MDing for rings. My observations after 26 months, and 406 rings later (37 of which were gold, and over 70 silver).

I love bleachers. I typically find rings to the front left of them. I don't know why the left, rather than the right, but I think it's because players drop their gear there as they come into the fields. Several gold rings (and one double in the same hole!)

Wait !!!

to the left if you are facing them from the front.. or left if you are facing them from the back :?:

there is a difference you know :laughing:
 
Wait !!!

to the left if you are facing them from the front.. or left if you are facing them from the back :?:

there is a difference you know :laughing:

Facing front, on the left side. Could be all the bleacher placements are "mid field" and they typically pile the gear (here anyway) on the left. That's where I've found all the gold, anyhoo. Plenty of silver all the way around, though!
 
My high school son was on the soccer field as the game was about to start and suddenly realized he was wearing his watch. He didn't have time to run to the sidelines, so he took it off and gave it a mighty heave to the sidelines toward the piles of tote bags and sweatshirts. His aim was off. The watch hit his coach in the head, opening up a sizable gash and he (the coach) had to leave the game to get it bandaged up at a nearby clinic.
 
My high school son was on the soccer field as the game was about to start and suddenly realized he was wearing his watch. He didn't have time to run to the sidelines, so he took it off and gave it a mighty heave to the sidelines toward the piles of tote bags and sweatshirts. His aim was off. The watch hit his coach in the head, opening up a sizable gash and he (the coach) had to leave the game to get it bandaged up at a nearby clinic.

HAHAHA!! That is probably how the coaches rings get lost in the fields around here. They are wounded by flying watches and forget to pick up their gear. :)
 
Very nice, thank you for this. One of my favorite spots to hunt is around the edge of basketball courts.
 
I would imagine most of your finds were shallow?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I would imagine most of your finds were shallow?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I used Skippy's guide when I was first starting off, and found 12 gold items in my rookie year of detecting. They ranged from right on the surface, to down about 6-7 inches.
 
I used Skippy's guide when I was first starting off, and found 12 gold items in my rookie year of detecting. They ranged from right on the surface, to down about 6-7 inches.

That's been my experience, too. Deep gold is there, but often is missed by people expecting "perfect signals".

With the exception of 1, all my large men's gold class rings had bouncy signals ranging from 49 to 73. That looks like trash on a VDI. But when you dig it up, it's a gold ring with a thin shank and beefy head, of alloy gold! Even on the surface, those big class rings bounce on the VDI.

I've found so much gold that sounds like "trash" that I've dig a lot of trash. on the otherhand, there's a lot of "trash" that doesn't sound like it could be gold (like foil bits). Gold can sound like trash, but only like SOME trash. Some trash just sounds like trash (and will never be gold).

This year, I'm at 11 golds, and I've probably dug less trash than any other year. Getting to know your machine helps, but also getting GOLD helps. When you've got a couple dozen under your belt, you can start to "hear" what stuff isn't going to EVER be gold.

Basically, if I have ANY doubts about what it is, I dig it. This includes corroded zinc pennies. I've found about a dozen gold rings at the 69 range. I never skip them.

Skippy
 
I would imagine most of your finds were shallow?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Nope. But they've all be 9 inches or less. Some right at 9 inches. I'd say there's a good solid blend of where they are. Sure, some are shallow (all recent drops will be), but I've found most of them 3" - 6", with some deeper.

Skippy.
 
Skippy , what a magnificent thread and in in so many ways .Another thread led me to it or I would have never known it existed .I gained a few pointers and the info rang true
as to places where I have found gold rings . I'm surprised this has not been made a "sticky" . I would call it publication worthy . Thanks for all the time and effort you put into
your labor of love .:wincup:
 
Skippy , what a magnificent thread and in in so many ways .Another thread led me to it or I would have never known it existed .I gained a few pointers and the info rang true
as to places where I have found gold rings . I'm surprised this has not been made a "sticky" . I would call it publication worthy . Thanks for all the time and effort you put into
your labor of love .:wincup:

You betcha. I'm up to 64 golds now. :)

In the last 30 months, I've picked up 27 more golds, and more than doubled my ring count... These guidelines are what I follow.... with a few additions, of course.

