5/23/21 Report - The Value of Using Multiple Metal Detectors On A Single Site - One Example. Storm Season Starting.

 

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.

Source: MagicSeaWeed.com.

After today the surf will be decreasing again.  The higher surf didn't do us much good this time anyhow.

When the surf goes down you can get to some places you couldn't detect when the surf was higher.   I hope to get back to my unexplored shipwreck site.

There is now a named tropical storm in the Atlantic.

Source: nhc.noaa.gov

Ana won't do anything for us, but it is a sign that the tropical storm season has started.

13 to 20 named storms are predicted this year, with 3 to 5 major hurricanes.  That means there will be a lot of weather to watch.  Although some of the hurricanes of the past have produced some good beach metal detecting, I hope we don't get hit by a major hurricane.  I'd just like to see a long sustained storm sending us some good northeast wind and waves.  There is a lot of sand that needs to be moved.  

See NOAA predicts above-normal 2021 Atlantic hurricane season - CBS News

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Metal detecting a beach is very much like detecting an inland site but there are some big differences.  Most of what I'll talk about today applies to both beaches and inland sites.

I've talked before about using multiple metal detectors to more completely clean out a site.  Today I'll give an example.

I mostly used the Ace detector on my railroad site.  I cleaned out a lot of the big surface and junk targets.  I dug hundreds of railroad items and posted some of those.  I also dug hundreds of pieces of junk with the Ace.  I wanted to do two things.  I wanted to get an overall view of the site, and I wanted to remove a lot of the surface items and big items that could mask other smaller and deeper items.  I made a lot of progress on both of those goals.

After spending a lot of time on the site using the Ace, I took the Equinox out to the same site a little while last night.  You can expect to find things with one detector that you'll miss with another.  That was true yesterday.  I picked up several items that I missed with the Ace.  I also picked up several items that I previously detected with the Ace, but hadn't moved yet.  For example, I was digging some big square nuts at one location when it got dark and I quit even though I knew there were more.  I dug up some of those nuts yesterday, but I also dug up some items that were missed with the Ace.

Items Detected by Detector A and Detector B
and Both A and B.

The black circle indicates the items that would be detected by A (for example the Ace), and the red circle the items that would be detected by detector B (the Equinox, for example).  And the intersection is the overlap, or the items that would be detected by both A and B.  

In actual practice there may be fewer items that are detected by only one of the detectors, but that depends upon many things including the various settings you use.  If you use multiple modes and settings you can increase the number of  items you can find with a given detector, but there will probably still be items found only by one or the other detector, but not both.

Below are some of the items found last night with the Equinox that I know I would  have also found with the Ace.  That was the area where I detected more items but quit before recovering all of them.

Items Found by Both the Ace and Equinox.

And below are some items that I probably missed with the Ace or chose to pass over for some reason, perhaps because of a less distinct or confusing signal with the Ace, but picked up with the Equinox.

Items Picked Up Last Night With The Equinox.

First was the sheet of metal at the top of the photo.  It was picked up where I had dug many spikes and where there was piles of iron rust.  With the Ace I did not pick out the sheet of metal which was pretty deep.  It was lost to the Ace in a confusing mass of signal iron signals but was distinct to the Equinox, which did not seem to pay as much attention to all the surface rust.

Secondly, I noticed that I picked up three tubular items with the Equinox, that I didn't dig when using the Ace.  Those signals evidently were more distinct with the Equinox.  I had covered that area well with the Ace, but didn't dig those items.

I am not nearly done with this site.  I have not covered some areas at all yet.  Some are simply difficult to get to because of vegetation or obstacles.  Other areas have been more thoroughly detected, but some have not been cleaned out.  I am detecting this site in planned steps or stages and am less than half done.  I'll explain the steps and strategy some other time.

If I used a third detector selected for its unique operating characteristics, there would theoretically be a few additional items found that would not be found with the other two detectors.  I am sure that will prove to be more than theoretical, but I don't know if those additional items will be of any real significance.  That depends upon what is on the site.

Using detectors A, B and C, there will be finds that would be made by all three detectors, those that would be made by two detectors, and those that would be unique to each detector.

Many factors will affect how big the overlap is and how many items will be found only by a single detector.  The diagram exaggerates the areas exclusive to a single detector for most real life samples, but I needed some space for labeling.

After using the Ace on the site so much, I was really getting better at understanding the Ace.  The skill and experience factor will affect your results.  I was getting very good at identifying certain kinds of common items with the Ace - for example I was getting much better at identifying the wire barrel hoops. They can be tricky.  When I use any detector a lot, I get better at using it.  Unfortunately if I don't use a detector for a while, I lose a little and it takes me a while to get tuned into it again.  

When switching to the ATX from almost any detector, it takes me a while to get used to the louder larger signals of the ATX.  The ATX makes a quarter sound the size of an aluminum can.  It just makes things sound bigger, and it takes little time to adapt. 

Since I mentioned the ATX,  that detector would be going off continually on the current site.  The ATX detects the smallest iron and this site is covered with iron bits and rust.  I wouldn't try using the ATX on that site until the site has been really cleaned up.  Then I might use it to go after whatever little might remains.

The Ace is a good detector to use first on a site like the railroad site.  It did not require any adjustment for the power lines.  Both the Equinox and ATX are sensitive to electrical interference from the power lines.  They can be used on the site, but you will have to make some adjustments or get used to listening to some noise.  

Last night I used the factory preset multi-frequency mode with the Equinox.  I was hearing some noise, but was also able to easily pick out targets.  It is something like working in black sand.  You might hear some noise but still be able to pick out good targets.  I think some people are bothered more by that kind of detector noise, but you can learn to distinguish between the noise and good signals.  Of course, you can make adjustments.  You can reduce sensitivity or you switch frequencies.  That can help, but it can also cause loss of detection depth.  There are trade-offs.

My main point right now is that I went out with the Equinox after spending a lot of time with the Ace and detected some items I missed with the Ace.  I had the impression of looking at the site with a new set of eyes (or should I say ears).   There are all kinds of adjustments you can make with any detector, but changing detectors is one good way to get a different view of the same site.

Happy hunting,

TreasureGuide@comcast.net