Metal Detectors

[p8check]

It seems like most of the benchmarks around Charlotte are "2 inches under the surface." Does anyone use a metal detector when you're looking for these?

[Bill93]

Many people use them. There have been several threads on metal detectors that you might find by searching the forum history.

 

In summary, people tend to fall into two camps. One says they use the lightest, smallest, cheapest detector because they want it to be easy to carry and only expect to look for things under a light covering of detritus.

 

The other says they want the best ferrous/non-ferrous discrimination they can get because they want to use it where there is a lot of junk, such as an old railroad right-of-way now a trail, where there are pounds of stray hardware per square yard.

 

The other type of detector is the magnetic locator used by surveyors to find iron rods, and which won't find bronze disks.

[+PFF]

Hi, p8check:

 

Welcome to the small, but dedicated, group of North Carolina benchmark hunters! Mecklenburg County has seen a lot of activity during the past several years. Most are individuals who do this as a hobby, and there is one professional surveyor who is very active. You will see their "tracks" as you look through the Charlotte area logs.

 

As for metal detectors, count me in the 2nd group Bill mentioned. I started with an inexpensive detector, and then moved up to a deluxe model when Radio Shack put it on the clearance rack. I prefer the style with the coil on a long pole so I can use it while standing. This is helpful because sometimes I am searching over a wide area.

 

My top-end unit can tell the difference between a survey disk, and a railroad spike or an aluminum beverage can--which are the two most common interference objects. (It has a numerical readout indicating the type of metal, and it did not take long to learn the "signatures" of various types of disks.) But even the low-end unit was helpful when the disk was covered by soil or leaves. And for those disks which are "recessed" below ground, the detector will pinpoint the exact spot to probe/dig--especially when the coordinates are SCALED; i.e., estimated from a map.

 

If you get a model with the search coil on a pole, follow the instructions of wrapping the signal cable in a spiral around the pole. Then anchor it at several points with tie-wraps. It keeps the wire from snagging when in heavy brush.

 

It's also helpful to carry a spare set of batteries. Never mind how I know..... :-)

 

-Paul-

[+seventhings]

p8check -

 

I often use a metal detector, but not as often as I thought I would when I bought it. Usually, when I balance the improved benchmark finding capability that a detector provides with the added bother of carrying yet another thing along with me into the woods, I opt for the "fewer things, lower find-rate" alternative.

 

In my experience, a metal detector is most valuable when the mark I'm searching for is not far from where I parked the truck (so, the detector is handy), and the mark is in an area of thick multi-flora (the really annoying stickery, vine-like stuff that infests the lower-lying areas of the Eastern US). I hate diving into that stuff to find a mark; I'll let the detector do the finding so I can minimize my business with the flora.

 

There are two other limitations to metal detectors. First, they are generally banned from any area of historical significance (like anyplace there was a battle during the Civil War (aka in NC as "The Recent Unpleasantness" or "The War of Northern Aggression")), and are even banned by local authorities from many areas that have no historical significance at all. The other limitation is social. It seems members of the general public have no compunction whatsoever about approaching someone with a metal detector and dealing with the operator as if or she were some sort of mildly challenged uber-nerd.

 

Of course, the same thing happens when you say that you're hunting for benchmarks, so I guess there's no net loss of social standing.

 

Will

[Wintertime]

There are two other limitations to metal detectors. First, they are generally banned from any area of historical significance (like anyplace there was a battle during the Civil War (aka in NC as "The Recent Unpleasantness" or "The War of Northern Aggression")), and are even banned by local authorities from many areas that have no historical significance at all.

They're also prohibited on land controlled by the National Park Service.

 

Patty

[+PFF]

.....during the Civil War (aka in NC as "The Recent Unpleasantness" or "The War of Northern Aggression")

 

You should move down here, Will. On your trips through NC, you've mastered BBQ, sweet iced tea, and the local lingo. You'd fit right in! [Grin.]

 

ArtMan joined me for a team hunt in Raleigh about a year ago, and I had him wavering a little. (He also appreciates our style of life.) And I'm leaning on Ernmark and a couple of others. I want to populate the state with benchmark hunters. Then I can convince Gary Thompson that we can recover 'em faster than NCGS can set 'em!

 

-Paul-

[+Ernmark]

.........faster than NCGS can set 'em!

 

..and that's pretty darn fast! (Dare I say faster than the Highway Dept & land developers in PA can rip ours out!).

[+Astro_D]

We started out with a $20 dollar Nat Geo metal detector our son got for Christams a few years ago. It worked as long as the disc wasn't to far under the dirt. We decided to upgrade to a more expensive model that could discriminate between metals. Best upgrade we did in this hobby.

 

We have to be careful where we use our detector. State Parks are off limits as are most county and city parks. That doesn't leave many places. Although, we have taken it and used it in a state park with the express permission and blessing from the park ranger. I can't imagine benchmarking without one. Only becasue most of them are buried around here.

[AZcachemeister]

My $40 unit from Harbor Freight can tell ferrous from non-ferrous, and has worked both times I have used it.

[p8check]

Thank you all. I think I will go ahead and start my Christmas list for next year. This weekend I'm in GA looking for caches and benchmarks...er, I mean visiting relatives! We are near the birthplace of Oliver Hardy!

 

[+Okiebryan]

Here's mine... but I mostly use it for finding iron pins, nails, and railroad spikes. I occasionally find a benchmark with it. A brass disk produces a "null" against the background noise when the gain is set properly.

[+LSUFan]

I have used a Wally World Bounty Hunter metal detector several times with success in locating benchmarks, with just the latest one on Christmas day on the way to the in-laws. On this particular search, the witness post was laying on the ground, about 10 feet from the mark (which I did replace it where it should be for the next person). After a few quick passes with the detector, the disk was found easily.

 

CQ0245

 

Since I had the detector in the truck, my father-in-law and myself also used it to find some of his property corner pins at his house. That was a good way to help work off some of that Christmas dinner.

 

The only drawback to using a metal detector for benchmarks (at least in my case), is all the time I waste in digging out all the other things my detector alerts me to. I just can't seem to ignore them, even when I know it's not a disk. I can't tell you how much time I have spent digging up bottle caps, old cans, nails, etc.......when I was just supposed to be benchmarking. I don't know why I can't convince myself that Captain Kidd wouldn't bury his treasure 4 inches deep beside the Interstate.

Edited December 30, 2008 by LSUFan