6/10/11 Report - Your Best Detector Settings & Erosion on Treasure Coast

One Nice Size Cut on One Treasure Coast Beach This Morning.

This cut was about six foot high, which was as high as any I saw this morning.

See video of this beach below.

Yesterday my post was about being up to my arm pit in muck. I understand that a lot of you would like to see that. I should have taken a video, but I don't have enough hands. Usually I'm holding a scoop and detector or I am up to my arm pits in muck, which doesn't make it easy to film the comical scene. About all I would get is the sky, the bottom of my foot or some other less flattering part of my anatomy.


Recently an old church from the 1700s was redicscoverd in St. Augustine when some old recrods were found and analysed.

Here is the link to that story.

http://www.alligator.org/news/campus/article_719ce626-90cc-11e0-a59b-001cc4c002e0.html


Someone asked how I got ivory out of the beach fossil that I showed in the video yesterday. Actually I didn't. I don't know what it is, and where I said ivory I used the wrong word. What I was really thinking and should have said is enamel. I was thinking of the enamel bands that are on tusks such as those of the gomphothere as shown on page 310 of Hulbert's book, The Fossil Vertebrates of Florida.

It might not be a piece of an enamel band either. I'm thinking wood now, butreally don't know.

That is one of the good things about writing a blog. If you make a mistake, someone will point it out. That helps.

I don't spend a great deal of time on these posts and sometimes I write like I was thinking out loud. If I did put a lot of time into proofing and checking everything I say, there wouldn't be nearly as many posts.

I really don't know much about fossils other than what I've learned myself over the past couple of years from the fossils that I've personally found and subsequently researched. This one didn't look like any of the ones that I have become familiar with, and I don't know what it is yet. Over time I will find out what it is and in the process learn a lot about what it is and also about some things that it is not.

If you know what it is, I'd like to hear from you.


Talking about self-education, I was out scouting around on the beaches this morning and learning more about a detector that I haven't used too much. I like experimenting, especially with detectors.

Just the other day I was reading in a forum where someone was asking what settings to use on a particular detector and the discussion that followed. My advice is to not pay too much attention to what other people say about things like that. It might give you a starting point, but then go and test it out and find the settings that are best for your particular detector on the beaches that you actually hunt.

If you aren't sure about what settings to use on your detector or if you simply want to optimize your settings, take some test targets to the beach and try the different settings t see which provides the best results.

The beach that I visited today was ideal for testing. There was a broad relatively flat beach where you could easily test your settings in dry sand, wet sand and shallow moving water.

First I'd recommend just throwing out a coin on the surface of the beach. Swing your coil repeatedly over the coin, change the sensitivity settings and observe the change in signal. Find the setting that gives the loudest clearest signal. Then adjust the threshold and other settings to get the best signal. Play around with your settings like that until you find the best combination.

You can do the same thing moving to the wet sand, and then into the shallow moving water.

For some detectors the optimal setting will not change much for the different zones of the beach.

After you are comfortable with the settings that you obtained using a surface coin, bury a coin and test your settings. Just dig a hole and put the coin in it and cover it up. Repeat the test and adjustments until you get the best signal you can from the most deeply buried target.

Note: A newly buried target will not necessarily give as good a signal as one that has been buried for a while, and where you bury it will also determine how deeply it can be detected. If you bury a coin in shells you usually won't be able to detect it as deep as a coin buried in densely packed salt-water saturated sand.

If you ask me, doing this is much better than using the preset settings or the settings that you read or heard.

Another note: Don't always go for maximum sensitivity. When increasing the sensitivity causes an erratic threshold, you might get a signal but the signal could easily be disguised and lost in all of the noise.


I took sometime to play with my sensitivity and threshold settings today. With the detector I was using, increasing the sensitivity beyond a certain point resulted in an erratic threshold sound and more noise which off-set the effect of the increased sensitivity. I personally like a smooth threshold so I can really catch those marginal whisper signals.

I'd say that one important thing that many people do not do enough, is use test targets and play with their detector's settings.


Treasure Coast Beach Forecast and Conditions.

Here is a video showing one beach where I found some nice erosion this morning. In a way it almost looked like a winter beach, but that was superficially.

Here is the link for the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ScNFMBqtY

Notice the erosion, and notice how the sand had been pulled down and extended the front beach.

On other beaches that I saw this morning, but did not detect, there were dips in front of the beach. I didn't have time to check them out.