Two nights ago, I pulled another 2 silver rings out from an elementary school, right between the only two trees on the lot. The kids just love em. If you've got a school yard, and it has only a few trees, in my experience there's a 90% chance of finding rings between them.

Skippy
 
This is some really good information. Stuff I haven’t even thought about. Thanks for the tips! Hopefully I’ll have a finds list like you at some point :)
 
Nope. But they've all be 9 inches or less. Some right at 9 inches. I'd say there's a good solid blend of where they are. Sure, some are shallow (all recent drops will be), but I've found most of them 3" - 6", with some deeper.

Skippy.

Couple of ?s ...what is your reasoning on why and how you think some of these rings get so deep , say 9" ? Settling ground , added soil , time , weight ?
Knowing your detector and experience is everything. But going by your vdi explanation, wouldn't you still dig everything ? As a beachhunter, I pretty much dig everything with my Pi. Not as much with my Nox. I mainly go by sound and shape , regardless of any numbers. Like the way you dig zincs. I will always dig short double taps knowing it's probably a Bobbie pin. But have also pulled rings as well on occasion. Because I think the ring is laying flat and I'm picking up both edges. So why not just dig it all based on bouncy vdi and size ?
 
Couple of ?s ...what is your reasoning on why and how you think some of these rings get so deep , say 9" ? Settling ground , added soil , time , weight ?
Knowing your detector and experience is everything. But going by your vdi explanation, wouldn't you still dig everything ? As a beachhunter, I pretty much dig everything with my Pi. Not as much with my Nox. I mainly go by sound and shape , regardless of any numbers. Like the way you dig zincs. I will always dig short double taps knowing it's probably a Bobbie pin. But have also pulled rings as well on occasion. Because I think the ring is laying flat and I'm picking up both edges. So why not just dig it all based on bouncy vdi and size ?

Lots of questions here... I'll try to answer each of them.

what is your reasoning on why and how you think some of these rings get so deep , say 9" ?
I hunt parks and schools exclusively (except when I travel, then I'll hit a beach). The reason for the depth is soil condition, water, and vibration. Lots of the parks here, are relatively new. Which means the topsoil is brought in, and they're primarily sodded (in the last 20 years). It's not uncommon for city parks to be aerated (using plug method, or disc cutting). Because the parks and schools are well watered, and get a lot of foot traffic (which equates to vibration), it's not uncommon for gold items to sink fairly rapidly, once it's through the root layer (which usually takes about 2 years). Based on the age of the quarters I find at 4" (usually 6-8 years is the most modern), It's reasonable to expect a ring at 8-9" that is 20 years old or less. But remember, this is loamy, sandy soil. I've hit some parks where I dig through the sod layer, and BAM it's hardpan. Nothing sinks below that. It just sits there, so I only ever get 3-4" depth at the most.

Knowing your detector and experience is everything. But going by your vdi explanation, wouldn't you still dig everything ?

