Rain and Hail!

[Foggy]

Hi Guys
I was out this morning for a couple of hours before I was hit by rain and hail.

I decided this morning to take a walk over all 4 fields where I have permissions, the first field where I started and to date found the majority of my recent finds, I have covered very well and found about 7 silver coins. I started on the field adjoining it and have done the bottom third where I have also had a lot of finds and one George IV silver and a possible Saxon Pommel. I continued into the third field at the bottom end to see what the finds would be like, started to find a lot of rubbish type finds, old Victorian brass nuts from pipe work, lots of iron and small copper bits but only one musket ball. The one thing the first two fields have in common is musket balls and lots of them, both military and hunters. As the morning went on I kept walking along the bottom end of the field and eventually moved into the fourth field. As soon as I entered it the musket ball finds started again, I only walked one line up across the field and one line back and found 6 musket balls and a George copper coin.
I suppose I'm looking for a natural thoroughfare between all the fields where people might have travelled back in the day. Or judging by the amount of musket ball finds there must have been some sort of conflict and were these fields fought over or was there a settlement? I'm just trying to find some sort of correlation, if there is one! The fields are probably 100 acres each and all gradually slope down about 20ft at the bottom ends which is where I've been walking, it is also at the end of the ploughing run, although they are all rested fields at the moment, haven't been ploughed since last year. Field one is closest to civilisation and field four is farthest away and that's the same story for the finds so far, most of the finds coming in fields closer to civilisation, although early signs are field four is going to produce more finds than field 3.
I can't wait to get back at it because the farmer is going to plough soon and once the crops are in, I'm out!
Below are my V5 settings used after ground balancing, I'll keep this story going each time I get out
Regards
Foggy

11 inch coil
Manual Ground Balance, Auto Zones 3, Disc Toggle 3
Gain = 5
Threshold = 5
Disc Level = 3.8
Disc Depth = 8.8
Ground Course = 8
Ground Fine = 5
Frequency = Min
Silencer = Off

The above settings don't work in all fields, I have to turn down my gain generally and a little threshold. I do find though the hotter I run the machine the more I detect the deep iron, specially with this 11 inch coil, with the 15 ich coil, I can run max gain and still do ok on the iron discrimination.

[muddy fingers]

Hi Foggy, You say about detecting the deep iron but what exactly is it you are picking up- plough shares, flat iron pieces, rings of iron or long thick nails. All these items do present problems to a lot of detectors as you know. If they're not too big, dig them up and take them home to practice listening to - there is often a subtle difference in sound, which after a time becomes second nature to recognise. Don't forget to do the two- way check as well- if the signal disappears at 90 degrees then it's iron. Regarding all the musket balls, they could be casement shot. A wooden container filled with such shot was fired from a cannon and exploded open sending the shot flying everywhere. Alternatively, if the musket balls seem to be along near the hedge row then they could be the result of military target practice perhaps.

I'm finding loads of iron with my new (other brand) detector at the moment but my friend doesn't. I'm using one of my own programmes with all my own settings, though new owners are advised not to, so it serves me right really for thinking that I could run before I can walk! I didn't dig anything deep yesterday so I can't help wondering what's down there nice and deep that I'm probably missing when not using the Bliss.

[Foggy]

Hi Mud
I do think the iron thing is a lot of my fault digging iffy signals but sometimes I get caught out by a few good clear signals, both ways and have always noticed it to be when I'm running the machine hot, so to speak. Also because of my recent hammered successes I don't push up my discrimination as far as I could to maybe knock out those irons. It does tend to be larger bits and I can be a real sucker for a large deep target because I always think I'm going to find a hoard of something
Regarding the musket balls, I have a mix of sizes, some are very likely to be hunters back in the day, some are definately military. Interesting point about the target practice though, that never crossed my mind, could well be.
I'm probably over thinking it instead of just getting on with it
I'm going to my local museum tomorrow to find out if my Saxon Pommel is indeed a Saxon Pommel?
I've read a lot about the Deus and new users, they all say stick to the presets until you get used to it what are your initial thoughts on it, like I say I really fancied one but couldn't afford it.
Regards
Foggy

[Westcoastdetector]

Re: the musket balls . At around the time of the Napoleonic wars , there was a very real danger of a French invasion . As a consequence , a lot of local militias were set up or strengthened . They would have used their local fields in order to practice .
Alternatively , it could be a case of huntsman trying to knock off a few rabbits !

