see the photograph and made a comment to the person in charge of the art gallery. Upon being informed of the comment, I decided that the best place for that print was with the family that owns the property and ended up introducing myself to the patriarch so I could provide them with a memento of their heritage. In the course of the conversation the topic changed to other avenues and I mentioned one of my other hobbies — metal detecting — and ended up gaining permission to hunt the grounds after the crops were harvested. That was several years ago.
Last week I was heading to another location (to detect) when I happened to see one of the property owners checking greenhouses. I stopped, of course, and asked him about hunting that property [location of the 1700's house] and was granted permission again. I told him that any artifacts found would be his if he wanted, and that all trash found would be properly disposed of.
I dug a good amount of trash in that hunt; most of it on purpose. I am convinced that there are old silver coins in that location and I'll need to deplete some of the trash to find what I'm looking for. I also wanted to make it clear, to the property owners, that my word was good when I said I'd haul out the trash that I find.
Back to the story of my first hunt with the TRX.
I hadn't quite arrived at the location when I knew my day wasn't going to be as planned. The field was busy with tractors and workers were scattered all over the place as they hastily worked to get their seedlings in the ground. I stopped anyway, knowing I wouldn't be hunting this field until sometime this fall, and spoke with one of the property owners. In the course of that conversation I was informed of a bit of property (they owned) that had once had an old house on it. The property was just a couple of miles away and it was not farmed.
I got a bit excited once I received the directions to the old place. This particular area was one of the first areas to be settled and dates back to the mid-1600's. The property owner didn't know when that house was built, but it turns out (according to the research I did last night) that this house wasn't built until the later 1800's and was torn down sometime in the 1960's.
I expected lots of trash at this location; it just seems to always be the case with the old homesteads that I most like to hunt. But this place was so filled with trash that I couldn't find a silent spot to balance the MX5 — every slight sweep of the coil was met with multiple grunts to high-pitched squeals. If anything, there was more trash in this location than there had been at the older location (now being planted).
My first target sounded great; I was sure it was a copper penny or, perhaps, a dime. It just had that sound to it and the numbers were right where I expected them to be. Move the coil ever so slightly though and the numbers went through the scale — convincing me that I had a good target buried somewhere in a pile of trash.
Out comes the TRX for its very first duty and it sounds off no matter where it is pointed — almost as though I'm detecting on top of a sheet of metal. At this point I wasn't sure if the TRX was defective, or if there was just that much trash in the ground.
I dug a flattened aluminum beer can some 6-7 inches down. I kind of expected as much when I didn't find the copper penny in the first 2-3 inches but kept digging anyway because I figured I'll have to clean out the trash if I want to find the good stuff.
That's the way the rest of the time went — digging trash. Some of it small and several more flattened aluminum beer cans. I never did find a single good target. Don't worry though; there's plenty more aluminum beer cans to dig. (Most of which I know what they are because of the size, but that first one really fooled me)
On the bright side of things: I was able to finally get a good ground balance on the MX5 (once I cleaned all the trash out of a small area).
The TRX performed well. It is a bit different (I'm used to the Garrett pin-pointer) but it does the job very well. I made good use of its ability to ratchet down [becoming less sensitive to the target] but will need to become more acquainted with the ability to change modes (depth).
I was surprised at the depth the TRX gets. I used it as set when I received it and the depth still surprised me (sometimes that wasn't a good thing in this trash-filled location). I couldn't recall how to reduce the depth though, so I used it as set and just reduced the sensitivity so I could hone in on the smaller targets.
I think the TRX is a winner though. It is significantly deeper than the Garretts pin-pointers I own (the older versions) and seems to be far more sensitive. It played nice with the MX5 (something the Garretts don't do). Next I'll use it along side the V3i and the Sport so I can see how it plays with those machines.
I'll be going back (again and again) to this latest permission location; cleaning out trash in the hopes of opening up the good stuff that I hope is there. I think I'll probably put the 4X6 coil on the V3i the next time I hunt this location — maybe it'll sniff out the goodies without having to remove all that trash.
