Know its there but I know my machine cant "see" it- help!!

[ZINCLID]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

A PERSNICKETY PROBLEM YOU HAVE THERE! I was reading a book on the technology of metal detectors one time and a fellow (May have been Mr. Charles Garrett) said that whenever there are considerable amounts of ground mineralization--and it sounds like that's the problem with your situation, that the larger the coil, the more interference that keeps the coil from being efficient. That says to me that a 14" 0r 15" coil may just be the opposite of what you need when around that much ground minerals or salty conditions--maybe a 8" coil would be better? But if not the case, then a TF-900 made by Discovery of California has good depth...a friend of mine(Tenclaw) has one and it is super strong: gallon can down 5 0r 6 feet in normal ground. But you are not searching in normal ground I understand, so it may be useless there? GOOD LUCK FINDING THOSE CANS OF SILVER COINS!

 

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[Treasure finder]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

One other possibility is that he wasn't the one that buried it. He heard the story and doesn't
want to include the person who buried it. He may be just using you to go fishing. I have run
into that many times in Mexico, they aren't out anything, but would love to share with you
just in case you find anything. I ran into that close to home also. The party used multiple
metal detectors and then when nothing else showed up, they asked me for some free help.
I hate to have brought this up, but it does happen.
Good luck, now you have machines for the next search.
Rich

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

No, he buried it. He's like the Mayor of the town. Been there 40 years. Nothing fishy. I'm positive.

Daryl

 

[darkkitten2000]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Hi BioProfesor,
try using a good PI machine with 1m x 1m coil. This should find your target up to 2m down, ignoring the small ones. Too bad we are not living closer so i could land you mine.

regards,

d.

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

I used my Garrett Infinium LS with a couple of coils. No better than the e-Trac, Fisher Edge, Whites DFX or the 2-box.

Just too much crap to deal with and too much area.

Daryl

 

[darkkitten2000]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Hmmm, try this approach: use a simple VLF (the one that will not find your "refference") and mark all shallow targets in the area, than use a PI with large coil (at least 1m x 1m to ignor small, coin size items and deebre) and if you'll get a respond on an unmarked area thn you'll have to dig. If you'll find a vlf and settings to just miss your refference you should get very little "hot" targets.

regards,
d.

P.S. your "commercial" PIs might just not be good enought to "see" the targed or this will happen on very edge of detector's capability, and that is not good. Use a device like Pulstar II, DBP2010, Miner4 or similar deep seeking device that supports large coils.

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

That's a thought. I was hoping the 2-box would solve the problem but no such luck. I was also counting on the E-trac and the WOT coil but no such luck either.

I've got some time to think and plan. I will be in Amsterdam next month for the summer and back down south in November. It ain't going anywhere.

Thanks for the help and ideas.

Daryl

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Not giving up but I had to leave the place we spend the winter. It's off to Amsterdam for the summer but I'll be back there in November for the winter. Just knowing it is there somewhere keeps me going. Can you even imagine finding and digging up almost half a million dollars worth of silver.

Hey, maybe silver will be up next year.

Daryl

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Sorry. I can only tell you once. Too bad you forgot.

Daryl

 

[Dano Sverige]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Seems to me that in the UK..and me here in Sweden,when faced with a "trashy site" the rule of thumb is "small coils".A large coil like the 15x12 SEF can pick up two large chunks of iron and null anything good lying inbetween.Most people would use a 8x6 SEF in that area you're doing and try prise out the good silver tones between all the cruddy iron and stuff.
As has been said,those tins are probably long gone and just a few rotted bits left,leaving the coins semi-loose.Will take a lot longer to cover the ground obviously,but thats the way us Brit's winkle out very small cut halves and quarters (hammered's not US quarters lol) between a lot of broken farm ironmongery and such.
It may be that they're just too deep down to detect,but i'd certainly try the above before finally telling your friend you were wrong and does he have a gun you can borrow for the night lol?

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

I hear you. i went through my battery of coils. Didn't make a difference. I've got a feeling I was searching in the wrong area. The husband and wife couldn't agree on the general area. One said this and one said something else. When you have 2 acres and it could be anywhere and it is all littered with big iron crap, it is tough to think of what to do. You may be correct that the containers are long gone but they may have been in the aluminum magnesium military containers (shell boxes) that were very common with the survivalist groups. Don't have a clue how that might sound when you don't know how deep it is.

So the frustration continues. Be back in November. Plan 14B.

Daryl

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

After reading the part of him building another home behind his other home. What type of foundation was used, pier and beam above ground?

Is it a concreate slab and who did the work? The reason I ask is I have known a few friends of mine over the years who built there own homes. A couple of them built like standard homes today, and 1 who has real solid ground that just built a cabin style home. The one who built the cabin style home just measured out where he wanted to build his cabin and how big, (the ground was already pretty level so he didn't have to do any grading), started taking 2X6's and put it on the ground, leveled the boards and made a frame for the concrete slab that he was going to pour, then dug the trenches where he was going to use for the water and electrical lines, (which were only about a foot wide and about 1 1/2 feet deep), then had the concrete company come in and poured the slab.

But if the man in your situation had a contractor come in and built the house and made the slab, like grading the area level, trenching around the foundation for the slab, then maybe someone on the job could have found it.

