Month: September 2013

goldmaxx metal detector

XP Goldmaxx Power Field Test By John Lynn

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XP Goldmaxx Power Field Test By John Lynn


The buying of a detector has always been down to either having heard about it through the grape vine, or reading the reports when a new detector hits the market. Once purchased, a read through the manual, a quick tryout of the machine with a few objects and then out on the fields. Only then will you start finding the faults and experience difficulties with the detector, some just requiring another read of the manual, others an inbuilt characteristic that hadn’t been mentioned with all the hype. This report will have a different format, instead of the usual copying out of the manual to give a description of the different functions of the detector; I will be testing those functions at home and in the field, giving an assessment, by seeing it through the eyes of a new owner and what he will come up against. All machines find, it’s how good and the ease with which they do it that counts. Nigel at Regton asked me to test the new chipped  GoldMaxx version and allowed me plenty of time to do so. Tone i.d. has always had problems on this type of mineralised ground, so it would prove interesting. I don’t think I need to go into the assembling of the GoldMaxx, suffice to say it was easy and build quality is first rate, with attention paid to the known fault areas with detectors. The machine is well balanced and light enough to use all day. Running at 18KHz and powered by 8 X 1.5 volts batteries in two drop in pods. These have a working life of 70 hours, the nimh rechargeables drop to 30hours. I do think that there could be some improvement with the instruction manual, parts of it need to be updated to correct English with a little more in depth explanations to be fully understood.

 

A cautionary tale
After reading the manual, I spent a couple of hours in my home trying out numerous objects and settings to familiarise myself with the controls. Having got what I thought was an understanding; I took it out to the back garden. Mine is a relatively new house with a great deal of the builders rubbish beneath the lawn, at pre-set positions the detector was going absolutely bananas. With the amount of tones coming from the machine,
there were kids in the street looking for the ice cream van! Turning the sensitivity right back quietened things considerably, not a very auspicious start! Having recovered from this, it became a question of taking it to any spare patch of land and spending a great deal of time trying to get to grips with the detector, understanding was the issue, finding was secondary. Eventually as more of my land became available, I was able to try out the detector over a period of a couple of months, the results of which are as follows. The GoldMaxx can be run using tone i.d. or standard motion discrimination, these work independently of each other. As mentioned earlier, tone i.d. has never worked properly on my fields because of the heavy mineralisation. I have to say that the GoldMaxx is the first to do so with no problems. On the tone i.d. controls, Double or triple tones. A two-way switch enables double or triple tones, with the double tone, small iron will be low, with a clear high tone for the good stuff; there is no mistaking a good target, the deeper the coins, the higher the pitch they develop: even when close to any nails. Worked in conjunction with the silencer on 0 or 1 and sweeping slower in bad areas, target separation has been bordering on exceptional. The triple tone will give a higher pitch than the double on coins, with a medium tone for less conductive metals, but early during the test period I did find it confusing using either of the tones over the deeper medium size iron where they gave out a medley of tones (Could it be a coin near iron?) This however was down to me and my learning curve of the GoldMaxx. Approaching the target from a different direction helped with identification. One area where the triple tone scored better was on coke, the bane of many detectorists. With the note coke gives in double tone, it’s very hard to distinguish from that of a coin. Using the triple tone, a silver coin
signal is markedly higher than the coke, but a roman bronze minim isn’t. (See conventional disc.). I also found that by switching from one tone to the other over iffy signals helped with identification. Whilst on the subject of tones, the higher pitch of the innovative headphones supplied, gave a far superior signal for this machine than my more expensive ones. Very light and cool in the summer months too! I don’t believe that they will stand up to a lot of misuse though. The GoldMaxx can also be used as a conventional silent-search discriminating detector. When using the Discrimination, the tones, silencer and iron volume will be de-activated. With this system the iron discrimination is spread over a wide band starting from all metal on 0, nails are lost between 5 or 6, with full discrimination still being able to pull a cut half of Henry 2nd with very slight depth loss. This enables a lot more user control than many other detectors. Larger Iron will come through and if at depth, is hard at times to differentiate from a good signal. Changing to tone i.d. with the iron level will verify it is iron. Conversely it is very easy when in tone i.d. to switch to discrimination to verify signals. On full discrimination coke is lost whilst still being able to pull hammered and roman minims. Normal disc. is without doubt the quieter of the two sets of discrimination with no discernable differences in depth ability.

