I was talking to a gent on the telephone earlier this week,, actually a somewhat experienced detectorist.
The subject of soil mineralization came up,, as this gent has just recently moved to his current location.
Well I feel I need to clarify here to folks in case there are others here who may not understand what soil mineralization does or maybe how to interpret what your metal detector is telling you.
Folks here may use this data,, to consider in their future purchases of a metal detector.. As not all metal detectors are created equal when it comes to performance--- depending on the level of soil minerals.
Now before I get started,, remember depending on your location,, and even within certain areas,, soil mineralization levels can very sometimes just in a few feet.
So how can you tell or what are the hints of your soil mineralization???
Some detectors like the Fisher F series, Makro detectors, Nokta detectors, Xp Deus, and others do have what are called mineralization index meters.
These meters are usually graphs,, with the levels of information they provide directly tied to soil level minerals..and normally a user's manual will shed light on how the graph info presented is reflective of level of ground minerals,,, like low, medium and high.
Now most detectors also have a number that corresponds to a ground phase number,, and many times when a detector is ground balanced this number will appear in the screen of a metal detector... Not all metal detectors have this info,, and some metal detectors don't have adjustable ground balance rather fixed.
Anyway this phase number,,,is NOT to be interpreted as mineral level,,, some folks think jut because the number their detector balances at is high means their ground minerals are high-- not necessarily the case.
An example,,,, my Fisher F75 will balance in my back yard normally with a ground phase reading of 54 approximately, with a bobbing of the coil-- 4 bars comes into the mineralization index graph-- denoting slightly higher than above medium mineralization.
Now just a few days ago,,, I watched a video from a trusted source using the same detector,, Fisher F75,,, he ground balanced his detector and the number 85 came in the window,, but when bobbing his coil only 2 bars showed up.
So my ground in my back yard is higher in mineralization vas the gent in the video--- even though the phase number he got was substantially higher.
I should also point out,,,, for those who have detectors with the mineralization graphs--- they are only accurate with stock coils
Remember the internals of the detector are calibrated to the stock coil,,, and when you bob your coil,,, depending on the coil size,, this will affect the amount of soil being processed by the detector's internals.
So if a person is using a smaller coil--- lower ( inaccurate) minerals graph readings are common.
So what does the higher mineral levels do,, to the operator in the field??
Depending on the mineral level-- cause a depth loss
But this depth loss needs further explanation.
Let's assume a person is using an Ace 250 detector,, a very popular detector,, and a good value for the money.
Let me tell you a little story,,where my brother was in fact using an Ace 250,, while he and I were hunting an old house site.
He gets over this target,, it provided the well known bell tone,,, Vdi came in and said nickel or ring.
So I come over and check with a Minelab etrac and I got a reading of 12-46.
Now the Minelab handles mineral better btw.
Anyway I had a pretty good idea what was about to be unearthed-- and so it was a walking Liberty quarter at approx 5" deep.
Remember the 250 called it a Nickel or ring.
The point here is depending on your detector's ability to indeed handle additional ground minerals,, the mineral will cause target to read incorrectly... Many times it will cause them to read low.
Now a person with experience on a certain model detector will start to see trends-- with this incorrect labeling of buried targets.
And btw,, this higher mineral can cause a detector to read a nonferrous coin as a nail or iron too.
Something else a person can do to help with this hunting in higher mineral,, is if their detector has,,,,is to use their depth meter.
What does this mean??
Let's say you are hunting along and you get a tone,,, a lower tone than say a higher conductive coin like a dime would normally read,, but upon pinpointing you notice the suspicious target is deep. This being deep might be your clue to not trust your metal detector's tone or VDI readings.
And remember your pinpoint can be used to check your targets size,,,, I mean you wouldn't generally dig something that pinpoints like the size of a horse shoe.
And just because your soil is not even medium or higher mineralized ,,,a user can see similar effects with deeper targets.
Remember,, soil even if milder,,, the distance between your coil and say the coin,, the mineral effect adds up.
Your detector less likely to be negatively affected by mineral on a 4" deep target vs a 6" deep target.
Generally when mineral levels are higher,,,a detector will be noisier when sweeping. And also a user in these environments will generally see better performance with a slower sweep speed.
Folks should be watching when detecting for the connection of data,,meaning how their detectors sounds and reads vs different detecting sites. This info especially important for the folks who operate detectors without ground mineralization meters and or fixed ground balanced detectors.
To close,, there is no Vlf metal detector that is not affected by ground mineralization. Now some due to their design and engineering do suffer less effects than other detectors.
Folks who are out enjoying the hobby,, if some day you decide to upgrade your detector,,,one might want to be cognizant of their soil minerals levels in their area and choose a detector accordingly.
Most good detector dealers can help here,,, as they generally sell to customers who use their detectors over wide range of ground around the world and inside the USA.. They do many times receive feedback,,and in doing so can give a good recommendation..
