Unusual signals.....worth digging deeper?

[willy1970]

Yesterday I was doing some detecting around an old farm house area that I located from an 1880 plat map. I was working an area around three very old oak trees behind the house and got solid, shallow signals in an area that is about 12"x18". In all metal I get nothing but 39-45 for VDI numbers at 0-2" deep in the entire area and slight ferrous signal along the one edge of the patch. BTW, I am using an X-Terra 50 and am very new to the hobby. I have dug down 3-5" in most of the 12"x18" area and have found nothing in the dirt removed, but holes still ring loud and clear. It was getting late, so I covered everything back up and headed home.....very frustrated.

My questions are:
Do you think I am experiencing some anomalies in the soil that I've not seen yet? If not, is it possible that I'm picking up on a much larger target that is actually deeper than the MD is saying? This really threw me because, up until now, the depth readings I've gotten have been spot on.....

Like I said, I'm very new to the hobby and any advice you may have is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

HH,
Willy

 

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[lastleg]

First off what are you digging with? If you are only going down 5'' you are
leaving finds in the ground. In the setting you described you will do better
using a garden shovel with the handle cut down to about 4'.
Now before everyone starts screaming don't make big holes, in an isolated
farm environment you will need to go deeper. Don't rely on your depth meter,
just dig until you find what caused the signal.
And cover your holes and make the area look as though you were never there.

 

[stefen]

You wearing steel toed shoes by chance?

 

[willy1970]

Lastleg, I was only digging down that deep based on the depth meter and the fact that
everything, up until now, that has hit that hard/shallow has been right at the top. It was
getting late and I was confused as to why I couldn't locate the target. I just had my
digging knife with me at the time as it was a last minute decision to head over there. I
will bring some deeper tools with next trip.....thanks for the advice.

Stefen, no steel toes.

 

[lastleg]

You will get the hang of it. Heck, you're already researching for old sites.
Good luck to you.

 

[willy1970]

You will get the hang of it. Heck, you're already researching for old sites.
Good luck to you.

Thanks for the encouragement, Lastleg. I have to thank my late Father for my constant
interest in history. MD'ing seemed like a logical step to getting in touch with the people that
were here before us. I only wish my Dad was still around to MD with me -- I know he would have
loved the hobby. I look forward to sharing the hobby with my two daughters (5 and 6 years
old). It'll be a great way to spend time together and hopefully instill the importance of history
in them the way my Dad did with me.

I've got two farm sites located from that 1880 plat that are on public land and three that are on
private land so far. I have permission on two of the three privates, one of which is the one I
started the post about, and have a voice mail into the third landowner. The research, so far has
been more than interesting enough for me -- I can only imagine the feeling the first time that
research pays off and you score a piece of history because of it.

I spent this evening in our backyard digging up junk with my daughters. I have a feeling that
the spot at the farm site is most likely a larger piece of iron that is deeper than the meter is
saying. I had a larger piece in the yard tonight that rang pretty similar and read in the 2-4"
depth range. It ended up being and old piece of iron that was down 8-9". I will go back to
make sure, but I'm fairly certain that's what I've got.

I think it's pretty easy to get impatient when you're first starting out. Just gotta slow down and
soak everything in. I'm learning something new each time out, so I'll just keep plugging away.

Thanks again for the encouragement,
Willy

 

[lastleg]

Willy, kids pick up detecting pretty quick. My neices grab my detectors every
time I go over to search around sister's yard. The youngest had my cZ-6 and
was poking it under the backdoor deck. I told her she couldn't find anything
under there and she hands me a neat costume ring that looked like a real gold
ring.
That taught me to let her go do her thing.

 

[xdanthemanx]

sounds familiar to me, sounds like a barrel ring there, when i say barrel ring im talking about the round iron straps they used to put around oak barrels, they tend to light up a whole area and at about a foot a deep they give you readings that vary, you cant really pinpoint due to the shape of the target they create a signal field pretty large but weak, i would start on one side go until you just get the signal and dig straight down, it is certain that most detectors will pick up larger items at considerable depths even the cheap machines can get 2 feet on large iron.
Its been my motto never to abandon a target though, so i would dig it anyway until you find it
dont let it be " the one that got away"

DTM

 

[chipveres]

When I was working an old farm, I made a probe by welding two feet of 1/4 inch steel rod t-shaped across two feet of square tubing handle. It is very handy for finding deep objects without digging huge holes.

Chip V.

 

[pyledriver]

I like that probe idea! On the meter reading...now I'm a beep/dig guy that only knows tone machines...just dig till you get there! If it is a barrel ring, maybe you could get a better 'picture' of it if you detect the outermost signals all the way around, mark whey they drop off and see what you end up with. You could use some turf paint to do this, which is cheap at Home Depot. Once you know that, you may be able to dig one edge and find out whether it's a ring or not. I WOULD remove it and detect again for sure though!

 

[lastleg]

And how do you remove the turf paint when it's time to go home?

