I DIG IT NEWS AUSTIN METAL DETECTING CLUB (Since 1963) 5007 Timothy Circle Austin, TX 78734 Membership: $20.00 * * * August 2010 Meeting Information: D Place - Woodlawn Baptist Church 4600 Manchaca Date August 12 th 2010 2 nd Thursday of each month Time - 7:00 pm Room M 103/104 Officers: President Susie Mireles 989-1134 Vice President Jim Lawhon 259-1036 Treasurer Scott Hegel 331-1131 Secretary/Newsletter Blaine Nelson 266-7058 punkin4048@aol.com Executive Committee: Betty Vickers, Art Tiemann 272-8902 Richard Wright, John Chapman, Lee Presley, Leon and Mary Prause, Cecil Herrin President s Corner: Greetings! Hope you are all having a cool summer! We have a couple of exciting events coming up. I am just giving a hint here but there are more details in this newsletter as well as at our meetings. The Austin Metal Detecting Club is holding a competition hunt in Llano in September. It's been a long time since we have taken on this activity. There will be sign up sheets at the August and September meetings. We need a minimum of 8 people to commit to 4 hour shifts at our booth along with a few to help with the hunt on Sunday. Please think about signing up!! WE NEED YOU!! This Sunday, Blaine and Frank are hosting our annual summer social gathering. There is always plenty of fun, friends and great food! Be sure to RSVP to let us know you are coming and what side dish you would like to bring. Last year we even took a great group photo. Who knows what fun is in store this year?! See you there! Happy Hunting!! Susie Mireles
August Meeting This month we have two interesting videos to view and discuss. The first is entitled In Search of the Civil War, and the second is Diamonds in the Surf. We can watch either or both, depending on the desire of the group. We will also discuss the surveys we completed last month on what it was that got them hooked on the hobby of Metal Detecting! Following the program we ll have our Find of the Month competition, so bring you FINDS anything you have found since the JULY meeting. Even if you are a new member or have never participated, please bring your items to show and enter. It is fun, and the more we have the more interesting it is! Executive Meetings The September Board meeting will be at Bill Miller s Bar-B-Q 8700 E. Hwy 290 on Thursday, September 2 nd.. All are welcome to come join us, eat and participate. Come early to eat, the meeting starts at 6:00. August Board Meeting Items discussed included: Plans for upcoming programs and club activities. We have a number of interesting videos to view. Jim will see about getting a speaker from Texas Parks and Wildlife for September. Llano event in September. AMDC will participate and have a booth and hold a Fun Hunt. The dates are Sept. 25 and 26, with set up on Friday. We need volunteers and will have sign up sheets at the next meetings. Our club is sponsoring a Competition Hunt at the Llano event on Sunday. We need 2-3 people to run the hunt, as well as members to man our booth simultaneously. The Annual Club Summer Social is this Sunday at Frank and Blaine s. In the past we have had some games, but we agreed to forego games, and just visit, eat and enjoy!. Search Team Efforts This month we had three requests to search for lost items: The first was a lost ring in the back yard in the Killeen area. Jim, Larry and Scott searched for a platinum ring in Killeen on July 31st. Jim had searched for 1 1/2 hours earlier in the week with no luck. The 3 of us searched for 2 hours in and around the backyard where the ring was lost while weeding. A pond in the backyard was the only place we could not check completely and we offered to return if and when the pond was emptied. Not long after we returned home, Jim received a call that the ring was found under a rock near the pond. Not sure how we missed it, but glad that the case is closed.
The second request was to locate a lost crucifix. Scott went out to search on July 17 th in the front yard, but did not locate the item. The back yard had leaves and brush piled 18 inches deep and could not be searched properly. The requestor agreed to call back when leaves and brush were spread out. Second search on July 29 th only took 10 minutes and the crucifix was located! Larry received a request to locate a men s platinum wedding band in a field at an elementary school. Blaine searched for about an hour and a half each of two days and could not locate the ring. The owner was also using one of Blaine s detectors. We think the ring may be further outside the area and will expand the search. An earlier request Scott received to search for a ring in the Comal River is still pending waiting for information about access to the river to get to the area Member Tips This is the section where we list tips and ideas that members want to share. They can either be things from personal experience, or things you have found on line for from another hobbyist. Send in your tips to Blaine at Punkin4048@aol.com This month s tip(s) come from Blaine August Tip: Water Detecting It seems that folks either love to detect in the water, or they have no interest in taking the plunge. Water detecting is definitely a different animal! Of course, to do any justice to hunting in the water, you need to have a water machine. Although most land detectors will work in shallow water, the controls cannot get wet without causing damage to the detector, so one is limited to the depth they can detect. You also need a long handled scoop to retrieve targets from the bottom. Water machines do not have digital displays, but all have audio discrimination of some type. The headphones are attached and are submersible. What can you find in the water? Depending on the area you hunt, you can find coins, fishing weights, jewelry, and other odds and ends one never knows. Swimming areas usually produce some coins, items i.e. sunglasses and an occasional piece of jewelry. We are limited and challenged in the Austin area in locating sites to water detect, since the LCRA Highland lakes are off limits to detectors, and now the Travis Co. Parks on the lake are also off limits. The Army Corps of Engineer parks do allow metal detecting on the beaches and swimming areas, however most of those lakes are quite a drive from Austin. I have noticed that each year, the targets become fewer in the lakes. Why? A number of other water detectorists search the lakes regularly, and perhaps there are not as many people recreating at the lakes. But one never knows, and that is the lure of the water detecting hobby. Being a water person I personally enjoy just getting out into the lakes, early in the morning for
the peace and solitude. And sometimes, a treasure will be found! Upcoming Events August 8 (Sunday) Club Social at Blaine and Frank s 4:00 p.m. Please bring a dish to share club will provide meat. September 25-26 Outdoor Expo in Llano, both days. Competition Hunt on Sunday October 2 (Saturday) Cowtown Treasure Hunters Club Competition Hunt, Lake Worth October 16 (Saturday) Lone Star Treasure Club Competition Hunt Irving October 24 (Sunday) - H.A.R.C. Competition Hunt Stewart Beach, Galveston March 18-20, 2011 TCTC 26 th Annual Treasure Show Conroe, TX For more information about the Competition Hunts, see the Texas Council web site: www.texascouncil.net Bring to Meeting: To any meeting you may bring: Foreign coins to donate to the Lions Camp hunts for kids Your old batteries we have a box and will recycle them for you Items you want to put on the fund raiser table Pull tabs - we donate to charity Put On Your Thinking Caps We are always looking for new places to hold Club Hunts. They can be public property (if allowed) or private property with permission. The area does not necessarily have to be right in Austin, as long as the club can make a day trip. We also would love your ideas for programs. Be thinking of topics and potential speakers.
