Detecting Time for Newbies

[Guest]

Just thought I would share this with those interested who are just starting out.

One of the hardest things to do when you buy a metal detector is putting the hours and using it until you

gain the experience and the bug grows deeper.

You know how it is you arrive at your destination put on your gear and you start detecting. The excitement starts

and after 30 minutes finding just rubbish the excitement can quickly stop especially if your using a one tone beep and dig machine.

Its a great hobby and its very easy to fall in love with the ifs and dreams of finding something valuable being possible each time you head out.

One of the best methods I have used is instead saying to yourself I am "going to this spot to detect" I use the method "I am going to this spot to detect and the area I will be detecting is this area". So I have an area mapped in my head whether the decision is made by using a map or a mental image when you arrive that I want to explore and won't stop until its done instead of arriving at a beach for example and going for a "stroll", not finding much getting a little bored then heading home.

The difference is only mental but if you set yourself a target area you will enjoy it more and get more detecting time in with your finds increasing.

This is what works for me and may work for you.

On a final note valuable lost items, rings, coins, nuggets are out there. Part of finding these is research and the other part is your skill in your equipment and a matter of being confident and walking over the target.

Any others who have other helpful advice feel free to post here.

Hope this helps.

Joe

 

[Joshwasere]

So true mate! Iv'e seen others out there going for a stroll and never really finding the goods!

Also don't be afraid to look in "searched out" areas. You just need to approach your hunt in new ways, search areas where you don't see recent public activity you just never know what has occurred there in the past! Keep searching outside the box.

Your mentality definitely makes a big difference in your outcome for the day. If you go out expecting to find stuff you will and the headspace of positivity and expectancy pumps up your perseverance to cover the ground you need to to increase your find rate!

I have found if I'm tired I will lean to being lazy in my technique and I probably miss stuff!

Josh.

 

[Sa_bogan]

i also agree. nothing puts you in a bad mood then finding nothing but pull tabs and bottle caps. What i keep saying in my mind is there has to be at least 1 coin in every park. once i find one then my will to find the others gets stronger. on the beach is a little different for me, i will go with a time limit in mind. so i try to cover as much ground as possible without missing areas in my path.

 

[Guest]

I don't think a place is ever hunted out.

It might get a bit harder to find something but its there.

Then there are other factors like weather the ground is dry or wet or the time your detecting.

To find great targets though at "searched out" area's you can't use a dig and beep machine unless your a relic hunter.

For anything else you need a machine with awesome iron unmasking.

Just my thoughts.

 

[jwk]

I have always found that if you detect in a park, try to think like a child. Would I swing from that tree branch? Would I jump off that small wall? Would that be a good hide and seek place? Ect.
Using this method I have found many pre-decimal coins.
Oh and look for old tree stumps as these may have been an area in past times where children may have played and dropped coins.

 

[Goldtarget]

Got any finds to post up Wolf? What I mean is I reckon the greatest encouragement for someone starting out is what they can find, and the story behind it, a couple of pics would be great, bit of a detector used summary, ground conditions maybe, depth and why you dug it?

 

[hsvgash]

Very well said, l do the same when l do a hunt.

 

[Guest]

Got any finds to post up Wolf? What I mean is I reckon the greatest encouragement for someone starting out is what they can find, and the story behind it, a couple of pics would be great, bit of a detector used summary, ground conditions maybe, depth and why you dug it?

OK I am up for the challenge.

I will put together some photos and create a post

 

[silver]

Pulltabs and bottle tops let you know that people spent time at the spot long enough to need a drink, everything you find helps tell a story regardless of if it's a good or bad find. I will hunt in all metal sometimes just to hear the story in the ground that's not visible on the surface.

 

[Guest]

Pulltabs and bottle tops let you know that people spent time at the spot long enough to need a drink, everything you find helps tell a story regardless of if it's a good or bad find. I will hunt in all metal sometimes just to hear the story in the ground that's not visible on the surface.

That's true.

But if you have a depth id on your machine if the target depth is less than 3" in depth generally its junk.

 

[silver]

Or cash, or jewellery, or a predecimal silver sunbaker.

 

[Guest]

I went to an old site about a month back.

Objective was to find pre decimal coins.

Theres an old unused trestle wooden bridge there.
All targets such as Screw caps where around 3" in
depth.

Older Coins being heavier than that have to be deeper.

So i dug the first 6 targets same type of target.
Old aluminium screw caps.

What I was looking for was old coins and i knew these
Were at least 6".

So with experience you learn how to use your detector
For your advantage avoiding junk on a very old site.

Hope this makes sense. If i was looking for modern coins
Or jewelery thrn everything has to be dug.

 

[silver]

I found a threepence on the surface a few weeks ago at a park, all those years just sitting there(waiting for me), I guess it can depend a lot on the type of ground too, I think wet ground and horses are responsible for some of those deeper targets, it's not all worm castings all the time(or space dust),sometimes erosion takes away and other times it deposits. I found I could miss a fair bit of goodies at times if I didn't think outside the box.(you find that out as you learn more and redo your good old spots with new ideas and settings as well as renewed enthusiasm)

 

[Guest]

Which state r u from silver?

