SoCalBeachScanner
Hero Member
- Aug 17, 2013
- 601
- 547
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 4
- Detector(s) used
- Garrett ATX, AT Pro, ProPointer, and a weirdly good sense of direction
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Hi All,
I'm new to metal detecting (6-weeks) and new to this fourm. I've always wanted to try MD, but I didn't know if I would like it, so I never invested in the equipment. Finally, I decided to give it a try, so 6-weeks ago I purchased a Harbor Freight 9-function detector to give it a shot. The detector was $40 out the door w/20% off coupon and I got a free flashlight with the other coupon. I told myself if I found enough coins and stuff to pay off the $40 detector, and if I liked detecting, that I would purchase a Garrett AT Pro. (by the way, that Harbor Freight 9-function detector kicks butt for $40 and works great in shallow saltwater)
Well, after three weeks and finding a big jar full of coins, a few stainless, brass & toy rings, and a lot of other weird stuff, I more then hit my $40 goal. So three weeks ago I purchased an AT PRO because I wanted a detector to get into the surf. The AT Pro had a very short learning curve, I love the Pro Zero Mode with 35 on the Iron. In the three weeks that I have had the AT Pro, I've found over twice as many coins and stuff as the Harbor Freight Detector with about 80% less digging.
Within 2.5 hours of detecting in Huntington Beach, CA, this morning in dry sand, I hit three goals!! Along with a hand full of coins and a set of keys, I found my FIRST..... (see pictures)
(Gold Ring) 14k White Gold Ring with about 40 Diamonds in it
(Silver Ring) 925 Silver Ring
(Silver Coin) 1943 Mercury Dime
This hobby is addicting!! I can't wait to go again. I saltwater fish with my Shimano & Loomis about 150 days a year and Sand Fishing with my AT Pro is a lot like fishing. I LOVE IT!!
Some of my other Southern California MD area goals are: Hit the trough at low tide in the surf, scanning the trails and dirt roads in and out of the ghost towns in the desert, mines, old recreational areas and state monuments in the eastern Sierras. Looks like I'll require a Pro Pointer for those trips, no scooping that soil. So I guess a Garrett Pro Pointer will be next on my must have list.
I found this great fishing quote online and added the metal detecting part:
"The charm of fishing and metal detecting is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope"
~John Buchan~
UPDATE!! Holy Crap!!!
I went out to Huntington Beach again this morning 8/18/13 and in the same old patch of sand I was at yesterday, by a fire pit, AND FOUND!!
The Holy Grail of Men's Wedding Bands: Tiffany & Co 750, 18k 6mm wide, Gold Wedding Band.
Near the fire pits there is a ton of molten aluminum from people throwing cans in the fire over the years. My new Garrett AT Pro with that DD Coil cut through the crap like a knife. Quarter & Dime signals rang out between wads of aluminum. Along with the Tiffany ring, I found many dimes and quarters from the sixties (1966 on up). I worked the AT Pro super, super slow with the two lowest settings notched out which gave about 50 on the iron and analyzed every semi high signal before digging. Even at that, I had to dig a lot of molten aluminum wads.
Needless to say, I just paid for my Garrett AT Pro, in just over three weeks!! I just researched the ring online, Tiffany lists the ring (retail) at $1600.00 new and I found several of the exact same ring selling used, or I should say pre-owned, between $600 - $850.
I'm having a ball with this MD Stuff ... I will be scanning that same general area again tomorrow. In the 2.5 hours I scanned this morning, I worked a very noisy ground area between two fire pits that the total area must have measured 30ft. x 200ft., and that is as far as I got. I'm sure that beach has been scanned hundreds of times and I was finding a coin every few minutes or so. I worked very, very slow and pulled most of my coins between 4-8 inches below and next to molten aluminum, rusty iron bolts, screw, and nails from pallets and wood people have burned in the pits over the last 50 or more years.
So my rookie wisdom tips in the six weeks of my MD career would be:
Find smaller areas where tons of people stack up on the weekends. Go early in the morning before people stack up around you and distract you (start before sunrise it forces you to concentrate on what your hearing). Concentrate, Concentrate, Concentrate, walk and scan back and fourth very, very slow and shake your coil in several different directions over the hot spots until you pinpoint the high note target, and scoop like hell. I don't use the pinpointer on the machine much in trashy areas because once you push that button it will sound on anything metal around the target. That repeted high note coming from the machine from shaking the coil back and fourth will tell you where the target is.