 

[willy1970]

Thanks for the tips guys. I've got one of our fab guys here at work making me a stainless
steel probe -- he may or may not know what it's actually for. As far as the marking
goes, I've got a bag of bright orange golf tees in my back pack -- pick 'em up when you're
done and no one is the wiser.

Willy, kids pick up detecting pretty quick. My neices grab my detectors every
time I go over to search around sister's yard. The youngest had my cZ-6 and
was poking it under the backdoor deck. I told her she couldn't find anything
under there and she hands me a neat costume ring that looked like a real gold
ring.
That taught me to let her go do her thing.

The first night we were out in the yard, I was digging a hole and my five year old grabbed
the detector and started swinging it. It was in all metal and part of the yard is very trashy.
She promptly informed me that it was going to take a long time to dig all the treasure
with all the beeping that was going on..... Kids are fun and funny!

 

[bill-USA]

Willy, the reason you're seeing the depth as shallow is that most detector depth guages are calibrated to report the size of a coin sized target. If you get a larger non-coin target, the depth typically will read shallower than the actual depth.

I suspect you're right about the large iron, but the 39 to 43 number seems awfully consistent for a single large iron piece. No doubt you'll let us know if it's the lid off a stove, or a barrel ring. If it's actually a buried crock of gold coin, don't report it to us or anyone else!.............

It sounds like you have a very good handle on the reseach and detecting process, and your daughter sounds very astute for such a young age. Amazing how kids can synergize information at that age and come to very accurate conclusions. Be blessed as you continue the learning process, and I know you've been blessed by enjoying this hobby with your child. Did you share your reseach process with her? You might be surprised how much interest could arise just from sharing that side of your interests as well.

 

[willy1970]

Willy, the reason you're seeing the depth as shallow is that most detector depth guages are calibrated to report the size of a coin sized target. If you get a larger non-coin target, the depth typically will read shallower than the actual depth.

I suspect you're right about the large iron, but the 39 to 43 number seems awfully consistent for a single large iron piece. No doubt you'll let us know if it's the lid off a stove, or a barrel ring. If it's actually a buried crock of gold coin, don't report it to us or anyone else!.............

It sounds like you have a very good handle on the reseach and detecting process, and your daughter sounds very astute for such a young age. Amazing how kids can synergize information at that age and come to very accurate conclusions. Be blessed as you continue the learning process, and I know you've been blessed by enjoying this hobby with your child. Did you share your reseach process with her? You might be surprised how much interest could arise just from sharing that side of your interests as well.

Thanks for the kind words, Bill. The research and overall concept of detecting isn't too much of a problem for
me -- it's the actual consistent operation that needs work! It is amazing how the kids can put things into a
no nonsense viewpoint -- we, as adults, can learn a lot from them if we pay close enough attention. They
go into situations with no preconceived notions and have the ability to accept things for what they are. They
are God's greatest gift. We have done some geocaching with the girls and I do a fair amount of hunting as
well, so it seems I'm always studying something related to maps. The kids are always very interested in them
and have gotten very good at locating local lakes, etc. off the maps.

The consistently high VDI numbers is what really has me wondering. I will be heading back to the area on
Saturday AM and will let you know what I end up learning. Unless, of course, it is a crock of gold coins -- in
that case, you'll never hear from me again.....

HH,
Willy

 

[bill-USA]

Bump!

Looking for the gold!

 

[pyledriver]

Removal is easy! I'm talking about marker type paint, which you can pretty much rub out with your shoe if you're not putting it down thick. I use it in landscaping all the time. You're not painting a wall here, just ghosting out the edges..LOL..

 

[boogeyman]

If you're worried about upside down paint, Go to Depot & get a refill bottle of chalk used for chalk lines a small puff it's marked! Quick scruff of the boot, it's gone. I like red it is easier to brush in than blue.

Kids are wonderful!!!!!!!!!! UNTIlllllllll we start teaching them

 

[willy1970]

Kids are wonderful!!!!!!!!!! UNTIlllllllll we start teaching them

There is an awful lot of truth to that statement.

I have not made it back out to the site yet -- possibly tomorrow.
Will let you know.....unless it's a big gold/silver cache.

 

[gflores71]

VDI numbers are great, but.... You need to learn to communicate with your detector. That takes time and practice. If you are able to get VDI readings and sound on Disc mode, then certainly you should be able to pick it up even better in all metal mode.

As mentioned above a ring can give you a large target image..but.. if you use all metal mode to measure signal intensity(shallower reading) you will notice the fluctuations from high to low. In a solid object the signal will stay high until you reach the end. In the case of a ring shaped pice ( large ), you should get a high reading, then a drop and then a high reading again ( even if sound is constant).

Depth reading on a detector is only for coin shooters. That is not even close when searching for large targets.

Good luck

Gilbert

 

[boogeyman]

"When in doubt, dig it out!"

If you don't you'll never have a decent nights sleep wondering what you left behind.

If you can't really identify the signal, dig it! After you dig it, you've added to your knowledge database. comparing your experience with what your machine is telling you really helps later down the line.