Garrett Pro-Pointer Discrimination Tips

My attempt at a YouTube video, lol.

THE GARRETT PRO-POINTER

USING DISCRIMINATION

                I know there have been a thousand reviews on the Garrett Pro-Pointer and its search capabilities. The Pro-Pointer’s capability of finding truly small objects is renowned all over the world. So, instead of writing another article praising this pointer’s capabilities in the field and repeating what others have already said, I will go in depth on the Pro-Pointer’s often forgotten about functions. I will truly test the Pro-Pointer’s discrimination, and “Narrowing the Search” functions. We are going to find out just how good the Garrett Pro-Pointer really is.

                The Garrett Pro-Pointer is capable of discriminating one metal out while still being able to recover another. This feature is easy to set up and to cancel after you are finished. Simply turn the Pro-Pointer on and place the Garrett Pro-Pointer directly on the type of object you want to discriminate, like a nail, then while touching the item turn the Pro-Pointer off and then back on. This eliminates the nail from the detection of your Pro-Pointer, after finding the intended object, turn the Pro-Pointer off and it will resume to normal function the next time you turn it on. (Remember, if you do not want to discriminate, hold the Pro-Pointer away from all metal when turning it on.) This is extremely useful in trashy iron areas; I use it to cancel out nails in yards and parks. But, how effective is the Pro-Pointer really? I set up some test to determine just how accurate the discrimination is.  Pull tab over a nickel? Bullet over iron? A nail over a penny? In most cases these are situations I would like to use discrimination.

                Nail discrimination was very accurate, I was able to pass over the nail and still detect the wheat penny with the nail as close as a half an inch. However the Pro-Pointer had to be closer to the penny compared to the standard air test before it started beeping, still an advantage when hunting a trashy yard.

                The Nickel couldn’t be detected after the pull tab was discriminated, looks like the dreaded pull tab digging may have to continue, but, one day that pull tab will turn to gold.

                With Iron discriminated a three ring bullet was able to be detected with a small loss of distance from standard air test. A round ball also was able to be detected with Iron discriminated out, both with the nail up to a half inch away.

                The Garrett Pro-Pointer was very successful at discriminating out iron and still detecting other types of metal. In circumstances that call for this function, I know The Garrett Pro-Pointer has the capability to save me time and energy. Eliminating iron objects in the hole, will allow me to extract the treasure and move on quickly to the next one. 

YOUNG GUNS OF DETECTING

I have never been one to just sit and watch the snow fall, I always have to be busy, writing, studying, and learning all I can about metal detecting. Recently I have noticed several younger guys on YouTube, these guys are good.  have been very impressed with a few and would like to share them with you. Here is a short list that I will ad to the column a little later. If you guys know of any young digger deserving of the list, let me know and I will check them out. 

Young Guns List

Tulsaplltbfndr

RecoveringRelics

Nuggetnoggin

JDsCoins

Cutaplug

Also, BobsDiggingit has a new awesome website just for diggers. It has live chat and I am sure will be a hot spot for the everyday digger. I will ad a link to his site to the column on the left also.

Hopefully by Thursday I will be back to digging, the weather is getting better and the snow is slowly melting away. Thanks for reading, KD

1000 Views, New Addition, and Forum Hot Spots

First I would like to thank everyone for viewing my post 1000 times. It is amazing that in the short time I have been blogging so many have taken an interest. I hope to keep bringing you quality reading material, and would like for everyone to keep reading. Hopefully the snow will melt off and I can start getting more material from the field. Until then here are a few places I like to hang out and chat.

Favorite Forums

Just Go Detecting

Coin Talk

NumisSociety

Big Boys Hobbies Forum

And Google +

I would also like to note a change in the layout, I have added my favorite blogs list, Mike is the first on the list and a good addition to start with, check him out. I will soon be discarding detectings best and replace it with Hot coils, a list of the best youtube videos I see. If you would like to be added to the blog list please e mail me, Kansasdigger@gmail.com. Lets go out and find the best videos, blogs, and forums on the internet and bring them here for everyone to see. Thanks again for all the views, will be back with more real soon.

