DetectingWales.com

Well at our soon approaching 2 day rally it was touch and go as to whether we would be able to get an FLO to be in attendance.
The FLO for the area was out sick and wasn't sure if he would be back, My area FLO said she was busy at another rally on that weekend so it didn't look good, but then the other rally was called off so we had one then Kurt returned to work fighting fit so then we had 2, this morning I have just had an email from PAS to inform me that there will be 5 attending.

Do you think they know something we don't? I hope so.

The more the merrier I say.

This is a really good oppurtunity to work hand in hand with the F.L.O's. We have nothing at all to lose by recording our finds and everything to gain. I cannot emphasise enough, if you think you have anything at all 300 yrs of age +  then register it with one of the F.L O's.

One other point of interest I learned from the FLO yesterday was that they are now more than willing to record Roman grots, so if you find any at all and especially any that can be narrowed down to a particular century by its size or a certain emperor by design that is all they need. It just records Roman presence on that land.

Hi There
Sorry If I sound Dull  :( can you tell me what is a FLO  ???
Phil

its the Finds Liason officer, the main point of contact for the national recodring Portable Antiquity Scheme.

record the finds!!

Not dull at all Phil. FLO stands for Finds Liason Officer, they  (usually trained Archaeologists) work for the Portable antiquities Scheme. They are in most counties across England and Wales and are the people you record any and all historic finds with, they will also identify items you have and enter them on the Schemes database to build up a picture of life in the past.

Thanks for that  So much to lean !!

Tell me If I was lucky enough to find say a stater, ( but not on a rally) out on my own would I still have to record it
Cheers Phil

There is no law on recording a single coin, but you have nothing to loose by doing so and it just adds a bit more information to the historic record. Recording is a good habit to get into right from the start, plus you can also learn a lot from talking to your FLO.

PS. they only record it, they will give it you back after they have photographed and recorded it.

its worth emphasising, that detectorists are playing a major part in changing historians perspective of our history. the success of the PAS scheme has resulted in over 120 000 finds being recorded, from which useful data can be extrapolated.

it goes without saying that what a detectroirst may think, that "the find is not important to record", that, in reality  their find could actually be the lead that the BM has been waiting for. hence the request to record all the roman grots.

finally, i urge all detectorists who come on DW rallies to make sure they have a GPS system that records such finds to a 10 fig grid reference.  this is very useful info for the FLO's.

so, if u have finds from the chepstow of yatton rallies, please record them.

Pipster, theres a big difference between recording your find with an F.L.O and reporting a treasure find to an F.L.O.  We're on here to help you fella , thats the perk of joining a reputable Detecting forum We'll help as much as we can and you will never be made to feel silly for asking any question.

I feel the most important people to this hobby are the newbies, and once put on the correct path, with guidance you'll have the knowlege to in turn help the next load of newbies coming through.

If you haven't got a GPS system don't worry to much. I would hate to think that people are feeling guilty about not spending over £100 on a piece of kit they use very infrequently.
Remember GPS is only a recent innovation, I've been at this game for over 32 years now and maps were good enough, so just record the find the FLO wood rather record the field rather than not record at all.

On the Saturday of the 2 dayer we will not have any FLO present so I have come up with a system of self recording that each person can do immediately.

One can always use google earth maps, as they have the old fashioned system of easterns and northerns that can also be used to record find spots.

I was just about to ask what is a GPS recording system was and how much,  , Just brought a new machine so funds are limited at the moment.

I do have google maps  ;)

then run off a few pics and mark an x on it for the find spot, note the eastern/nortern numbers and write this alongside. hand the info into the FLO along with the artefact ...

i keep a spreadsheet of finds , dates handed into FLo, date returned, NARC number, and a description of the artefact, plus local landowners name and contact details.

Taff.............you'd better sprinkle another bag of "goodies" on the fields to make it worth their while! ;D

good advice handyman,all this talk about the two dayer is making my fingers itch

..another very useful link is the 'where's the path' wesbite.

if you zoom into the fields, you will get a 10 fig grid reference in the rt hand picture

http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm (http://wtp2.appspot.com/wheresthepath.htm)

thats a cool link ;)

A super link Alan ;)

Al

You are spending too much time on the computer. You should be out campaigning for Gordon!!! ;D ;D ;D

PS:  Loved the red coat on Sunday

thanks  bob

good to meet you at last,  i enjoyed your light blue t shirt!!

i'm going campaigning for david --- well thats what i'm telling the local tories!!

For a moment there I thought you'd seen the light and wanted to mend Brown's Broken Britian.. ;D ;D

To save answering your door to election people, my advice is just stick a note on the door till 6th May saying "No campaigners or leaflets. Thanks!"

It keeps the Lib Dems, Tories, UKIP away but the Labour campaigners still knock. Found out later they can't read ;D

pipster....... further info on the FLO, they normally work in the museums, so if you need to contact one, try there..... ;)...and GPS ?...i have a GARMIN satnav,for the car and just walking,, which has a "where am i" function built in which gives the co-ordinates of exactly where i'm standing...if i'm lucky enough to find something worth recording...... :D.....hope this helps....byron

Hi Pipster,

I use a Holux handheld GPS that fits in the pocket and records your track for the day. Whenever I find something that I consider not scr@p, I can push a button to log the position. I then keep each find in a numbered bag so that I can match them up to the find spots later on. The Holux allows you to upload the tracks and findspots to a PC so that you can import them into Google Earth or other mapping software.

This is an image of my (somewhat eratic) journey across the fields on Sunday. I have blacked out the map to protect the location. If the admins give the OK, I'll show you the one with the Satellite view enabled.

Tony

Hi Byron and tony,
Thank you both for the information, Tony is the Holux handheld GPS expensive ?
I have a Tomtom satnav for the car ( never thought of using that ..... DULL)  but I don't think it has this facility on it.
Phil

Fifty quid from Maplin, on special, Pipster. They always have something on offer so it's worth having a look.

Tony

Thanks M8 will check that out on-line now
Phil

looks like i maybe heading to mapins

LOL ---  isn't 'mapins'  another name for the ordnanace survey shop?