Metal Detector Where to and How Information!

First, off I hope everyone had a decent Easter! I spent the latter part of my Easter at Chatfield Dam… It was nice no one was around and I had full control of the beach! This is probably one of my most favorite places to hit… I managed to bring home quite a few clad coins along with a couple of rings and one braclet ” not bad for about 2hrs of work”. Anyway, If you have any beaches or swimming holes in your area I would highly recommend you start there at first! It’s much easier to dig through and can yield quite a bit of treasures to get you all pumped-up about Metal Detecting!

Well, as I was heading home… I thought that I would go into a little bit more detail on how to use your equipment for metal detecting. So, here it goes!! Most importantly… ” Work Slowly” covering about one foot per second “if possible”. Make sure each pass you make you are overlapping your sweeps so you’ll have a very good chance of finding whatever’s there to be found. ” Remember, nobody ever finds all the treasure out there!”

Now, if you are using an 8 inch coil, overlap your sweeps by at least 4 inches. Just when you hear a beep you’ll know you’re near a target. That target should be directly below the center of your coil. “I will discuss a bit more about pinpointing your target later”. But, for right now your ready to go!!

Before you get out and go crazy in this hobby, which may be as far as your own backyard for now… You may want to place a few coins and other objects on the ground, pass your searchcoil over them, and listen for the sounds you’ll recieve. I tell you what…. Careful Listening will save you a ton of needless digging as you learn your new machine.

By all means… Spend as much time practicing as needed!! You can start by placing at 2 foot intervals a penny, a nickle, a dime, a quarter, a nail, an old pull-tab ” a square of alluminum foil works”. Now, just listen to the sounds each one emits… Modern dimes and quarters are always know as clad coins because they contain no silver. These coins will cause the detector emit loud, harsh sounds which you will soon be able to recognize “without a doubt!” Pennies give this same sound too- especially pennies that are near to the surface.

If you manage to get ahold of some silver coins-coins minted before 1965-place some of these on the ground and listen as the detector passes over them. You will probably note that the sound is now a more smooth and mellow sound. If you happen to be wearing a gold ring or can get ahold of one… Test your detector on this object… Listen for the audio differences… There should be a very distinctive sound difference! ” Try and remember these sounds”

Now, if your practicing in your yard… Go ahead and start buring the coins and object in your yard! ” Keep note of where they are buried just in case” I use golf tees at one time… Ok, now just rest the searchcoil on the grass. When you get a signal, run the searchcoil over it horizontally, then try it again running the coil vertically. You should get a smooth signal in both directions. If you recieve a smooth signal in one direction but not the other, the target is most likely junk…

While you are learning to operate your detector, check out all your signals just to be sure of how the detector is operating. Now comes pinpointing your target… Which I will get into more detail about tomorrow… But, basically you narrow down your target range by making sweeps over the target in an X pattern Thus, zeroing in on your target… You will more than likly at first dig a bigger hole around your target area at first but soon you will get the hang of it! ” Just hang in there” Also, why it’s important to start in your own yard or a friends if they give you permission.

But, my next post should give you a greater idea on just how to pinpoint so you dig the smallest hole possible!! Hope you all get something from this post… Heading out now!! I wish all of you happy hunting and hope you have a wonderful day!!