parnass@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (08/22/89)
x
A year has elapsed since I posted questions and an arti-
cle about metal detecting. At that time, a few other
metal detector owners responded with fascinating informa-
tion.
I'm interested in hearing from detectorists about their
activities during the past year.
My wife and I started detecting a year ago and now use a
White's 6000 Di Pro Plus with 9.5 inch searchcoil. We
searched at least one day a week last summer. Unfor-
tunately, we've been out only a half dozen times this
summer, during which time we found:
engagement ring
sterling silver ring
decorative gold ring (worth about $200)
several Mercury dimes
coins dating back to the turn of the century
a lot of modern coins
paper money, including a $20 bill,
found while "surface hunting" :-)
dog tax license tag from 1923
Pearl Harbor memorial token
shotgun shells, bullets, pocket knife, US Army compass,
machete, toy cars, etc.
Have you any new insights since we last discussed this
topic? What have you found this year? What kind of
detector(s) do you use? How big is the searchcoil? Did
you use a trowel, knife, or rod to recover found items?
--
============================================================================
Bob Parnass, AJ9S - AT&T Bell Laboratories - att!ihuxz!parnass (312)979-5414benfeen@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Ben Feen) (08/22/89)
How would one build a simple metal detector with piezo buzzer or even just
a simple meter, using parts from Radio Shack or similar place? How would
you build a 15 inch searchcoil? Would a 15 inch be better than a 9.5 inch?
ADVthanksANCE
--
|Opus and Frodo live! | "Sometimes, when your cat just died and you've cut
off your favorite appendage(s) with a power saw and there's epoxy in the
Visine and you brush your teeth with Clearasil it helps to say 'What the
f*ck'" | This signature consists of non-blanks separated by blanks.c37189h@saha.hut.fi (Suomalainen Harri Olavi) (08/22/89)
The idea of metal detector is that when you place the coil near metal the inductance of the coil gets higher in value. If the coil is used eg. in an oscillator tank the frequency will be changed. If the coil is part of an audio oscillator you'll notice the change in frequency. You could as well detect the inductance of the coil directly and be noticed of metal as the inductance is changed. --- E-mail: c37189h@saha.hut.fi * If you're feeling good, don't * UUCP: ...!mcvax!santra!saha!c37189h * worry - You'll get over it! *
george@electro.UUCP (George Reimer) (08/22/89)
In article <2575@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> parnass@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) writes: > > I'm interested in hearing from detectorists about their > activities during the past year. > I have a toy detector, Radio Shack , 8^) , bought it thinking that we could explore the hobby and decide about it before investing to much money. We can detect a 3" spike at about 6" of earth. Our biggest adventure was to go to the snow dump site in early spring. This is a place where, during the winter months, all the snow that has been scraped up from the city streets is dumped. This particular one was about the size of two football fields, the melting snow being about 4 to six feet deep. Well, my 9 year old son, my wife and I hunted for about several hours. You wouldn't believe ( or would you ? ) how many thousands of beer caps and pop can tabs there were! Our biggest find was one ten cent piece which my wife spotted visually. It was quite educational. I realize now that a snowdump site, along with all metal scrapyards are not the places to go looking. I too would be interested in hearing of other's experiences as well as comments regarding the best performance per dollar. Has anyone built there own detector? What sort of readouts are available? Can you perform some sort of visual scanning ( akin to ultrasound scanning? ) George Reimer
talent@dover.sps.mot.com (Steve Talent) (08/23/89)
In article <2575@cbnewsc.ATT.COM> parnass@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) writes: > > A year has elapsed since I posted questions and an arti- > cle about metal detecting. At that time, a few other > metal detector owners responded with fascinating informa- > tion. I'm not a treasure hunter... my dad is and has found a lot in the past 10 years. > I'm interested in hearing from detectorists about their > activities during the past year. During the past two or three years my dad has been hunting Civil War campgrounds. Part of the excitement is just locating a campground. It takes a fair amount of research and luck. Local libraries (S.W. Missouri) and the National Archives hold an incredible amount of useful information. Letters from officers to their superiors often gave enough information about the surrounding landscape that it is possible today to recognize the areas where they camped. Several times my dad has talked with people living in those areas who could recall stories told to them by their grandparents about the camps in the area. His most exciting find at one of these camps was a $1 gold coin (1864 ?) in mint condition. He has also found a bullet mold, spurs, stirrups, buttons, scabbard tips, other misc., and a couple thousand bullets. Some of the bullets have been carved - e.g., a makeshift chess set, pencils, etc. > > My wife and I started detecting a year ago and now use a > White's 6000 Di Pro Plus with 9.5 inch searchcoil. We > searched at least one day a week last summer. Unfor- > tunately, we've been out only a half dozen times this > summer, during