I went back to the old fire tower to do some more digging after I had found a nice wheatie and it turned out to be a discouraging trip for me. It was hot and the bugs took no prisoners and I wonder if I have a clue to what I am doing. I've tried a bunch of ways to decipher out the pull tabs and trash but it's a losing battle with my Tesoro Silver Umax. My haul for about 5 hours was one 86 memorial penny, numerous pull tabs, crushed cans, rifle shells, 2 tent pegs not pictured and one neat object, a hand made hammer...
I need to get out with someone who can help me figure this machine out. It has to be me. Could I have been so wrong on coins being there? I guess so. I can live with that but I have a problem when the machine or me can't tell a pop top from a coin....
I'm not going to give up. I will only get better....
From the junk digs it looks like there should be some coins there. I don't know anything about your detector but I would dig only repeatable items that were at least 6 inches in depth. This will increase your odds. Jim
Hey Author man don't give up the ship! we all dig pulltabs, and if your not diggin pulltabs your chances of missing things like gold rings are pretty good. As Jim stated after you become more aquainted with your machine you will be able to decipher out the difference between a pulltab and a strong signal like a gold ring will produce. I am not fimaliar with that Tesoro model but I will say that if it shows VDI numbers watch for fluctuating numbers as pulltabs will give off jumpy numbers and the same goes for sound. If you are using a good set of headphones you will be able to hear the difference in the tones, junk will generally give off a more....Scratchy sound where as a good target will be more of a solid tone. Next time your in an area like that and find a signal, close your eyes and just keep swinging above the target and listen carefully to the sound, you will begin to notice a difference between junk and treasure. Hope this helps
Fisher F75, Tesoro Tejon, Fisher F70, Minelab Explorer SE, Fisher 1266x, Tesoro Silver Umax
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Re: Trip to fire tower
Authorman, it's partly you and partly the machine! Seriously, all metal detectors have big problems with trash - but once you get used to it, you can ID trash pretty easily. Here's a couple of things with the silver umax.
You will always dig pulltabs if you site is newer than say 1920. I have used $1000 TID machines that do it all, and they ALL dig pulltabs sometimes.
You can eliminate digging the crushed cans easily.
Remember almost all signals will not be coins. Most sounds you hear will be trash. You absolutely must focus on the makeup of the sound you hear. Forget the discrimination dial for now. Since you want to dig coins, you need to trust that they will almost always give "small" smooth signals.(especially on the silver umax) Sweep back and forth from many angles centering the target and you will just know it when you hear it. You will be able to visualize a tiny round object, I know it sounds strange but it's true! A larger crushed can or chunk of aluminum will almost always give a "large mis-shaped" overwhelming signal. The coin and can will both register like a coin on the dial, but you must concentrate on the size of the signal and the duration as you swing the coil over it. Doing this will eliminate 95% of the large aluminum.
Also, once you get that "smooth, round, small" target sound you are not done yet. You need to get a rough estimate of depth by sweeping the coil back and forth from the ground and slowly raising it up. If you life about 3-5" up, and the signal disappears - then you have a target a few inches deep. If you can only lift it 2" - then it's a little deeper. This can also help ID large trash b/c with it, you will be able to lift the coil about a foot off the ground before the signal disappears - it's a can - don't even dig it. Some people say, wah! That could be something good. Yes it could, but the chance of a buried treasure chest in the middle of a park is slim, so I usually just skip it.
Now, for pulltabs. This is tricky but you can do a few things to help avoid most of them with the silver umax. First realize that different pulltabs read differently and based upon how old they are if they are broken/bent. Some you will never ever be able to avoid - the old circular ones and old large square tabs. But for the new ones, this trick works for me.
When you dig one, wave it in front of the coil and very slowly dial the discriminate up while swinging it over the tab until it just starts to break up or crackle. Make sure it gives a broken signal. Make a note of exactly where the dial was when the signal "broke up". Now with every good small smooth signal you detect, slowly scroll up the discriminate dial while swinging it back and forth. If it breaks up on the line, there you go - likely a pull tab-skip it. If it continues to sound strong - probably a coin - if you keep going up past tab - probably a copper coin or silver coin.
As for bottlecaps and screw caps - I got no help for you, they always fool me.
When I hunt in a modern park I always try to remember to ONLY dig the signal after I have used everything possible to identify it. There are so many GOOD signals to dig in most parks, that one should not necessarily get caught up on that broken signal that you have a "hunch" is a coin - it probably isn't. Of course when all the good signals are gone, dig the broken ones. However, you must maximize your chances of success by digging mostly high probability targets. The more trash you leave in the ground, the more coins you will dig.
Don't give up. You will get it. It just takes a little more practice. PM me anytime for specific questions.
ian
A bad day metal detecting is better than a good day at work . . .
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Seriously, all metal detectors have big problems with trash - but once you get used to it, you can ID trash pretty easily. Here's a couple of things with the silver umax.
