Metal Detecting 101 -- Got Questions?

[comicwiz]

There are no worse people in life than the losers who stroll along the beach with their metal detectors looking to strike gold by finding a buried penny in the sand.

 

I had dreams of being one of those losers one day.

 

Don't let a burnout like that tell you otherwise Mike. Best hobby I've ever taken up (thumbs u

 

Me too. And I'm one of those losers that swings on the beach and I do dig up a boatload of pennies, but of course I also have dug up 46 rings this year as well.

 

WOW - Nicely done! (thumbs u

 

My first year at it, and I couldn't be happier with my results. I probably have netted more or less about the same amount of rings, but I never actually sat down and counted.

 

The truth is that the hobby is filled with old timers that actually want to do everything to chase away newcomers because they see it as someone else cutting into their take. That's the irrational fear they have anyway, but it's completely unfounded because it's random luck and walking over the target that determines your chances for success.

 

Don't get me wrong - research can help, but it can only take get you so far when you have a certain amount of time to swing the coil in an area that will take you years to properly hunt.

 

You get the irrational mindset in every hobby - no different than the notion that new blood in a hobby will drive up specs and prices. Personally, this thinking never made any sense to me because we all had to start new at something, and to take an unwelcoming approach to newcomers does a disservice to the hobby because I see it as an opportunity to act as stewards and encourage sound ethics and practices to ensure the newbies don't do the wrong things and give the hobby a bad name.

 

Agreed a 100%. There IS a grain of truth to it, because I don't particularly like to see 6 MDs on the beach when I'm pulling up, but I've pulled great stuff out of the sand on beaches that I KNOW were pounded the day before. You just never know. What I would say is that this is NOT a get rich hobby. For most people, if you factor in the cost of gas, equipment and time, you're lucky to break even. For me, I LOVE to do it. Love to be in the water with my Excal, fighting the surf to get one more scoop out of the bottom. It's just a lot of fun. Here's a few pics I took of my years finds, again, I probably threw away a pickup truck load of trash to be able to get to the "good" stuff.

 

 

Fistful of Wedding bands:

 

 

Old, old silver cross. Almost an ounce of silver...

 

 

Favorite ring find so far. Man's Cladder (sp?)

 

 

Very nice! Sacred objects are among my most favourite and treasured finds.

[ChasingKingKirby]

There are no worse people in life than the losers who stroll along the beach with their metal detectors looking to strike gold by finding a buried penny in the sand.

 

I had dreams of being one of those losers one day.

 

Don't let a burnout like that tell you otherwise Mike. Best hobby I've ever taken up (thumbs u

 

Me too. And I'm one of those losers that swings on the beach and I do dig up a boatload of pennies, but of course I also have dug up 46 rings this year as well.

 

WOW - Nicely done! (thumbs u

 

My first year at it, and I couldn't be happier with my results. I probably have netted more or less about the same amount of rings, but I never actually sat down and counted.

 

The truth is that the hobby is filled with old timers that actually want to do everything to chase away newcomers because they see it as someone else cutting into their take. That's the irrational fear they have anyway, but it's completely unfounded because it's random luck and walking over the target that determines your chances for success.

 

Don't get me wrong - research can help, but it can only take get you so far when you have a certain amount of time to swing the coil in an area that will take you years to properly hunt.

 

You get the irrational mindset in every hobby - no different than the notion that new blood in a hobby will drive up specs and prices. Personally, this thinking never made any sense to me because we all had to start new at something, and to take an unwelcoming approach to newcomers does a disservice to the hobby because I see it as an opportunity to act as stewards and encourage sound ethics and practices to ensure the newbies don't do the wrong things and give the hobby a bad name.

 

Agreed a 100%. There IS a grain of truth to it, because I don't particularly like to see 6 MDs on the beach when I'm pulling up, but I've pulled great stuff out of the sand on beaches that I KNOW were pounded the day before. You just never know. What I would say is that this is NOT a get rich hobby. For most people, if you factor in the cost of gas, equipment and time, you're lucky to break even. For me, I LOVE to do it. Love to be in the water with my Excal, fighting the surf to get one more scoop out of the bottom. It's just a lot of fun. Here's a few pics I took of my years finds, again, I probably threw away a pickup truck load of trash to be able to get to the "good" stuff.

