Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

[randy_coyote]

Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

I couldn't pass up the bargain, but I have no idea what all the settings mean/do.

Does anyone know where I can find a manual for a Prospector II? It also has a label that says MP, with some kind of circular symbol, between the M and the P. It works. I put new batteries in it and found 1/2 a pop can about 8" down.

It needs a stabilizer too, but until I can get one, I'll just build some muscles in my arm.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

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[Monty]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

You need to look up the website of the manufacturer for that manuel. JIM

 

[randy_coyote]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

Thanks Jim. I actually looked for a manufacturer's site prior to my original post, but found only what looks like a wholesaler site. They had other reference materials, but no manual, so I kept looking. After your post, I checked again, still no manual, but I did find an e-mail address, so I've asked them for help.

The only other thing I can do is read as muchas I can find on the 'net, try to make some educated guesses, and go out and try the darn thing

 

[rusty nails]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

great grage sale find - for 8 bucks ! forget about it - just google that puppy - somebody out there has to have the goods on that detector - MAN HOW COME I CANT EVER FIND STUFF LIKE THAT !
CONGRATS - LBP

 

[randy_coyote]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

Thanks LBP,

My father-in-law is a left-handed bass player, but I digress ...

Google gave me the same sites Ask Jeeves did (racking up Iwon points). I've asked the same question on a couple other forums, so I'm hoping someone can point me in the right direction. The main question I have is what the TR1 & TR2 settings do. There is one dial/switch that has 4 settings: OFF, VLF, TR1, TR2. OFF was no problem, VLF was clear to me after a little research, but I can find nothing on TR1/2.

Anyway, I'm off to try a little coinshooting before work.

Randy

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

TR stands for TRANSMIT RECEIVE. It's actually a Non Motion Discriminate Setting.

Works Better on Salt Water Beaches then VLF.

I'm not Shure What the Difference between 1 & 2 is tho.

Weather Different Frequencies, Or maby 2 is Deeper then 1.

Good Luck at Finding out.
Jeff

 

[randy_coyote]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

Thanks Jeff,

I don't really understand what a Non Motion Discriminate Setting means, but the point is moot as I'm a long way from salt water beaches.

I tried a little coinshooting this afternoon at a vacant lot that is often used for parking at an outdoor concert venue. It seems like an ideal location for dropped goodies, especially since the concerts are almost always rock and the concert goers almost always impaired. It appears what they're mostly impaired on is beer as all I found was bottle tops so far. It's a huge lot though and I haven't even scratched the surface.

Tomorrow morning I'm offto the volleyball pits down by the lake. Saw a bunch of guys playing there tonight, but it was too dark by the time I could get back.

Thanks for all the help.

Randy

 

[jeff of pa]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

Let me Try to Explaine Randy.

? ? With a VLF detector It must be Moving over the Target to Give a Signal.
In Fact The Faster you Swing it the DEEPER it will Penatrate the Ground.

TR in regular Ground Will Get Only half the Depth & you just Need to Slowly move the Coil Over the Target & you'll get a Signal. If you Swing it Fast You'll Miss Everything under the ground

As I said tho, In salt water Beaches VLF will Go HAYWIRE but TR will Stay Smoother.

Discriminate Means Settings To Find certain Things NOT "ALL METAL"

"All Metal " is also Non motion. it will Signal holding the Coil Over the Object.

 

[randy_coyote]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

Thanks again Jeff,

I didn't know that about VLF. I was wondering if I was swinging too slow. I wanted to be very thorough and not miss anything so I was being very deliberate and slow with my swing, but I was barely covering any ground. Perhaps I should pick up the pace a bit and that'll detect deeper and cover a larger area. I know it's not a 100 yard dash, but it's apparently not a crawl either. Practice, practice, practice, right?

Randy

 

[Monty]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

The best way to figure it out is to plant a coin "garden" and run it over the coins at a known depth and see how it reacts to the different settings. I even planted a pull tab and some other junk targets to help me differentiate between them. I think it's got me ahead of the learning curve. Once you get a hands on feel for the detector you should be able to coin shoot with no problem. JIM

 

[rusty nails]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

LBP ~ i should get some t shirts made up like that an give them to my nieces and nephews

"my uncles a lefty bass player" - i'd probably be a millionaire over that if we werent so rare ~ !

LBP - let us know how u do with that detector -

 

[joetoffton]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

Haven't found the mfg. yet will look some more. Did find a price list for them.


Order number Price Description
PROS-I $20.95 Prospector I
MD-3127 $39.95 Prospector II
PROS-III $55.95 Prospector III
MD-328 $100.00 Security wand


Joe

 

[dredre7]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

This might shed some light on the difference on tr1 and tr2 on your machine but this is only a theory.

