Getting the Last out of Old Sites

[John85]

Looking for some pointers in searching old sites that just stopped producing. I have pounded two locations and pulled many wheats and some silver coins, and now it looks like there is nothing left. Would it be worth trying to go over in other programs/settings? I have used Deus Fast program set in silencer -1, reactivity 3, sensitivity 90, TX 2. Or Does it mean that I have pulled all the goods from these sites.

 

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[Tedyoh]

Heavy (lots) of iron and nails? Any modern trash?

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[Tpmetal]

you have to start digging all the trash out of the way now, if you were in the north ide say go back after winter because it stirs up the ground. Maybe after heavy rain?

 

[Eu_citzen]

I'd change frequency and sample the site a bit more.

 

[vferrari]

Looking for some pointers in searching old sites that just stopped producing. I have pounded two locations and pulled many wheats and some silver coins, and now it looks like there is nothing left. Would it be worth trying to go over in other programs/settings? I have used Deus Fast program set in silencer -1, reactivity 3, sensitivity 90, TX 2. Or Does it mean that I have pulled all the goods from these sites.

It is practically impossible to pull all the goods from any site. Soil conditions change with moisture and mineral content. Targets are actually continually physically moving up (yes up) and down in the soil due to many factors such as gravity (obvious), water, frost heave, yard work (tilling, mowing, planting, plowing, digging, mulching, scraping), burrowing animals, and root action. Targets are masked and unmasked when trash is recovered. And of course, there can always be fresh drops. There is a metal detecting adage that states that folks have only recovered 5 to 10% of all the metallic items that mankind has lost since antiquity. Who knows if that is true, but if you have recovered more than 50% of the keepers from a site, I'd say you are doing incredibly well.

Here are some suggestions on maximizing coverage and recovery:

By "pounded" do you mean you randomly went over the sites again and again or did you carefully grid them? By (slowly) gridding it you make sure your coil has passed over nearly every square inch in at least two directions. Sometimes a target will not sound off in one direction but will at a 90 degree angle or 45 degree angle.

Did you pull every speck of trash and iron out of the ground? If not, then keeper targets can still be masked. You will need to do all of the same things I am mentioning to scour the site to also find and remove all of the trash that may be masking the keepers.

Try lowering reactivity to 2 or even 1 for increased depth. Deeper targets with weaker signatures may just barely blip or not sound off at all at Rx 3, so if you want to max depth, slowly grid and swing at Rx 1 if you can afford the time to do so. When you lower reactivity, make sure you also check that silencer remains at -1.

You did not mention disc or notch or tones. Minimal discrimination and full tones give you the best "view" of what is in the ground. After you have cherry picked, you need to open up the aperture of your machine and find anything left in the ground. If you want to go "All Metal" than try a pitch program like Gold Field which will sound off on everything metal and you will have to use visual target ID to get a handle on the target because the pitch intensity and frequency only clue you in to the size or depth of the target, not its composition.

Grid the site with at least two different frequencies. Not much difference between 8 and 12 khz, I treat them the same. Get some separation between the frequencies if you do this (e.g., 8 and 18, 4 and 12). If you want max depth for high conductors try 4 khz (unless the site is highly mineralized because 4 khz locks Tx power at 3 which is not good for highly mineralized sites) and 8 khz. If you want to max on smaller targets and/or mid-conductors like gold and nickels try 12 and 18 khz. By gridding for each type of target you stand a better chance at sweeping the site. Your detector has four frequencies, use them and its like going over the site with 2 to 4 different detectors. I would also do it with the e-trac just to make sure.

If you have the time to use combinations of the above, you can continue to hit the site for weeks or months and still eek targets out of the ground.

Hope this helps get you thinking about ways you can wring everything out of your sites.

HH

 

[Calabash Digger]

what they said above 8 and 18 will possibly unlock something.

 

[John85]

Tedyoh, Yes these site have more so modern trash than iron/nails. I'm having a lot of difficulty because I' getting so much high tones coming, its hard to hear the deep targets when the shallow trash is overwhelming. I've also tried dropping down the audio response to 3. I think Tpmetal is right about starting to dig all the trash out of the way. Its hard to believe that the ratio for wheat to silver is so far off.

Vferrari, Thanks for your detailed explanation it definitely will change the way I go about detecting those sites again. I was starting so feel discouraged and now I'm feeling hopeful again!

 

[Tedyoh]

Meant to quote John........"Tedyoh, Yes these site have more so modern trash than iron/nails. I'm having a lot of difficulty because I' getting so much high tones coming, its hard to hear the deep targets when the shallow trash is overwhelming. I've also tried dropping down the audio response to 3. I think Tpmetal is right about starting to dig all the trash out of the way. Its hard to believe that the ratio for wheat to silver is so far off.

Vferrari, Thanks for your detailed explanation it definitely will change the way I go about detecting those sites again. I was starting so feel discouraged and now I'm feeling hopeful again!"




I hate modern trash....foil, siding shards, and tabs drive me nuts and no way would I dig it all unless I knew for a fact that there was something of major historic importance there....but digging it all would get it all....just something I would not do at a modern trash site.....that said, if I had to hunt that site, I'd run 4khz with reactivity at 4 or even 5, AR at 4 at least and cherry pick any high tone...i wouldn't even bother trying to find gold rings, unless it was a solid TDI number in every sweep direction and didn't fluctuate at all, the only chuncky gold ring I dug in the woods was 61 and that 61 didn't budge. Good luck

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[vferrari]

Have I ever had the luxury to in time and opportunity (i.e., a site that can withstand all the target and trash recoveries) to do what I recommended above at any site? No. It is generally an idealistic pipe dream to actually be able to clean out a site in the manner I described above. I've gridded some, cherry picked in multiple frequencies, but have never fully gridded in multiple frequencies and removed all trash from any given site. What you find on scanning, the history and provenance of a site, the amount of trash, the site access, the time, the distance, and the ability of the site to hold up to multiple target and trash recoveries all determine how far you can go with the ideal site clean out approach. Tedyoh is right, sometimes the payoff isn't worth the effort to do all it takes to clean out a site. You have to make that call for yourself.

 

[Tedyoh]

Thinking more about it I'd probably try turning down the sensitivity as well, with TX power at 3 in 4 kHz (4 kHz shouldn't be so sensitive to small foil and lower conductors) and sensitivity lowered, lowered meaning 80 - 85, that may help to "see" through / past the shallow foil and other modern shallow trash you mentioned and although I never use notch, I'd probably do so in this case. (notch 20 - 69 if in 4 Khz and looking for silver)

 

[upstatedetector]

I have "pounded" the yard I grew up in (and the yard my parent's still own) for 25 years (1840 farmhouse). I have hit it with a Garrett GTA 500, Fisher F5, AT Pro and now a Deus. I have found more coins with the Deus in the last few months than I did in the last 24 years combined and I'm rather certain I haven't remotely cleaned it out. The yard is so littered with nails and iron that you can dig a hole anywhere you want and put your pinpointer in the hole and it will sound off. I have recently taken a step back settings wise and have been basically using the settings the OP described. Reactivity 3, silencer -1, Full tones, 90 sensitivity etc. I found an 1880 IHP and a Buffalo nickel this past weekend literally in spots I have gone over hundreds of times. I actually wish I had the 9" instead of the 11". Initially when I got the DEUS I was running it much hotter thinking I needed to try and get the most amount of depth possible. Now I have begin to realize just what a battle it is detecting in that much iron.