 

 

Fistful of Wedding bands:

 

 

Old, old silver cross. Almost an ounce of silver...

 

 

Favorite ring find so far. Man's Cladder (sp?)

 

 

Very nice! Sacred objects are among my favourite finds.

 

It's a lot of fun. To me, it's quite a rush pulling a scoop full of mud and sand up out of the water and shaking it out to what I've liberated from the ocean floor. Just the thought of how long it's been there, how it was lost, who lost it and it's significance is an endless source of fascination for me. And I dunno about you, but I feel like I've been hit by a car after a day at the beach. Great workout!

[comicwiz]

Great workout!

 

Big time! Especially water hunting, but dry land hunting can be just as physically demanding.

 

The exercise and outdoors aspects are the main reasons why I got into it in the first place (thumbs u

[ChasingKingKirby]

Great workout!

 

Big time! Especially water hunting, but dry land hunting can be just as physically demanding.

 

The exercise and outdoors aspects are the main reasons why I got into it in the first place (thumbs u

 

Yeah, it's something. What MD are you swinging?

[comicwiz]

Great workout!

 

Big time! Especially water hunting, but dry land hunting can be just as physically demanding.

 

The exercise and outdoors aspects are the main reasons why I got into it in the first place (thumbs u

 

Yeah, it's something. What MD are you swinging?

 

I started out with a Bounty Hunter Quick Draw II, and then a Fisher F2. Great entry machines.

 

I started getting the urge to water hunt mid-way into seasons (late June) so my first introduction to a land/water machine was the Garrett AT Pro.

 

Was grooving with some great gold finds in early July, and then I got sidelined with an injury that essentially prevented me from water hunting until September.

 

Finished out most of the remaining season with my AT Pro and decided to splurge on a Minelab CTX 3030 to finish out the season.

 

I've got the most experience on the AT Pro - the CTX has been a study, but looks to be a strong contender for starter position next season. Here's my YouTube channel with some video highlights from my hunts.

[ChasingKingKirby]

Great workout!

 

Big time! Especially water hunting, but dry land hunting can be just as physically demanding.

 

The exercise and outdoors aspects are the main reasons why I got into it in the first place (thumbs u

 

Yeah, it's something. What MD are you swinging?

 

I started out with a Bounty Hunter Quick Draw II, and then a Fisher F2. Great entry machines.

 

I started getting the urge to water hunt mid-way into seasons (late June) so my first introduction to a land/water machine was the Garrett AT Pro.

 

Was grooving with some great gold finds in early July, and then I got sidelined with an injury that essentially prevented me from water hunting until September.

 

Finished out most of the remaining season with my AT Pro and decided to splurge on a Minelab CTX 3030 to finish out the season.

 

I've got the most experience on the AT Pro - the CTX has been a study, but looks to be a strong contender for starter position next season. Here's my YouTube channel with some video highlights from my hunts.

 

I've wondered about the AT-Pro, but I've heard it's unreliable in salt water conditions. Know nothing about the Fisher or Bounty Hunter, think I completely ignored those because of the inability to deal well with salt water beaches. Heard nothing but good things about the CTX3030, but that's a pile of moolah.

 

I've got a Excal 2. I like it a lot. Good balance, no falsing and runs DEEP. Also have a Sovereign GT. Possibly the best machine I've ever owned. And a Tesoro Sand Shark. Which is a PI, but on beaches in my area, you spend your day digging iron. Not a fan...

[comicwiz]

Great workout!

 

Big time! Especially water hunting, but dry land hunting can be just as physically demanding.

 

The exercise and outdoors aspects are the main reasons why I got into it in the first place (thumbs u

 

Yeah, it's something. What MD are you swinging?

 

I started out with a Bounty Hunter Quick Draw II, and then a Fisher F2. Great entry machines.

