New to Forum and somewhat to hobby.

[TexasRT]

First a little back ground and info. I am fairly new to MD, I had an XLT in the past and recently purchased a DFX. I like hunting the beach (Galveston TX) and have been finding plenty of clad at depths from 0 - 9", in both dry and wet sand but no jewelry yet. I know this machine isn't water proof so I don't go in water more than ankle deep. Just for the record from my limited experience so far the DFX is extrememly better on the beach than the XLT was, I get very few if any false signals now which makes it a lot more fun. I'm using a beach program that I got off Bob Bailey's site and it also seems to work great.
Ok now for the big question, I have found ZERO jewelry is there something else I should be watching for (actually listening) or maybe it just hasn't happened yet? I feel like I'm doing everything right.
Thanks in advance for any help or suggestion.

 

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[nudels]

Welcome to T-net!

I was absent for the hobby for ~18 years, just got back in recently. It's not unusual, it's a game of patience. From what I read here the place to find jewelry is in the surf, from ankle to chest deep, where people "play". I have found jewelry in the dry sand, including a watch, a chain and a pair of earrings (all cheapies). But the people that pull out the gold consistently are the ones battling the surf with a waterproof machine and a nuttall scoop.

I'm dying for my next crack at the surf, I plan to get a nuttall the week before I go and hope to find the "cheese". Knowing if I do fid some cheese I can impress the missus and justify mo-bettah gear, esp if it starts to pay for itself.

 

[Narthoniel]

Hello and welcome to Tnet, and to MDing. I am new myself, but with the help of others, I have learned a little, and scored some gold on a few occasions. The best place to hunt for gold is in the wet sand at and around low tide. Dry sand holds a lot more coins, but wet sand holds a lot more jewelry. There is also a lot less trash in the wet sand and in the surf. In the wet sand, look for the "coin line". This is a line parrall to the water in the wet sand that tends to hold a lot of coins. When you find this line, if you stay parrallell to the shore, youll find a bunch of coins, and some jewelry mixed in.

I have no idea why you arent finding jewelry, and can only hypothesize 2 things. Either your maching isnt programmed to find it, or it isnt there. I would suggest taking a pioece of silver, and a piece of gold you currently own, and testing the machine on them at the beach. Dont use a gold chain or necklace, as most machines typically dont detect them, and I am not sure if the DFX will. But if your machine is set up to detect them, then there must not be any goodies to find.

I hope this helps, and you manage to score some piratical treasure!
Anthony

 

[TexasRT]

Thanks to both for the tips, I have tested my unit and it does respond to "my" jewelry so I guess it's just a matter of time.

Anthony,
Thanks for the info on the coin line, I've seen comments about it but wasn't sure what they were referring to, I will be hunting it from now on for sure.
With some luck maybe I'll being posting some pics in the near future.

 

[Narthoniel]

I was working a dense pack of coins last night, and below that in the surf I found a nice gold ring. Work the packs of coins hard, i almost always find a ring in or around them.

 

[txkickergirl]

Galveston is an area hit by lots of experienced folks so it might be that its not there, well not enough of it to stumble across. Its a place you probably really have to work for it and that's where experience and knowing your machine comes in. I don't use a Whites, but maybe you could try to really slow down and not try to cover the largest area possible, dig everything and I mean everything, even those little broken tones and barely there tones. Also you said you find coins that's great but what else do you find, if your not finding the sunglasses, hotwheels, phones, keys and misc stuff then you need to start there because if your passing those things up your also passing up the jewelry and not knowing it.

 

[TexasRT]

Txkicker
Again thanks for the response, you are correct I have not been digging "every" signal but I will certainly start.
This is a great place for information.

 

[mumszie]

Welcome aboard! Can't wait to start reading and seeing your finds!

 

[willia in tex]

TKG is right, galveston gets pounded 7 days a week, dry/wet sand and shallow water get hit day and night. That T.S. we had didn't help either, it put alot of sand in the shallow water. It is just starting to form troughs in the shallow water again. I was there yesterday and spent 10 hours in waist deep water, I'm still all wrinkled, wife says it's from age not the water. (The golden olde) is a web site about hunting galveston. alot of infromation check it out. hh willia

 

[Jury Duty]

I'm no DFX expert but I seem to have the best luck using mine with a slightly modified "Beach and Jewelry" setting. I adjusted the Threshold, bumped the pre-amp to 3 and saved it. I usually only tinker with the AC setting and run as high as I can still swing pretty fast without falsing.

My experience has been that the "hot" programs from various websites do gain depth but you usually need to slow way down for them to be effective. The factory programs are pretty dumbed down but compared to what that machine is capable of but, unless you are seriously gridding an area you believe to hold deep targets, you are better served with the simpler settings- particularly if you are in the dry sand.

Definitely dig all repeatable signals in the positive range (not iron)- it's only sand. Good luck.

 

[JackInFlorida]

Hi TexasRT,

I have been hunting beaches for over a year and a half now. I didn't find much of anything in the beginning. You will find some jewelry in the soft sand, but rarely. I have found two things:

1. Most jewelry is in the wet sand
2. You must stay at the beach for at least 3 hours.

I think that I have only found jewelry 1 time above the high tide line.

Also, I theorize that anything I find in the wet sand has been deposited there in the last 72 hours. This means you need to have a busy beach and hunt it on Sunday afternoon or Monday.

Jack

 

[MrBling]

There IS nice jewelry in the dry sand- don't let anybody tell you different.
True- good finds are not as frequent as in the water, but it's still worthwhile most of the time
To be successful, however, you must be willing to work
You must dig all decent signals except iron, and that means a ton of trash
You must be willing to spend several hours per trip
As noted above Sun and Mon are probably the best times, but I've found stuff on other days too
If you're not finding several dollars at least of clad, that means the beach is being cleaned out before you get there
Try a different time or a different beach

 

[Maui Mike]

Wet or Dry,, they both hold treasures waitting to be found.... i know i also find them in both! Best of luck to you and welcome aboard! Shaka Mikey

 

[stormfighter]

Welcome! Keep Digging! Your machine is adjustable to almost any condition.You will be suprised at all the things you will find.Patience,Patience,Patience, Keep swinging there is stuff to be found almost everywhere.There are a lot of detectors out there.Good Luck HH DAN

 

[thorny196]

Welcome aboard !!