Metal Detecting - Understanding the Technology Is Important

Metal Detecting

Metal Detecting for fun or profit can be one of the most exciting and rewarding of hobbies. A metal detector can cost very little, as low as $50 or higher that $400 for a top of the line model. This is one hobby where you really do get what you pay for, because the more expensive top of the line detectors use the most advanced technology and they have the best features available.


Metal Detectors use one of three types of technology:


BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillation) - Metal Detectors using BFO technology have two coils of wire, one large coil is located in the search coil of the detector, the other small coil of wire is located within the System Control Pack. Each coil of wire is connected to an oscillator that produces pulses of current. These pulses of current pass through the coils generating radio waves. A receiver housed within the System Control Pack receives the radio waves and makes a series of tones based upon the frequencies of the radio waves. When the detector search coil passes over a coin or other metal item a magnetic field is created around the coin or metal item, this magnetic field causes interference with the frequency of the radio waves generated by the search coil. And changes the tone produced by the receiver.


Metal Detectors using BFO technology are the ones your likely to get when paying under $100 for, that's right, the cheapest. The BFO technology is the easiest and cheapest to make, thus the prices of the detectors are cheap. The only problem is, BFO technology is very limited when compared to PI and BFO detectors, and the ability to distinguish between junk metals and silver or other coins is very poor.


PI (Pulse Induction) - Metal Detectors using PI technology sometimes use a single coil or a series of coils working together as a transmitter and receiver. Short bursts of electrical current are send through a coil of wire, causing a magnetic field. When the burst of electrical current ends the magnetic field reverses polarity. A sharp electrical spike is created, then more pulses are created, the whole process repeats and works like a series of echoes, giving a different report or echo depending upon the metal it encounters. This type of metal detector is not very good for discrimination between different types of metals or coins, but it is good to use where some other types of metal detectors have trouble working, such as in salt-water, and metals can be detected much deeper with this technology than the others.


VLF (Very Low Frequency) - Metal Detectors using this technology have two search coils. One coil called the 'transmitter coil' transmits electricity rapidly many times per second, first in one direction around the coil, then in the other direction. The other coil called the 'Receiver Coil' acts just like the name implies it receives frequencies or data that come or 'bounce' back from the objects the transmitter coil detects in the search area. This type of Metal Detector is great for it's ability for being able to distinguish between different types of metals.


The first metal detector my wife and I bought together cost about $69.00 it was one of them cheap ones that used the 'BFO' technology. This was one of them metal detectors you see in the magazines that sell other household items, etc. You can buy cheap metal detectors like these at most Radio Shack stores, and some K Marts and Wal Marts. The first day we took the metal detector outside we started finding some Nert things and my wife and I were hooked. We did find our share of junk items in the yard, like aluminum foil, nails and the usual pull tabs and junk metal. But we also found 7 old diecast cars in great condition. They were all different and were 'TOOTSIE' diecast vehicles. I looked on eBay and the bunch was worth around $15 or more. We also found a 1961 silver Roosevelt dime in fine condition, in our yard, plus the usual pennies.


After reading about how the 3 different types of Metal Detector technologies work and differ from each other, you must decide how or what you will be mostly using your metal detector for. Will you be hunting for small objects like coins, jewelry and gold nuggets, or searching for a large cache or object. The things you may want to use your detector for, play one of the most important factors besides pricing in deciding what type of detector to buy. Most folks want a detector that is great at finding coins, gold nuggets, and jewelry on the land and in small creeks and streams, this would be a detector using 'VLF' technology. Almost all of the modern detectors have a waterproof search coil which make searching in shallow creeks and streams possible.


There is Computer Software that is made just for the hobby of Metal Detecting. The software is called: Metal Detector - Treasure Hunter Professional, and may be seen at this website address: http://www.rb59.com/md/meal.html Read More....

By Robert W. Benjamin

Metal Detecting

The Purpose of Metal Detectors

Metal Detectors

Metal detectors are quite useful. They have many uses in many different fields, some of which include: the military in mine fields, airports and other security checkpoints, geophysical prospectors, and beach-combers.

The metal detector is also included in the detector radar family, because many use radar in their systems. Other members of the detector radar family include: car radar detector systems, weather radar systems, and cordless radar systems.

Metal detectors are made up of an oscillator that produces an alternating current that passes through a coil, which creates an alternating magnetic field. This means that when an electronically conductive metal is near the detector, it creates eddies of air, which causes a change in the magnetic field, which enables the operator to see where the metal is.

Handheld detectors are the most common, and are used in the majority of cases. Even land mines can be detected through the use of handheld devices. However, for really deep metals, ground penetrating radar is used in conjunction with the metal detector to unearth the hidden metal.

The metal detector has an interesting history. The first metal detectors were created in the late 19th century. The original inventors of the idea hoped to be able to create easier methods of finding ore for miners. One physicist, Heinrich Wilhelm Dove, invented the induction balance system in those days, but it took a hundred years for others to see the need for his idea.