 

I started getting the urge to water hunt mid-way into seasons (late June) so my first introduction to a land/water machine was the Garrett AT Pro.

 

Was grooving with some great gold finds in early July, and then I got sidelined with an injury that essentially prevented me from water hunting until September.

 

Finished out most of the remaining season with my AT Pro and decided to splurge on a Minelab CTX 3030 to finish out the season.

 

I've got the most experience on the AT Pro - the CTX has been a study, but looks to be a strong contender for starter position next season. Here's my YouTube channel with some video highlights from my hunts.

 

I've wondered about the AT-Pro, but I've heard it's unreliable in salt water conditions. Know nothing about the Fisher or Bounty Hunter, think I completely ignored those because of the inability to deal well with salt water beaches. Heard nothing but good things about the CTX3030, but that's a pile of moolah.

 

I've got a Excal 2. I like it a lot. Good balance, no falsing and runs DEEP. Also have a Sovereign GT. Possibly the best machine I've ever owned. And a Tesoro Sand Shark. Which is a PI, but on beaches in my area, you spend your day digging iron. Not a fan...

 

A fellow detectorist has the Excal 2 and loves it.

 

For PI, I was leaning toward the Whites Dual Field PI for beach hunting, but I really think it will require a few upgrades to my current tool set (definitely will need a bigger scoop for depth).

 

Which I don't mind doing after having a few years of experience under my belt, but for now, I've decided to stick with VLF machines.

 

I'm hoping to put the AT Pro to the test in salt water before the year is out. I'll let you know how that goes. Overall though, it is in my opinion the best power-on and play land/water machine out there.

 

If they had designed the AT Pro with the durability of a CTX 3030, I would not have bought the CTX.

 

Durability is the one thing about the AT Pro which concerns me, as I've had to service it three different times since buying it in April. The last service was for a cracked screen and luckily I had the CTX as my backup or I wouldn't have had much hunting done to close out the season.

 

That said, Garrett's customer service is top notch, and has more than made up for the hang-ups I've had with the machine.

[ChasingKingKirby]

Yeah, let me know about the AT. Have you had it in brackish water? Or just plain freshie hunting? I'm always looking for a backup machine. Even thought about picking up a used Excal to backup my current excal.

 

Nothing else I've used comes close to those two and their ability to handle heavily mineralized soil. I hunt on old beaches with tons of old pier bolts, slag iron and the like. Most machines just start beeping when I get in the parking lot and wont stop until I leave.

[comicwiz]

Even thought about picking up a used Excal to backup my current excal.

 

We're cut from pretty much the same cloth because I've often thought about buying a backup AT Pro. If I had started MD'ing at a younger age, I'd probably sleep with my AT Pro like I did with my hockey gear for the love of hockey

[comicwiz]

As for performance in salt water (or brackish water), I don't know for certain as I've only hunted in fresh water. However I'd imagine it would need less manual ground balancing in brackish water than salt water. The problem is when black sand is introduced into the mix.

 

Here, we have black sand, but it's fresh water so I'd imagine this is where the AT Pro starts to perform differently in less than ideal situations. It doesn't mean it will not sniff out targets in such mineralized environments as I've done very well with it in beaches with black sand.

 

Where I'm looking to test it, there is white sand, so I think I should be fine with some manual ground balancing and some adjustments to the sensitivity. I am taking my CTX for backup though, as it does have a salt water mode just in case my AT Pro doesn't perform the way I like.

 

My hunch is that the AT Pro will get the most confused in salt water + black sand. Come to think of it, I don't know if I would want to go to such a spot without a good PI machine to be honest.

[ChasingKingKirby]

Excal has no problem with Salt Water + Black sand. Honestly, only places that I've had issues with the Excal or Sovereign GT are around high-voltage power lines or another Excal.

[Kenneth F]

There are no worse people in life than the losers who stroll along the beach with their metal detectors looking to strike gold by finding a buried penny in the sand.

 

I had dreams of being one of those losers one day.