VDI isn't everything. If it were, the ACE series, with a bell-tone and VDI would be all anyone needs to be masterful in the field. The truth is, the sounds the signals make, and a few other things, add a whole other layer of detecting prowess. While VDI is part of the equation, for sure, here are other factors I take into consideration when determining whether or not to dig.
1) Depth reading of the item is part of it (for example, Rebar survey posts ring up at 81, but you can hold the coil over the ground at 4" and it'll still show 1". This indicates a LOT of metal, not a coin. Same holds true iwth a buried can, for example. It does NOT hold true with a bangle (round bracelet), though. see, #2.
2) Width of object in the ground. Some people use the "X method" to pinpoint an object. Using a DD coil, it's simple enough to identify where an object is, without having to turn your stance to create the X. Just wiggle in from the left, to get the left-most side of the object, wiggle from the right to get the right most side. This shows if the object is WIDE. You can do the same with wiggling back until the object no longer dings from the top of the coil, and move forward with the wiggle until you get the object to the bottom of the coil. This gives the HEIGHT of the object (or length, depending on how you choose to envision this). When coupled with #1, a bangle will show wide and tall, but will give a fairly accurate depth reading (usually off only by a notch or two, not 4-6 notches.
3) the SOUNDS t when coupled with the VDI, this is probably the most valuable information when considering what to dig. The ATMax has variable sound (meaning the more shallow the object is, the stronger the sound). Also, the high response rate of the signal, means that there's a lot of "chatter" to decipher when moving your coil over the object. I can regularly weed out can slaw, based on the sound (not all of it, though), and DEFINITELY can ID foil wrappers (unless they're folded). It's not perfect, but the sounds an object makes can help ID what it is.
4) The VDI bounce. Especially useful in schoolyards, some objects have a regular bounce to them on the VDI. They'll bounce around in the 40s 50s 60s, and 70s. Some of these items bounce so regularly and consistently, you can ID them without pulling them out of the ground. Pencil ferruls (the metal tips) have a regular signal bounce to them. They both sound and LOOK the same on the VDI. I can safely ignore those signals, without worry. I still dig a lot of ferruls, though, because once the pencil disintegrates, the ferruls tend to flatten, and then they sound differently (more like a pendant in the ground).
5) The consistency of sounds based on other signals I've dug in THAT field on THAT DAY. This cannot be understated. I usually dig everything for the first 20 minutes, just to get a feel for where objects are going to ring up. Soil conditions (wet/dry), and even whether or not it's been recently fertilized (changes the mineralization), can change how items ring up in the VDI. On some days quarters will ring up 83-84, and on others, it's 85 solid. I usually dig everything for 20 minutes to get a feel for what the park/school is doing, and then base my decisions later, on that knowledge.
6) Location, Location, Location. If I'm detecting around a trash can, I'm likely to find 1000 pop tops and not a single gold ring. If I'm detecting along a field edge, I might find a gold ring, so I'll dig pop top signals. I skip trash signals all the time, based on location/proximity to trash cans.
7) Sound "woooing or booping". When thinking about how I find rings, so often, I do have to say there is a HUGE difference (in my own brain) about signals that "could be rings" vs. signals that definitely are NOT rings. Rings, on the AT Max, all have a sharp boop sound to them. If they've got broken shanks, they're still sharp, just choppy.
They sounds like this:
Boop Boop Boop (when moving the coil slowly back and forth over it).
They do NOT sound like this:
wooo wooo wooo
or this:
Boooooooop boooooop (indicating a much larger solid object, such as a crumpled can.)

These boop vs. wooo sounds are really where the difference is, between someone who knows their machine, and someone who just digs signals. To be clear, there are LOTS of items in the ground, other than rings, that make Boop Boop Boop sounds (like poptabs, or metal caps), but I've never encountered a single ring, EVER that went woooo woooo.

My biggest rule, though, is "if there is any doubt, check it out!" I'll dig it. I find lots of gold thinking it's probably a corroded penny, for example, but I want to be sure. If I cannot safely rule it out, I'm going to dig it up. Sure, I find a lot of trash. But I find a LOT of gold in the dirt, that others miss.

So why not just dig it all based on bouncy vdi and size ?
For a bell tone machine, that's what people would have to do. The ACE series, for example, is a bell tone with a VDI. I used to own an ACE machine. I found gold with it. I found LOTS more trash, though... like 4x-5x the amount of trash. I couldn't tell the difference between trash and good signals, because so many targets sounded and looked like good targets.
Moving the the AT Pro brought a "next level" of ability to weed out trash. took close to 100 hours to figure it out, though. At the 1000 hour mark, I was really great with it. Then I moved to the AT max, and thought I was going to go nuts with the chatter. Little did I realize, on day one, that the chatter was the cat's meow, baby! I'm now able to dig less trash targets than good targets on any given day. This results in less time digging garbage, and more time hunting productively. As a result, I find more gold, now, in fewer hunts, than I did with the AT pro. I certainly recover more clad, too.

Cheers!

Skippy
 
Skippy , what a magnificent thread and in in so many ways .Another thread led me to it or I would have never known it existed .I gained a few pointers and the info rang true
as to places where I have found gold rings . I'm surprised this has not been made a "sticky" . I would call it publication worthy . Thanks for all the time and effort you put into
your labor of love .:wincup:

Thanks! Hope it helps you bring home some gold and ice!
 
