Minelab CTX3030 Tag | The Ring Finders

Lost ring found at Sleeping Bear Dunes in Empire Michigan.

I received a call from Ali that she had lost her wedding ring on the beach at the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Ali and some friends had hiked 3 miles to the beach at Lake Michigan. That’s 6 miles round trip up and down the dunes. Also, a big issue is. Metal detectors are not allowed to be used in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. So the first order of business is getting permission to use a detector in the area. Getting the permission took a day by itself but was granted.

The next order of business was me thinking about carrying a detector 6 miles up and down the dunes. I took the best detector for the job, the one I’m most familiar with but not the lightest of the detectors I own, the Minelab CTX3030. The only other things I took were my car keys and Garrott pinpointer. I wanted to travel as light as possible. The hike to the area took me 2 1/2 hours. The search time for the ring was less than 10 minutes. Ali had sent me pictures from the spot they set up at. If your location is turned in your settings on your phone, it saves a GPS position. I had the exact GPS position Ali was at when she lost her ring. This had worked very well for me in locating the exact area someone was at when they lost their ring. I can take a search from 6 hours down to 10 minutes with the exact area the ring was lost. I texted Ali a picture of the ring to ensure it was the correct one before starting the hike back out. I needed to get the ring as fast as possible because Ali was moving back to Ireland in 4 days. I got the ring in the mail overnight, making sure Ali had her ring before her flight.

I’ll attach a bad video of this adventure. I was whooped after all the up and down the hills. The hike was 6.2 miles total. My figures were all over the place in the video. I’m waiting on a picture of Ali and will attach it when I get it.

Platinum wedding band found in Kingsley, Michigan with a metal detector.

I received a text from Ed asking my availability due to the holiday weekend. He was cutting some wood with a saws-all and noticed his Platinum wedding ring missing after he finished. I told him, I need 10 minutes to load up and can be to his house in 20 minutes.

Once at Ed’s house he took me to the fire pit area to start the search. I did a grid search and found the rind after 10 minutes searching. Because the soil in our area is sand based the ring was already an inch under the surface. Ed was happy to have his ring back.

Lost Heirloom Diamond Ring Recovered in Sunny Isles Beach, FL

  • from Stinson Beach (California, United States)

I was just beginning my day when I received a call from Mousha – she had lost her precious heirloom diamond ring the previous day on the beach after getting tumbled by the waves at the shoreline. I dressed in my warm swimming gear and biked to her location at the nearby lifeguard tower.

She had a very good description of where she had been sitting, swimming, and approximately where she was when the waves got a little rough. Her brother helped her estimate about how far away she had been from their sitting location when she was in the water. That description was incredibly helpful for coming up with a search plan.

I started with a W pattern along the high tide line down to the churn line first. Because the tide was moving out, I planned to move further into the water if nothing could be found in the wet sand. Fortunately, about an hour into the wet sand search, my CTX 3030 came back with a very solid signal.

I scooped about 8 inches of sand which contained the target. Then I was thrilled to see an exciting ring shape on its side just as she described! I grabbed my gear, marked the spot in the sand and ran back to join her near the guard tower. She couldn’t miss the huge smile on my face as I had her describe it one more time…then I revealed it to her.

That moment – the moment when I see someone’s face light up – is what it’s all about for me. That item had so much meaning to her, it’s not just a valuable ring, it’s a piece of her life and heart. I loved hearing her describe the meaning. She had designed the ring herself using scrap pieces of gold and diamonds that belonged to her mother and grandmother.

She later shared that she had no hope of finding it, and that she felt like a part of her heart was drifting in the ocean. Now she has this connection to her mother and grandmother back with her where it belongs. I’m very glad that she found Ring Finders and decided to take a chance and give me a call!

Lost Diamond wedding ring found in Traverse City, Michigan at Bryant park with a metal detector

I received a very nice polite call from Swapana asking if she could hire me to find her Platinum Wedding ring. I said sure and told her I could be at her location in about 1/2 hour.

I got to the location and her husband Brent met me in the parking lot. We went over the details while walking to the area they were set up at on the beach. They are in Traverse City for a family vacation and were enjoying the day at the beach. The kids were digging holes and having fun in the water. Swapana noticed her ring was missing. They spent time sifting through the sand with there fingers and had other people on the beach helping. They had no luck finding the ring. One of the neighbors on the beach recommended doing a google search on someone with a metal detector to come find the ring.

I got the search area was 8 feet wide by 8 feet long. She also walked to the car a couple times. I asked Swapana to move the metal chairs back a couple feet so they don’t mess with the detector. She replied they already did. So that told me to search a little closer toward the water. I started searching for about 30 seconds and got a good signal and the red dot on the Ctx3030. The numbers were right on the pull tab range. I knew by the tone it was her ring and not a pull tab. I bent down and stuck my fingers in the sand and pulled the ring out. Swapana was just finishing moving the two chairs and was turning to look back toward me and I handed her the ring. She stood there for about 10 second and could not talk in disbelief. Then I heard oh Shoot(not the word she used) he found it already. Her two boys walked up and were disappointed they did not get to see it. I told them if I found the ring to fast, I will close my eyes and they can throw it and I’ll find it again. The two boys though that was a great idea. Swapana was having no part of that and was hesitant to give me the ring back to do my close up picture.  I was happy to save the vacation for Swapana and her family.