 

The Silencer
The wording is misleading in the manual when it talks of false signals caused by iron, although this quite rightly implies some inbuilt discrimination. I have come to the conclusion that the silencer with its 3-position switch, works on the same discrimination principal as bottle cap reject. This is for nails and small iron only, the larger the iron, the less the effect. (This is where the iron volume level takes over.) Running the coil over a 2-inch nail, in the 0 position, will give a certain amount of discrimination amounting to a broken signal. Switching to positions 1 then 2 will increase the rejection to “lose” the nail, albeit at the expense of losing a little of the response speed, at which this detector is now the fastest I have come across. Depth loss even on 2 is negligible. In use on 0, small iron will give an easy identifiable “spit” or a very brief chopped signal. Switching first to 1, then if necessary 2 will eradicate this smaller stuff; also by using 1 or 2, Tone i.d. is improved on the worst sites. Do not be confused by people saying that the silencer gets rid of ground chatter, it doesn’t, the only thing to get rid of ground chatter is a more positive ground balance! Which leads me nicely to ground balance. “Its ground balance Jim, but not as we know it”. The pre-set mark will eliminate hot rocks and other mineralised objects such as certain pottery. Holding the coil for 5 seconds in the air, away from the ground when first switching on, ground balances the detector correctly. On other detectors with a 10-turn ground adjust set correctly; to eliminate hot rocks requires a further turn to a turn and a half more positive with an ensuing loss of depth. So for those people where hot rocks aren’t a problem, by turning the control to the left of pre-set, this will gain more depth. For my land, I found this to be where the red segment starts, about the 11o’clock position, (mineralisation allowing). Bear in mind however, too far left of the pre-set will result in loss of discrimination and false signals caused by negative ground balance. Even further will lead to the detector sounding off if the coil scuffs the ground. If hot rocks do become too annoying, run one over the coil and turn the ground balance to the right until the sound disappears. Too far right will result in loss of depth. After saying all that, for those new to the machine, stay at the pre-set mark, it will be more stable and give better discrimination. Keep to this, even with a change of coils.

 

The Iron Volume
To begin with I was bemoaning the fact that the GoldMaxx didn’t have a constant threshold and an All-metal mode to suss iron quickly. Large deep iron was coming through and to my ears as a good signal, but after awhile the more I used the Iron volume and understood it better, the quicker and easier it became. Without the volume control, iron in the first few inches below the surface will give a low pitch, however, the deeper or larger it is, and the tone changes to a higher single or double pitch. With the iron volume in use, anything ferrous gives a distinctive low buzz, the deeper or larger the object, the more you need to increase the iron volume level to the right to identify it. I found that on large pieces such as horseshoes, if the coil was about a foot away it would give a good signal, then the volume control kicked in gradually became worse the closer it went to the iron. Eventually I came to understand that the size of the target had overpowered the detector and not a good and a bad signal in close proximity. If the ground is very mineralised and lots of iron, having too high a sensitivity setting will cause the iron volume to sound out (slightly) on a good signal. I did try the ground balance a little more positive and this helped but only partially. Reducing the sensitivity will cure this. Some detectorists will have the iron volume control at their preferred settings as soon as they start detecting, but I found that if the control box was hip-mounted for ease of access, I could run the iron volume on zero and then use it to check out the individual “not sure’s”. With more ferrous debris I found a setting about 9 or 10 0’clock worked well, then turning it higher on the individual larger pieces when necessary. The use of the volume control does not affect depth capabilities.

