parnass@ihuxz.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) (07/19/88)
x I'm in danger of being hooked into another all consuming hobby - treasure hunting. After using our cheap Radio Shack metal locator to find a buried septic tank, I began to wonder if there were other companies making metal locators and what features were important. A trip to the bookstore netted two magazines devoted entirely to treasure hunting, and from the looks of things, this is a hobby enjoyed by several thousand enthusiasts. The advertisements hawk metal locators cos- ting upwards of $800, complete with microprocessor con- trol, digital readout, and keypad. I'm interested in hearing from people experienced in this captivating hobby, who can tell me: - What metal locator features are important? Is a meter a necessity? - What make/model of locator have you used, and do you recommend it? - Does a $700 locator work that much better than a $200 model? - What items of interest have you found? Rings? Coins? Pop tops and bottle caps? - In what kinds of places do you hunt? - What do you use to dig up your "treasures" without destroying the property? My wife found our present metal locator for $5 at a garage sale. It's the Radio Shack model on sale curren- tly for $29. The controls are touchy, and the construc- tion is not very rugged, but it works! Tonight, I found a few nails in my yard, buried up to 5 inches in the damp soil. Because I live in an agricul- tural area, I don't expect to find many gold coins or diamond rings on my property. Local rental agencies charge $10/day for metal locators, and renting one sounds like a good way to sample some better equipment and a new hobby. -- ===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-=== Bob Parnass AJ9S, AT&T Bell Laboratories - att!ihuxz!parnass - (312)979-5414
jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Mr Jack Campin) (07/25/88)
parnass@ihuxz.ATT.COM (Bob Parnass, AJ9S) wrote: > I'm in danger of being hooked into another all consuming > hobby - treasure hunting. Think before getting into this. Treasure hunters can be appallingly destructive to archaeological sites. > - What do you use to dig up your "treasures" without > destroying the property? You will always destroy the contextual information provided by the location of your "treasure" with respect to its surroundings (those boring bits of ash and bone you stamp though while digging up the goodies). An archaeologist might, for example, care whether the coins you find were in a dead man's pocket or on his eyes. Native Americans also may not appreciate you shovelling the remains of their ancestors out of the way to get at their copper amulets. Huge amounts of British history have been irretrievably lost due to treasure hunters' activities. Some archaeologists have taken to scattering nails around to make life difficult for them. I recommend anyone who knows of potential targets for these vandals to do likewise. -- ARPA: jack%cs.glasgow.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk USENET: jack@cs.glasgow.uucp JANET:jack@uk.ac.glasgow.cs useBANGnet: ...mcvax!ukc!cs.glasgow.ac.uk!jack Mail: Jack Campin, Computing Science Dept., Glasgow Univ., 17 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow G12 8QQ, SCOTLAND work 041 339 8855 x 6045; home 041 556 1878
dillon@jumbo.dec.com (John Dillon) (07/28/88)
In article <1507@crete.cs.glasgow.ac.uk>, jack@cs.glasgow.ac.uk (Mr Jack Campin) writes: > > Huge amounts of British history have been irretrievably lost due to treasure > hunters' activities. Some archaeologists have taken to scattering nails around > to make life difficult for them. I recommend anyone who knows of potential > targets for these vandals to do likewise. > Yes, very laudable (perhaps arguable, but don't flame me :-). HOWEVER, if you do this please do not use nails! Nails cause very painful injuries to dogs, horses, people, and so forth. Puncture wounds, especially on bare feet in contact with soil, are the worst wounds to suffer. Instead of nails, use bits of sheet metal (pennies don't cost much ;-).