 

[Heatho]

I found a threepence on the surface a few weeks ago at a park, all those years just sitting there(waiting for me), I guess it can depend a lot on the type of ground too, I think wet ground and horses are responsible for some of those deeper targets, it's not all worm castings all the time(or space dust),sometimes erosion takes away and other times it deposits. I found I could miss a fair bit of goodies at times if I didn't think outside the box.(you find that out as you learn more and redo your good old spots with new ideas and settings as well as renewed enthusiasm)

Silver I've noticed around here cetain depths contain similar targets at some ovals and parks, I put it down to topping up the soil from time to time. No soil top ups and targets are usually pretty close to the top. Though yeah I agree ground type plays a big part.

I got an 1846 Shilling that was only 1/2 inch down, was almost sunbaking for 160 years.

 

[silver]

Normal at the moment, but could be heading for dementia.......but definitely up in the sunshine state Wolfau!

Which state r u from silver?

 

[silver]

Well done on that shilling Heatho, you can tell when a park has been done, you gotta look for the low old spots to do well sometimes.

I found a threepence on the surface a few weeks ago at a park, all those years just sitting there(waiting for me), I guess it can depend a lot on the type of ground too, I think wet ground and horses are responsible for some of those deeper targets, it's not all worm castings all the time(or space dust),sometimes erosion takes away and other times it deposits. I found I could miss a fair bit of goodies at times if I didn't think outside the box.(you find that out as you learn more and redo your good old spots with new ideas and settings as well as renewed enthusiasm)

Silver I've noticed around here cetain depths contain similar targets at some ovals and parks, I put it down to topping up the soil from time to time. No soil top ups and targets are usually pretty close to the top. Though yeah I agree ground type plays a big part.

I got an 1846 Shilling that was only 1/2 inch down, was almost sunbaking for 160 years.

 

[markez]

Hi all, I do a bit of maintenance at my wifes school, when I'm there I go over the playgrounds(soft fall chip bark & sand) with my GMT, most times the haul is $15-$20 for around 15mins work(if you could call it that), I tell you what-some of those kids are cashed up, I'll probably go over them every month or so. I started doing it to look for syringes as some had been found on their oval, preventative maintenance with a little bonus, some days you get some, some days you don't, but you never get sick of swinging, you just have to be positive & think how lucky you are to be doing it whether it's in a playground or in gold country,
cheers-mark

 

[Goldpick]

If I had to design a playground, it would only contain monkey bars for kids to hang upside down on, emptying all that spare change out of their pockets!

I find the best plan of action is to select a certain area to concentrate on, and then methodically scan over every cm of ground picking out good or even partly good targets from the more obvious junk targets. You will be surprised how many good targets are left in the ground from people simply giving up after encountering a few bits of rubbish. Part signals (only register on one sweep of the coil), may well be good targets lying just out of reach of your detector's depth and discrimination range, or how the object is oriented in the ground. In a perfect world, all coins would be sitting nice and flat for a nice full ping on the detector, but coins on their side can be deceiving. Try burying a few coins in your yard and test how your detector reacts to coins sitting in different positions.

I think that is half the fun and skill of detecting, get the easy pickings first, then concentrate seperating all those targets out to decide whether to dig or not. If you have lots of trouble in junky areas, enough to not even want to detect there, look at getting a smaller coil, even a small DD coil to help separate all those closely packed signals out. I find concentric coils in particular are not the best in these areas, especially since they come standard on most cheaper to mid range detectors these days. They tend to see several targets at any one time under the coil, making it a tiresome job of working junky areas. DD coils have a blade like response, enabling you to scan over each seperate object, and get a clear response - your detector's discrimination will thank you for it.

Don't be tempted to run all over the place looking for easy finds, stick to your guns and meticulously search a given area, once satisfied all good targets are gone, move on to the next - similar to when gridding up and detecting the beach.

Regarding pre-decs, as of late I have been finding a few at the bases of large, older trees. Normally pre-decs are pretty hard to come across for me due to depth limitations of the Ace, especially in deep turf. My theory is that these older coins that were intially dropped from sitting under these trees for shade, are being regurgitated from the ground purely by soil uplift from tree growth and roots. Quite often I find that when working relatively quiet loamy soils around some trees, the soil immediately around the trunk can be more mineralised, indicating that underlying more mineralised ground is being brought to the surface, exposing older finds. As mentioned above, pre-decs in these spots have been quite shallow possibly as a result of that. Crazy theory or not, maybe something to consider.

 

[Guest]

Got any finds to post up Wolf? What I mean is I reckon the greatest encouragement for someone starting out is what they can find, and the story behind it, a couple of pics would be great, bit of a detector used summary, ground conditions maybe, depth and why you dug it?

Here you go..

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7367