Thanks,

KD

TEKNETICS OMEGA 8000 1ST HUNT

First I would like to say thank you to Josh and the guys at HighPlainsProspectors.com for giving me the opportunity to see what the Teknetics Omega 8000 will do here in Central Kansas. They are a great bunch of fellas and if you haven't checked out their website, I suggest you do. They have a great blog, monthly contest, with the best prizes I have seen, and the fairest prices on gear I have seen. You can click on the link up above to go, and tell them Kansas Digger sent Ya.

 The Teknetics Omega 8000 is quite different then my old MXT. Just the light weight design alone was a little intimidating, but when you start adding things like: 4 tone settings, 3 frequency settings, AT and discrimination, and Ground Grab,  I was more than a little worried this machine's technology may be more than I could process. I decided to just follow the guide lines set in the manual and hoped for the best. I did do some research about dealing with EMI and which of the four tone settings was best.

I decided to go to the old poor house, it was built in 1922 and has not only been the poor house but a private school, hospital, farm house, and finally the place my father lived while I was growing up. My father was a collector of all things junk, so there is a lot of trash in the five acre yard, but with no power running to it, no EMI to worry about.

I began with the sensitivity set on 70, in the all metal discrimination mode, the Ground Balance was 63, and I was in D4 tone. I had the 11" DD coil on, I thought it might be easier to start with since I use a DD coil primarily on my MXT.

 I started in the front yard, I had already found some good stuff there and know there is more. I was moving at a slow pace, swinging the coil as I would my MXT, and noticed everything was coming up quarter and dime. I checked my Ground Balance, it was fine, checked the mineral scale, it to was good, and I thought what the heck is going on. I decided to dig the next few targets that came up, this is what I got.

I thought about it a bit, then realized, as with all my other machines, I was running the Omega to hot, I decided to turn down the sensitivity to 65, after doing so I found these three clad and this Colorado Tax Token.

The temperature today was suppose to be in the 40's but I think it only made it to 36, the wind was blowing as usual here in Central Kansas, and my hands were getting frozen. I decided to head in for the day, happy with my results. I got home, ate lunch, and decided to check out the ol' internet. I started reading in the forums about EMI and its effects on the Omega 8000 and what to do about it. Well it wasn't long and I had my coat back on, this time with warmer gloves, and was heading out the back door. My yard is serious about its EMI, three crossing wires makes the Bermuda Triangle for anyone trying to detect it. I put on the stock coil and started off, immediately I knew I had to adjust, I changed to the 2nd frequency, and lowered my sensitivity to 60, it was still struggling so I lowered it more. In the back area of the yard, underneath the clothes line, I managed to pull a button, I believe from some Levi's or something. I then decided to try out the 5" coil. I have always wanted to try one of these shooter type coils and now, with no one there to laugh or sneer, I had my chance. I attached the 5" coil to the 8000 and began in the same settings I was in when I found the button. I wasn't sure how to even swing the darn thing, so I started slow, when that didn't work I added speed, and the little thing started to come alive, but the EMI was closing fast, I lowered the sensitivity down to 49, I thought well maybe there will be some clad shallow, at least I am getting some sounds out of the area. I was detecting around the big tree, listening to the bass of the iron, when I heard a mid range tone, I hit it again, and again, not believing it, I dug the target and five inches down was this 1934 Buffalo Nickel. I believe the Teknetics Omega 8000 is going to really impress me, when I figure out how to really use it. Thanks for reading. 

  

Fundamentals of Detecting Central Kansas Detector setup for soil conditions

Gain/ sensitivity Settings

                There are many areas in Kansas that the soil is drastically different than the usual dirt most treasure hunters are use to.  Here in Central Kansas,( Pawnee, Barton, Stafford, Pratt, Western Reno, Counties) the ground is filled with sand, the soil has a caramel color, and river rock is scattered throughout. This means the soil is a loose soil that gives the ability to detect deep objects, it also creates interference when trying to detect for smaller objects like coins and jewelry. Standard set ups are usually over kill for this area. When detecting parks, yards, and other in town sites, I drop the gain to as low as five and still dig objects four to six inches deep. Using a lower gain prevents the larger iron from masking shallow coins, I start at five at every location in this area and do a quick sweep, swing the coil at a normal rhythm. As I ad gain I slow the pace of my swing. Max gain in town is seven to eight; this is used only after I have made several passes through the area, turning the gain up one each time. With the gain set at eight, my swing is very slow, listening for small high tones in the almost constant iron tones. By this time, you are digging mostly bullets, larger tin and higher grade iron objects (i.e. tools, gun parts, large square nails).  The depth with the gain set at eight is 14 to 18 inches. If you go higher than eight, the detector begins giving false signals; also the iron signal overwhelms all other signals.  In the farm fields I start at seven or eight and will go as high as ten, most fields can take the higher gain and the objects are usually deep, I have dug an Indian head penny at 18 inches in the farm fields and bullets as deep as 22 inches. I use a slower pace swing in the farm fields and dig any signal deeper than six inches due to minerals masking everything to iron.

