New to beach hunting.

[Hookka]

Hey I live in Dubai and there are a ton of popular beaches that are packed all year round. There's gotta be some jewelry, but everytime I hunt the low tide I just get tons of "ghost signal" type hits where its there and then its gone, or it'll be in one spot and I'll start digging and next thing you know the signals gone and my pinpointer won't hit it at all. Its getting frustrating as its already annoying to have a small crowd of people watching you and asking questions only to end up looking like an idiot haha. Any tips on how to hunt the areas closer to the water would be great.

 

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[tims1chap]

Which detector are you using. The AT Pro has a ground balance feature that you need to adjust when you are at the beach.

 

[Hookka]

I'm using the ACE 250 right now, I've got a Prizm II but I prefer the Garret.

 

[Mzjavert]

tims1chap is correct, you at min. need a machine with ground balance. A PI machine would be even better. Salt water is highly conductive and will give you tons of chatter and falses. The machines you have, while fine machines, are not designed for salt water and wet salt water sand. You may just have to stick to the dry areas of the sand.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

reply

Hey I live in Dubai and there are a ton of popular beaches that are packed all year round. There's gotta be some jewelry, but everytime I hunt the low tide I just get tons of "ghost signal" type hits where its there and then its gone, or it'll be in one spot and I'll start digging and next thing you know the signals gone and my pinpointer won't hit it at all. Its getting frustrating as its already annoying to have a small crowd of people watching you and asking questions only to end up looking like an idiot haha. Any tips on how to hunt the areas closer to the water would be great.

The ace 250 is not a very good wet salt machine. However, it *will* work on wet salt, provided there's not *too* many minerals. You will know the mineral content, by the color of the sand. If the sand is very light colored (white, or yellow-ish), then it has low mineral content. If the sand is sort of a tan, then it's moderate. If it's approaching grey colored, that's getting more mineralized. And the worst sands (most minerals) will be gunpowder greyish-black in color. As long as your sand is only light to moderate minerals, then the 250 should be able to punch through to at least 4 or 5" (contrast to a good wet-salt beach machine where you'll go 2x that deep with ease).

So if minerals isn't the problem, then you shouldn't be getting "ghost signals" with that. I think you have your sensitivity set too high. Also, the fact that you talk about having a pinpointer for beach hunting, tells me right off the bat that you're probably new at this, right? You do not need a pinpointer for beach hunting. You just pull out the spoils/tailings, and then scan the tailings pile with your detector. Once you've isolated the approx spot in the tailings, you use your sand scoop (I'm assuming you have a sand scoop, right?) to shake out the target.

 

[Hookka]

Alright I guess my machines won't do the wet sand then. I'm pretty much entirely new to beach hunting. I mainly look for relics and wanted to see if I could find something I'd be happier to part with than a piece of history. Looks like I'm going to have to wait until I have something more suited for saltwater.

 

[spartacus53]

Hoola, like Tom said, check your sensitivity setting. You should have no more than 2-3 bars on that Ace250

 

[Frankn]

Your solution is simple. Sell both detectors and buy a PI (Pulse Induction) detector. It is the best type for beach and relic hunting. There are several great PI detectors out there. I would guess that the Fisher 8X is the best and the Whites Surfmaster PI, in all it's versions, Is a good detector for the money. There are a lot of good PI units. I use a 12 year old Surfmaster PI and it will find targets in black sand and it doesn't get any worse than that. Frank...