trouble with beach

[indianhead]

I have been looking at this site for over a year and love it!!!!. I have been detecting for almost 2 years and have found alot of great coins including a 1864 indian a 1877 franc a 1890 seated dime and several barbers . I hunted a beach over the summer which produced coins galore and gold and silver jewelry. I recently recieved permission to hunt a larger beach miles away but when I arrived and started, my machine went nuts and beeped constantly I went back a couple times cleaned my machine ect to try to resolve the problem ,but to no avail. I own a Whites Prizm IV and am thinking of upgrading to a MXT or a M6. I do not want to invest the money and have the same problem. I learned that this beach was a quarry long ago. I was thinking of getting some sand from this beach and taking it to a couple dealers and testing their machines on this sand. I am the only person to hunt this beach and it has been in operation for decades. I know I can litteraly pay for the new detector in a short time. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Please help with info . My favorite coins are indinhead pennies but I have high hopes to someday find a large cent. Yes silver is great too.

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Consider a Minelab Sov GT or Excal for your beach hunting.

 

[EasyMoney]

Don't put any stock in a "pot full of sand test".

I can go to the ocean beach and my cz will work the best and go the deepest, but when I get home, the pot of sand causes two other detectors to read it deeper in the pot. The cz then becomes third place. The same thing happens with regualr soil but the Compass gets the edge in depth there before bringing t home in a pot.

This method of testing a metal detector is about worthless. There are so many things that affect the operation of a detector that it is quite unfair to ANY detector to be tested in this manner. 5+ year old test gardens work a bit better, but still leave one with less than luck in their corner. A freshly buried coin of any type is the second worse method of testing a machine. Stick with the real thing. I do, and it works because that's what we do, we don't look for stuff in a pot of dirt, or in our test gardens.

I can't remember if that Prism has a black sand mode or not, but if it does, use it. The stock 950 (9.5") White's coil may be the bad guy here though. It is not recommended for high minerals, or high salt beaches. Even with the MXT or the M-6 you would need to get rid of the 950 and get a smaller coil or a DD for bad soil.

There are a lot cheaper detectors than a dedicated beach machine that would serve you reasonably well. Most cz's do quite well in any high iron soil or high salt beaches. The cz-7 and cz-70 are the best of the lot for VLF salt beach hunting.

A Minelab Sov works very well and smoothly in open areas and beaches due to it's inherent computerized frequency selection, but it also sucks in close quarters such as trashy parks. If swung too fast both the Sovs AND the Explorers will often overlook good targets without making so much as a peep. You won't even have a clue unless you first run a cz or a PI there before trying the Sovs and Explorers.

The Garretts are not favorable beach machines either.ept for their PI's.. The MXT and the DFX and the M-6 are all-purpose machines, but are not ideal for your uses, however, they would and could serve you fairly well, especially the DFX. The MXT is a bit on the overly sensitive side and can drive some people nuts with it's incessant chattering on hot rocks or high magnetite. The Tesoro Lobo Super Traq (nugget machine) makes a dandy beach machine because it has a VERY fast SAT, and is one of the best, if not (THE) best contemporary auto ground balances on the planet.

Right now though, I would lower the sensitivity, and consider a different coil. Keith Wills could put a different one on it for you for not too much money (less than the price of another detector). Keith's knowledge of detectors and their repairs could have you dancing in the street with a much better behaving detector. Keith owns East Texas Metal Detectors and Repairs in Texas, and he's a very pleasant fellow and a tech extrordinaire.

Give him a call, it just might be worth it.

Good luck.

EasyMoney

 

[TomNWMI]

What is causing the "beeps"

that is what needs to be determined before any kind of reasonable guess can be made as to what the fix is (different detector or?)

Does the detector beep with the coil in the air (interference)?

If it beeps while sweeping over the sand what are the readings? Are they all the same? high readings. low readings, or inconsistent?

Are there gravels or rocks (local or glacial) under the sand? What was quarried there?

Impossible to recommend the right machine unless specifics are known.

I'm guessing you are in the New England area?

Tom

 

[grizzly bare]

I kid you not. At my "local" beach (hundred miles or so) there is re-bar under the sand as a kind of base to hold the sand there. Any detector in all metal mode will sing like an opera star. Check what's under the sand because a lot of beaches were built on old cars. rebar, and other trash. Don't give up on your machine too early.

grizzly bare

 

[indianhead]

I am Indianhead and thank you all for your words of wisdom. My machine jumps between trash and fifty cent pieces when on this beach. I am located in northern Illinois. I tried taking sensitivity all the way to nil and descrimination up up up . and had no luck. It is possible that No machine will work on this beach ( off the Rock River) and if that is the case I think I will just get my screen an sift every inch ha ha I know there are gold and diamonds in there. My budget is around 7-800 $ and some of the hi end machines out there are very pricey. Maybe I will see if I can change coils that seems like a good first and cheaper step. Thanks again and any other tips or encouragement is appreciated.

 

[Mainedigger]

INdianhead...I have a Prizm III and it also tended to go haywire on certain beaches, while on others it worked o.k.. I think the slat content etc raises heck with it in certain areas, I finally gave up. I got an M6 last spring and it works great in the beach mode, but did have some issues with it this winter in frosty/frozen sand, I am not sure how well it does in wet sand for I used it mostly in dry sand and it worked great. If you strictly beach hunt you may want to look into some of the water detectors.

 

[dfxone]

Indianhead, a cheap remedy would be to join a local metal detecting club near you and ask at the meeting about this beach. This would cost you nothing at the first meeting, and if you joined you could meet and hunt with other members who would let you know of other great places in your area to hunt. GH, Don