Discrimination settings

                I rarely use discrimination in Central Kansas, with the depth that can be reached in this area; it causes iron objects to give off false positive tones. In all metal mode you can determine the validity of the signal after pinpointing. This occurrence happens often especially when using higher gain. We also have hot rocks that read as quarters in discrimination mode, in all metal the signal is broken, and through a little experience, can be determined to be a hot rock. Though, this makes yard hunting more difficult due to the level of iron and other undesirable objects, it allows you to identify objects that are closely together, especially while using a DD coil.

Ground Balancing

                It is difficult to keep the ground balance neutral here in Central Kansas as the minerals change rapidly through out detecting areas. As a result many lower end machines have trouble keeping up with ground conditions even at moderate sensitivity settings. A good starting ground balance and the ability to adjust manually is a huge asset when hunting these areas. It is common to have to adjust the ground balance often due to different mineral saturation even in small locations, such as yards, ball fields, and park areas. Automatic ground balance will work if you are detecting slow and allow it to catch up, but this can only be done with machines that display their balance, or by pumping the coil every so often to listen for the pulling or pushing of sound. In the areas of eastern Stafford Co., and western Reno co., there is a high salt content. In these areas you have to have a detector that will adjust accordingly. Again the ground is not as compact as other parts of the state, so low Gain/ sensitivity is recommended, as depth isn’t an issue. Running a lower sensitivity helps with the ground balance and insures that the detector isn’t skipping over any small shallow objects.

Conclusion

                Central Kansas can be a frustrating place to detect. In dry conditions, most machines can’t discriminate between iron and precious metals, luckily these drought conditions occur only during extreme heat. In wet conditions the detecting is superb; the iron’s ring is diminished, and separating targets is less difficult. The sand allows for moisture to soak in quickly, so after a good rain, ideal detecting conditions occur. During this time you can raise your gain and find small deeper targets that previously were masked by the iron. Knowing your detector and the soil conditions is crucial to successful detecting in the Central Kansas area. Thanks for reading, and remember: Dig safe, Dig right, and Dig often. Happy hunting.

Teknetics Delta 4000 Review

My first detector review, more to come soon!

http://highplainsprospectors.com/blog/wp-admin/post.php?post=1403&action=edit&message=6

Big Changes for 2014!

 Well here we go, the year has just started and exciting things are happening right and left! First I would like to thank http://highplainsprospectors.com For naming me their Western Kansas Pro Affiliate! I am looking forward to a long relationship and many hunts together. If you haven't visited their site I highly recommend checking them out. Not only do they provide top of the line detecting and mining products, but also have a great news letter and a monthly contest with the best prizes I have ever seen. They are a small personalized company in the Kansas City area, which for you means one on one attention to help you find the perfect machine or accessory for your treasure finding needs.
 I also got a new job that will flow with the above mentioned honor perfectly. I work on an oil rig that travels all through Western Kansas. I work nights and, after sleep, have all afternoon in new towns and locations. I will be testing and reviewing Teknetics Detectors, a product that I really enjoy using. I own a Delta 4000 already and am looking forward to trying their more advanced machines. I can hear the Meteorites calling me from under my feet already. Along with the treasures this barren desert land holds.
 Last but definitely the coolest news, I and my wife are expecting our third child in July! With two beautiful girls already lounging around the house, and, making every breath I take the best one ever, I am looking forward to another innocent face staring up at me, holding my finger, and loving me for no other reason but that I am there. I am blessed with two of the best daughters a man could ask for, so maybe its time to jinks myself with.....dare I say....a dirty little dirt digger minion, we will see, it is still to early to tell, but a man can dream, lol, a man can dream.
 Stay tuned this year is going to be full of firsts, lasts, and many surprises in between. It has been a long time since I have been this excited for a new year to begin.

Thanks for reading,

Kansas Digger