New Zealand Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting Forums Archive

OK so the back yard may as well be concrete with painted on grass
I am deliberately digging every possible signal even the iron but have struck a few problems
1) the plugs I dig never seem to look tidy when I am done so are there any tools that could improve this (currently spade and trowel)
2) I can see how much faster item recovery would be with a pin pointer but is there a cheap alternative?
3) when I dig a signal and swing back over it I hit another one inches from it and end up with a trench, so what is the best technique here ie. just open more ground, tunnel a little, cover plug one then open a new one half way on the old one?

Sorry guys a new detectorist trying not to form those habits that make joe public irate

Cheers
Magpie

How dry is the soil?
If it's dry, it'll usually make a mess regardless.

Rather than spade and trowel, I'd use a heavy duty blade like this Example and cut a V shaped plug with the target at the centre. Loose soil onto a drop cloth so it can be easily tipped back into the hole. I only use a 'spade' (small one-handed spade from Warehouse) in paddocks and mudflats. Swingers in public carrying spades isn't a good look. In general, you make less mess by making a large initial cut rather than enlarging a smaller one. Also learn to walk away from a hole if it's getting too deep or messy.

The cheap alternative to a PP is to learn to pinpoint with the coil. Both in location, but also in depth. Depending on the machine, probably the simplest PP method is to use the X marks the Spot technique. Find the line the target is on, turn 90° and do it again. Where the lines cross....dig.

Adjacent targets are always a judgement call. Sometimes, I'll tunnel into the side of the existing hole, sometimes I'll extend the flag of turf.

If you have trouble finding your digs after a)5 minutes, and, b) 2 weeks (dead turf) then you're doing fine.

Bottom line is, nothing will substitute for hours on the coil. I would conservatively say you need to do 20Hrs minimum before you start to get the 'feel'.

Keep digging - and let us see what you're pulling up :)
(Don't automatically discard iron, Most older relics are made of iron!)

Tom the pin point feature on any detector can only zero in on the target you have identified it does not discriminate.

Just keep practicing and it will all start to gel.

GL
HH

MK