Newbie in Boynton Beach FL

[tjware]

I just moved to south Florida a couple of months ago and I am purchasing a MD very soon. I have read a lot of great info here and have learned more than I expected! If anyone around Boynton Beach/ Delray/ West Palm wants to meet up sometime, I would love to learn a few things.

I am planning to purchase a used Garret GTI 2500 from a guy, I am interested in hunting on the local beaches.

Thanks,
T.J. Ware

 

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[Sandman]

Welcome to Tnet. You need to know that the Garrett 2500 may not work well in the wet sand. It will be good in the dry sand though. If wanting to hunt the wet you are going to have to lower sensitivity some and ground balance in the dry sand. Then you'd have to do it again in the wet sand. Stay in one or the other. Good Luck.


Read this site to learn.
http://web.archive.org/web/20090406063943/http://thegoldenolde.com/

 

[tjware]

Thank you, I will look into that.

 

[tjware]

What is a VLM machine and will a different coil help? I do not understand what makes a MD work better in wet sand than others, can someone explain that to me?

 

[Smudge]

Howdy.

I think you may mean VLF or "very low frequency". Most metal detectors run anywhere from about 3 kHz to about 20 kHz. But most VLF detectors only run on one frequency, whatever that frequency may be.

I am no tech head, but the problem with salt water beaches is that the wet sand and the surf is highly mineralized, which tends to overload the single frequency VLF detector when you go from dry sand to wet, leading to constant false signaling.

Two kinds of detectors were developed to respond to this problem.

There is the pulse induction (PI) detector which is absolutely unaffected by ground mineralization and gives tremendous depth (targets 12" deep are not unusual). Unfortunately, a PI detector offers absolutely no discrimination whatsoever and you will therefore dig trash and treasure and you'll never know what it is until you scoop it out. Some advanced PI users say they learn certain differences between good and bad targets based on the tone, but that does take a lot of practice.

There is also the dual frequency detector, which will run on two alternating frequencies, usually one very low (say 3 kHz) and one very high (like 15 kHz). Like I said, I not a tech person, but those alternating frequencies help keep the machine balanced. But you often have to re-balance the detector if you go from dry sand to wet sand/surf. Once balanced, the falsing signaling drops off tremendously.

But we aren't finished yet.

Not long ago there was another technological step made by Minelab when they came out with the multi-frequency detector. It apparently alternates between dozens of frequencies which keep the machine very stable and you don't have to re-balance the detector ever. Downside is, those machines aren't cheap either.

You will notice more and more detectors being sold today run at 10 kHz and higher. Part of the reason for that is that everyone has gold fever right now, given the extraordinary price of gold. Higher kHz detectors are more sensitive to gold so people are flocking to it. The problem i have found is that it can be more unstable and isn't as sensitive to silver. And regardless, you have to run your discrimination at a minimum to find the gold.

This obssession over kHz can be a little disingenuous, because its not the frequency of the detector that makes it sensitive to gold as much as it is how the detector process that frequency and its signals. You don't necessarily need a higher frequency detector to nail gold, unless you're talking about tiny nuggets.

One last thing i have noticed. I do not know why this is true, but the lower your frequency, the better the detector seems to handle wet salt sand. I ran a Detectorpro Wader for awhile (less than 3 kHz) and while it wasn't a depth monster, I had no problem with falsing on the wet sand or in the surf. I'm not saying run out and buy a low frequency machine, but it is worth looking into some more.

Wow. Sorry for the brain dump. Hope it helps.

 

[diggummup]

What is a VLM machine and will a different coil help? I do not understand what makes a MD work better in wet sand than others, can someone explain that to me?

Here's a little more info for you to digest-
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/~jesse/treasure/misc/howdetector.html If your gonna detect the beach, the best finds are found in the water, get a water machine.

 

[tjware]

Guys, thank you so much for the info. I just got a call that my Mom in TX picked up the detector for me today. I felt like it was a good purchase, $700 for a almost new GTI 2500, a new ace 250, an extra coil for the 2500, pro-pointer, headphones etc. so I asked her to go ahead and pick it up for me.

Should I try to learn with this thing for a while or try to trade it for a better machine for water?

I am going to let the wife use the 250, so I was excited for the "package" deal. It was his wife's but she didn't want to go after the 1st time and he wanted money for a fish-finder so he just sold it all.

 

[tjware]

I also just read that the Gti 2500 has 8 frequencies to select from, will that help me hunt in/at the waterline?