Video cameras are pretty inexpensive these days. I just bought an underwater camera capable of depths up to ten feet for under $150.00 which I plan to mount on the stem of my Excalibur II the next time I am surf detecting. I think it will be a bonus to see how good my underwater coil control is in the surf.
If you really want to improve your detecting technique, film yourself.
I know it sounds a little narcissistic, but I am betting that many have seen home movies where you could not believe that you talked or looked a certain way. Now, think about having a chance to watch yourself metal detecting. Many detectorist do not see that they are swinging too fast, too slow or not overlapping properly and covering the ground the way they think they are.
This is very important when you are working a grid or when using Monoloop or Concentric coils.
By filming yourself making a few passes you will know if you’re covering all of the ground. By nature we tend to chase the ground or when moving around a bush, tree or other objects we tend to follow a new line and not the one we were or should be to cover the ground completely without even knowing that we have changed course. The path of least resistance is not always the best path to follow.
Coil control is another great use for a video camera. If you have been using Double-D coils more than Monoloop or Concentric coils you may not ever realize that you are skipping ground when moving forward with the Monoloop or Concentric coils. Remember that the conical shaped search field of a Monoloop or Concentric coil offers in most cases more depth but the field of the coil covers less ground compared to a Double-D coil.
Conical shaped search field of a Concentric coil
Everyone is their best critic so why not watch everything from coil speed, coil height to target recovery including how you pinpoint and dig a target.
One Minelab user that I filmed on an outing said he now understood more about his hunting techniques by seeing himself more than watching others or having people share with him about the way he was using his detector.
If you are someone that does film themselves hunting, let me know if it has helped you to become a better detectorist. I know it works for me!
See you out there,
Kevin Hoagland
Comments
For example i would like to see the max RX gain set and the signal smoothed out with the stabilizer as described in the manual.In fact i can see a series of videos say one on each switch.I know this is something Minelab would need to do but i think many of us would benefit from this.
Thanks Kevin,
Brian Sperty