Sore Back and Mosquito Bites ...

[scol]

Hello to all ... from a first-time hunter.

After reading so many wonderful posts from all you expert hunters, I just had to give this hobby a shot. I went ahead and bought one the RS Discovery 3300 units on sale, to see if this is something I can sink my teeth into.
I know it's not the best, or the most recommended unit, but I figure it will give me a taste of the 'sport', and I can always upgrade later.

Anyway, I live in North Georgia along the banks of the Etowah river on 5 acres of former Cherokee Indian, and plantation land (cotton) part of which is located in flood plain, so there's no telling what might be hiding below the surface. The ground is mostly heavy red clay - lots of tree roots.

I've just come in from my first ever attempt at detecting - I obviously have a lot to learn.

My question is this : I had several positive contacts, which registered with a high tone. The depth meter indicating the find was at 10". The contact appeared real - I was able to detect it from different directions. After digging, and finding nothing, the contact vanished. This happened several more times - the contact always registering at 10". Why would digging change the detection ?
Would tree roots and wet red clay effect the results ?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Regards to all.

JD

 

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[Mona Lisa]

Hey Jawja. Welcome to TreasureNet.

I'm not familiar with your detector...but I'm sure somebody on here can help you with your questions.

My Prizm would give me signals like that on hot rocks....rocks usually river type rocks with high concentrations of iron. Did you find any rocks like that in your digs? Other than that I don't know what would cause the problems you were experiencing.

Good luck with your new detector!

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

JD,

welcome to the site.

Never used one of your detectors, so.........
Sure someone will come up with some answers.

Mosquito bites, targets that seem to disappear,
and the like. Having fun yet

have a good un.............

 

[randall61]

while diggin did you find anything?

 

[hollowpointred]

there is a thing called the halo effect that could explain your dilema. this is how it works......when a metal item is in the ground for a long while, some of the metal leeches into the surrounding soil effectively making the target look "bigger" to your detector. this metal infused soil is called a halo. when digging up a target, especially an iron target, your shovel disturbs the halo and if the target is very small or has completely rusted away, it can just vanish as you said. it happens to everyone and its pretty common. that doesnt make it any less aggrivating though! hope this helps a little.

 

[scol]

Thanks to all for the replies ...

Randall - My sum total treasure hoard inludes an aerosol shaving cream can, probably dating back to around the Civil War .... and a bar-coded piece of tin, undoubtedly from the hull of the Mayflower ...

HollowPoint - You may have hit the nail (or the rusted-away nail) right on the head. The soil around here is pretty damp and loamy - acidic, so many things may simply dissolve into the soil. I'll guess I'll get used to these phantom readings with time.

JD

 

[scol]

On a similar note ..

Is there any advantage or disadvantage to hunting in dry versus wet ground ?

Thanks

JD

 

[Mighty AP]

I beleive your detector will go deeper in wet ground, heard they just work better after a good rain. Cool puppy. Labs rock!

 

[Stainless Steet Rat]

I have had my 3300 for a little over a week. If you get ANY target showing 10 inches on a 3300 your better off ignoring it. The only things I have dug up at over 8 inches were iron pipes, beer cans, other big junk. The deepest I have gotten a quarter was 8 inches and a dime at 7 inches at MAX sensitivity and I had just mowed my grass. You can tell a big trash item a few ways lift up the detector a few inches and if you still read a coin at 8-10 inches you KNOW its not a coin of any kind or use the pinpoint button and trace out the outline. One other thing I noticed on the 3300 if you can only get the target swinging one direction that usally a false target. The 3300 does have a manuel ground balance knob make you sure keep it all the way to preset. I moved it by mistake and had some wierd targets till I figured out what the problem was. I use deep woods off to keep the bites away.

 

[scol]

Thanks for the info SSRat .. that's exactly the kind of feedback a rookie like myself needs ..

Unfortunately my 3300 lost it's mind the second day out. It was signalling no matter
where it was pointed, including the sky !! Needless to say Radio Shack has the unit back now,
and I am contemplating the replacement ... it won't be another 3300 - I was a little disappointed
in the quality of construction.... maybe an Ace ..

JD

 

[Nail Man Dan]

Howdy,
Just my 2 cets here...
I've owned my Tesoro DeLeon for a whole month now and every time I take it out I get a little bit better at understanding what it's trying to tell me.
After finding a boat load of nails, I can sorta tell the difference between a nail and a large coin, but i still dig 'em all, just in case.
Example it 'hits' on certain rocks at the beach, but only when they are wet.
Like the more experienced folks heresay, ya gotta learn yer machine.

anyway, have a good time with your machine, no matter which one you get.

 

[ashleen]

JD,

Keep at it...you probably just need to learn your machine.
You had mosquitos for Mem w/e....I had black flies!!!!!!!! swarms of them...2+ layers deep all over me!
NEVER...I repeat...NEVER go to Madawaska, Maine on Memorial w/e!!!!!!! I felt like I was in a stephen king movie Wound up spending almost the entire time in the camper Did see plenty of bear and moose, tho.

 

[Burdie]

Yet we love this hobbie Burdie

 

[Rusted_Iron]

Thanks for the info SSRat .. that's exactly the kind of feedback a rookie like myself needs ..

Unfortunately my 3300 lost it's mind the second day out. It was signalling no matter
where it was pointed, including the sky !! Needless to say Radio Shack has the unit back now,
and I am contemplating the replacement ... it won't be another 3300 - I was a little disappointed
in the quality of construction.... maybe an Ace ..

JD

The construction quality is the one major complaint I'm seeing from BH Discovery users. Looks like it's not a bad unit other than the fact it's a little fragile.

If your detector starts false signaling, watch out someone isn't operating a piece of machinery that generates RF interference in the area. This can make some MD's go completely crazy. My old White's picks up these signals in GEB Disc mode quite easily. It could be a dehumidifier, an air conditioner, an electric motor, a cell phone tower, or any number of things. If you go anywhere near power lines, forget it. I know my detector becomes entirely unusable.

When your detector acts up mysteriously, take it somewhere far away from the suspected interference and try it again. You might find it calms down.

I can't even test the old White's in the house because the dehumidifier drives it batty.