Early machines were difficult to use, and took a lot of battery power. In the 1930's, the modern metal detector format began to emerge. Gerhard Fisher is the first patented inventor of the metal detector. He discovered metal detecting quite by accident, when he found a discrepancy in his radio navigational methods. His model was used in WWII, yet afterwards, when there were surplus detectors lying around, the hobby of finding metal for entertainment was formed.

A metal detector is a very useful and entertaining tool. It is hard to imagine someone never having seen one. Nearly everyone has come in contact with metal detectors at least once. It is an interesting fact that the metal detector is part of the detector radar family.

This is due to the fact that many detectors use a cordless radar system in their mechanisms. The metal detector also has an interesting history, and thinking about it the next time you're standing at a security checkpoint will give you something to ponder to pass the time.

Article By: Mike Selvon
Visit Mike Selvon portal to learn more about metal detectors. Your feedback is much appreciated at our radar detector review blog where a free gift awaits you.

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Metal detectors

A Hobbyist Device That Could Claim A Fortune

Metal detectors of all types may be termed as device for hobbyists either in land (parks, beaches, shores, and even in ballpark bleachers), or deep-sea waters. Seldom would hunters of all kinds set to track on land, or to ferry on sea without this device.

These hobbyists or adventurers may find it very beneficial not in terms of using this device to really get expected hunt like the archeologists and the sea fearer underwater hunters and pirates, but it provides a lot of enjoyment and exercise attainable at any rate just like in athletic gymnasiums.

Viewing from the immediate past, the misconception of metal detector is that of a very bulky backpack that is shoulder breaking, conceptualized in relation to the heavy adventurous perk of one who goes out for great land or sea adventures. Today, the modern innovation of such device devaluated that bulky heavy concept for metal detectors are sleek, lightweight rig, easy to use and handy that won't make someone tire until he spots his pot of gold.

The Underwater Metal Detector

Considered a best companion for sea fearers, sea sports enthusiasts, and fishermen, this underwater device serves best beside a batch of other equipment to any hunter at sea. A deep ocean adventure is incomplete without this piece of metal device, and it is very valuable at all cost. To a skilled scuba diver, having it is a must before his plunge into the deep waters.

Manufacturers who have reached high levels of expertise in metal detector design, and perfected pulse discovery techniques over the years paved ways to cope with today's innovation of the underwater metal searcher. Both amateur and professional divers could avail alike for easy use, handling, reliability, and practicability.

One of the best, if not, the best in metal detector today; the Elsec Metal Detector 2000 manufactured of tough non-corrosive construction for heavy-duty, using PVC ultimate High-Pressure moldings.

High-level sensitivity competes with other metal detectors with usage of the pulse inductive detection techniques on either ferrous or non-ferrous, and iron of divalent nature, and extensive distances. With usability in approximate depth of 200 meters, it is neutrally buoyant, and controllable. To add it all in convenience, is the "no switch on and off" of power, for it automatically does so on both; upon immersion and up, from underwater.

A solid-state indicator alerts awareness how long will the battery last, but this model is furnished with rechargeable batteries that will automatically let power last for 10 hours. When metal is detected, you'll be directed to three ways attraction, (1) a graduated illuminated meter, (2) a solid flashing indicator, and a (3) variable frequency bone conductor earphone.

By using the best quality electronic components in the manufacture of underwater metal detector serves assurance in reliability and easy maintenance. If anything goes wrong unexpectedly, the circuit board could be out rightly replaced.

A metal detector is not much of a complex device. It has three basic parts. The first one is the coil which can come in different shapes, a power supply and a control box. Bulk of the job rests on the control box because it is that one part that is ticked when there is metal around and this ticking is what causes the metal detector to do its job.

Even the entire process of how the device works can be simplified in two sentences but then again there is a degree of difficulty concerned when we talk about a detector who is trying to detect a specific kind of metal.

Of all the different kinds of metal detectors, probably one of the most important is the gold metal detector. It is pretty obvious that gold is an element that is worth a lot in many ways and this makes gold metal detectors a prized possession as well.

How metal detectors identify various metals is by testing the conductivity of the metal. A target signal is eliminated for unwanted metals like leftover iron & steel, pull tabs, bottle tabs and others in the same group while increasing target signals to high conductive metals as gold along with brass and silver.

Apart from gold hunting, coin & relic hunting are also expensive areas of metal detecting. The other interesting thing is the underwater & wading detecting. The use of metal detectors in these areas gives the device a character that will not square it into a box as just a device for security measure.

The differences of these metal detectors lie in their technology, type of ground balance, frequency it operates in and of course the capability to discriminate between the many types of metals.

Going back to gold metal detectors, gold mining companies invest in high quality gold metal detectors because they really need to find the best one in order to stay, survive or earn in the business.

If you are able to find the best gold metal detector that means it will be easier for the workers to find this precious metal meaning more money for everyone if you will not be successful then it means you invested in an equipment that is not so helpful. In the latter's case, you might need to discard your existing equipment and buy a better one or upgrade your existing one.


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Low Jeremy maintains http://Barbie.ArticlesForReprint.com. This content is provided by Low Jeremy. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included. Read More....