FIBULA V NAIL

[Mike]

heres an odd question for you all .

the picture shows two finds I made this weekend

 a fibula weight 8.2g copper alloy or  bronze not sure

a copper nail weight 5g .

both found on the same field at around 5" deep same machine , same settings . ( minelab sov gt )

both of similar shape and size .

so why the huge difference in tones , the fibula ( as with almost all I have found ) a poor but digable signal ( just !!! )

the nail , strong signal definite digger .

is this a minelab thing or do other machines do the same thing   

[Kev]

Good question Mike something that I would like to find out ??

[Mrmayo]

it could be that the nail is almost pure copper and the fib is of a bronze mix, but from past experience with copper nails they always give a banning signal.

[Dale]

Its not a Minelab thing, its also Tesoro.... iv had it on a few roman brooches now, and iv thought the same, I remember digging it out and being a little shocked what it was, and the size of it, for the signal it gave.   

[carling2]

nails and screws give out a belter of a signal on the se,just brought some cp3s tt phones and hoping to walk over a fibula and nail to see if there is any variation  to tone. 1st signal I dug was with the cp3 tt {the funny thing dinari post} and you could tell it was a small silver coin just by the tone ,so im curious how it does on other objects.

[Val Beechey]

It's the same with the Safari Mike. It loves nails and bits of wire.
To listen to the signals you'd have thought the field I was in the other day was packed with silver. Lovely strong tones, all aluminium wire, courtesy of National Grid.

Val

 

[Svaipa]

Very true Val, I get exactly the same with my Safari. As I'm still fairly new to this I'm decided on just digging whatever signal I get unless it's the very low tones. Oh, and those odd tones of babbling that the machine now and again seems to throw at you for no apparent reason.

Has been wondering whether the nail will give a stronger/clearer signal because it's easier for the detector to read the sharp lines rather than the more fussy and soft lines of the fibula ? Can shape not give different signals ?

[Val Beechey]

Very definitely Jo.  What about Horse shoes and washers. Safari always insists they are a must dig.

The babbling tone you mention, if it's up and down the meter, high and low tones it's one of two things. Either rotten old iron or something nicer lying very close to iron. Always worth a dig, just in case.
 I have found with my machine that it can often be persuaded to tell the truth by sweeping the head over the target VERY slowly. I think it gives it more time to read the target better.

Val

[Chef Geoff]

Very good question Mike and one that I've been mulling over a quite a few years, I'm lucky here in that I find them for a pastime and Taff and I have talked at length about how rubbish the signals are from fibula even large T-shaped ones.
Dedlock was telling me about one he found just the other week which gave a bad (low) tone, in fact neither a Garrett Euro Ace nor a Deus could get a signal at all from it unless on the surface.
The composition would obviously play a part but I believe that Svaipa is on the money with the shape being the critical difference.

[Svaipa]

Very definitely Jo.  What about Horse shoes and washers. Safari always insists they are a must dig.

Doesn't it just !! 
Getting very good at digging by now...... 

[probono]

I've been meaning to reply to this for a while - it's to do with many things - not only the original composition of the different items but also their corrosion products and how currents flow and how well the magnetic fields are created / sustained.

[Chef Geoff]

 
I think that's what we just said but with a science degree behind it

[Mike]

Very true Val, I get exactly the same with my Safari. As I'm still fairly new to this I'm decided on just digging whatever signal I get unless it's the very low tones. Oh, and those odd tones of babbling that the machine now and again seems to throw at you for no apparent reason.

Has been wondering whether the nail will give a stronger/clearer signal because it's easier for the detector to read the sharp lines rather than the more fussy and soft lines of the fibula ? Can shape not give different signals ?

good answer jo , could be the answer , oh and don't leave the low tones , they could well be hammies ir roman grots 

on the explorer and etrac the low tones are the tones you really want to hear so DIG THEM ALL 

[Kev]

When I dug my cut half last Saturday with my SE very low tone , one of the worst of the day lol   Dig Them as Mike says  

[Dryland]

I thought that the low tones on the explorer was iron