On this beach there were a good number clad coins between the slope and front beach. I'll define that better for you some other time - probably tomorrow.

The erosion on this beach has been a slow process that has been accumulating for a few days. I mentioned a few days ago that there were some slight erosion. This is one of those spots and it evidently eroded a little more last night.

Unlike this beach, most of the other beaches I saw this morning were covered with sea weed, indicating that the sand was building on those beaches.


I think that is it for today.

Happy hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net

1/28/2011 - Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster 25 Years Ago Today & Pieces Still Being Found

One Nice Cut on a Treasure Coast Beach.

This cut was about three feet high and went for a few hundred yards. It was at least a few days old.

Yesterday I took a look at three different beaches. I saw detectorists at all three, but all three of them were near the beach access. The cut shown in the photo above was a good distance from a beach access and I saw no one there.

Most detectorists hit the same old over-hunted spots over and over again. Yes, any of those good spots could become productive over night, but when conditions are not changing you might do better trying some new areas. It is a good idea to hunt proven areas, but sometimes you should invest some time in exploration.


The space shuttle Challenger disaster occurred 25 years ago today. How time flies! It's not subject to gravity. Actually I think it might be - in a way.

It seems people are still finding pieces of melted metal on the Treasure Coast beaches that might have came from the Challenger. Some have been reported recently.

You might want to go back to my 3/26/2010 post where one of this blog's readers, who had some pieces that he found tested by NASA, told how to test those pieces of metal.

Of course you can also use the blog's search box to find posts mentioning space shuttle finds.

I don't think people use the search box enough. There are over two years of posts in this blog now.

Now back to the topic that I began at the beginning of this post. There are definitely some spots where coins tend to wash up (or out) whenever conditions are good, but when beach conditions haven't changed significantly for a while, there is very little use of everybody hunting the same ground over and over a thousand times.

I don't mind hunting behind people - even a lot of people - when conditions are good. But when conditions are not so good and haven't changed for a while, it might be better scout around a bit.

I often refer to cuts as being either "fresh" or "stale." A relatively new cut with a crisp bottom edge is what I call a fresh cut. And of course a stale cut would be an older cut that is starting to collapse of fill in. And a stale cut would also be a cut that has probably already been hunted at least a few times.

Fresh cuts are generally more desirable. But sometimes there aren't any. In that case a stale cut might be better than a newly filled beach - especially if it was producing when it was fresh. Things can be missed, and things can fall out of the deteriorating bank.

Again, I don't mind hunting where others have already hunted. Take note of any clues you might see that would tell you how the previous hunters hunted, and do something different.

If an area is especially promising, I like to cover an area using more than one type of detector. All detectors have their own strengths and weaknesses and one will find what another misses. Of course, different people hunt differently too. In the past I've talked a bit about how to tell what the previous detectorists did or didn't do.

I talked to a few guys on the beaches lately that were saying that they were thinking of getting an Excalibur. They all had what I would call very good detectors. And even though the Excal is a very good detector, I don't think they'll see much improvement over what they already had.

When people aren't finding much, they tend to blame their detector - or at least start to wonder if another detector would help them find more. In most case, I would say, "Maybe a little, but not much." In many cases, I don't think there would be much improvement at all.

If you are concerned about money, and who isn't, I'd advise trying to test any detector before buying a new one. You might be surprised to learn that your present detector does just as well as the one you haven't yet tried. A dollar saved is a dollar found.

It seems that the Excal is now one of the most common detectors used on the Treasure Coast. Ten and twenty years ago, Garrett detectors seemed to be the favorite.

I personally don't put a lot of emphasis on which detector is best. Like I said, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I look at detectors something like golf clubs. Pick the right one for the situation. And learn to use the one you have. I would say that a lot of people have good detectors but they aren't always using it to best advantage.

I've mentioned this before, but it bears repeating. When I started detecting, I used a Fisher 1280. It was and still is a good detector. I used it for quite a while and it paid for itself in clad coins alone the first year. But at first I thought that women didn't lose many gold rings, because I found a lot more men's rings. What I later learned is that just as many women lose gold rings. The thing is, I was using discrimination at first, and as a result, only finding the bigger rings. I tell you that to emphasize the fact that how you use your detector is just as important as what detector you use.


I ran across a nice web site the other day showing some neat pictures of the Hallaton Treasure.

You might want to take a look. I enjoyed studying the artifacts.

http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/leisure_tourism/museums/harboroughmuseum/treasure/treasure_finds.htm


Forecast and Conditions.