 

Don't let a burnout like that tell you otherwise Mike. Best hobby I've ever taken up (thumbs u

 

Me too. And I'm one of those losers that swings on the beach and I do dig up a boatload of pennies, but of course I also have dug up 46 rings this year as well.

 

WOW - Nicely done! (thumbs u

 

My first year at it, and I couldn't be happier with my results. I probably have netted more or less about the same amount of rings, but I never actually sat down and counted.

 

The truth is that the hobby is filled with old timers that actually want to do everything to chase away newcomers because they see it as someone else cutting into their take. That's the irrational fear they have anyway, but it's completely unfounded because it's random luck and walking over the target that determines your chances for success.

 

Don't get me wrong - research can help, but it can only take get you so far when you have a certain amount of time to swing the coil in an area that will take you years to properly hunt.

 

You get the irrational mindset in every hobby - no different than the notion that new blood in a hobby will drive up specs and prices. Personally, this thinking never made any sense to me because we all had to start new at something, and to take an unwelcoming approach to newcomers does a disservice to the hobby because I see it as an opportunity to act as stewards and encourage sound ethics and practices to ensure the newbies don't do the wrong things and give the hobby a bad name.

 

Ive been scanning every canyon around me all the way to the outskirts of Tombstone.. haven't hit the mother lode yet.. Im still hoping for that dropped coin from the Butterfield Stagecoach... still scanning!

 

I see you're located in AZ. A lot of MD'ers around here dream about prospecting in your parts. Have you ever looked into getting a permit?

 

A permit? No.. don't know the first thing about permits or where permits are required.

[comicwiz]

There are no worse people in life than the losers who stroll along the beach with their metal detectors looking to strike gold by finding a buried penny in the sand.

 

I had dreams of being one of those losers one day.

 

Don't let a burnout like that tell you otherwise Mike. Best hobby I've ever taken up (thumbs u

 

Me too. And I'm one of those losers that swings on the beach and I do dig up a boatload of pennies, but of course I also have dug up 46 rings this year as well.

 

WOW - Nicely done! (thumbs u

 

My first year at it, and I couldn't be happier with my results. I probably have netted more or less about the same amount of rings, but I never actually sat down and counted.

 

The truth is that the hobby is filled with old timers that actually want to do everything to chase away newcomers because they see it as someone else cutting into their take. That's the irrational fear they have anyway, but it's completely unfounded because it's random luck and walking over the target that determines your chances for success.

 

Don't get me wrong - research can help, but it can only take get you so far when you have a certain amount of time to swing the coil in an area that will take you years to properly hunt.

 

You get the irrational mindset in every hobby - no different than the notion that new blood in a hobby will drive up specs and prices. Personally, this thinking never made any sense to me because we all had to start new at something, and to take an unwelcoming approach to newcomers does a disservice to the hobby because I see it as an opportunity to act as stewards and encourage sound ethics and practices to ensure the newbies don't do the wrong things and give the hobby a bad name.

 

Ive been scanning every canyon around me all the way to the outskirts of Tombstone.. haven't hit the mother lode yet.. Im still hoping for that dropped coin from the Butterfield Stagecoach... still scanning!

 

I see you're located in AZ. A lot of MD'ers around here dream about prospecting in your parts. Have you ever looked into getting a permit?

 

A permit? No.. don't know the first thing about permits or where permits are required.

 

One of the areas that is quite popular, and a leading bulion producer of its territory is Yavapai County. Yuma County is another, and there are other well known areas, but these are two I've heard about.

 

My understanding is that most detectorists (that includes metal detecting clubs) pitch-in and hire a bulldozer to dig an area, and then they pound that area until it is no longer productive, and then simply repeat step 1.

 

To do all this, my understanding is you need a permit. I believe this is because these are areas with rich mining history. The average is usually in the 1 gram nugget range, but every once in awhile you hear about some larger nugget finds. I love Arizona so I can see myself easing into this as a winter escape in my later years, but I've got a long way to go yet. If I lived there on the other hand, I'd be into it as much as my free time permitted.

