CHOOSING A METAL DETECTOR FOR CERTAIN PURPOSE, OR WHERE TO START IF YOU HAVE A SMALL BUDGET TO BUY A GOOD DEVICE
If you like the topic of instrument detection, but don’t know where to start, or rather have a small budget to buy a good metal detector, then this article will be interesting to you! You can buy an inexpensive device or even a homemade metal detector; it will be quite enough to involve you in treasure hunting. How to choose a device for specific purposes depends on what you intend to look for. Let's figure out which device to buy for the search that interests you. For example, any type of metal detector is suitable for searching for scrap metal, for example:
— pulsed ( Pi ) — the principle of operation is the action of a pulsating electromagnetic field on the ground,
— IB ( VLF ) – based on the action of induction balance,
– TR – operating on the principle of reception – transmission,
and other types of metal detectors. That is, if the goal is to search for scrap metal, limited by a small budget, you can safely buy a simple device, for example Pirate, Clone, Koschey, or something more advanced and having metal discrimination Garrett A ce 150-300 i . Nokta Simplex , Minelab go find … But here you will have a wider range of search options. These devices are not very expensive and will quickly pay for themselves, and with metal detectors that have metal discrimination, you can successfully find coins or relics.
If the goal is precisely to search for coins and relics, then more expensive IB ( VLF ) metal detectors are needed here, since the desire to dig for coins, for example with a Clone impulse detector, will disappear after the first exit to the digging site. The fact is that the device does not discriminate against metals, and you will have to dig according to the principle “we dig everything,” and it has practically no separation of goals, and this, alas, will get very boring when you go to the place where there was a village or farm, because you won’t be able to collect all the metal trash about the treasured coin is not worth dreaming about. You can find coins or relics with a pulse metal detector, but alas, the chances are not high, although you definitely won’t miss your pot of coins with it. IB ( VLF ) devices were created for such purposes . They have discrimination – you can distinguish ferrous or non-ferrous metal, they have a gradation of metals such as aluminum, gold, silver or copper, etc. If you have a small budget, you can choose among cheaper homemade devices: Quasar, Fortuna, Mole, Terminator, etc. or branded Garrett А ce 150-300 i , Nokta Simplex , Fisher f 5/ f 11, Minelab X – Terra 305, or even consider used options. The secondary market for metal detectors is very saturated, but you should be extremely careful there so as not to buy a device with a breakdown that the seller can hide. I would also like to mention such a detail as what exactly you are going to look for, since you need to definitely select the frequency and size of the search sensor. If these are royal copper, large silver, Soviet coins, then this is 6-13 kHz. If you plan to look for the Chernyakhov settlements, the Penkov culture, etc. where targets made of weakly conductive metal (for example, gold), small targets (for example, brooches, arrowheads) predominate, then a higher frequency is needed, from 15 kHz and higher. Also a little about the size of the sensors, large sensors are suitable for reconnaissance of open fields, forests, meadows, where there is a minimum of metal debris, since the reaction to it can disguise a useful target, or for finishing off a specific area where the sensors cannot see targets. Sensors with a diameter of 25-28 cm are perfect for constant search. Well, for searching in heavily littered areas, so-called “sniper sensors” are suitable; having a small capture area, they are excellent at searching in littered areas.
Perhaps the most specific search is a war search, where it is not enough to choose a metal detector, but you also need to know what you dug up, since this search is very dangerous. But if you decide to look for military trophies, and are confident in your knowledge, then digging with a conventional pulse detector with a small sensor or an IB ( VLF ) metal detector is not enough, they are only suitable for searching along the tops of fields, checking cells, trenches, dugouts, and to find a deep goal, you need search frames. Deep metal detectors, as in themselves, are very expensive devices, and there is not much to choose from here; with a limited budget, the choice of device will most likely fall in the direction of homemade pulse detectors. Yes, yes, exactly the impulse ones! Since (Pi) devices are based on the influence of a constant pulsating magnetic field on the ground, its capabilities are not limited to connecting only one coil, you can also connect a search frame, thereby increasing the capture area and search depth, and also weed out unnecessary small targets. With such options, Klon, Koschey, Tracker will work well for military archeology.
But searching with a frame also has its own nuances and inconveniences, such as tall grass, trees, slopes. In such situations , TR locators will help a lot, although these devices are already outdated, they are also good at searching. The principle of operation lies in the receiving and transmitting coils being spaced apart, in the same plane, relatively one to the other. The device will respond to a metal object caught in the magnetic field of the coils. The only problem will be the availability of locators, since the device is quite outdated, it is quite difficult to find them on sale.
This article described current search directions and provided assistance in the correct selection of metal detectors for specific purposes; the main focus was on the availability of the device.