 

The coil
With the amount of mineralisation in the ground around here, the higher kHz machines (17,18and19) cry out for a DD widescan coil. This is a really good one, with very little “side-loss” to nearly maximum depth, robust, but light enough to swing all day. It combines the handling of mineralisation with good depths and obviously with this type of coil, target acquisition doesn’t have to rely on just the coil centre.There is no pinpoint mode, so sweeping the coil at 90 degrees to the target is necessary. By lifting the coil and just getting a signal, placed the object dead centre each time.

Conclusions
What do we all want from detectors, depth? Of course, without the need to dig a lot of iron. Also the ability to find the tiny stuff amongst iron, whilst handling bad mineralisation. Until now I’ve had to use more than one machine to accomplish this. So it’s a tall order for one, but I have found that used correctly, this detector has those capabilities. To be honest the first few days I used the GoldMaxx I didn’t like it because I didn’t understand it. In my ignorance I thought it was “gimmicky”, information was at times misleading, add to that alien words like “silencer” and “iron volume”; it was a new ball game. However after understanding the capacities of every control and how they worked in conjunction with each other, it not only became a lot clearer, but also left me admiring the thinking behind it. It reached the stage where I was going out not to find, but seeing just what else the detector could do. To achieve the results that this machine is capable of, will require time and more than a little patience; but then isn’t that the case with all good detectors? For those dyed in the wool, switch on and go, silent search merchants, this detector will not be for them. Using the tone i.d. system, everything will be heard, apart from small ferrous, yes it does have a perfectly good normal disc system, but it’s not half as interesting! (Or as informative) To get the very best results out of the detector, a slower sweep speed is needed; I don’t recommend using this to go belting across the fields. One of the areas where the GoldMaxx impressed me most has been the response speed and target separation, it really is exceptional. Normally to achieve results this good would be at the expense of depth. Not so in this case, I noticed a marked improvement in depths over my other detectors, even on the likes of cut halves and quarters. With such good results obtained from the standard widescan coil on mineralised and ferrous areas, I can imagine that the addition of the elliptical would be of real benefit on the roman sites etc. Iron, deep or otherwise was identified with the tone i.d. controls, even some iron washers. To begin with though, I did have difficulties at times “sussing” out signals. Coke problems should be a thing of the past by using the discrimination, without loss of coinage. I found the double tone easier to use and when over the target, if necessary, checking the signal with the triple, then if needed on occasions the discrimination mode. Differences in depth between the two discriminating modes were negligible. Whether hip-mounted or not, the detector has perfect balance and is Very light. I was able to use it for up to 10 hours at a time without the feeling that my arm was dropping off. From dislike, to like? If I have given the impression that this machine has “grabbed” me your right, would I recommend it?

I now own one! ‘Nuff said.

 