Lots of questions here... I'll try to answer each of them.

what is your reasoning on why and how you think some of these rings get so deep , say 9" ?
I hunt parks and schools exclusively (except when I travel, then I'll hit a beach). The reason for the depth is soil condition, water, and vibration. Lots of the parks here, are relatively new. Which means the topsoil is brought in, and they're primarily sodded (in the last 20 years). It's not uncommon for city parks to be aerated (using plug method, or disc cutting). Because the parks and schools are well watered, and get a lot of foot traffic (which equates to vibration), it's not uncommon for gold items to sink fairly rapidly, once it's through the root layer (which usually takes about 2 years). Based on the age of the quarters I find at 4" (usually 6-8 years is the most modern), It's reasonable to expect a ring at 8-9" that is 20 years old or less. But remember, this is loamy, sandy soil. I've hit some parks where I dig through the sod layer, and BAM it's hardpan. Nothing sinks below that. It just sits there, so I only ever get 3-4" depth at the most.

Knowing your detector and experience is everything. But going by your vdi explanation, wouldn't you still dig everything ?

VDI isn't everything. If it were, the ACE series, with a bell-tone and VDI would be all anyone needs to be masterful in the field. The truth is, the sounds the signals make, and a few other things, add a whole other layer of detecting prowess. While VDI is part of the equation, for sure, here are other factors I take into consideration when determining whether or not to dig.
1) Depth reading of the item is part of it (for example, Rebar survey posts ring up at 81, but you can hold the coil over the ground at 4" and it'll still show 1". This indicates a LOT of metal, not a coin. Same holds true iwth a buried can, for example. It does NOT hold true with a bangle (round bracelet), though. see, #2.
2) Width of object in the ground. Some people use the "X method" to pinpoint an object. Using a DD coil, it's simple enough to identify where an object is, without having to turn your stance to create the X. Just wiggle in from the left, to get the left-most side of the object, wiggle from the right to get the right most side. This shows if the object is WIDE. You can do the same with wiggling back until the object no longer dings from the top of the coil, and move forward with the wiggle until you get the object to the bottom of the coil. This gives the HEIGHT of the object (or length, depending on how you choose to envision this). When coupled with #1, a bangle will show wide and tall, but will give a fairly accurate depth reading (usually off only by a notch or two, not 4-6 notches.
3) the SOUNDS t when coupled with the VDI, this is probably the most valuable information when considering what to dig. The ATMax has variable sound (meaning the more shallow the object is, the stronger the sound). Also, the high response rate of the signal, means that there's a lot of "chatter" to decipher when moving your coil over the object. I can regularly weed out can slaw, based on the sound (not all of it, though), and DEFINITELY can ID foil wrappers (unless they're folded). It's not perfect, but the sounds an object makes can help ID what it is.
4) The VDI bounce. Especially useful in schoolyards, some objects have a regular bounce to them on the VDI. They'll bounce around in the 40s 50s 60s, and 70s. Some of these items bounce so regularly and consistently, you can ID them without pulling them out of the ground. Pencil ferruls (the metal tips) have a regular signal bounce to them. They both sound and LOOK the same on the VDI. I can safely ignore those signals, without worry. I still dig a lot of ferruls, though, because once the pencil disintegrates, the ferruls tend to flatten, and then they sound differently (more like a pendant in the ground).
5) The consistency of sounds based on other signals I've dug in THAT field on THAT DAY. This cannot be understated. I usually dig everything for the first 20 minutes, just to get a feel for where objects are going to ring up. Soil conditions (wet/dry), and even whether or not it's been recently fertilized (changes the mineralization), can change how items ring up in the VDI. On some days quarters will ring up 83-84, and on others, it's 85 solid. I usually dig everything for 20 minutes to get a feel for what the park/school is doing, and then base my decisions later, on that knowledge.
6) Location, Location, Location. If I'm detecting around a trash can, I'm likely to find 1000 pop tops and not a single gold ring. If I'm detecting along a field edge, I might find a gold ring, so I'll dig pop top signals. I skip trash signals all the time, based on location/proximity to trash cans.
7) Sound "woooing or booping". When thinking about how I find rings, so often, I do have to say there is a HUGE difference (in my own brain) about signals that "could be rings" vs. signals that definitely are NOT rings. Rings, on the AT Max, all have a sharp boop sound to them. If they've got broken shanks, they're still sharp, just choppy.
They sounds like this:
Boop Boop Boop (when moving the coil slowly back and forth over it).
They do NOT sound like this:
wooo wooo wooo
or this:
Boooooooop boooooop (indicating a much larger solid object, such as a crumpled can.)

