Newbie Needing Technique or Equipment Advice----Thank you!

[afreakofnature]

Hello, I have not done a whole lot of metal detecting over the past 2 years because I feel like I am "doing it wrong" I do enjoy what I find though. I am mainly a gold prospector and so my first purchase was a Falcon MD20 to use in my pan. I have since been trying to use it like a pinpointer. Later on I bought a White's Goldmaster GMT. Here is what I am having problems with and I have only been practicing in my yard BTW. I start off using the Whites with wired headphones. I hit something, which seems to happen alot, lots of junk in my yard since the house is over 100 years old. After I narrow it down with the GMT. I have to set that down, take off my head phones, pull out the towel to lay the dirt on, pull out the MD20, dig the hole and try to find it with the MD20. Then after I find a bottle cap I have to untangle the head phone mess load everything back on me only to walk a few feet forward and go through the process again. It is like I have to carry around so much gear that I take more time loading back up and unloading that it does not seem streamlined at all and therefore less fun. If I was on a beach or something maybe it would be easy to just sift sand but its not like that here in SD. Got to dig in the wet glacial soil. Is there a way to make this more stream lined or efficient? Should I use a different pinpointer or smaller shovel or better technique or .........? Really would like more advice so I could have more fun. Thank you.

What was pretty cool was at the end of the day int he middle of my yard I found an only 1941 SD License plate with just D-49 on it. Wow one letter and two numbers.

 

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[Kentucky Kache]

What all do you need to carry on you while detecting? Detector, small shovel or trowel, small sack (optional), pin pointer (optional). If you learn to pinpoint with your detector you can leave your headphones on, and use your detector for checking the dirt. You can use a small shovel with one hand, if need be. But detecting is work, no matter how you go about it.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

sounds like you need to hook up with a proficient experienced hunter (ie.: not just sandbox hunter, but someone who routinely comes in with the old coins) in your area, and see how they do it. Watch where/how they carry their gear (drop cloth, digger, probe, etc...), how they dig, etc...

I know what you mean: when I first started out 30 yrs. ago, everything was a "chore", rain gear for winter beach storms that obstructed the view of my eyes, and still managed to let rain in my boots, and beach sandscoops that were so cumbersome, that it was actually easier to dig with my bare hands, etc... etc.... A list of comical 3 stooges "oofs". But after awhile, watching others, taking clues, altering my styles and practices, now everythign is an effortless extension. No one way to address your particular headaches, unless someone was there to watch your methods, and likewise, you there to watch someone else's methods.

 

[afreakofnature]

At the moment I live in the middle of nowhere. So if I try to find a club or what not it would be one heck of a drive. So trying to figure it out on my own. But I will try to look a club up and see if i can make a few outings or what not. Any advice you guys give me is great though. Thanks!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

If there's no brick and mortor clubs near you (because admittedly, they're usually only in very big cities, at best), then perhaps you can simply find other hobbyists near you, via on-line hobbyist forums. Some states have state-geographic local forums, for instance.

Because again: it's going to be very hard for someone to spot the problem, unless they are there watching you, and you watching them. For example (this is just an example, so don't "get lost in the example"): I heard an earful from a fellow, who was having a dickens of a time pinpointing targets. Would take him 10 minutes to find a target in a hole, and the hole would be a foot wide by the time he was done, etc... And he complained of dissapearing targets as well. Try as I may, in printed text email exchanges, there was simply no way to diagnose what he was doing wrong. Everything I'd type out, he'd say he already tried, and .......... printed text just simply can't convey things like tones, sounds, sweep speed, etc.... All those things have to be shown/heard/seen. Printed text can never do them justice. Anyhow, I finally got to meet up with the guy, and in 30 seconds, the problem became obvious to me: Whenever he'd get a signal with his XLT, he'd slow down to "hear it better". Doh! Well you can guess what was happening: since it is a motion discriminator, every time he'd slow down, the target would disappear (esp. if it was a deeper signal, etc...). And when I asked him "didn't you read the instructions which said 'motion required'?" He said "yeah, but I just assumed it meant I had to swing the coil as I moved through the field. And at the time I read that, I thought "duh, well of course I have to "move the coil", lest HOW ELSE am I supposed to progress through the field??" So you see, in an example like that (don't get lost in the example), that no amount of printed text could really accurately show a person what that meant, without either a) lots of silly hard knocks trial and error, or b) someone good to buddy up with for a few outings.

The same will be true of the clumsy feeling of moving, digging, etc... that you are trying to hone in on.

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

At the moment I live in the middle of nowhere. So if I try to find a club or what not it would be one heck of a drive. So trying to figure it out on my own. But I will try to look a club up and see if i can make a few outings or what not. Any advice you guys give me is great though. Thanks!!

Make a post on the South Dakota forum here, "looking for hunting partner", you may find there is someone closer than you think........

 

[Frankn]

First off forget the headphones. It can't be that noisy in your yard.
Move detector back and forth as you walk forward. When you get the signal move the detector slowly back and forth to get an idea of the size of the target. Now check it at 90 off original course. You now have the location and estimated size of the target. Dig a plug of the proper target size at least 6" deep. Remove the plug and place on drop cloth. Use detector to determine if target is in the plug or ground. Now use that Falcon MD20 to locate the target !
Sure it's work, but it's a lot easier without the headphones. Frank