Reproduced with the kind permission of Treasure Hunting Magazine.
John Lynn

Garrett Ace 150 Field Test By Norfolk Wolf

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I once used to sell Mazda cars and on one occasion a prospective customer came into the showroom and asked me what they were like. I replied that even if they were rubbish or had faults, did he really think I was going to tell him? My job was to convince him that what he was purchasing was the best his money could buy and if the situation arose, try to steer him into the car with the most profit for me. That’s sales the world over, whether it be a car, a washing machine or a detector. Most detectorists who have been around for a while are by now aware of this fact and that the machine they read about and subsequently buy has the good points extolled, but no mention is made of it’s limitations or drawbacks. As a completely independent, over the coming months I will be field testing different models and describing not only how they work under differing conditions but also the drawbacks, and if possible how to overcome these. The new models Ace 150 and 250 that Garrett have brought out for 2005, supersedes the previous Ace 100 and 300. It hasn’t just been a quick makeover with a different badge slapped on the side, but a completely new detector from the coil upwards. The standard green livery of Garrett has been replaced by a new bright hamburger cheese yellow for the control box and the armrest cup, this contrasts with the black stem and the all new 6.5″ x 9″ Rhino elliptical coil and which runs at 7.2KHz It loses none of the excellent build quality that Garrett is renowned for and was very quickly assembled. As opposed to the original switch on and go format, the Ace 150 control box now boasts 3 touch buttons that controls the Power, Sensitivity and Discriminating modes. An LCD screen with graphic target I.D. cursor on a 5- segmented horizontal scale, giving a probable target readout. Also three different discriminating modes of operation, All-Metal, Jewellery and coins, the sensitivity is adjusted incrementally in four stages. A coin depth gauge (2”, 4” or 6+inches) is situated to the right-hand side of the control box and there is also a low battery indicator. The headphone jack is placed conveniently under the control housing, so allowing no moisture ingress to the control-box. Replacing the 4xAA batteries is a simple matter of sliding the front cover off the control box. An adjustment to the arm-cup is simply a case of undoing one screw, and the whole lot weighs in at a mere 2.7lbs. The handy pocket size manual is easily understood with plenty of illustrations to get you on your way and able to refer back to it in the field.

First impressions
The people that I showed it to gave a condescending smile, this reminded me of way back, when the Silver Sabre first came on the scene and because of it’s size it too was regarded as a mere toy, — until people actually used it.

In use
I thought that I would take it easy and give it a run out on one of my lesser-mineralised sites, bearing in mind that most of it had already been covered with more upmarket machines. Deciding to use only the all-metal and jewellery modes; as in the coin mode pull-tabs are notched out and this I feel is intended more for beaches and parks. Working over the stubble using full sensitivity the Ace 150 was behaving itself with no false signalling and even beneath power lines, by dropping the Sens. down a notch it remained stable. Running at 7.2KHz it surprised me with the ease it was able to find the inner cores of cartridges. Okay they aren’t bright hammered coins, but to have this ability over 6inch high stubble and finding the small objects in the ground a further couple of inches is not to be sneezed at by any detectors standards. With buttons and pieces of lead and suchlike coming to light, my confidence in the machine grew, (No longer a condescending smile!)

On a Roman site
It wasn’t so much the heavier mineralisation but more the large amount of ferrous material, that decided me to work in all –metal. The lower 7.2 KHz meant that the response speed would be slower and I would need to hear all signals to adjust my sweep speed accordingly. Nails would register with a low tone with small bronzes and silver (think big!) with higher tones. Straightaway the Sens.needed dropping a notch and then once more in the more contaminated areas, because of the concentration of ferrous giving out unreliable readings and sounding off. The coinage and artefacts as expected in these conditions weren’t coming up at any great depths, but the Ace 150 definitely had the ability to pull stuff, small bronzes and other finds under these conditions. Moving away from the area it was then possible to switch to Jewellery mode and up the Sens. another notch and still remain perfectly stable. Running at full sens. was out of the question, just as it would have been using other machines.

Beach-work
Taking it on the dry sand isn’t really a test, as all detectors will perform well in these conditions, but I wanted to see how well the Coin Mode worked and just what coinage would be lost. Well, the Ace will ignore all types of pull-tabs, ring-pulls and bottle caps, plus iron and foil, whilst retaining all pre-decimal coinage and also £2 and £1 coins, 5p’s and the older 1 and 2p’s. Sensitivity could be left on full. Going further down the beach to the damp sand I switched back to jewellery mode, the Sens. needed dropping because of some false signalling. Trying it over water that was laying about was a complete no, no. Although not absolutely 100% stable over the damp sand, I was still able to pull some coinage and at reasonably good depths. All the false signals were of the high bell-tone type, so it was just a question of ignoring these and digging everything else.

Iron
In the jewellery mode small ferrous (Nails etc,) will be discriminated out with no sound, but still showing iron on the readout. The larger pieces of iron are easy to distinguish, although sounding out, these will give a broader low signal and will not give a steady reading.

