Discovera Academy. Go deeper before you go out.

29 in-depth guides to metal detecting and local history: your detector and VDI, old maps, recording a find, restoration, law and ethics.

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Guides 7

Metal detecting from scratch: a first season without beginner mistakes How to start metal detecting: law and maps before the machine, what to buy first, why keep a diary, and ten mistakes tha How to choose a metal detector and build your kit Manticore, Deus II, Legend or Simplex: what Multi-IQ, FMF and SMF mean in the field, what suits fields and beaches, what Detector settings: ground balance, sensitivity, VDI and discrimination How to set up a metal detector: ground balance, sensitivity and recovery speed, what VDI really shows, and when discrimi Safety and ethics in the field Safety and ethics in the field: filled holes as the price of coming back, what to do if you find ordnance, weather, grou Best metal detecting apps in 2026 Which apps actually help in the field: how mapping apps, navigators and coin catalogues differ, what to check before an AI in detecting: Discovera cases What AI in metal detecting genuinely does: a hypothesis from a photo, a restoration preview that risks nothing — and wha Authors and experts Who writes the Discovera Academy, which sources we rely on, where our competence ends, and how to report an error in an

Law 2

Metal detecting and the law in Russia and Belarus: where you may search and what to do with a find Four checks before you go, the Russian open-sheet permit and Article 243.2, the Belarusian Academy permit, stop signals Metal detecting and the law in Europe: the UK, Poland, Germany and France Detecting rules in Europe: PAS and the Treasure Act in the UK, WKZ approval in Poland, Germany's state-by-state regimes

Maps and archives 5

How to read an old map: symbols, labels and abbreviations Symbols, labels and abbreviations on old maps: the sheet passport, versts and scale, Shubert, RKKA, WIG and Messtischbla Terrain on an old map: relief, water, roads and crossings How to read contours, gullies, marshes and old channels on an old map, tell a road from a forest ride or a stream, read Red Army and General Staff maps How to read an archival RKKA or General Staff sheet: edition data, scale, nomenclature, the border and its two grids, sy An old map over the satellite view: layers, georeferencing and checking the overlay Historical overlays on your phone: which sheets to use by region, offline and georeferencing, why old maps drift, and ho Archives in Russia and Belarus: from a symbol on a map to a case file Finding records in Russian and Belarusian archives: choosing an institution, writing the request, reading a reference co

Fieldwork 4

Search tactics Tactics by scenario: how woods differ from beach and homestead, how to run a grid, why empty squares get logged, and why From signal to find: keeping the context What to do after a signal: keep the context, stop in time, take the photo, save it in your log, and never ruin a find by Find record: a catalogue that keeps context How to keep a find record: original photos, a private location, the map layer, sources, condition and a confidence level Test pits and where the amateur stops What a test pit is as a research method, why it needs a question, a permit and documentation, which signs mean stop, and

Finds 3

Visual identification of finds What is this thing: crosses and icons, horse harness, buttons and buckles. A five-step attribution routine, and the find Imperial Russian coins (field cheat sheet) A field crib for Russian imperial coins: rulers' ciphers, mint letters, what to log, and why the date only reads under r Hoards: types and the psychology of place Savings pot, panic hide and foundation deposit: how they differ, where each sits on the map of a yard, and what to do wh

Restoration 8

The first 24 hours after a find What to do in the first hours: record the as-found state, avoid harm from water and cleaning, read the stop signals, and Restoring finds: principles, materials, checklist and mistakes When a find is better left alone, patina versus disease, which materials are safe, what to check before you start, and e Water, salts and hydrolysis How salt crystallisation, metal corrosion, glass leaching and hydrolysis of organics differ — and why “just rinse it” is Copper and bronze: patina and bronze disease Cleaning copper and bronze without killing the patina: a 72% soap soak, sesquicarbonate against bronze disease, mechanic Silver: cleaning without stripping the patina Cleaning silver without stripping the patina: sulfide tarnish, 10% citric acid, thiourea, and why a mirror finish is the Iron and cast iron: electrolysis step by step, desalination and consolidation Cleaning iron finds: when electrolysis applies, bath layout and polarity, flushing the salts, tannin and consolidation s Nickel, bi-metal and special cases Bi-metal, stones, enamel and organics on metal: where the usual cleaning protocols break down, what to do with thick cru Preserving finds: dryness, barriers, storage and monitoring How to seal a find after cleaning and keep watch afterwards: dryness, wax, oil and BTA, storage, control photos, a log a