Metal Detecting in Hot Weather

[Muk]

Went out with the young bloke today got out early and we were done by 11am young bloke was crook paid a visit to the bush loo several times we picked up a few bits before it got to hot was only 36 in Newman today but you sure feel it out in the open with no shade hopefully will get out again tommorrow if if he comes good first time Ive had a few days off to be able to get out cheers Muk.

 

[RM Outback]

Getting a bit hot for my liking nice finds though :Y: :beer: Hope your young fella comes good sooner rather than later nothing worse than being crook in the guts :N:

 

[Muk]

Went out again today young bloke come good lots of hard yakka today as I cleared spinifex and raked while the young bloke detected we picked up 25bits for just under 6grams was worth the effort time for a beer cheers Muk.

 

[Muk]

My young bloke likes to melt his little nuggets not me though I like the little fellows cheers Muk 10gram button and 8 gram.

 

[Muk]

Gday well I just got my share of me and my young blokes last couple of outings out of a acid bath came out nice a clean cheers Muk.

 

[nucopia]

Looking good muk
Gotta be happy with the results :Y:

 

[Bush Turkey]

G'day everyone
Whats it like detecting as we start getting into the high 30s temps ? Do the detectors start getting noisier with the heat. We hope to get out up north in another week or so. Using minelab 7000 5000 2300. We haven't been out before when it's been hot weather. I guess you need to make adjustments or go early or later in the day evening. Any advice would be helpful cheers.

 

[davent]

Start early.
In the North, as the wet season approaches, the EMI gets really bad as storms build up.
You can still detect, but will miss many targets due to not hearing them over the the EMI.
You need to slow right down and if you suspect a target, maybe spend a few minutes on it to make sure there is one there, but better to start early and finish early.
This last wet season I got a fair bit of gold, but detecting time was down to about 4 hours, due to heat, and EMI. Also, the grass really grows very quickly.

 

[Bush Turkey]

Cheers for that Dave, we will be going a bit further south on the meeka pilbara areas not so much wet season weather more just dry and hot. Appreciate your info tho cheers erfect:

 

[Guest]

Gday everyone
Whats it like detecting as we start getting into the high 30s temps ? Do the detectors start getting noiser with the heat. We hope to get out up north in another week or so. Using minelab 7000 5000 2300. We haven't been out before when it's been hot weather. I guess you need to make adjustments or go early or later in the day evening. Any advice would be helpful cheers.

G'day

It can be quite a challenge to detect in the warmer months, and yes your detector can play up (as mentioned by davent) with increased emi and also static discharges causing loud audio spikes being some of the issues, you can even get long stretches of fence line that will cause interference to your detector carrying static buildup which seems to happen more when its really windy, I was told that it was the wind blowing through the tall grasses causing this sort of static.

You have to change the way you detect once the temps get really high, start very early mornings when its cool and the ground is less active, and give it away when it gets warm again, and have another go in the early evening when it starts to cool down a bit, some people like to detect at night but I don't recommend it as its easier to get lost, take a tumble, or go down a mine shaft, also some areas are active with dogs so you might encounter those as well as they are out mostly at night.

The other thing you can find is that its much harder on your body, you can dehydrate very quickly and by the time you realise it you can already be in trouble, carry plenty of water every time you leave camp, I recommend that you also take an electrolyte additive in your water, I use Staminade powder, its available in Coles and Woolies and I just add a couple of scoops to a cup of water in the morning and again in the afternoon, you could also add it to your water bottle anyway, it helps with leg cramps and muscle recovery, some people say its a waste of time but I have been using it since my army days when I did a lot of cross country running, it works for me and I don't feel as washed out.

When its too hot you will also find that you do not sleep very well, the temps you are talking about are not too bad but when it gets into the high forties you will not want to be there, I have been out when it was like that a couple of times, when it got to 47.6 on the fourth day when we decided to bug out, we also found that in the high temps insects like bees and wasps will converge on your camp or van if there is any water to be had, way to uncomfortable in those conditions and cant hack it like I used to.

cheers

stayyerAU

 

[Bush Turkey]

Thanks Stayyer and sounds like a bloody challenge that's for sure. I used to work on the rail out of Hedland and know how much water you need and electrolytes are the go.
I have read a bit about the settings where you can run no threshold that some ole fella came up with ? Will get out for a go anyhow cheers

 

[Guest]

Thanks Stayyer and sounds like a bloody challenge that's for sure. I used to work on the rail out of Hedland and know how much water you need and electrolytes are the go.
I have read a bit about the settings where you can run no threshold that some ole fella came up with ? Will get out for a go anyhow cheers

G'day

Yeah a mate of mine asked me one year if I wanted to do a trip around November time and I said to him hell no, and said to him starting to get a tad warm up there now, he said that he would be ok because he had worked in the pilbara on the mines and it was hot there so he was ok with the heat, but I reminded him that maybe he was a bit used to some heat but also you had worked in an undercover area and slept in an air conditioned donga, its a whole different story when you are out in the sun all day and you are sleeping in the back of your car or camper, needless to say after a couple of days he called me and said " its so bloody hot" I just laughed at him and said yep exactly that's why I am here and not there :lol:

I believe the detector settings you are referring to are called "Bogenes settings" or something similar, where you just turn the threshold completely off, you would only use that on extreme ground or on a salt lake if you don't have a anti interference/salt coil, and you would only get a response from larger targets, in the normal sort of ground by turning the threshold right down you are going to most certainly miss most of the gold target responses, the threshold when set at the right level normally described as a mosquito buzzing is the best place for it to be, as small or deep iffy targets can give just enough response to break the threshold hum so that you can recognize it as a possible target, so if you don't hear that break in the threshold you will most certainly miss a lot of the quieter responses, if emi is an issue adjusting your settings (don't know what detector you are using) and using smaller coils will help with that, coils are like antennas and the bigger the coil the more feedback you will get.

cheers

stayyerAU

 

[Bush Turkey]

Thanks Stayyer really appreciate your view and information, this forum is really good for all the info and help cheers :beer:

 

[Dave's Office]

My first WA trip was to Magnet in early March, it was 38-40 degrees every day, I had to go at that time and it was a long drive from the south coast of SA so I got out at first light every day and knocked off around 1pm. It was a great experience as I had to keep changing the settings on my 5000 as the heat changed the dynamics of the ground and signals. I came home with a much better understanding of how the detector works and that I was using it more effectively and I found a bit of gold. Dave

 

[Goldfield Joe]

Come to the GT instead, it just isn't warming up here at all.... :/