When doing it yourself can work
A do-it-yourself search has a fair chance when:
- you know almost exactly where it fell, within a few steps
- the ground is dry sand or short grass
- the area is small, without much metal rubbish
- you have time to go slowly.
If that sounds like your situation, give it a go. If it doesn’t turn up, you can still call me afterwards. Just try not to dig the area up.
What each option costs
Detector hire in Adelaide is advertised from about $50 a day, plus the time it takes to learn the machine and search slowly. With me, $150 covers the callout and the first hour of searching, and a standard search is $250 at most. Extra time is only ever with your approval (how pricing works).
Why rings are harder than they look
- Gold can sound like rubbish. A small gold ring can read in the same range as foil and ring-pulls (more on ring metals). Many detectors let you filter out “junk” signals, and that can filter out your ring too.
- Wet beach sand is difficult ground. Salt water makes wet sand and the shallows a challenging place for a metal detector, and the settings matter.
- Rings sink. In soft sand, every footstep can push a ring a little deeper, and a deeper ring gives a fainter signal.
- Getting from the beep to the ring is a skill. Pinpointing a small target without digging up half the lawn takes practice.
- It takes patience. A careful search means overlapping sweeps and checking every signal, not wandering about hoping for a lucky beep.
If you do try it yourself
- Test first. Before you start, pass a similar ring or piece of jewellery under the detector’s search head and listen to how it sounds.
- Check it’s waterproof before you take a hired detector into wet sand or the shallows.
- Mark out a grid. Use pegs and string, or lines in the sand, so you know what you’ve covered.
- Go slow and overlap. Keep the search head low and level, and overlap each sweep.
- Check every signal in your area, including the ones that sound like foil.
- Fill every hole and leave the ground the way you found it.
- Ask first. Councils have rules about digging on their land. Metal detecting isn’t allowed in South Australia’s national, conservation or recreation parks (any reserve under the National Parks and Wildlife Act), or in reservoir reserves.
When to call me instead
- It’s a wedding ring, an engagement ring or an heirloom, and you’d rather not take chances.
- It happened in wet sand or the shallows.
- You’re not sure where it fell, or the area is big.
- It’s a lawn you care about.
- You’ve already tried, and it hasn’t turned up.
What you get when you hire me
- Me. I’m Thomas. I’ve spent more than five years metal detecting Adelaide’s beaches, parks and lawns. When you get in touch, it’s me you’ll speak to, and me doing the searching.
- An honest assessment first. Initial advice is free. If I don’t think a search is worthwhile, I’ll tell you.
- Clear pricing. Agreed before I start, with no deposit and no percentage of your item’s value.
- A careful search, not a guarantee. The callout and search time are payable whether or not your item is found.
- Your item, straight back. If I find it, it goes straight back to you.