against you finding it. On the other hand, if you pegged out the area scientifically and searched
slowly and thoroughly, the odds of finding the ring would be very much more in your favour.
Remember, BE PATIENT and WORK SLOWLY. Do not try to cover too large an area, restrict
yourself to a small area and work through it thoroughly. Make a note of the position and the
extent of the area, and then when you return you can start again further on without missing any
ground or covering the same area twice.
It is also important to keep the detector head as close to the ground as possible. Ideally, you
should 'iron' the ground with the search head of the detector, so that you do not lose any detection
range. Similarly, if you work slowly and carefully you should be able to distinguish the faint
signals as well as the clear-cut signals and further increase your finds.
The technique of getting the best out of your detector is not learnt overnight. You need to get as
much experience as possible so that you can recognise every kind of signal. Indeed, a good
detector operator can often tell you what is being detected before it is unearthed.
Search Head Position
A
B
C
D
It is essential that the search head is kept close and parallel to the ground as in B. Do not hold the
search head too high above the ground, or at an odd angle as in A, C, D as you will be apt to miss
finds.
SWEEPING TECHNIQUE
For extremely small object searching, such as coins, rings, nuggets, etc. lower the search head to
within 1 inch of the ground. Sweeping the coil from side to side in a straight line in front of you.
Keep the coil at a constant height as you sweep from side to side. Move the head at a rate of 0.5
metre per second.
The optimum sweep rate must be determined by each operator. The detector should be held
comfortably in the hand, with the head held as closely to the ground as possible. As the detector
is scanned from side to side in front of the operator, the search head should be advanced
approximately two-thirds the diameter of the coil. This keeps the operator moving ahead, and it
allows some overlapping of each sweep. This overlapping ensures that nothing will be missed. It
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