[comicwiz]

Yeah, let me know about the AT. Have you had it in brackish water? Or just plain freshie hunting? I'm always looking for a backup machine. Even thought about picking up a used Excal to backup my current excal.

 

Got a chance to test it in salt water, and brackish. Worked great. The following video is a short clip from a recent salt water beach hunt:

 

[comicdonna]

Thanks for posting the video, Joseph. I am going to take mine (don't remember what kind ) to Florida in March.

[comicwiz]

Thanks Mike! I'd like to someday hunt in Florida, especially near and around the Vero Beach area. If you get a chance to check the machine you've got, post it here. I just picked up the Garrett ATX which I'm really excited about using as soon as the snow starts to melt here.

[wdrob]

 

 

 

The picture below shows my ideal target area but I have yet to be able to contact the owner. It is listed in the county tax assessors office web site as some kind of Holding Company with no contact information. They seem to own much of the land around there.

 

I don't want to just show up one day and start detecting but the lure of what could be there is just so damn strong.

 

The house/store that was torn down about 7 to 10 years ago (I loose track of time) and it is in the perfect location to have been a heavily trafficked area back in the 1800's since it is within a 1/4 mile of what once was an Military/Indian Fort, Fort Lamar as well as being very close to the intersections of what would have, at that time, been some major transport routes.

 

Anyone have any advice on how I can keep from going to jail if someone questions my snooping around with a metal detector?

 

I really need to find a way to hit that spot.

 

 

 

--------

 

 

 

 

[Not*Sure*]

*waves* hey guys! My husband wants a Minelab e trac.

Any suggestion where I could find such a thing? It doesn't have to be brand spanking new..any ideas of sites that would have one used? would getting one used be a terrible idea?

and is it going to be really that much better than the $300 one he just bought?

 

PM me with any sites where I could find him one..or places online etc he could visit that might be helpful..

 

He just retired and I already got him the sandals and socks..

 

 

[bsshog40]

*waves* hey guys! My husband wants a Minelab e trac.

Any suggestion where I could find such a thing? It doesn't have to be brand spanking new..any ideas of sites that would have one used? would getting one used be a terrible idea?

and is it going to be really that much better than the $300 one he just bought?

 

PM me with any sites where I could find him one..or places online etc he could visit that might be helpful..

 

He just retired and I already got him the sandals and socks..

 

Have you tried ebay? I bought me an $800 (at the time) garrett for $400 off ebay about 8 yrs ago and was in great condition.

[Not*Sure*]

He had an offer for $1000 for an Etrac

But the guy wanted to do it off ebay only..

I kindly reminded him what happened the last time he spent $1000 off ebay..

the seller gave him after 4 months..a box of garbage except an Xfiles #1 with a sticky note on the cover that said "This book #1 will be worth $5000 someday stop bothering me for those books"

 

I told him to imagine my disappointment when he got a "Ebrick" in the mail

 

[dickie g]

I love metal detecting and treasure hunting, its the thrill of the find. I started about 8 years ago with gta-1500 and as far as I knew it was great until I ran into an old guy on the beach, he was digging rings, coins all kinds of stuff and my garrett would not pick up any of his signals, he told me about the minelab explorer so I got one. I would say it was the best move I made in the hobby. My finds quadrupled found many diamond rings, silver coins etc, my oldest find is a 1797 George III copper "the cartwheel penny", found it in a drained lake at a depth of 20-24" no word of a lie. My digging shovel is 2 ft long and it was almost maxed out, I almost filled the hole back in. I have now got a ctx-3030 and it seems to be amazing however I have not got to use it much yet but I have to say with the submersible capabilities plus being equally great on land it is the best if both worlds, in my opinion of course.