Wedding ring found Crystral Lake Beulah, Michigan

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

This short adventure started with a call from Nate. He stated he lost his Wedding ring in the sand at a private beach. He was sitting in a chair and noticed his ring missing. Nate was not available to meet me at the location but his Wife Erica was able to.

I meet Erica at the location she took me to the spot on the beach that Nate was sitting. I turned on the CTX3030 started to scan a circle around the chairs. After walking about 3 feet I got a nice solid 12.30 on the CTx3030. Sifted through the sand with my pinpointer and found the ring. It took about 30 seconds.

 

Lost Men’s Gold Wedding Band Recovered in Sunny Isles Beach, FL

  • from Stinson Beach (California, United States)

   

I was on my way to the grocery store when I received a call from Jerrica – her husband had just lost his gold wedding band in the Atlantic Ocean off of Sunny Isles Beach, FL. I did a quick U-turn for home, changed into my water detecting outfit and grabbed my CTX 3030.

They made a smart move by coming to the Ring Finders website and finding me so quickly. Because they stayed put and were patient, they were able to accurately point me toward the water right where they believed the ring came off. They were able to describe it and remembered feeling it come loose in the water.

I expected a long hunt because it is a very popular stretch of beach in Sunny Isles Beach, FL – lots of tourists and a fair amount of aluminum trash too. But to my surprise (and theirs), the ring popped up in my first target signal.

I loved seeing the excitement from them and their friends who were shocked at how quickly it was found. All because they had the patience and quick thinking to call right away!

Lost ring found in the snow in Traverse City, Mi

  • from Traverse City (Michigan, United States)

I got a call from Heather on a lost ring lost in the snow at a local law office. Heather was asking if I could help before a big snowstorm hits in a couple hours. Ended up driving to the law office to do the search. I asked the usual questions. What happened and what is the ring made of. She was closing the door on the car in cold weather and the ring went flying. Second question is what is the ring made of. Her reply was silver with 2 diamonds and a pearl.

She took me out to the search area in the parking lot. She had her car parked over the area so nobody would park in that area. The search area was about 10 feet by 10 feet. I scanned the area with the CTX3030 and got no silver signals. I had one nice gold signal, so, I went back to it and found the ring. I went inside to give her the ring and said we have one small problem. Your ring is not silver is 10k white gold. The whole office cheered that I had found the ring before the storm. I tried to get a picture of her with the ring  but she refused. After some hard negotiating at the law office, I got a picture of her hand holding the ring.

 

Lost engagement ring throwing frisbee in Lincoln Park, Chicago.

  • from Las Vegas (Nevada, United States)
Contact:

The Joys of summer!! Received a call to look in Lincoln Park in Chicago for an engagement ring. The Diamond has been passed down for several generations. They didn’t want to tell the parents they had lost the ring. This newly engaged couple even bought a metal detector from Menards. It drove them nuts!! She lost it throwing a frisbee on a wonderful cool summer day. Her friends along with dogs searched frantically to no avail. The search area was fairly extensive. They had already searched for hours. In speaking with the client, I explained I would search for 3 hours for the showup fee. He suggested that it might take longer. I got the impression that they wanted me to hunt until it was found!!

I arrived with two detectors, my CTX 3030 and my XP Deus. I set up a very specific program for white gold on the CTX. I discriminated out all silver and high targets and made a very narrow pattern. I adjusted the gain so he could tell if it was a surface find. I trained the client on how to swing the coil, showed him exactly where the ring should come up on the screen, told him to look for shallow signals, and gave him a pinpointed.

In the meantime, I lay out gridlines as I was trained to do by archeologist. If I was going to be there until I was successful, I needed to make sure I hunted the area only once. So off I went. Meantime I suggested to the client that they hunt away from my grid patterns.

Guess who found the ring!!

I heard a sound of excitement turned around and they were holding the ring in disbelief. She was almost hyperventilating!!

Lost Wedding Band Vancouver, BC…Found

  • from Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada)

Rings get lost…It happens!

I was away in Europe when I got the phone call from Fran about her husband Dan’s lost ring. I told Fran I’d be back in a week and I would come out and find the ring for them, I forgot. I got the call yesterday to remind me about the ring in the garden and I apologized and met them the next day and found his lost wedding band of 25 years. Fran told me that the ring was made up from her old gold rings so that was very special indeed.

It was lost in the front garden and I found it with my Minelab CTX3030.

The wonderful thing about this couple is they grow flowers for charity in their backyard. How wonderful and thoughtful of them to do this and what a great way to give back! Dan put together a wonderful bouquet of flowers for my wife who wass very excited when I presented them to her when I got home…Thanks Dan & Fran!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love my job! I get to make people Smile!

If you lost your ring please look for a member of TheRingFinders.com nearest your location!

 

Watch video of the search…

True 24K Mens wedding band found at Montrose Beach in Chicago

  • from Las Vegas (Nevada, United States)
Contact:

Got a call to look for a gold ring on Montrose Beach in Chicago, Illinois today. It was a solid 24K gold mens wedding band. I asked the owner if he knew that it was 24K. He said yes. It was made by a designer who had made similar rings for his parents. Since I had never hunted for a true 24K ring before, I wasn’t sure where it would ring up on my 3030. Since it was in dry sand, I used the 3030 which will show me the item very clearly. It rang up as a solid 12/47!!! Since it showed bright red solid on the screen 2 inches deep, and there was no trash in the area, I decided to dig it even though it came up as a quarter. BINGO! I was surprised it came in as high. Thought I would share this with you. Ive never had a gold ring come in that high on the screen.

 

 

 

 

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