Coke
Once again in the Jewellery mode, coke is lost whilst still retaining the ability to pull “ hammered” cut quarters let alone halves..

Hot rocks
No problems whatsoever, I wasn’t troubled once, the ground tracking is decidedly on the positive side to overcome these.

Response speed
As to be expected with the lower KHz detectors, the ability to recover from an unwanted target to respond to a good one will be slower than that of a detector running at the higher KHz ratings. By working slower in the “naily” areas, this will help somewhat in overcoming the problem.

Conclusions
Obviously the Ace 150 is not marketed for those detectorists who already have, or want to own, a high octane machine; this will be more for the first time buyer who requires a sophisticated machine that won’t damage either the pocket or the brain cells. It’s ultra light and effective under most of the conditions where the new owner will want to use it, whether it be the beach or on a Roman site; it has the capabilities to produce, right down to a cut quarter, all at reasonably good depths. The ability to find these and ignore coke and hot-rocks is a much-needed bonus for a detector of any price. After a while and seeing for myself what it achieved, at no time during the testing did I hanker after one of my own machines. Simple to use and versatile, with a price tag of under £170 and a 2year warranty, plus a host of dedicated extras and the name of Garrett, you will get an awful lot of “bangs for your bucks.” I’ve now got used to the colour as well!

Norfolk Wolf

ace250 metal detector

Garrett Ace 250 -Field Test by Norfolk Wolf

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Click here to buy Garrett Ace 250 metal detector

Before you lot start saying “oh no, not another Garrett” (not that there is anything wrong with them), I would like to explain that I am having a few difficulties in obtaining other detectors to test. The manufacturers and distributors have been approached, but some are a little slow in putting their best foot forward. You would think that with all the free advertising received from a test report that they would be falling over themselves to stick their product in my hand. It can’t be through my lack of experience, as I was detecting before some of these companies were actually in existence. The only stipulation I make is that I will need the detector for at least a month, (6 days a week x 4 weeks, this works out roughly to how long the average detectorists will use his machine for 5 or 6 months. Also with field tests of this length, it not only shows up the odd “wrinkle” but also gives me time to see if there is a way around the problem. If a detector doesn’t work so well on mineralised ground or is heavy to detect with, or not so capable in dealing with iron: why should you have to pay all that money, only to be become aware of the fact after the transaction? Hands up all the people that this has happened to? The two H’s need to be transposed, honesty for hype.

Right, now on to the field test…
The Garrett Ace 250 metal detector has the same dimensions and outward appearance as it’s stable-mate the Garrett Ace 150. The bright yellow and black livery is seen about more and more and is now being recognised as “one of those new Garrett’s”. The differences between the two marques lies in the control box, it has a number of extra features and also a greater range over the existing ones of the 150.

The conntrols- Garrett ACE 250
The box sits in a fixed position in front of the handgrip; there is no provision for hip mounting as the unit is so light that there would be no advantages gained. The six touch buttons sit below the LCD screen, with the target i.d. legend above this. The L C D screen itself portrays both an upper and lower horizontal graph. The upper graph shows the illuminated target i.d. cursor, this has twelve segments for more precise discrimination, and i.d. (also used for pinpointing). The lower scale indicates the amount of discrimination employed and also notch elimination. The left hand side of the screen indicates which mode of detection is currently being used, whilst the right hand side shows the target depth in four increments to eight inches plus. Beside this there is also a constant battery condition indicator.

Switching the detector on and off is accomplished by depressing the power button, holding it in for 10 seconds will return the settings to the factory preset for each mode. There are five different modes or programmes, All Metal, Jewellery, Custom, Relics and Coins. To change from one mode to the other is done by the mode (+) or (-) touch pad, which is on rocker, so it saves time by being able to scroll up or down the menu for the desired level of discrimination. The Sensitivity has eight (illuminated) settings for more precise control and target detection; this too is on a rocker as is the discrimination.

