I have always wanted a metal detector for years and finally my hubby bought me my first one. It is a Famous Trails MD7030..obviously a starter model to make sure that I will really use it. Is it an okay MD for beaches? Is it an ok unit for a beginner?
Newbie question
- Thread starter Holly2232
- Start date
Tom_in_CA
Gold Member
- Mar 23, 2007
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Yes, a begniner's model. But you know how electronics go .... What is available now, cheaply made in China and sells for $99 here in 2008, is probably something that was, tech-wise, like top-of-the-line machines of the mid 1990s. No different than calculators. Remember in the mid 1970s when they cost $500? By the early 1980s they cost $9.99 and did more functions! Heck, now you get them free with your breakfast cereal and they are smaller and better still, haha
but yeah, your Famous Trails detector is like a toy-store model. But unlike the toy store and radio-shack type of the 1970s and 80s, today's cheapies can actually find coins and rings. Maybe not like expensive power-house machines, but if targets are prolific enough, you WILL find things.
Read the instructions, take it out for a spin on the beach. For sure it will work on the dry sand (that's like detecting through thin air). But as for whether it's able to do wet sand (wet salt and minerals plays havoc on some machines), do this test: Bury a penny or dime at the water's edge, about 4" to 6" deep. Wait for ebbing waves to wash back and forth over the spot a few times, so that there's no air pockets or uneven ground. You want your test coin to perfectly mimic a coin that's actually there, not one freshly planted. Once the wet sand is washed over and hard-packed again, sample it with your machine. Then you'll know if your unit is ok for wet salt sand. And be careful: just because you get a beep over the spot where you buried it, your test isn't done. Now go swing to all sides of it, up, back, several feet away, and make sure you're not just hearing beeps everywhere. If you do, and they fail to "repeat in the same spot", then you are merely hearing false signals everywhere. That means you're too sensitive, or the machine's just not a machine suited to the wet salt (lack of ability to track to mineral and salt changes, or whatever).
As for where on the wet sand to hunt, look for eroding spots: low spots - like scallop shaped lows as you're walking down the beach. Damp spots that jut further into the beach than surrounding areas. That means that spot is lower than the rest of the beach's wet sand. Steep slopes, where the sand takes an abrupt drop to the water's edge, could indicate sand movement over the previous night or two. And finally, cuts that occur after storms. Sometimes you'll find spots where mother nature does all the work for you, and deposits all the goodies into little zones, like a natural riffle board or sluice box.
Last rule: You must send me 50% of all your finds from the first year! haha
but yeah, your Famous Trails detector is like a toy-store model. But unlike the toy store and radio-shack type of the 1970s and 80s, today's cheapies can actually find coins and rings. Maybe not like expensive power-house machines, but if targets are prolific enough, you WILL find things.
Read the instructions, take it out for a spin on the beach. For sure it will work on the dry sand (that's like detecting through thin air). But as for whether it's able to do wet sand (wet salt and minerals plays havoc on some machines), do this test: Bury a penny or dime at the water's edge, about 4" to 6" deep. Wait for ebbing waves to wash back and forth over the spot a few times, so that there's no air pockets or uneven ground. You want your test coin to perfectly mimic a coin that's actually there, not one freshly planted. Once the wet sand is washed over and hard-packed again, sample it with your machine. Then you'll know if your unit is ok for wet salt sand. And be careful: just because you get a beep over the spot where you buried it, your test isn't done. Now go swing to all sides of it, up, back, several feet away, and make sure you're not just hearing beeps everywhere. If you do, and they fail to "repeat in the same spot", then you are merely hearing false signals everywhere. That means you're too sensitive, or the machine's just not a machine suited to the wet salt (lack of ability to track to mineral and salt changes, or whatever).
As for where on the wet sand to hunt, look for eroding spots: low spots - like scallop shaped lows as you're walking down the beach. Damp spots that jut further into the beach than surrounding areas. That means that spot is lower than the rest of the beach's wet sand. Steep slopes, where the sand takes an abrupt drop to the water's edge, could indicate sand movement over the previous night or two. And finally, cuts that occur after storms. Sometimes you'll find spots where mother nature does all the work for you, and deposits all the goodies into little zones, like a natural riffle board or sluice box.
Last rule: You must send me 50% of all your finds from the first year! haha
golddigger14s
Sr. Member
It's like any other hobby/sport, Tiger Woods probably did not start out with $1000 clubs. I took 2nd place in a coin shoot with a Bounty Hunter, now I have a GB 2 and a Teknetics T2 also. So make sure you like the sport/hobby, learn from others, then upgrade. There is probably a club in your area that will be very informative.
Rob66
Bronze Member
The BH tracker IV works great on the beach just don't get the coil wet. 
pokerdad911
Full Member
I bought a 40 dollar trails detector 4 my daughter, She was finding coins like crazy at her elem school, around 3'' deep. Decent 4 a starter detector. GOOD LUCK.
pokerdad911
Full Member
ANY LUCK WITH YOUR DETECTOR? FIND SOME COINS WITH IT? IF SO POST UR FINDS. GOOD LUCK.
pokerdad911
pokerdad911
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