which time we found: > > > engagement ring > sterling silver ring > decorative gold ring (worth about $200) > several Mercury dimes > coins dating back to the turn of the century > a lot of modern coins > paper money, including a $20 bill, > found while "surface hunting" :-) > dog tax license tag from 1923 > Pearl Harbor memorial token > shotgun shells, bullets, pocket knife, US Army compass, > machete, toy cars, etc. > > Have you any new insights since we last discussed this > topic? What have you found this year? What kind of > detector(s) do you use? How big is the searchcoil? Did > you use a trowel, knife, or rod to recover found items? Before hunting Civil War campgrounds, my dad did most of his hunting around old churches - the oldest in Mo. was established in 1820. Many of the sites he has searched were located using old county maps. In the 19th century churches were a very popular place to hold social gatherings. He has found coins dating back to 1824 searching around old churches or where they once stood. Other places he has hunted have been old neighborhoods and areas where old houses were being demolished. About a year ago he and two other hunters shared in a find of about 300 pre-WWII dollars and half-dollars that had apparently been stashed under a fireplace, perhaps by a soldier who didn't return. Last spring he and a friend had good look searching a lake bottom. The lake level had been dropped about 20 feet so repairs could be done at the spillways. They searched in the popular swimming areas and found many rings and bracelets. I don't recall the make of the detector but it has about a 6-8 inch coil, headphones, a meter, and several adjustments. It's made by a guy in TN. When it detects metal, it beeps and the meter moves left or right. The beeps all sound the same to me but my dad can guess what he had found and approximately how deep just by the sound. He uses a small gardeners type hand shovel(trowel) or a camper's type folding spade. He always covers his digging - even in a cow pasture. > >-- >============================================================================ >Bob Parnass, AJ9S - AT&T Bell Laboratories - att!ihuxz!parnass (312)979-5414 -- Steve Talent, Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector CAD Mesa, AZ 602-994-6801, ...!{oakhill, sun!sunburn, uunet}!dover!talent
wiz@xroads.UUCP (Mike Carter) (08/29/89)
RE: Searching for buried treasure! Well..my personal experiences include finding a totally unusable and completely rusted .22 calibre rifle (unknown make)...a flashlight circa 1960 (you should have seen the battery!) and several coins (present to as early as 1901) several tent pegs, piles of magnets and an assortment of metallic objects that can only be described as usefull for making bombs as shrapnel. The most valuable item found has been an immaculate Buck Knife with a 6" blade. Someone even went to the trouble of engraving (acid etch) "STING" in Gothic lettering on it. I use the home-made version using an 11" coil. We search mostly around camp-grounds. Last year I sold the "wand" and have since regretted it! -Mike -- ============================================================================= = Mike Carter N7GYX, Phoenix AZ| Q: Why did the Chicken cross the road ? = = hplabs!hp-sdd!crash!xroads!wiz| A: To ESCape the Main Menu . = =============================================================================
parnass@cbnewsc.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (08/30/89)
x I enjoyed the articles on metal detecting. Saturday, I started planting my own "coin garden." By burying a few coins at measured depths in my own yard, I can learn more about the quirks of my White's 6000 detec- tor and compare its performance to other models. Before burying any coins, I started to sweep the area for metal. Of course, the last thing one would want in a metal detector test bed is random bits of metal to dis- tract you from your targets. In the process of sweeping this small portion of my yard, I found coins and a Ster- ling Silver ring with a large (unknown type) gem! It would be a shame to dig holes, bury a few coins, then forget where they were buried. For this reason, I elected to make the burial sites visible but in a way that would not interfere with cutting the grass. I also drew a map. I cut an 8 foot long 1-1/4" diameter schedule 40 PVC pipe into several smaller pipes, each pipe 8 to 12 inches long, then buried the small pipes vertically, about 4 feet from each other. One end of each pipe is flush with the soil (not grass) surface. I buried a clad quarter at 8", a clad dime at 6", and will bury other items each in their own pipes as time permits. Each pipe is filled completely with dirt, so looking down at the ground, all that's visible is a round, white circle. In GEB/discriminate mode, the White's 6000 (with 9.5" search coil) will just barely detect the clad quarter at 8", but the identification (VDI) meter will peg at full scale, making one think the item was junk. The detector will detect the clad dime at 6", but the identification meter will not read "dime" only sometimes. In both cases, the depth meter is fairly accurate. This test convinced me to heed the advice that if a tar- get produces a "junk" meter reading, but is deep (6 inches or more), it's best to recover it. A few hours of hunting in a park Sunday netted several domestic coins, a 1943 Australian 3 Pence, a 9 mm bullet, and a few shotgun shell casings. -- ============================================================================ Bob Parnass, AJ9S - AT&T Bell Laboratories - att!ihuxz!parnass (312)979-5414