Metal detecting – Discrimination
This is used in conjunction with the Elimination button. Using the + or – button to move the cursor left or right, then use the Elim. button to notch out certain targets. When going over this rejected target, no sound will then be heard. The Pinpoint button when held in over a target will show the signal strength on the upper graph; the greatest number of graph segments that is displayed, indicates that the centre of the coil is over the target. The headphone jack is placed under the right-hand side of the control box, okay if you are left-handed, if not the headphone cable can cross over the box at the end of the right-hand side of the coil sweep.The coil is the very light Rhino 6.5″ x 9″ elliptical spider and the detector’s unit runs at 7.2 KHz, (same for the Ace 150)The control unit is powered by 4 x 1 1/2 volt batteries, these are replaced by sliding off the slide-in front cover to the control box. Finally the manual, very simply it tells you what you need to know in an easy to read style, I particularly like the ability to put it in the back-pocket for easy referral when on the field.

Metal detecting- In house testing
I normally like to spend a couple of hours or so in the house trying out different objects over the coil to familiarise myself with the detector, noting not just the strong points but also any weaknesses. In air testing is just a base-line to work from, but it gives an indication of what the metal detector is capable of and at a later date will tell you how well it copes (or suffers) from the effects of mineralisation. I did find that with the lower frequency the bell tone worked only on the larger or thicker coins. Denarii and Dupondii got the bell tone working as did an Elizabethan shilling and Georgian coppers; but the thinner sectioned hammered pennies and cut halves gave out just the normal tone, although iron in the All Metal mode gave out a low tone. It was possible to knock out coke using the Elim. button and still retain the ability to register cut halves, these needed to be near the centre of the coil to achieve any depth, in actual fact in air depths overall were quite impressive. Obviously response speed left a bit to be desired, but even this wasn’t that shabby compared to some of the detectors that has passed through my hands. Large iron did “come through” but didn’t hold steady on the readout and also gave differing sounds, plus I felt that using the pinpoint on this type of signal would give yet another indication that it was big iron.

Out in the field detecting
My format now is to use a moderately mineralised field to become accustomed to the detector quicker, rather than jump in at the deep end by going straight on to a “nails and all” Roman site. Just as well, as the first 50yards or so into the field told me that the sensitivity needed backing off a couple of notches. I was working it in the Relic mode (only iron is disc’ed out) but the “signals were a coming and the meter was a jumping”, most of the signals were close to the surface small to medium nails. The machine hardly had time to recover when it would hit another one, after making the adjustments it started to behave itself. The readouts on the graph were pretty accurate and held steady, pinpointing the target was a breeze, and this also verified the fact that the odd target was iron by the size of the signal. The depth indicator was pretty accurate on coin-sized objects; obviously anything larger or smaller than this gave a discrepancy. As regards to depths, there was a definite cutback compared to the testing in the house, but then isn’t this always the case? Finds were coming up and decent ones too, as long as the detector was swept at the speed at which conditions allowed; trying to go too fast would result in false readings. I did manage to find a “short cross” cut half and also tiny pieces of lead scrap, so it does have the ability to pull out the small stuff; at no time was I ever bothered by hot rocks.

Roman site detecting
Knowing how the Ace 150 handled the last roman site, I decided to employ the same tactics in the worst areas by working in All Metal, as this would give me a faster response speed. The sensitivity needed to be dropped another couple of notches for the 250 to behave itself, it did too, rewarding me with a couple of tiny Roman bronzes in the first quarter of an hour. It was just a question of taking my time and working the area slowly, adjusting the sensitivity accordingly, grabbing a bit and then backing off where needed. No matter what detector is used, finds from this area weren’t going to come from any great depths but the Ace 250 was managing to winkle out the odd piece here and there. In the worst spots iron did “show through” from time to time but was identified by an erratic read-out on the meter. Moving away from the heavy concentration of ferrous and mineralisation it was then possible to increase the sensitivity and change to the Relic mode again. If coke does become a problem it’s just a question of notching out another two segments on the Disc graph, this still enables cut hammered to be found.