I hope this information helps.
The subject of soil mineralization came up,, as this gent has just recently moved to his current location.
Well I feel I need to clarify here to folks in case there are others here who may not understand what soil mineralization does or maybe how to interpret what your metal detector is telling you.
Folks here may use this data,, to consider in their future purchases of a metal detector.. As not all metal detectors are created equal when it comes to performance--- depending on the level of soil minerals.
Now before I get started,, remember depending on your location,, and even within certain areas,, soil mineralization levels can very sometimes just in a few feet.
So how can you tell or what are the hints of your soil mineralization???
Some detectors like the Fisher F series, Makro detectors, Nokta detectors, Xp Deus, and others do have what are called mineralization index meters.
These meters are usually graphs,, with the levels of information they provide directly tied to soil level minerals..and normally a user's manual will shed light on how the graph info presented is reflective of level of ground minerals,,, like low, medium and high.
Now most detectors also have a number that corresponds to a ground phase number,, and many times when a detector is ground balanced this number will appear in the screen of a metal detector... Not all metal detectors have this info,, and some metal detectors don't have adjustable ground balance rather fixed.
Anyway this phase number,,,is NOT to be interpreted as mineral level,,, some folks think jut because the number their detector balances at is high means their ground minerals are high-- not necessarily the case.
An example,,,, my Fisher F75 will balance in my back yard normally with a ground phase reading of 54 approximately, with a bobbing of the coil-- 4 bars comes into the mineralization index graph-- denoting slightly higher than above medium mineralization.
Now just a few days ago,,, I watched a video from a trusted source using the same detector,, Fisher F75,,, he ground balanced his detector and the number 85 came in the window,, but when bobbing his coil only 2 bars showed up.
So my ground in my back yard is higher in mineralization vas the gent in the video--- even though the phase number he got was substantially higher.
I should also point out,,,, for those who have detectors with the mineralization graphs--- they are only accurate with stock coils
Remember the internals of the detector are calibrated to the stock coil,,, and when you bob your coil,,, depending on the coil size,, this will affect the amount of soil being processed by the detector's internals.
So if a person is using a smaller coil--- lower ( inaccurate) minerals graph readings are common.
So what does the higher mineral levels do,, to the operator in the field??
Depending on the mineral level-- cause a depth loss
But this depth loss needs further explanation.
Let's assume a person is using an Ace 250 detector,, a very popular detector,, and a good value for the money.
Let me tell you a little story,,where my brother was in fact using an Ace 250,, while he and I were hunting an old house site.
He gets over this target,, it provided the well known bell tone,,, Vdi came in and said nickel or ring.
So I come over and check with a Minelab etrac and I got a reading of 12-46.
Now the Minelab handles mineral better btw.
Anyway I had a pretty good idea what was about to be unearthed-- and so it was a walking Liberty quarter at approx 5" deep.
Remember the 250 called it a Nickel or ring.
The point here is depending on your detector's ability to indeed handle additional ground minerals,, the mineral will cause target to read incorrectly... Many times it will cause them to read low.
Now a person with experience on a certain model detector will start to see trends-- with this incorrect labeling of buried targets.
And btw,, this higher mineral can cause a detector to read a nonferrous coin as a nail or iron too.
Something else a person can do to help with this hunting in higher mineral,, is if their detector has,,,,is to use their depth meter.
What does this mean??
Let's say you are hunting along and you get a tone,,, a lower tone than say a higher conductive coin like a dime would normally read,, but upon pinpointing you notice the suspicious target is deep. This being deep might be your clue to not trust your metal detector's tone or VDI readings.
And remember your pinpoint can be used to check your targets size,,,, I mean you wouldn't generally dig something that pinpoints like the size of a horse shoe.
And just because your soil is not even medium or higher mineralized ,,,a user can see similar effects with deeper targets.
Remember,, soil even if milder,,, the distance between your coil and say the coin,, the mineral effect adds up.
Your detector less likely to be negatively affected by mineral on a 4" deep target vs a 6" deep target.
Generally when mineral levels are higher,,,a detector will be noisier when sweeping. And also a user in these environments will generally see better performance with a slower sweep speed.
Folks should be watching when detecting for the connection of data,,meaning how their detectors sounds and reads vs different detecting sites. This info especially important for the folks who operate detectors without ground mineralization meters and or fixed ground balanced detectors.
To close,, there is no Vlf metal detector that is not affected by ground mineralization. Now some due to their design and engineering do suffer less effects than other detectors.
Folks who are out enjoying the hobby,, if some day you decide to upgrade your detector,,,one might want to be cognizant of their soil minerals levels in their area and choose a detector accordingly.
Most good detector dealers can help here,,, as they generally sell to customers who use their detectors over wide range of ground around the world and inside the USA.. They do many times receive feedback,,and in doing so can give a good recommendation..
I hope this information helps.
