Hello from Los Alamitos, CA

[RustyGold]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this awesome hobby and I hope I'm not too old to have to call it a sport! LOL!)

In my younger days, when I was out paddling around and surfing a little, I use to see the guys up on the beach looking for lost treasure! Back then, I was thinking, when I get older I'd like to do some MDing on the beach!

Well the day has finally come. I'm retired now and can afford a detector, almost, and as long as I have permission from my wife! I think this will be a great outdoor endeavor!

Since I would mainly be detecting in wet and dry sand, I thought maybe the Garrett AT Pro from kellyco.com would be a good place to start!
Thanks for hanging in there! Hope to see you down at the beach!


I need a good scoop!

 

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[vpnavy]

Welcome aboard from the great state of Pennsylvania (USA).

You might consider browsing Sub-Forums: California for information (i.e., clubs, hunts, finds, legends, maps, etc.) directly related to your state.

 

[Digger2]

 

[RustyGold]

Thanks guys! Thank you also for the tip vpnavy! I'll check that out!

 

[River Rat]

 

[cudamark]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to this awesome hobby and I hope I'm not too old to have to call it a sport! LOL!)

In my younger days, when I was out paddling around and surfing a little, I use to see the guys up on the beach looking for lost treasure! Back then, I was thinking, when I get older I'd like to do some MDing on the beach!

Well the day has finally come. I'm retired now and can afford a detector, almost, and as long as I have permission from my wife! I think this will be a great outdoor endeavor!

Since I would mainly be detecting in wet and dry sand, I thought maybe the Garrett AT Pro from kellyco.com would be a good place to start!
Thanks for hanging in there! Hope to see you down at the beach!


I need a good scoop!

Welcome! I used to live in Rossmoor myself. The At Pro is not the best choice for our beaches. It will work but you have to tone it down a bit to use in the wet sand. If money were no object, my choice and ranking would be: CTX3030, Excalibur, Beach Hunter 300, CZ21, Infinium LS, Sand Shark, and other lesser models of PI machines before I would consider the AT Pro. With the competition we have on our beaches, it's hard to give up inches in depth to your competition. Now if you're also going to use it in parks, that's a different story.

 

[RustyGold]

Thanks for the Welcome, tips and suggestions cudamark! I did want a detector I could use everywhere and not just for the beach! Is MDing allowed in El Dorado Park? I wonder..

 

[RustyGold]

View attachment 847121

Thanks River Rat!

 

[cudamark]

Thanks for the Welcome, tips and suggestions cudamark! I did want a detector I could use everywhere and not just for the beach! Is MDing allowed in El Dorado Park? I wonder..

I don't know, I never tried it. I used to fish in their pond there as a kid though. On the list I gave, only the CTX3030 would be a good one for a park. The AT Pro would come way up on the list if you need if for that purpose too. If you don't plan on going into deep water, there are a few other Minelabs that would work good too such as the E-trac, Explorer, and Sovereign. You can take them into shallow water but you can't get the control housing wet so you have to be real careful you don't accidentally dunk it. I use my E-trac at the beach when I don't plan on going into the water more than ankle deep. Most of the VLF type detectors have issues in salt water and wet sand but the Minelabs have multiple frequencies that can deal with that effectively without losing much depth. The PI type detectors have no problem with salt either but they're a pain to use in a park because they are all metal and everything sounds virtually the same. The overwhelming amount of junk targets would drive you crazy as a new user (and most veteran users!) I recommend you buy the best one you can afford. If you find the hobby is not for you, you can always resell it and not lose much if you keep the detector in primo shape.

 

[smalltowngirl13]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

 

[RustyGold]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

Thank you for the welcome smalltowngirl! Much appreciated!l

 

[RustyGold]

Thank you for all the advice cudamark, it is very much appreciated. I ended up getting the Garrett AT Pro hoping to do the parks and the beach!
Your list of suggestions I will keep as I tend to end up with more than one of anything I'm interested in. As soon as I find out what works and what doesn't I will refer to the units you have listed.
Thanks again for your help and suggestions!
See you out there!

 

[justdon]

Welcome.Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[Metal Detecting Stuff]

Welcome to Treasurenet!

Wayne

www.metaldetectingstuff.com

 

[RustyGold]

Thank you Don and Wayne. Much appreciated!
Today I received my Garrett At Pro from kellyco ! Wow that was quick
I ordered last Friday and it arrived this Friday with the free shipping!

I'm Out in the back yard!

 

[copperpenny]

Welcome from SoCal, HH !!!!!!!!! Howdy Neighbor

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

I have hunted at seal beach and to the right of the water tower , alot of huge nails sticking straight up and a few older 70s coins , plus free parking there . im wanting to go back there with the GBP

 

[RustyGold]

Welcome from SoCal, HH !!!!!!!!! Howdy Neighbor

Thank you copper penny! Much appreciated!

 

[RustyGold]

I have hunted at seal beach and to the right of the water tower , alot of huge nails sticking straight up and a few older 70s coins , plus free parking there . im wanting to go back there with the GBP

I'm having a hard time picturing the water tower and where it's located! Seal Beach is a great place it's where I learned to surf but I haven't had the chance to go detecting there yet!

 

[lab rat]

Welcome! I've hunted Seal Beach (my old job was in Los Alamitos before I transferred to Sandy Eggo*) and once found an 18k thin gold band there. I hope you do better! It might be challenging with a lower end detector because of all the black sand. If you can afford to get a multi-frequency detector I think you'll do better. I'd recommend a PI but there is a lot of aluminum scrap from the dumps off Long Beach. Otherwise a better beach to try would be Huntington if it isn't too far away from you.

*(Q: How did San Diego get its name? A: Cabrillo and his men came ashore for breakfast one day and one of the guys dropped his round waffle on the beach-- hence, Sandy Eggo!)