Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.
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| Treasure Coast Beach This Morning Nearing High Tide. |
The surf on the beach shown at the top was breaking a little ways out. That was one of those beaches with a flat front that I was talking about the other day.
You can see the relatively flat beach front where the surge from the breakers is washing in. That white water area has a pretty good current that runs both way - surge and backwash.
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| One Beach Showing A Little Scalloping This Morning. |
We're supposed to get a little change in the weather and the surf on the Treasure Coast will pick up a little but not much. Expect something like three feet on Wednesday.
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| Tropical Activity As Of This Morning. Source: nhc.noo.gov |
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I ran across a good YouTube video in which the Ace 350 was tested and ranked with a variety of other detectors. It was an exceptionally good test in an extensive test garden.
The test not only provided a test of the 350, but I think also gave a good general idea of how detectors in general work with various targets at different depths.
At the end of the video the Ace 350 was ranked with a number other detectors that were tested in the same way, providing a good comparison.
You might benefit by taking a look at the video. Not only were a variety of targets buried at different depths, both good targets and junk, but very small targets, such as a gram of gold, were also tested. Tests were also conducted with coins buried with nails and other junk.
It was one of the more extensive test garden tests that I've seen, and a good informative video.
Here is the link to the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDAvWgalcrA
Of the various detectors tested in this test garden, the Nokta Fors CoRe did the best, achieving 55 out of 66 points, the Ace 350 came in below the middle of the pack with 33 of 66 points, and the Minelab Go Find 60 and Garrett Grand Master Hunter II came in at the bottom of the rankings. Although it was second from last, the Go Find had 28 out of 66 points, not really very far below the Ace. You might find the comparisons interesting.
The Nokta normally sells for up around $800 while the Ace more like $350, so you have to take price into account.
In this particular video, it would have been better if you could see the actual screen readouts to each of the targets, but that is asking a lot of a home video.
I do want to remind you that there are significant limitations with all test garden tests. One problem with test garden tests is the fact that they are conducted in one specific type of ground, which may or may not be like where you will hunt, but more significant is how the detector is used. Detector settings and modes may not always be ideal and may not always be comparable from one detector to another.
Another problem with both air tests and test garden tests is that you know where the target is and can see when the coil is centered over the target. If the targets were spread out and the tests conducted blind folded, that would be a better test. Again, that is too much to expect, but it is important to be aware of the problem.
Another problem with air and test garden tests is the detector is not used as it would be in the field. That is very significant.
During a test, the targets are directly under the hot spot of the coil. And the coil is repeatedly moved directly over the target until the best signal is achieved. In the field the sweep speed is seldom ideal and the coil is seldom directly centered over the target.
That may sound like nit-picking but those things are very significant. Test it yourself. Throw a behind your back and shut your eyes and detect normally. I think you'll be surprised by how often you miss it. If you don't miss it altogether, you might get the target at the edge of the coil or at the end of a sweep and don't get the best possible signal like you would get from an air test or test garden test.
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I saw two other detectorists out this morning. I detected very little, but did some detecting. I sampled a few spots and found the most targets where I would have thought that other detectorists would have cleaned things out. This is a heavily detected beach, but the most obvious area seemed to have the most targets. Surprise, surprise! Sometimes you guess wrong, and that is why I like to sample various areas. I like to do a little sampling to prove or disprove my guesses. I won't necessarily spend much time sampling, but a little bit often helps a lot.
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Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net