[comicwiz]

I love metal detecting and treasure hunting, its the thrill of the find. I started about 8 years ago with gta-1500 and as far as I knew it was great until I ran into an old guy on the beach, he was digging rings, coins all kinds of stuff and my garrett would not pick up any of his signals, he told me about the minelab explorer so I got one. I would say it was the best move I made in the hobby. My finds quadrupled found many diamond rings, silver coins etc, my oldest find is a 1797 George III copper "the cartwheel penny", found it in a drained lake at a depth of 20-24" no word of a lie. My digging shovel is 2 ft long and it was almost maxed out, I almost filled the hole back in. I have now got a ctx-3030 and it seems to be amazing however I have not got to use it much yet but I have to say with the submersible capabilities plus being equally great on land it is the best if both worlds, in my opinion of course.

 

The CTX 3030 is a great machine! I started out with the AT Pro, which in my opinion is still one of the best machines on the market. That said, the CTX has programming features which I like, and I've set it up to be able to identify tones unique to specific targets. It's nearly impossible to miss silver using this machine. It has now become my dedicated land hunting machine, and the AT Pro is sharing water hunting duties with my Garrett ATX. Happy hunting!

[wdrob]

I finally got around to trying out my detector searching around some old picnic tables at a campground, in between breaks from working the sluice box prospecting for gold. I guess at this rate it will be a while until I reach complete financial freedom ..... but it is a start.

 

$1.13 - no silver

 

 

 

 

[ArmyBud]

This is a great forum and I have learned a lot since joining. I too am a detector of metal and bought a Spectrum XLT a while back and when ask I tell the inquirer that I spent $1500.00 to find quarters. I usually get this funny look and they kinda back away thinking there is something wrong with this dude!! It is actually, next to coin collecting, the most interesting hobby that I have found to date and if you are dedicated you can find some super items. The first thing I found stepping out of my car and turning the metal detector on was a wheatie....and it went up hill from there! I have found gold rings, caches of coins and many other interesting items. After a while you get used to the "sound of trash" and steer away from it. Of course you just never know. The signal of a pop top is very near the signal of gold....some strange joke God played on us poor metal detectors!!! Anyway....it is a great hobby and you don't have to spend a fortune on a good metal detector. It's like everything else; you probably want to invest as little as possible right at first then later, if you like it, invest a little more. The hobby gets you out into the sunlight and allows you to hunt treasure. The most fun I have had is with children. If you are at a park and there are kids around they will swarm you and follow you. Just bring a couple of digging devices with you and mark the spot. You can even let them use your bullseye (this small device locates the item more exactly and is a must). To them it is a big treasure adventure and even finding the smallest thing makes them excited and happy!! So good luck fellow detectors....have fun and may all your digs turn out to be Gold!!!

Bud

[ArmyBud]

Great thread with some really good feedback! I also "swing the coil" with a spectrum XLT, pricey when I bought it and it still is a great detector. I can now tell by the sound whether the metal is worth digging....but you have to be real careful. Pull tabs and gold have a very similar sound!! So my advice is if you hear it, dig it!!! There are some very good detectors on the market now due to the increase interest in detectors in the military. The technology had taken leaps and bounds. Thanks for this thread!!!

Bud

[1950's war comics]

Don't know if this has been mentioned yet but many golf courses are going out of business and here in Lansing Michigan one course built in 1928 has been closed now for 5 years and I have heard that thousands of silvers have been unearthed , heck you can bring a shovel if you want as it is completely abandoned and overgrown during the summer, I am no longer in the metal detecting hobbies and unfortunately I quit before the golf course closed, but I often dream about how fun it would have been to get out there, open up my detector full blast and dig everything with one foot scoop of a shovel, ! my friends best haul was three walking liberties in one hole ,.. we surmised from the location they were found that a fan watching a tournament must have been sitting in the rough and they fell out.

[ArmyBud]

It's no telling how much change was lost on the golf course! I am going to take my detector out to the driving range at my home course and give it a swipe!

Bud

[rrantique]

Another amazing find (thumbs u

http://www.weekendwanderersdetecting.com/INTRODUCTION/Calendar_of_Events/SAXON_HOARD_/saxon_hoard_.html

[Donald1990-migration]

Still waiting for all the snow to melt and then a few weeks after that the ground might dry up enough to walk around.

[comicdonna]

Putting the metal detector in the car now. Look for pics of my Spanish Doubloon cache in a few weeks.