What am I doing wrong?

[Gumbeaux]

I own a Garret 350 and have been out and about digging literally 4 times. there is a local lake near by with a little man made beach. I had my first find and it was a little bitty silver earring and I was ecstatic. This was my very first find even if it wasn't much. I continued to hunt more and kept getting solid hits and used the pin pointing feature on the detector going left to right and up and down until the signal got stronger to that exact point. I would dig and nothing there. I would grab my detector and go back over the area getting the same hit again. I would take my little pin pointer and stir it around in the dirt as well still nothing. I would end up getting holes at times literally up to my shoulder with the diameter about the size of a 5 gallon bucket. I went to the park today getting what seemed like some good solid hits on the 25 cent to 1 dollar marker multiple times. I dug a total of 3 holes with nothing to show for it. I would assume I would find some trash or something!

 

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[stefen]

probably a ground balance issue...

make a test garden and work it till you get good results...

 

[dustytrails123]

He said he has the 350 theres no ground balance options like the at pro...im going to guess you havent been hunting long and your sensitivity is on full right ....on dry land i dont hunt more then 2 notches from full... in cleanish hunted places maybe 1 notch from full....i find the ace works better on dry land ;-)

 

[RotZorn]

The DD coil is tricky to pinpoint with! Do what you are doing with your "X" or "+" when you pinpoint- after that and when you have the feeling that you know about where it is and how deep, move the coil back with a visual of where you had it pegged.....

In pinpoint mode move very small side to side and edging forward VERY SLOWLY- when you get the slightest tone and a different depth that was (usually) much deeper- your target should be under the front lip of your coil- but- at the depth you originally had when you made your "X" pattern.

Practice that and after a few times you'll be pro at it man- it works like a charm. That, with plug cutting practice and you'll start finding a lot more.

Something else to consider- If you pinpoint then dig and find nothing wave the md in regular or pinpoint mode over the hole again- then the plug. If you get a hit on the plug you cut- that's easy- there's only so much soil in the plug.

If you get a hit on the hole and the hole is deeper that the target pinpoints at- its something big- bigger than a coin or piece of jewelry- usually junk like a soda can or the like?!?!

Hope this helps my man! Good luck! Let me know!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

gumbeaux, beginners coming on forums confused about "disappearing signals" is a common theme. And in each case, there's always an easy explanation. HOWEVER, it's impossible for anyone to diagnose over printed text, as to what you are doing wrong. Because it's always one of those type things where we'd have to be there, to see what you're doing, what you're hearing, how you're trying to retrieve, how your machine is set up, etc... Things like when someone says " .... and I get a signal...", when you think of it, is arbitrary. Because who's to say they're not getting confused by non-repeating flutters? Or hearing the occasional beeps from their steel toes boots? etc...

Example (and promise you won't get "lost in the example"):

One time there was a beginner in my area, who got his first machine, an XLT, from an on-line order. He'd never detected with any other persons before, but figured he could read the instructions, and that should tell him how to operate it afterall, right? So he heads out to a local campground, and finds a few shallow clad in his maiden trip. Ok, so far so good. However, a host of other signals keep "disappearing" Huh? He reads the entire instruction book several times, to make sure he's doing everything as-per-spec. So he sent the machine back to the whites factor for repair. They sent it back saying it's checked over good. So he goes back out, and it does the SAME THING. So AGAIN he sent it back to the factory for "repairs".

And again Whites sent it back to him saying it works fine, and they could find nothing wrong with it. He began to get so upset that he called Whites West coast distributors to complain about their lousy machine. He was eventually put through to Jimmy Sierra himself, who listened as the fellow described the problem of "disappearing signals". Jimmy says "you're operating it wrong somehow". When the md'r heard this, he was sort of insulted, as if he was a dummy, incapable of reading instructions, and/or using common sense. I mean, how frickin' difficult can it be? He had read the manual through several times by then!

At about this time, he got on forums, and discovered that there were other hobbyists in his area, including myself. He asked me if we could meet up, so I could help him figure out what's wrong with his machine. I agreed, and we met up. Within 2 minutes I immediately diagnosed his problem: Each time he'd get a signal, he'd "slow down" to hear better. BUT WAIT, this is a MOTION discriminator (and xlt is a fairly fast motion mind you). So guess what? When he'd slow down to hear better, doh, it would "disappear".

When I pointed this out to him, I asked him: Didn't you read the instruction manual where it said "motion required" ? He said yes, he'd read that of the manual. However he figured that just meant you needed the coil to be swung side to side as you detect. And when he had read that, he thought to himself:

"gee that's a silly instruction. I mean, duh, HOW ELSE is someone supposed to progress through the field, unless they are swinging their coil? I mean, duh, do they really think someone's gonna stand their with their coil motion-less on the ground, and expect to get any detecting done?"

Do you see that no amount of printed instructions can fully convey an instruction like that? Same for things like "sounds". There are some things that have to be seen and heard, and no amount of printed instructions/text are going to fully be able to convey.

So your best bet is to hook up with someone proficient in your area. Go out, flag signals, compare. See what he's hearing, how he's digging, what he chases vs. what he passes, and so forth. Pick a zone with prolific easy clad, not some hard-pounded relicky site where signals would be few-&-far between.

 

[wingmaster]

If detecting a park or a yard make sure you know how to cut a nice plug and use a hand towel to put the extra dirt on from the hole or you and everyone else will lose the right to detect there. There's some videos on the web that show the proper way so you leave no evidence of even being there. Good luck and HH

 

[Gumbeaux]

Ty everyone for your advice. I love that story tom. I am one that prides my self on following directions lol. I completely agree and understand with the whole text example. Its really hard to explain something when you cant see it. I do feel I need to make a nice test garden and bury my targets. Its extremely difficult to do that here. the ground in my yard and even town sucks. Its extremely hard rock, I try really hard to distinguish hardy targets before I dig. I literally have a rock pick on my tool belt when I dig. I did make an open air target field with just laying pennies, gold rings, morgans and even some trash on the ground and felt I was using the pin pointer accurately. as far as the sensitivity I try to play with it when I do get what would seems like a decent target. I also tried like you recommended rot. when Im on the ground and swing my detector over the plug using the pin pointer feature and just see a plug with open air and it still gives me a target. I thought it might be interference with my tools cause I would be guilty of laying them around the plug. so to avoid that issue I would put the tools behind me. Im going to try and record a video of what im doing and put it on youtube for you guys to check out. thank you very much once again.

 

[RotZorn]

There are probably some good how to vids on YouTube that cover pinpointing with your detector in specific.

It's a popular and common MD so I'd bet someone has a vid or 2 on that?!?! Might be worth looking at least

 

[Chug And Red]

Took my at pro out with the Small Sniper coil today NOT the DD Coil I sure missed it!!! A Little trick If you have A Good target pinpointed with a DD coil, Lower the Coil Straight Down, Solid on the Ground Then Wiggle it while the coil is firmly on the Ground usually slight side to Side motion on the Ground If you are Close you Will Get a Strong Signal!!!! Try it You May like It BUY THE WAY GO BRONCOS