Beach metal detecting with Garrett ACE 250
At the top of the beach on dry sand, sensitivity could be left on either high or one segment below. I used the Jewellery mode and notched out the ring pulls; as in Relic mode large pieces of foil was causing a problem at times. With these settings though the Ace 250 will ignore all types of pull-tabs, ring-pulls and bottle caps, plus iron and foil, whilst retaining all pre-decimal coinage and also £2 and £1 coins, 5p and the older 1 and 2p. If pull-tabs aren’t that prolific (show me a beach where they aren’t and I’ll be there); don’t bother with the notch to allow you to find all denominations. Damp sand does need a bit of care, by using a higher disc setting and lowering the Sensitivity, finds can be made although as with the 150, a certain amount of false signalling can still occur. As before, these are recognisable by always being the bell tone, generally at the end of the sweeps. Stay well away from pools of water unless you intend to wash the coil!

Conclusions
Having already field-tested the Ace 150 and given it the thumbs up, it is now just a question of comparison. They are both cracking good entry level detectors, it’s whether you opt for the standard ford escort or the ghia version; both will do the same job, but the ghia has more refinements for ease of use. I did find that although the 250 has extra increments on the sensitivity, care needs to be taken when using them, as in a lot of cases this did cause instability; this could be due to the nature of soil in this part of the country, elsewhere could be a different story. I have been looking on one or two American forums and at the moment they are raving about how good the Aces are at coin-shooting on parkland and their accompanying photos certainly bears this out. I suppose this is a bit remiss of me not to include something along these lines when testing, after all not everyone has the luxury to be able to detect each time on farmland. The Ace 250 certainly produced the goods on the sites that I did take it to and anyone just coming into detecting or even for a detectorist’s son or daughter, “the pair of aces” are extremely light and manageable. Although budget priced, the amount of sophistication on these detectors needs to be seen to be appreciated. I firmly believe that Garrett has produced a creditable winner (I wonder what other aces he has up his sleeve)?

Norfolk Wolf

Weekend Wanderers Rally 2013

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Well we’re now all back safe & sound from the Weekend Wanderers Rally held over the weekend. Regton had six members in attendance with a further one from Teknetics and seven from XP all on hand to help, advise & demonstrate. We were largely blessed with decent weather despite a few small showers but only had us dashing for cover a few times over the weekend. The rally itself was based on fields that had been previously rallied in 2006 & 2008 but still yielded many interesting finds and anyone who collects .303 bullets were extremely happy, oh well that’s rallies for you.

Mike Scott from Teknetics was on hand to demonstrate units & did a great job promoting the new Eurotek metal detectors to all & sundry, the XP guys had a rather risky & novel approach to the rally with a large banner inviting anyone with anything to Challenge the Deus Metal Detector (brave or risky, you decide), four tests were offered & many tried but all failed, very interesting to watch.

see the photo album

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.553978964649206.1073741825.187486347965138&type=3

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weekend wanders photo album  by Regton Metal Detecting.

DUTP metal detecting weekend event 26 and 27 October

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26 and 27 October
DUTP have organised a metal detecting weekend event.
We have 700 acres of land in various stages available to detect on 26 and 27 October 2013 in Bedfordshire.
Camping will be available.
For ticket purchases please use link:  http://www.etickets.to/buy/?e=10761
or you can contact the club directly by emailing diggingupthepast@talktalk.net
metal detecting event
PDF file:

DUTP CHARITY RALLY 28 and 29 September

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28 and 29 September
DUTP have organised a fundraising event in the aid of raising worthwhile money for a church roof.    We have over 400 acres of land in various stages available to detect on 28 and 29 September 2013 in Bedfordshire.
Camping will be available.
For ticket purchases please use link:
or you can contact the club directly by emailing  diggingupthepast@talktalk.net
DUTP charity rally
PDF file:

Archeologists against treasure hunters

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Archeologists are speaking out against treasure hunting and metal detecting, saying it damages key historical traces.

