Metal detectors?

[henry F]

For some reason I cannot now remember,
the idea of tramping up and down a field somewhere looking for lost riches suddenly appeal
I think I need to buy a detector, a good One thats guarenteed
to pay for itself by selling said treasures on E-bay at Once!

What are the differences & How much does such an item cost,

if you've positive experiences to relate I'm glad to read about them
all others I have my fingers in my ears going

WAHWAHWAHBLAHdeBLAHdeBLAH




thanks in advance
Henry

[BioHazard]

For some reason I cannot now remember,
the idea of tramping up and down a field somewhere looking for lost riches suddenly appeal
I think I need to buy a detector, a good One thats guarenteed
to pay for itself by selling said treasures on E-bay at Once!

What are the differences & How much does such an item cost,

if you've positive experiences to relate I'm glad to read about them
all others I have my fingers in my ears going

WAHWAHWAHBLAHdeBLAHdeBLAH
thanks in advance
Henry

Get a good one .....cheap ones do not work very well

[henry F]

E-Bay offer them from 30-160
I was reluctant to spend top money without asking about for advice First.

As you say though, its generally what you pay for gets a result (often anyway)

What sort of depth below ground should it say it will do on the box, and how much effort to people generally go to spade-wise before moving on?

[BioHazard]

about 6 to 8 inches........and it will involve some grubbing around .....

the best i found was a roman coin about the size of a halfpenny

[Jamie Mackenzie]

metal detectors

E-Bay offer them from 30-160
I was reluctant to spend top money without asking about for advice First.

As you say though, its generally what you pay for gets a result (often anyway)

What sort of depth below ground should it say it will do on the box, and how much effort to people generally go to spade-wise before moving on?

If you want a half decent machine have a look at C-scope the one I use is about 8 years old it was £550 ish at the time but is still giving good service.

Depth into the ground depends on lots of factors not just the machine ie mineral content of the ground your on. I picked up a strange item last year it was a victorian litho graph on a oval galss plaque the photo was still in pretty good condition. The reason it ping'd was because it had a pewter frame around the edge that gave an odd reading it was resting at about 18 inches but the soil was very open with very little iron content.

have to say I haven't found any gold yet. but a few silver coins and still get a buzz when I hit copper as you never know what its going to be.

Best find was a Mills Bomb (WWII handgrenade) had to call out the EOD for that on a friday night, the guy was not overly impressed when it turned out to be a practice grenade.

[henry F]

I asked the same question on another car forum I visit, and got the same response!

Given this I've shelved my enthusiasm for another day.

thanks for input anyway

[Apache]

What you need is some very thick copper wire, similar to car battery wire, and a very high current PSU. (Say a few very large car batteries - will give you a few seconds running time)

Coil the wire a few times around a metallic former of about a foot diameter. Connect car battery, stand back and wait for this feckin big electromagnet to simply drag all metal within a few feet out of the ground.

Easier than listening to the tone and trying to decide what it is, and saves all that digging!

[da SLUG man]

apparently MRI scanners are good for that... when i had my monkey brain put in, they checked it with one...

they reckon a coin in your pocket would be attracted at the speed of a bullet!!

[Apache]

Yeah, there's been people injured by flying scalpels and stuff. They are one feckin awesome electromagnet! Geek heaven!

Monkey Brain? Recent? You bin talkin sense occasionally, thats all.

[da SLUG man]

Yeah, there's been people injured by flying scalpels and stuff. They are one feckin awesome electromagnet! Geek heaven!

Monkey Brain? Recent? You bin talkin sense occasionally, thats all.

few years back now.... i actually had it cos we'd been fighting in weston supermare and i kept getting dizzy!

getting used to the monkey brain... i packed it out with loo roll so it doesn't touch the sides!

[Apache]

Can you box like Homer S now, with having two skulls and that...

I'm SURE there's a Ramones track something to do with a monkey brain and the then president of America... Bonzo Goes to Bitburg?

[KERRSURF]

What you need is some very thick copper wire, similar to car battery wire, and a very high current PSU. (Say a few very large car batteries - will give you a few seconds running time)

Coil the wire a few times around a metallic former of about a foot diameter. Connect car battery, stand back and wait for this feckin big electromagnet to simply drag all metal within a few feet out of the ground.

Easier than listening to the tone and trying to decide what it is, and saves all that digging!

Is that a giant solenoid then?

[Apache]

Is that a giant solenoid then?

Only if the former is allowed to move. If its stationary, its an electromagnet.

I guess if the metal you're looking for is too big to pull out of the ground, the 'detector becomes a tunnelling machine...