Has Anyone Heard From Barn? He usually checks in after his Sunday Hunt.
I hope he's okay.
Kace
Hi All,
So very sorry I have been so quiet.
After my first experience with a magnetometer on Sunday, I went to see the new Jurassic World movie with two of the wife's grandkids.
Then on Monday, my sweat-shop job had me work straight from 5 am to 8 pm...no wonder I want to find gold and say goodbye to that.
The bottom line is that I will have to call the magnetometer folks and get more advice on how to use that stick.
Since most folks (like me) usually use normal metal detectors or Pulse Induction detectors, this thing is really weird.
It looks like a toy from the Dollar Store.
$300 for a month's rental, and the thing weighs 3 pounds, including the shipping box and box wrapping paper.
So have my doubts...I hope I am wrong...maybe it is a magic wand after all.
One good thing...it is LOT easier than digging holes with my hand auger!
Here are some pics, I hope they don't make this post super long.
Here is what the stick looks like:
For a "grid" that would s-t-r-e-t-c-h way over my primary and secondary target areas, I figured I would take a measurement every 6 feet.
I would walk long-ways first, then walk up-and-down ways.
I didn't bring my 100-foot tape measure, I forgot (so I am old).
So I had to MacGyver a measuring thingee.
I used a couple of survey flags, a string ball, and a piece of orange plastic rope I found on the road going to the marsh.
I had a 16-foot tape measure, so I put two of the survey flags 12 feet apart to easily measure 12-foot sections of the string.
Then I tied (using a slip knot) a short section of the orange rope to 12-foot sections of the string as a marker).
I did this until I ran out of the orange rope used for markers.
I selected two 2-foot pipes (I have so many extension pipes out there for my hand auger) to use as a guide for a 2-foot wide "grid" path.
The bottle is an empty water bottle (yes, I stay hydrated out there) with my measuring string and markers wrapped around it.
I had enough of my MacGyver'd string to tie to each end of the pipes.
This allowed me to s-t-r-e-t-c-h my grid over both my primary and secondary target areas.
I would search 2 "paths", move the pipes over, and repeat.
Of course, the shade didn't last long.
I recorded measurements at every orange rope marker, and in the middle of the markers...so every 6 feet.
I searched 6 paths in all on Sunday...twice...once holding the magnetometer vertically, and then again wiggling the stick around to get the max reading.
I only searched the long-ways, not any up-and-down ways.
After thinking about it, maybe using this marked-string technique, I may not even have to search the up-and-down ways after all.
No, I didn't know what I was doing.
I did record all my measurements and won't bore you with all the data or a graph.
The data did not make any sense.
I first need to learn the technique for getting the most accurate measurements by calling the rental place.
My vacation was approved for next week, so I can do all my measurements next week and return the stick.
“Previous journeys in search of treasure have taught me that a zigzag strategy is the best way to get ahead.”
― Tahir Shah, House of the Tiger King: The Quest for a Lost City