July Finds Display U.S. Coin 1 Richard Wright 1 Scott Hegel - 1957 Cent 2 Scott Hegel 2 Blaine Nelson - President Dollar 3 Jan Hallez 3 Daniel Mireles - 2001 Quarter 3 Blaine Nelson Jan Hallez - 2006 Quarter 3 John Meyers Larry Vickers - Buffalo Nickel Larry Vickers Richard Wright - 1976 Quarter Scott Mathews Scott Mathews - 1975 Cent Foreign Coin Token 1 Ed Newsom - Chinese Cash 1 Scott Mathews - Baseball - Jugs 2 Blaine Nelson - Asian Coin 2 Scott Hegel - Control Token 3 Jan Hallez - Canadian Loon 2 Blaine Nelson - Crabtree 3 Ed Newsom - No Cash Value Jan Hallez - Fun N Games Ring 1 Victoria Leonard - 18K Gold Plate Jewelry 2 Blaine Nelson - 10K 1 Blaine Nelson - 14K Pendant 3 Scott Hegel - Silver 2 Daniel Mireles - Gold Bracelet Larry Vickers - Junk 2 Richard Wright - Silver Bracelet 2 Victoria Leonard - Hoop Earring Artifact 3 Scott Hegel - Silver Stud Earring with CZ 1 Daniel Mireles - Trophy Plate 3 Jan Hallez - Dangle Earring 2 Richard Wright - Black Powder Bullet 3 Larry Vickers - Bracelet 3 Scott Hegel - Square Nail 3 Scott Mathews - Silver Earring 3 Victoria Leonard - Key Jan Hallez - Brass Washer Toy Larry Vickers - Clip 1 Scott Hegel - "Cars" Car Scott Mathews - Shotgun Shell 2 Scott Mathews - Red Car 3 Blaine Nelson - Game Chip Button Jan Hallez - Piece of # 95 Car 1 Scott Hegel - "P" Button Larry Vickers - Mirror 2 Scott Mathews - Metal Richard Wright - Part of Toy Pistol Non-Metal Most Unusual 1 Victoria Leonard - Plastic Bottle Cap 1 Daniel Mireles - Bra with Under Wire 2 Lee Presley - Plastic Earring 1 Richard Wright - ROT Badge 2 Richard Wright - Halloween Kettle 2 Victoria Leonard - Bracelet 3 Jan Hallez - Hulk Ring 3 Scott Hegel - Bell
3 Larry Vickers - Glass Pull 3 Scott Mathews - Multi-layer Metal Item 3 Daniel Mireles - Beads Jan Hallez - Reading Glasses Scott Hegel - Plastic Ring Blaine Nelson - Orange Pocket Knife Blaine Nelson - $1 Bill Larry Vickers - Lock Scott Mathews - Bubble Blower Oldest U.S. Coin Oldest U.S. Cent 1 Ed Newsom - 1935 Nickel 1 Ed Newsom - 1097 2 Blaine Nelson - 1951 Nickel 2 Blaine Nelson - 1942 3 Scott Hegel - 1961 Nickel 3 Richard Wright - 1944 Larry Vickers - 1967 Quarter Daniel Mireles - 1951 Jan Hallez - 1980 Quarter Scott Hegel - 1952S Scott Mathews - 1981 Quarter Jan Hallez - 1963D Scott Mathews - 1969 Most Valuable U.S. Coin Larry Vickers - 1973 1 Ed Newsom - 1924D Dime 2 Scott Hegel - 1924 Cent Ranking After July Find of the Month Scott Hegel Blaine Nelson Jan Hallez Scott Matthews Jack Ball Daniel Mireles Richard Wright Ed Newsom Jim Lawhon Larry Vickers Rudy Nordmeyer Dennis Gans John Chapman Leon Prause Mary Prause Victoria Leonard Michele Stahl Roy Stahl Mac McMillin Susie Mireles Lee Presley John Meyers
Find of the Month U.S. COIN: # FOREIGN COIN: # TOKEN: # RING: # JEWELRY: # ARTIFACT: # TOY: # BUTTON: # MOST UNUSUAL: # NON-METAL: # OLDEST U.S. COIN: # OLDEST U.S. CENT: # MOST VALUABLE U.S. COIN: # DISPLAY: #