“Hobbyists scavenging for ancient treasure or a cache of Roman coins are an increasingly common sight in the UK’s countryside. With some enthusiasts having unearthed thousands of pounds worth of treasure, the lure of heading out with a metal detector can be potent.

Historical artifacts, including coins, old tools and weaponry, turn up with some regularity among the thousands of objects dug up each year. But hobbyists have been so successful that some archeologists are accusing them of looting Britain’s heritage. Some even want the practice banned”.

Read more

http://www.dw.de/uk-treasure-hunters-make-archeologists-see-red/a-17066960

The largest Celtic coins hoard Tour

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A large Jersey hoard of Roman coins tour

Jersey Heritage offer coin hoard tour to help fund conservation

The hoard of more than 70,000 Celtic coins was discovered in June 2012 in a Grouville field by pair of  Metal Detector Friends Mr Reg Mead and Mr Richard Miles.

The hoard is to believed  the largest Celtic coins hoard ever found. Each one of the 30,000–50,000 coins is estimated to be worth around £200 each, putting the value of the haul at up to £10 milion.

The coins are thought to be from the first century BC and were found buried three feet deep under a hedge in a farmer’s field on Jersey island.

Two thousand years ago the Channel Island, was a refuge for tribes fleeing what is now northern France from the invading Roman armies. As the legions of Julius Ceasar drew closer, the hoard is believed to had been buried by a Celtic tribe called the Coriosolitae, in the hope it could be recovered once the danger had passed.
Mr Mead, 70, and Mr Miles, a customs officer in his 40s, used a powerful metal detector known as a deepseeker, so called “two box” detector, specifically designed to pick up large targets.

Mr Mead said:  “The machine picked up a really strong signal – so we immediately got in touch with professional archaeologists. They started digging and we could not believe how many coins there were. All of them were stuck together. I have been searching for things like this since 1959 and never found anything on this scale before. We had been searching that land for 30 years. I am absolutely numb at the moment. To find one haul of coins in a lifetime is rare, but to find two is just unheard of.”
Neil Mahrer of Jersey Heritage Museum, who helped to excavate the money, said:

“This is the biggest Celtic coin hoard ever found which is tremendously exciting.  All the coins are silver and a common theme is a picture of a man or god’s head on one side of the coin and a horse on the other. They are covered in green corrosion because the silver is mixed with copper and copper corrodes. But they should come up again in a good condition.”

Dr Philip de Jersey, a former Celtic coin expert atOxfordUniversity, said:

“The find is very significant. It will add a huge amount of new information, not just about the coins themselves, but the people who were using them.”

About 80 people will be given the chance to tour what is believed to be the world’s largest Celtic coin hoard, Jersey Heritage confirms. The exclusive tours will help raise money to fund further conservation work on the items. They will be part of the Edge of Empire exhibition atJerseyMuseumin 2014. Jersey Heritage Trust Conservator Neil Mahrer has spent the past year creating a model of the one tonne mound of silver and copper coins, gold pieces and mud.

Work is now under way to prepare the coins already uncovered, and the replica made by Mr Mahrer, for an exhibition atJerseyMuseumnext year.

The last time it went on display in 2012 the number of visitors to the museum trebled.

Read more:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-23958580?cbb

jersey celtic hoard jersey treasure jersey coin hoard

Metal Detecting for Beginners by Vanessa LeBeau

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Metal Detecting for Beginners

If you have been to the beach, chances are you have seen someone with a metal detector walking up and down looking for treasure. Treasure hunting has been popular for centuries, and metal detectors have made it possible for enthusiasts to look for treasure wherever they are. Metal detectors can also be used in professional fields like archaeology, criminal investigations with forensics department, and with some military operations. This is a hobby that you can take with you whenever you travel to a new place. Metal detecting is popular throughout the country. […]

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Content written and provided by Vanessa LeBeau

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