I've already talked about this. Current beach conditions are poor. However, if you take a long walk, you can probably find some cuts to hunt.

The wind is out of the northwest and the seas are calm. It looks like the ocean will remain calm until next week. That means that conditions won't be changing much until then.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

12/8 Report - Space Shuttle Metal & Local Conditions & Lodging

Metal From Space Shuttle?

When I went back to check who sent this photo, it appears that I somehow managed to lose the original email. Would the sender please send another email so I can credit the photo?

I got an email reporting a number of these types of melted metal finds coming from Corrigan's lately.

I've talked about finding metal from the space shuttle before. Fred B. sent some of his pieces to NASA to be analyzed and provided some good information that is mentioned in my 3/26/2010 post. Fred told about some easy tests you can do on metal like this.

If you want to browse old posts on that subject use the search box for this blog and enter "space shuttle."

Oh, I got a good look at the rocket launch today as I walked north on the beach.

I think people don't use the search box enough.

I've had some requests about lodging on the Treasure Coast. If money is not an issue, places like the Holiday Inn in Vero or the Disney Resort at Sebastian are very well located. Most people want something less expensive though. In the past I asked for suggestions and here are a couple of recommendations that I received.

One person recommended The Sportsman Lodge (sportsmanslodge-motel.com).

Another person liked camping at the Sebastian Inlet State Park or the Long Point campground about three miles north of Sebastian.

When I lived down south I sometimes stayed at the Mariner Hotel on South Hutchinson Island. I noticed that it is still there but might now be under new management and is now called the Royal Inn.

I suspect that most of the small motels in that area would do the job and are probably relatively expensive.

Forecast and Conditions.




Photo of One Nice Cut Found on the Treasure Coast Today.

Generally, I've been seeing big accumulations of sand and small shells building up on many of the beaches. That is not a good sign for finding cobs, but isn't bad for finding some artifacts and non-metallic objects that will wash up.

Even though many of the beaches are accumulating sand, there are places where you can find a few cuts like the one shown in the photo above. You might have to do some walking to find them. They are relatively rare right now.

It looks like seas will remain around three or four feet for the rest of the week with possibly an increase around next week.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

11/7 Report - Mystery Small Silver Rectangle Metal Detector Find

Small Rectangular Piece of Silver Found on a Treasure Coast Shipwreck Beach Yesterday.

This is one of those types of finds that will probably never give up its secrets. It is definitely silver. I could tell that when I inspected it with a high power loop and when I did an acid test on it.


And it has definitely been exposed to salt water for some time. Close inspection of the considerable surface corrosion shows that. It has some age to it. I can tell it has been exposed for some time, but can't tell if the time period is years, decades or centuries.

The other side of the object is about the same and presently shows no markings.

The long oval mark in the middle of the object is where it could have been attached to something. The oval area is slightly raised even though you can't tell that from the photo. It could be a sprue if the item was formed using a mold. I don't know if that is the case, or, like I mentioned, it might have been attached to something else.

I suppose I will never know the age or identity of this little silver rectangle. The best chance of learning more about it is to clean it and see if there are any marks underneath the green. I'll probably do that someday, but won't hurry into it.

If any one has any ideas about this little silver piece, I'd appreciate receiving an email.


Metal Sheet With Square Nail Hole Found on a Treasure Coast Shipwreck Beach Yesterday.

Another of the mystery items found yesterday includes this thin lead sheet with a square nail hole in it. It is something else that will probably keep most of its secrets.

The square nail hole does give some information about its probable age, but that is probably about all I'll ever know about this item.

Until I learn something more about these items, they simply tell me that the area is giving up some older items. Exactly how old? I don't know, but it's worth continuing to explore that area.


Forecast and Conditions.

We still have northwest winds and big high tides. That is good. And the 7.5 foot seas are still expected for later today.

The new good news is that next weekend is expected to have high seas too, with only a small drop-off during the middle of this week.

Things should be improving.

I have no qualms or reservations about my 2 beach conditions rating now, and would not be surprised if it is increased after this evenings high tide.

If you don't know, my Treasure Coast Treasure Beach Metal Detecting Conditions Rating Scale is a five point scale, with 1 being poor and 5 excellent. I can only recall having a four rating once or maybe twice in the past two years. Things just haven't been real good during that time period. Maybe that is about to change this winter.


A cheerful countenance is a great treasure which people with many possessions often do not possess.

Happy Hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net