When I was 16 I purchased my first detector which was some Bounty Hunter TR model. I quickly learned that tr detector had some kind of anomally that would only detect from 0-2" and 4" to whatever the strength of the detector. They actually made skid plates that were 2" thick to keep it above the ground to change your the blank spot you couldn't "see" before.

Anyways, I'm guessing your switches might adjust for this instead of you raising your coil, but it is only a guess.

Just getting back in to detecting myself, not even sure if TR is still around.

Don

 

[Monty]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

I'd like to see a picture of it. I'm still not sure just what you have there. From the price list it sounds like you have some kind of pinpointer or shallow security device instead of a full fledged detector. And I don't know what you mean about a stabilizer? What's a stabilizer? Monty

 

[SilverTee]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

I went to google and typed in, Prospector II metel detector. Then hit I'm feeling lucky. You will come with Transtronics web site. I hope this is what you are looking for. Good Luck. HH. SilverTee.

 

[Monty]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

OK, I see what you have now. But I still don't know what you mean by needing a stabilizer? Of the low end detectors this has to be the lowest, but you knew that when you bought it, right? The best thing I can say for it is that it probably will find metal. Finding coins at 6" as advertised will probably be accidental more than on purpose. But, at least it has piqued your interest and I predict you will soon want to invest in a real detector. I'd put money on that! I'm not putting you down if that's the best you can afford, but don't be disappointed if you aren't too successful. Everyone has to start somewhere. Finding "treasure" is more a matter of selecting a good site rather than having expensive equipment. Just remember to have fun with it and let us know what you find. Read the forum religiously and you will soon gain a free education in the art of metal detecting that you couldn't get anywhere else. Good luck and good hunting. Monty

 

[Michigan Badger]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

This is an interesting post.

Like most THer's I started out with a TR machine. Some of you real old duffers used the BFO detectors (beat frequency oscillator).

I sometimes think I did better with the old TRs than I do today using the big bad VLFs.

I remember digging a near mint 1936 silver quarter at 7 inches deep with my Coinmaster IV TR back in 68. It gave a nice smooth solid signal in mineralized park soil. I sat down to rest at a picnic table and just turned my machine on to check the place where I had rested the coil. Right there I dug the quarter.

Back then I'd dig 100 coins a day using all-metal mode and 10% would be pre-1950's. I'd usually find at least one pre-1900's coin each hunt.

I?ve often wondered how much of a real improvement VLF really is?

 

[Monty]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

I think the advent of the VLF machine arose from all the complaints about having to dig too much trash per keeper. Now you can discriminate out just about anything and that's great for pure coin shooting. But for any other kind of treasure hunting it's not much use because gold and other precious objects fall right into that discrimination crack. The only exception is probably silver. It shows up on the higher end of the discrimination scale and can be found very reliably. I also think the scarcity of silver coins is due to the invention of the VLF detector. Think back to prior times when silver was abundant and you may agree. Monty

 

[Michigan Badger]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

I think the advent of the VLF machine arose from all the complaints about having to dig too much trash per keeper.? Now you can discriminate out just about anything and that's great for pure coin shooting.? But for any other kind of treasure hunting it's not much use because gold and other precious objects fall right into that discrimination crack.? The only exception is probably silver.? It shows up on the higher end of the discrimination scale and can be found very reliably. I also think the scarcity of silver coins is due to the invention of the VLF detector.? Think back to prior times when silver was abundant and you may agree.? Monty

I agree, Monty. I don't know how randy_coyote feels about this but I sure can see it.

Back in the mid 60's one could go to almost any old park and find 1 to 7 sliver coins within a days hunt. Check the old treasure mags from that era. In the big cities some would fill a small can with silver within a week.

Even before the TR machines came along those early tube circuitry BFO guys really cleaned up! Loads of silver halves, quarters, and dimes where found 1 to approx. 2 1/2 inches deep.

I remember one time I was hunting a small park with my Whites Coinmaster IV and the caretaker came out to let me know I was waisting my time hunting there. He told me many clubs had hit that entire area many times over several years. I pulled out better than 80 coins I had found that morning and the guy almost fell over. I think by the days end I had nearly 200 coins (mostly Wheaties) and 3 or 4 nice silver dimes.

Well, this isn't my thread so I'd best get out. But, thanks randy for bringing back some good memories.

 

[randy_coyote]

Re: Garage sale detector only $8, no manual, lots of dials & buttons - HELP!

Thanks for all the great feedback and information. I've been pretty busy and kind of forgot about this post. I still haven't found anything of any real value, unless you count the big cotter pin left behind when carnival left town. I found the pin right where the ferris wheel had been set up. I don't think I'll be riding that next time they're in town.