City Park Finds

A few weeks ago I went to a local city park to practice with the MXT. The weather was a little chilly so there were few people around and I had the park to myself.






















(click on picture for a larger view)

It turned out to be a pretty good day for me. I found some clad coins, two "This is my Lucky Day" tokens from a local fun park, a flattened penny and a little easter bunny charm. I did my search in the ball field and around the play area (tot lot) by the slides and swings. Not a huge amount but a lot of fun anyway.

Start Digging!

Start Digging in Your Own Backyard!

(click the picture above for a large image)

As soon as I opened up my metal detector on Christmas , I had to try it out and the most obvious place for a test run was my own backyard. I have searched our yard about 3 times now, not more then an hour total and came up with a hand full of change. I had no idea there was that much clad (clad coins, as opposed to silver or copper coins) in the ground. The land we live on used to be horse pasture before our subdivision was put in, so the change had to come from us since we moved in. Unless some of the horses were playing poker and dropped some change!
I think the metal square thing is from an old lawn chair.

Start Digging!

Treasure Hunter's Creed

CODE OF ETHICS

I WILL respect private property and WILL NOT trespass without the land owners permission.

I WILL NOT destroy property, buildings or what is left of ghost towns and deserted structures

I WILL NOT litter, always pack out what I take in and remove all trash dug in my search.

I WILL leave all gates and other accesses to land as found.

I WILL appreciate and protect our heritage of natural resources, wildlife, and private property.

I WILL use thoughtfulness, consideration and courtesy at all times.

I WILL abide by all laws, ordinances or regulations that may govern my search, or the area I will be in.

I WILL fill all holes, regardless how remote the location, and never dig in a way that will damage, be damaging to, or kill any vegetation.

I WILL report the discovery of items of significant historical value to a local historian or museum in accordance with the latest legislation.

I WILL Be an ambassador for the metal detecting hobby.

How A Metal Detector Works

How Metal Detectors Work
by: Phil Morris


The first metal detector was created in 1881 by Alexander Graham Bell
to detect the bullet lodged in the body of President James Garfield when
he was assassinated. The first portable version was patented in 1931 by
Fischer. Since then, this instrument has become very common. Here are
some insights on the workings of metal detectors.

What is a metal detector? An electronic instrument that can find any
instance of metal from the ground, a human body or a parcel is called
metal detector. It has the ability to pass through the sand, soil, wood
and any other non-metallic items. It can track anything metallic.

How the metal detector is constructed? An elementary metal detector has
an electronic box along with a battery on one side, with a handle to
let the operator place his arm. It has a coil made of insulated wire
wrapped around the telescoping shaft and ends in a round plastic disk. The
disk is displaced from the shaft making an angle that helps it to
maintain parallel position to the floor. The operator holds the electronic
box and switches on the power to start sweeping the coil slowly on the
ground till there is an electronic signal. This signal shows the
presence of a metallic item underneath the area already swept by the coil.

How does a metal detector work? Metal detectors use the principal of
electromagnetism and the effect it exerts on metals. The metal coil
called the transmitter works on the battery power and generates a magnetic
field that works on the surroundings. When this field enters the ground,
any metallic item becomes magnetic. This generates the electronic
signal, which is detected by the receiver in the coil. Receiver in turn
dispatches a signal to the electronic box. The speaker makes this sound
louder, generating a beep for the operator. The electronic box consists of
microprocessors to measure the time lag between charging the area and
receiving the signal. This time lag is called the phase shift and lets
you know which metals are present. Using this principle, you can
configure the high-end metal detectors to look out for specific metals.

For more Information on how Metal Detectors work, follow this link:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/metal-detector.htm

Welcome to "Start Digging"

Welcome everyone to "Start Digging" a blog about my personal stories of the addicting hobby of Metal Detecting. Right now I live in the Northwest and just got started in MDing (Slang for Metal Detecting) this Christmas when I received a Whites Electronics MXT metal detector. Needless to say its February and I am hooked! I will be posting info about the MXT as I learn to use it and photos of my treasures (Sure there will Treasure!) , and various finds.

Please check back as this blog gets going!