Also, I think that he may have buried it where the new house now sits. That would be sickening if that is the case, especially if it is a concrete slab. I personally would look more closer to the old house.

Either way good luck!

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

It's actually one of the new types of home construction in the marshland. It is totally metal finished with stucco. They drive in galvanized pilings and then put in aluminum/galvanized steel beams like you see on skyscrapers. So no footings or slabs. They have to be worried about hurricanes so the houses usually sit up on piers. This one is the same way.

Could a worker have found it. Yep. Given the fact that they have no clue where they buried it, it could be under the house and it doesn't matter if somebody else found it or not. I'll never hear it with all that metal there.

I thought is was going to be a piece of cake to find this stuff. I could not have been more wrong.

Licking my wounds in Minnesota,

Daryl

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

There is a simple way to find the cache without a detector. Get a privy probe. If he buried the cache at 12 feet, then he had to make a pretty big hole. Grid the whole area with the probe, probing every foot or so, looking for the place where the probe goes into the ground effortlessly. That is the spot where the earth has been moved before to bury the cache. Don't probe the signals you get, because you have a 3 foot probe and a 12 foot deep cache. Don't detect at all. Simply probe for the Hole itself that was dug to bury the coins.

A privy digger could probably find it within an hour or two.



-Buck

 

[Treasure finder]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Great suggestion Buckle Boy,
I will use it myself someday,
Thanks,
Rich

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Sounds like a plan but after more than 20 years, I'm not sure if the dirt is different. And as far as depth, the one thing they are both sure of is that it is not more than 2 feet deep. Being on the tidal marsh, you really can't dig a hole much deeper that 4 feet without it filling with water. The cache is buried in small cans (size of a 2# coffee can or smaller) all close to one another so the hole was probably not more than 10 inches across when dug.

I'll give it a try though. I've got the probe.

Thanks,

Daryl

 

[Frankn]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Daryl : The Whites surfmaster PI will work in salty soil and even black sand. You will have to dig all large targets. You can tell the size by "walking" the coil into the side of the signal on each side. The surfmaster is good for over 2' on a target that size. Good Luck

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[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

Thanks Frankn,

I've used my Garrett Infinium PI that should do the same thing. Some of the targets I've sized have been big enough to be a can. Think a bicycle front sprocket flat in the ground - 14" down. I've dug a couple of those as well as a couple of 4-arm lug wrenches. It just sucks!!!!

I ran a string through the area and detected that. I dug all targets. Averaged 2 per foot. All larger than your fist. All crap iron/steel. I need drugs to continue.

Daryl

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

HI: Sell the Fisher two box and get a Discovery twin box. The Fisher was designed for Mining uses orig. It readily detects anomalies in the earth, which includes changes in the soil matrix. As a result it is useless in high conductive areas for treasure hunting, such as you describe. In neutral ground it can hold it's own for treasure hunting.

The Discovery on the other hand was designed for Treasure hunting and as a result has a soil neutralization feature / ground balancing, just as all modern detectors do. The depth is as good or better than the Fisher in neutral ground, and far, far, superior in the conditions that you describe.

The question is, it capable of handling the salt concentration in your area? Simple, rent one for a day and check the area out, If it works sell the Fisher and add the Discovery. I have had one since they first started out with the "3-D" model.

The other thought is probably an impossible one. Get an old Gardner 8-900 series with the 3 ft, single turn, 1/4 " aluminum tube large coil. I had one and used it extensively in high salt areas since other machines couldn't work there. The light 3 ' coil was unbelievably fast, and punched down perhaps 8 - 12 ft, depending. In Neutral ground it might hit 18 ft.

In any event get a bulk contract on shovels, you WILL be digging. Today's hunters are very spoiled, they feel it is a useless machine unless it can tell them how deep, & composition. They are now practically demanding date of coinage before digging it up. Sheesh.

Don Jose de La Mancha

 

[BioProfessor]

Re: Know it's there but I know my machine can't "see" it- help!!

I agree with you about the Fisher. It is useless next to the water line. Just goes nuts. I bought it to try because it is a great machine for locating unexploded artillery shells from the Civil War. That will be it's job after this.

Since I don't get anything for finding the coins - doing it as a favor for a friend - I really don't want to add more equipment. When I go back for the winter, I'll try some more with my PI machine. It's fun and many days I don't have anything else to do. It's a pretty place so what the heck. Plus the can of coins I buried at 12-14" will have had time to "mature" so I can hear what the target may sound like. Never heard a big can of coins buried for years. Then I may have a signal to do some "cherry picking."

I totally agree with what some people now expect from their detectors. That's just nuts. All I want to know is that the target is real and most likely decent metal. If it shows it is decent metal, it solid and repeatable. It is coming up. I don't want a machine to tell me it is a 1934 quarter. The best machine for me is the e-Trac. It has the frequencies I need. It has the depth. It tells me the metal type - except for aluminum that masquerades as lots of types of metal and the rust from iron that escapes the mask, and I can pretty well size it or tell if it is somebody's TV cable or, worse yet, underground power line, so I'm a happy camper. I'd rather pay for that than more processing power devoted to determining what it is.

Thanks for the suggestions they are all good. Maybe I will get frustrated enough to give them a try.

Daryl