These boop vs. wooo sounds are really where the difference is, between someone who knows their machine, and someone who just digs signals. To be clear, there are LOTS of items in the ground, other than rings, that make Boop Boop Boop sounds (like poptabs, or metal caps), but I've never encountered a single ring, EVER that went woooo woooo.

My biggest rule, though, is "if there is any doubt, check it out!" I'll dig it. I find lots of gold thinking it's probably a corroded penny, for example, but I want to be sure. If I cannot safely rule it out, I'm going to dig it up. Sure, I find a lot of trash. But I find a LOT of gold in the dirt, that others miss.

So why not just dig it all based on bouncy vdi and size ?
For a bell tone machine, that's what people would have to do. The ACE series, for example, is a bell tone with a VDI. I used to own an ACE machine. I found gold with it. I found LOTS more trash, though... like 4x-5x the amount of trash. I couldn't tell the difference between trash and good signals, because so many targets sounded and looked like good targets.
Moving the the AT Pro brought a "next level" of ability to weed out trash. took close to 100 hours to figure it out, though. At the 1000 hour mark, I was really great with it. Then I moved to the AT max, and thought I was going to go nuts with the chatter. Little did I realize, on day one, that the chatter was the cat's meow, baby! I'm now able to dig less trash targets than good targets on any given day. This results in less time digging garbage, and more time hunting productively. As a result, I find more gold, now, in fewer hunts, than I did with the AT pro. I certainly recover more clad, too.

Cheers!

Skippy
Thanks. Makes sense. Never thought of the aeration factor. And #3 - being observant the 1st 20 minutes every time you start a dirt hunt. Only thing I ever thought dirt hunting was either it was wet or dry. Which of course can change how your detector performs therefore making proper adjustments.
Upon walking up to a beach 90% of the time I can tell if it's going to be good , with just a glance. 20 minutes of hunting will confirm this. But never thought that about a park , etc.
 
Thanks. Makes sense. Never thought of the aeration factor. And #3 - being observant the 1st 20 minutes every time you start a dirt hunt. Only thing I ever thought dirt hunting was either it was wet or dry. Which of course can change how your detector performs therefore making proper adjustments.
Upon walking up to a beach 90% of the time I can tell if it's going to be good , with just a glance. 20 minutes of hunting will confirm this. But never thought that about a park , etc.

It makes a difference. Especially, if it's a park I haven't been to in a few months. I don't know why, around here, but there's definitely some odd soils. In some soils, I can get nickels to ring up all the way in the 70's, in others, never higher than 52. Nothing special about the coins, just the soil. I think it has to do with the "halo effect" of what happens when a coin is in the dirt a long while. It creates a big mineralization AROUND the coin, as small metal ions leach into the soil. Disrupting the soil (like when you're digging) removes the halo, and instantly will result in a different ring up. This means that 70 nickel, when out of the ground, rings up 54. It's weird for sure, but KNOWING that, can change how you detect.

Other things the first 20 minutes will show, is what kind of signals the most common items will display as. Pencil Ferruls, Pop tops (or beavertails in the older parks), once you've got those dialed in, to how they VDI display AND sound, any small nuance off that "standard" VDI & Sound is something to dig. I've found plenty of gold rings that rang up with the exact same VDI as a pop-tab would (and I'd been skipping pop tabs), but had a slightly different sound... resulting in me being curious, and digging it up. Sure, I expect to see a pop tab (and usually do), but the small difference is noted enough to cause me to dig it. I wouldn't know how to do that, if I started detecting a park, and immediately started ignoring the VDI range of pop-tabs.

Cheers!

Skippy
 
Back
Top Bottom