Newbie

[prowler53]

First of all I wanted to say hello to everyone here at TN. I've had an interest in getting into the metal detecting hobby for quite a while. I spent the past few weeks here on TN reading the forums,
and taking in as much as I could before spending money on something I knew very little about. I put a $400 limit on what I wanted to spend
for a starter unit, and began my research. I'm sure some of the other newbies know how hard it was making a decision with all of the reviews
and advice you find on the net, as well as the broad range of makes, models & features. After a few weeks I had it narrowed down to 5 units
I had interest in. The BH Discovery 3300, Garrett Ace 250, Garrett Ace 350 And Fisher F2 & F4.
This weekend I had money in my pocket, A Cabela's gift card and $20 coupon. So I took a drive to Cabela's looking for one of these 5 units.
I know Cabela's would not be the cheapest but I had a gift card that had been in my wallet for like 8 months as well as the coupon.
I get to the store and the only model they had in stock from my wish list was the Fisher F4 for $399. I decided I was taking it home with me.
At this point I am still unsure if I had made the right choice. If Cabela's had the other 4 units in stock I think I would have been flipping
A coin in the air. Anyway....The Fisher F4 is sitting here waiting for nice weather to give it a try. I can't wait!

 

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[Woodland Detectors]

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[relicminer]

Welcome to TN! I have a buddy that has a F2 and he likes it, I'm sure you will love your choice too!

 

[Viddy]

I have a Fisher F2 as a back up to my $1500 Etrac.... The F4 is like my F2 with a few more bells and whistles. I often take the F2 out and it's 2 things... #1 fun to use, and #2 it finds things!...LOL

I started metal detecting in Aug of 2011 and love it. I have found some great stuff. I took the advice from some people here and it works. I would suggest:

...do some air tests in your house on some different coins. Just to see how the detector reacts and get used to the sounds on certain stuff like coins, junk metal, tabs, jewelery, etc. (make sure you adjust the frequency down if you are gettign interference. i know I do indoors). The F4 has the numeric display which is nice, and you can see what coins come in at what #s.

...bury a few coins in the yard. You'll get a good idea of how it swings as well as you can practice the pin pointer feature.

... go to a local park. dig everything. yup! You will soon learn what garbage sounds like and what good stuff sounds like and you'll get sick of digging garbage and soon learn what it sounds like...LOL

That's just what I did starting out with my first detector. a Minelab XTerra 705.

Few other tips... get a good digger, get a good pinpointer. Nothing saves time and effort like those two things, and lets for get more out of your day detecting. make sure you carry a ziploc freezer bag if the chance of rain. nothing like throwing it over your control box to save it from the water. Saved me a few times.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[prowler53]

Thanks for the welcome's and the advice. I Could not wait so I took a trail run Sunday AM, even though it was in the mid 30's
and the ground was hard enough to damage an old garden shovel I had. I took the detector to where an old homestead used
to be. It burned down some 15 years ago and it was in an isolated location outside of town. about 2 miles of dirt road leading
to the location. When I arrived I had trouble ground balancing the MD. I followed the instructions and even seen a video
on youtube on how to ground balance, however I could not get the tone to zero out. After trying a few times in different spots
I gave up and decided to just see if I could find anything. It turns out that some youngsters had made a little bush party area
at the location since it had burned down. The place was littered with junk. Dug several bottle caps that were coming in as
25 cents - 50 Cents. An Ink pen, and several flattened beer cans. It was hard digging since the ground was frozen, and was also
loaded with Coal nuggets. The area is a large anthracite location and coal is still being extracted to this day. I'm not sure if the frozen
ground or the Anthracite caused me to have trouble ground balancing my machine, so I'll give it another try at a different location.
Even though I found junk I was pretty excited to get out and give it a go.
Thanks again!

 

[nddfw]

It's great that you've jumped into the hobby... and a fine hobby it is! You get lots of exercise, make friends, get out in the fresh air and on the definite plus side can find some really nice stuff.

