Metal Detectors

[NA4BH]

Any of you use metal detectors? What is a good entry level unit? My sons birthday is coming up soon and he has expressed an interest in doing it. Any help would be appreciated.

[KG4CGC]

Want!
What's your budget? A really nice one can be had for 5 bones.

[NA4BH]

You trying to get rid of one?

[W4GPL]

I prefer the x-ray scanners. Giggity.

[K7SGJ]

I've had a White for years. They have some good entry level stuff, and some nice high end stuff, too. The thing I like about them is you can swap out the coils to match the soil condx, and the type of treasure you are looking for. They also hold their resale value if you want to upgrade. I really like mine.

[W7UUU]

I have a White's Spectrum I've used exactly TWICE since new... wanna make a deal?
It was around $1000 new....

Dave
W7UUU

[al2n]

The Bounty Hunter Lone Star is a decent detector. You can get one for 150-200 dollars. Not too fancy, but with enough features to get the job done.

[KG4CGC]

You trying to get rid of one?

No sir, sorry. I am not. I have been studying them on and off for the last 8 years. One of the greatest ground hounds I ever met, found a large bore mortar near the beach at Myrtle Beach a few years ago. It didn't make the news because being ex military, he knew the stink it would raise if he went to the popo with it not even considering the rectal exam they would have put him through.
His level of circuit discrimination surpassed even the best amateur extra who made a career out of electronics RF and otherwise except for Fred.

[NQ6U]

Metal detector:

http://www.jobeaufoix.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/horseshoe-magnet-57437227.jpg

[KG4CGC]

Magnetic trunk mount magnet is a plus.
ETA: and is the way I tell people to look for roofing nails in their yards after the work is done.

[N8YX]

I've had a White for years. They have some good entry level stuff, and some nice high end stuff, too. The thing I like about them is you can swap out the coils to match the soil condx, and the type of treasure you are looking for. They also hold their resale value if you want to upgrade. I really like mine.

Gets a +1 from me if you're going to buy commercial stuff.


One of the greatest ground hounds I ever met

...snip...

level of circuit discrimination surpassed even the best amateur extra who made a career out of electronics RF and otherwise except for Fred.

What you did there...we're going to turn it into a teaching moment.

Why not build a detector from scratch and learn some RF theory in the process?

Simply put, a metal detector is an RF oscillator. The coils in the detection head make up the "L" in an LC network and the "C" can be fixed, tunable (manually or electrically) or switchable. The LC network is the tuning portion of an RF oscillator (Colpitts, Hartley, pick your favorite) and its output is processed then compared to a reference. A disturbance in the field (metallic object near the detection head) causes the resonant frequency to change and thus the output of the oscillator relative to its reference...which can then be observed on a meter or heard in the gadget's speaker or headphones.

Many designs get far more advanced that that. The "discriminator" variant can discern treasure from trash.

Here's a good explanation of the differences:

http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/metal_detectors.php

There are a metric shit-ton of circuits for these things on the 'Net. Wanna try rolling your own?

[WØTKX]

I work with metal detectors here all the time. :yes:

[XE1/N5AL]

From the Red Green Show, Season 1, Episode 14.
I clipped this segment out of another guy's YouTube video.


http://youtu.be/iWcDwX1i5Ys

[KK4AMI]

Everybody has their favorite brand. I use Garrett (GTI 2500 and Infinium). Look at the company KELLYCO. They sell a lot of brands at discount prices. A Garrett ACE 250 ($250) is a good non-toy starter. Rolling your own is OK, but if you are going to swing for miles and miles, nothing beats a light purpose built detector that uses SMT and only weighs ounces. "Detector Elbow" is a reality.

[WØTKX]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induction_loop

[X-Rated]

Everybody has their favorite brand. I use Garrett (GTI 2500 and Infinium). Look at the company KELLYCO. They sell a lot of brands at discount prices. A Garrett ACE 250 ($250) is a good non-toy starter. Rolling your own is OK, but if you are going to swing for miles and miles, nothing beats a light purpose built detector that uses SMT and only weighs ounces. "Detector Elbow" is a reality.