I'm new to metal detecting (6-weeks) and new to this fourm. I've always wanted to try MD, but I didn't know if I would like it, so I never invested in the equipment. Finally, I decided to give it a try, so 6-weeks ago I purchased a Harbor Freight 9-function detector to give it a shot. The detector was $40 out the door w/20% off coupon and I got a free flashlight with the other coupon. I told myself if I found enough coins and stuff to pay off the $40 detector, and if I liked detecting, that I would purchase a Garrett AT Pro. (by the way, that Harbor Freight 9-function detector kicks butt for $40 and works great in shallow saltwater)
Well, after three weeks and finding a big jar full of coins, a few stainless, brass & toy rings, and a lot of other weird stuff, I more then hit my $40 goal. So three weeks ago I purchased an AT PRO because I wanted a detector to get into the surf. The AT Pro had a very short learning curve, I love the Pro Zero Mode with 35 on the Iron. In the three weeks that I have had the AT Pro, I've found over twice as many coins and stuff as the Harbor Freight Detector with about 80% less digging.
Within 2.5 hours of detecting in Huntington Beach, CA, this morning in dry sand, I hit three goals!! Along with a hand full of coins and a set of keys, I found my FIRST..... (see pictures)
(Gold Ring) 14k White Gold Ring with about 40 Diamonds in it
(Silver Ring) 925 Silver Ring
(Silver Coin) 1943 Mercury Dime
This hobby is addicting!! I can't wait to go again. I saltwater fish with my Shimano & Loomis about 150 days a year and Sand Fishing with my AT Pro is a lot like fishing. I LOVE IT!!
Some of my other Southern California MD area goals are: Hit the trough at low tide in the surf, scanning the trails and dirt roads in and out of the ghost towns in the desert, mines, old recreational areas and state monuments in the eastern Sierras. Looks like I'll require a Pro Pointer for those trips, no scooping that soil. So I guess a Garrett Pro Pointer will be next on my must have list.
I found this great fishing quote online and added the metal detecting part:
"The charm of fishing and metal detecting is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope"
~John Buchan~
UPDATE!! Holy Crap!!!
I went out to Huntington Beach again this morning 8/18/13 and in the same old patch of sand I was at yesterday, by a fire pit, AND FOUND!!
The Holy Grail of Men's Wedding Bands: Tiffany & Co 750, 18k 6mm wide, Gold Wedding Band.
Near the fire pits there is a ton of molten aluminum from people throwing cans in the fire over the years. My new Garrett AT Pro with that DD Coil cut through the crap like a knife. Quarter & Dime signals rang out between wads of aluminum. Along with the Tiffany ring, I found many dimes and quarters from the sixties (1966 on up). I worked the AT Pro super, super slow with the two lowest settings notched out which gave about 50 on the iron and analyzed every semi high signal before digging. Even at that, I had to dig a lot of molten aluminum wads.
Needless to say, I just paid for my Garrett AT Pro, in just over three weeks!! I just researched the ring online, Tiffany lists the ring (retail) at $1600.00 new and I found several of the exact same ring selling used, or I should say pre-owned, between $600 - $850.
I'm having a ball with this MD Stuff ... I will be scanning that same general area again tomorrow. In the 2.5 hours I scanned this morning, I worked a very noisy ground area between two fire pits that the total area must have measured 30ft. x 200ft., and that is as far as I got. I'm sure that beach has been scanned hundreds of times and I was finding a coin every few minutes or so. I worked very, very slow and pulled most of my coins between 4-8 inches below and next to molten aluminum, rusty iron bolts, screw, and nails from pallets and wood people have burned in the pits over the last 50 or more years.
So my rookie wisdom tips in the six weeks of my MD career would be:
Find smaller areas where tons of people stack up on the weekends. Go early in the morning before people stack up around you and distract you (start before sunrise it forces you to concentrate on what your hearing). Concentrate, Concentrate, Concentrate, walk and scan back and fourth very, very slow and shake your coil in several different directions over the hot spots until you pinpoint the high note target, and scoop like hell. I don't use the pinpointer on the machine much in trashy areas because once you push that button it will sound on anything metal around the target. That repeted high note coming from the machine from shaking the coil back and fourth will tell you where the target is.
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