[muddy fingers]

Hi all, I really love my new machine so far. I used and loved my GMP previously but eventually, after the umpteenth cable break (I had it hip mounted and not in the recommended way, to be fair) I decided to splash* out and get the Deus. They have come down a lot in price recently and my local dealer was price matching the cheapest price quoted on the web so I didn't pay anything like the prices you sometimes see quoted in the magazines. I've used it mostly in Deus fast so far(17 kHz) as that best suits my sites and Basic 1( 11kHz) a couple of times. It has a 8kHz frequency as another option so that will be interesting to try when I get around to it.

* I usually buy second hand machines and this is my first actual new purchase of a detector since I bought a Tesoro Eldorado!

[Foggy]

Hi guys
Got out this afternoon for a few hours, started off at the bottom of field 4 which I haven't really touched. Played around with my settings a little and took the approach of less is more!
Had a quiet afternoon, finding 4 musket balls, what I think is another lead bag seal, some odd bits and my usual pieces of lead. The finds are definitely getting less the further from field 1 I get. I do have a field 5 which i didn't realise which I might take a look at the next time I'm out.
My settings are below.

11 inch Coil
Manual Ground Balance, auto Zones 3, Disc Toggle 3
Gain = 2
Threshold = 3
Disc Level = 4.0
Disc Depth = 8.8
Frequency = Min
Silencer = Off
Ground Course = 7
Ground Fine = 3

Only dug two bits of large iron and they were both on iffy signals, sometimes I just can't resist
Regards
Foggy

[Foggy]

Hi Guys
As it was raining this morning I decided to perform a few indoor air tests on various settings I have been considering on my V5. I'm generally not a fan of air tests as they don't really give much insight into detecting in the field. But what the heck.....
I put together 3 sets of program settings and air tested them all using 10 different objects ranging from rusted iron to silver hammered coins. I was pleased with 2 programs and not so pleased with 1.
As the rain stopped for a while I decided to head out and try the one I favoured most.
I headed down to field 2 on the lower third, some of which I have covered already but mostly Virgin ground working my way from the bottom third towards the middle in grids across the width of the field.
often when I'm out I will dig an iffy signal (those signals where you think, will I wont i?) 8 times out of 10 they turn out to be rusty iron, but occasionally they turn out to be buttons so like i said I often dig them. The aim of my new settings is to try and tune these iffy signals into a more defined yes or no signal without discriminating out the small hammered coins, which is a possibility when running high discrimination settings. In the air tests I was able to achieve this.
My initial results from the field test are very positive also, thankfully I found an Edward hammered penny which told me I hadn't discriminated them out and not one iffy signal. Even though this area of the field is plagued with hot rocks I was still able to pick out a yes or no signal. I was glad for finding the hammered along with my usual finds which are in the finds forum, hammy is in the ID forum.
I'll test the settings again over a larger area before I'm totally satisfied but initially they look good.
Settings are below
Regards
Foggy

11 inch Coil
Manual Ground Balance, AutoZones 3, Discrimination Toggle 3
Gain = 5
Threshold = 5
Frequency = Max (off)
Discrimination Level = 7.0
Discrimination Depth = 9.0
Ground Course = 7
Ground Fine = 5
Silencer = Off

[Foggy]

Hi Guys
well i managed to get out for four hours today but it was very cold. Started where i left off yesterday on field 2 testing my new settings (see previous post) and had quite a good day. The new settings seem to be working really well for me, i feel as if what the machine is telling me is just that little bit clearer now so i'm pleased and will be adding them into my little book of successful settings
Got a decent range of finds including musket balls, lots of Georgian coins but topped off by a really beautiful Lizzy I, probably one of my favorite coins to find, although i've only ever found 2
I'm going to do a little more experimenting over the coming week and will update this post accordingly.
regards
Foggy

[Foggy]

Hi Guys
I tried to continue my testing today but only really got an hour in the field before the weather turned. i was out doing my first round of tests involving the 15 inch coil, i had developed some new settings over the weekend from air tests which seemed successful but struggled to concentrate in the field.
The forecast does not look good this week so i might have to wait, i only walked two widths of field 2 and did get some finds, 4 copper coins, 1 musket ball, a George III Irish bank token and some lead so not too bad.
I'll update this post next time i'm out and if i feel confident in the settings i will post them.
regards
Foggy