Personally, I have little to add to this discussion, but I have lived in Garland, TX, and the name "Garrett" does pop up from time to time as a good option. Certainly there are other options, but Garrett has been around for a long time and the people I know who have used them brag about how they can tune out certain metal object signatures and concentrate on the items you are looking for.

[XE1/N5AL]

Note: Fry's Electronics sells the aforementioned Garrett Ace 250, for $212.99.

BTW, Back in the early-80s, I also used to live in Garland, just a couple of miles away from the Garrett facility.

[VE7DCW]

Any of you use metal detectors? What is a good entry level unit? My sons birthday is coming up soon and he has expressed an interest in doing it. Any help would be appreciated.

I've only used the type that detects nails in wooden studs behind walls........does that count? :mrgreen:

[X-Rated]

Note: Fry's Electronics sells the aforementioned Garrett Ace 250, for $212.99.

BTW, Back in the early-80s, I also used to live in Garland, just a couple of miles away from the Garrett facility.

Coolio. I lived near Centerville Rd and the LBJ from 1984 through 1986.

[WX7P]

I don't mean to sound snarky, but what are you guys looking for?

The only metal detector types I ever saw where the ones at the local elementary school looking for lost lunch money. Another spot was at the beach especially Santa Cruz, CA.

[KG4CGC]

I would suspect coins and jewelry mainly but around here, Civil War relics command a pretty penny. Of course they are very useful for utilitarian reasons. Underground pipes etc.

[NA4BH]

Around here there were a lot of Civil War camps and there are a lot of artifacts still around. Plus being a college town, there's probably a lot of stuff around the intramural athletic fields. And it gets people out of their chair and walk around for a little exercise. The thrill of the hunt.

[WX7P]

Ok, the Civil War angle makes sense. I remember finding minie balls just lying around when my Dad had the serious Civil War battlefield jones back in the 60's. We went to ALL of them, or so it seemed. We lived in Illinois in 1966 (for only a year), gas was cheap, so pop the kids into the Valiant, bring the canned food and sterno for lunch and you were set, baby.

We found a lot of internment camp debris around the Tule Lake camp when we were living there. Cans and broken plates mostly.

[XE1/N5AL]

Coolio. I lived near Centerville Rd and the LBJ from 1984 through 1986.
We just missed each other! I moved to Atlanta in 1983.

[KK4AMI]

You have to be careful where you go Civil War Relic hunting in Virginia. Everything is a National Park and getting caught with a Detector gets you fined and your detector confiscated. I like to use them on the beach and in the water. Lots of change on public beaches, jewelry falls off everywhere in the water. During the winter, beach combing on North Carolina beaches when they are eroded can get you a lot of ship wreck stuff. When we go on vacation, I'll go beach combing for hours getting up at 0530.

[WX7P]

You have to be careful where you go Civil War Relic hunting in Virginia. Everything is a National Park and getting caught with a Detector gets you fined and your detector confiscated. I like to use them on the beach and in the water. Lots of change on public beaches, jewelry falls off everywhere in the water. During the winter, beach combing on North Carolina beaches when they are eroded can get you a lot of ship wreck stuff. When we go on vacation, I'll go beach combing for hours getting up at 0530.

I'm not ragging on you Mike, but is that worth your time? Just curious.

What's the coolest thing you've found?

[N8YX]

Coolest thing I have ever found when out digging around is a bucket full of what appears to be glazed stone hand hammers. Think of a dumbbell made of tan or light gray clay with finger grips. Some had a bell at both ends, some had a bell at only one end while a few had neither. They looked to be built for smallish hands...I'm assuming "squaw".

Due to the proximity of the find to the Tuscarawas River, and given the fact this particular area was an Erie and Cherokee highway at one time it's likely one or both tribes may have made these and used them to prepare acorn mash.

The artifacts were found on the western bank of the Ohio-Erie Canal and it's also likely they were part of the overburden which was displaced as the canal workers dug. They had been buried a foot or so down and erosion uncovered a few, prompting the excavation.

Some of the local clay is slightly metallic. One wonders if a metal detector could be used to locate more of the relics.