Keep the faith... your first good find is out there just waiting for you. Even in areas that have been "searched out". I got the bug when I was a kid and would see the MD's in comic book ads and such. Couldn't get a good one till I was married and had a son so I waited a long time. I got a Tesoro Toltec 100 (still my primary machine) and first chance I got I went out and started looking. The dealer took me to a small park in Tallahassee Florida that had been searched to death by every detectorist in the area, but he said they still made finds. I searched and searched and didn't come up with much more than a few small rings from bridles (had been used for the cavalry after the CW) and some lead, etc. Nothing super exciting. Started to find modern coins there and at a few other sites.

One day, while searching that same park, and never having found an "old coin" save wheaties, I was working near the little kids play area. There was an old curved curb from an original drive or road that ran through it. On that curve I got a signal which was about four inches down. I dug it... and at first thought it was a wheat. I went over to a water fountain and cleaned it up and lo and behold it was an 1895 Indian Head! My heart was pounding so hard I thought it would explode out of my chest. Visions of the person who dropped it all those years ago popped into my head. Here I was holding history in my hands... a piece of the past that no one had touched or seen for lord knows how long. Suddenly, all the junk and walking, digging, mosquitoes, etc., disappeared and all there was was that IH cent. Just an indescribable feeling.

I was now more determined than ever to find older coins... especially silver. My first silver was found at a friends house just off the steps going into the back yard. There was a TON of junk buried in the yard, but I got a very clear signal on this one and at about three inches out popped a 1942S Washington Quarter... and again, that same wonderful feeling of excitement! There's just nothing like it.

On another trip, I went to an old school site and invited another detectorist along as it was in the woods and I figured it best to have a partner just in case something went wrong like I got bit by a rattler or something. We found a lot of junk, some modern coins, an old hand iron with the handle missing. Then I got what I felt sure was a good, strong dime signal. But I asked my friend to check it. He did and he agreed. Then, and I regret this to this day, I asked him to dig it as I didn't want to jinx it. Out came a 1918 Mercury Dime. I have it but I didn't have that wonderful thrill of being the one to recover it.

So far, these are my best finds coin wise but I'm still looking. I've not been able to get out as much as I'd like over the years and since moving to North Dakota have only been out three or four times. I'm still trying to find a decent spot but know it'll happen in God's good time. I've found quite a few wheats, modern coins, junk jewelry, buttons, small bits and bobs and even a few CW relics at our old house down in Florida. My best of those CW finds is a cavalry heel plate with a clover leaf. It's in super condition and my prize... found just a few feet from our house on a well used path.

Just never give up! Do lots of research, learn the tricks on where to search... such as under where a clothes line was, on paths, around dirt driveways and so on. It takes lots of work and sweat but it's all worth it.

Have fun and may you make many great finds!

Dan

 

[prowler53]

That's awesome Dan! I know I will have that same excitement when I find something old.
I went out again today after work...I had about an hour of daylight to work with, and I really
wanted to see if I could get the MD to ground balance correctly. I went to a wooded area
close to home and managed to get the ground balance to work. I had to turn down the sensitivity
pretty low to get the sound to zero out. I took my 8 year old son along for his first hunt and we
found our first coin. It was only a newer penny but he was pretty stoked as he was doing the digging
for me. We were out for about 45 minutes and found 8 pennies and 2 dimes along with some junk
such as aluminum foil, soda cans, brass from shotgun shells. I began to get a feel for the tones
when I hit the coins. The signals were solid and were not jumping around all over the place as it was
for the foil and soda cans. We made about 15 digs tonight and 10 of those were coins so I'm pretty
happy about that. The best part of our short hunt was just spending some quality time with my son.
I can't wait to get back out!

 

[ouachitacaveman]

Congrats on the new F4 and getting
into this hobby. I too, am new at this, and
I got my new F4 for Christmas.
Please keep us posted as to how well this
machine works for you. I have had limited time
with mine, but I think I'm gonna do well with it in time.
I especially like the built-in pin point feature, since I can't
afford to go buy a separate pinpointer at this time anyway.