[KK4AMI]

I'm not ragging on you Mike, but is that worth your time? Just curious.

What's the coolest thing you've found?

Really that is a pretty common question. Is it worth my time? Well lets put it this way, I usually have to go on vacation with my in-laws. So yes! Anything to get out of the house :)

I have about $400 in change, lots of jewelry (the bad pieces anyway, my wife picks out the choice stuff.) I find stuff around here to. Got a 2 cent piece, couple of old license plates and horse shoes. My weird find was an electronic pocket scale that had a small bag of white powder in it. The bag was full of ants, so I'm guessing what ever it was, it was cut to hell. I kept the pocket scale and ditched the rest :whistle:

[WX7P]

Really that is a pretty common question. Is it worth my time? Well lets put it this way, I usually have to go on vacation with my in-laws. So yes! Anything to get out of the house :)

I have about $400 in change, lots of jewelry (the bad pieces anyway, my wife picks out the choice stuff.) I find stuff around here to. Got a 2 cent piece, couple of old license plates and horse shoes. My weird find was an electronic pocket scale that had a small bag of white powder in it. The bag was full of ants, so I'm guessing what ever it was, it was cut to hell. I kept the pocket scale and ditched the rest :whistle:

White powder is a bad thing.

What license plates did you find? My brother found a 43 DC plate with a 44 tab (extremely rare) and a 1941 inaugural plate in his garden in Arlington, VA, back in the early 80's. They were being used as plant dividers...Both were NRP (needs repaint) but great examples.

[WX7P]

Coolest thing I have ever found when out digging around is a bucket full of what appears to be glazed stone hand hammers. Think of a dumbbell made of tan or light gray clay with finger grips. Some had a bell at both ends, some had a bell at only one end while a few had neither. They looked to be built for smallish hands...I'm assuming "squaw".

Due to the proximity of the find to the Tuscarawas River, and given the fact this particular area was an Erie and Cherokee highway at one time it's likely one or both tribes may have made these and used them to prepare acorn mash.

The artifacts were found on the western bank of the Ohio-Erie Canal and it's also likely they were part of the overburden which was displaced as the canal workers dug. They had been buried a foot or so down and erosion uncovered a few, prompting the excavation.

Some of the local clay is slightly metallic. One wonders if a metal detector could be used to locate more of the relics.

That's some cool stuff.

On the west coast, you'll find mostly mining artifacts, especially in the Sac area and Death Valley.

[KK4AMI]

White powder is a bad thing.

What license plates did you find? My brother found a 43 DC plate with a 44 tab (extremely rare) and a 1941 inaugural plate in his garden in Arlington, VA, back in the early 80's. They were being used as plant dividers...Both were NRP (needs repaint) but great examples.

I have mine nailed to the wall in the barn. I think they were black and white Virginia plates from 49.

[X-Rated]

The coolest thing I found as a kid on the farm was a clay jug. It did have a triangular hole in it where it had cracked, but it was pretty cool. My sister took it when I moved out. Not detected by metal detector, but it showed up on the river bank as the bank was eroding.

Never had a metal detector. Thought that would be cool though.

[KK4AMI]

Just went out and looked at them. Plain (corroded) metal with black lettering?

[WX7P]

Just went out and looked at them. Plain (corroded) metal with black lettering?

They're probably either 1947 or 1949. They should have the date on them, if that part of the plate is still intact. The only non-dated plate from VA was from around 1910 or before and they were porcelain.

[al2n]

I have not had a detector for some years now, but when I did have one, it paid for itself the first three months I had it. Mine was made by Tesoro.

Found lots and lots of change, silver rings, a few watches, a locket filled with small gold nuggets, and a trade token from the early days of the Palmer colony. I sold that token for $600. They are extremely rare as most were destroyed when regular currency finally arrived at the colony. Collectors of Alaskana go nuts whenever one hits the market.

Think I lost 10-15 pounds with all the walking I did as well.

Been wanting to get another one for a long time. I may have to save up my money and get one later this year. All kinds of old sites to hunt for relics around here.

[NQ6U]

All kinds of old sites to hunt for relics around here.

Any hamfest, for instance.