Ace 250

MongoLloyd

Jr. Member
Mar 20, 2012
28
10
Mendocino County, CA
Detector(s) used
NEW DETECTOR: Minelab CTX-3030
Garrett AT Pro w/ Black Widow headphones; Garrett Pro-point; Lesche digger; "The Bomb #2" Sheath
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
...my problem is the detector picks up every piece of trash out there, is there anyway to not get hits on the random junk>? lol
Welcome to the wonderful world of MD'ing. Your Ace 250 has a "discrimination" button (+/-) and an ELIM(ination) button that works in conjunction with the discrimination button, to add or remove the segmented discrimination markings on the display. Yoou also have a mode button to allow you to set a pre-determined mode, like "coins" for example, that have discrimination set already.
 

Minrelica

Bronze Member
Mar 24, 2010
1,461
581
Minnesota
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab EQ 800, Minelab SE PRO, Minelab X-Terra Pro & 14 other machines
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Welcome to the hobby and the forum.

You should hunt in all metal and dig everything for a while to learn the tones. If you think it's trash, dig it to prove if you were right or wrong. Sometimes gold and silver sounds like junk. Be patient, I found quite a bit of gold and silver with my 250 the first year I started. After using all metal for a few hunts or few hours, try jewelry mode. The machine will still find coins.

Good luck
 

1320Fastback

Jr. Member
Apr 21, 2012
35
3
Oceanside, Ca
Detector(s) used
Ace 350
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Read the Manual. It is all in there and of course all on HERE.

I am new to detecting also and mainly hunt at beaches also. Although I have gotten the "hang" of it I still dig most targets. I have the bottom 2 notches turned off though.

You will find a amazing amount of trash at the beach. I have found it all out here, everything from full unopened beer cans and bottles (still treasure :)) to aspirin packages to pull tabs to zippers.

If there is a sea wall that boarders the beach and funnels the public out of the sand it is a great place to find coins. My theory is that people are getting their keys out of their pockets as they approach the sidewalk and they fall out.

If you go near the surf turn your sensitivity way down to maybe 2 or 3. I find with my 350 that if water has been there in the last 30 seconds that 2 or 3 is quiet. If water was there over 30 seconds ago I can go up to 4 clicks and still be quiet.
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
hmm maby its just me but everything i hit sounds the same lol, ive been getting alot of aluminum, shredded cans to be exact. the stuff is everyyywheree lol
 

1320Fastback

Jr. Member
Apr 21, 2012
35
3
Oceanside, Ca
Detector(s) used
Ace 350
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I never used the 250 so the tones might be different than my 350.

Yes the beaches are full of aluminum cans and shredded pieces of cans.
With my 350 I have figured out that even if its a strong signal that if the tone goes away very quickly it is likely aluminum.
But if as you scan over the object and the tone gradually falls off then it is something more solid like a coin or better.

Just be glad that it is easy to dig at the beach and for now dig everthing until you get some more time under the coil.
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
ah ok i'll have to see if i can identify the tones, that seems to be the key. thanks!
 

MickeyMaguire

Sr. Member
Apr 26, 2012
343
130
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT-Pro, Ace 300, Ace 250, PP-AT, PP II, F-Pulse
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
The quickest way to learn the tones is to set your 250 or 350 in "relic mode" and then pass various targets over the coil and listen to the "beeps" that are produced. Remember that the tones are for your target types based on the "mode" you picked. Those assorted tones change depending on mode. In relic mode, they all work and you can still set the disc/elim modes you want. Once you are used to it, you can customize your detecting modes in custom and hand-pick what junk to disc out.
 

dustytrails123

Bronze Member
Apr 14, 2012
1,012
412
Detector(s) used
Minelab Explorer Se Pro,Garrett At/Pro,Garrett Ace 350,Tesoro Cibola,Tesoro Outlaw,Bounty Hunter SharpShooter 2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
The garretts love pop cans and bottle tops ive dug 18 silver with mine but id hate to count the bottle caps
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
what would be the best setting to go on a beach with, and i cant seem to get the pinpointing down any tips on that?
 

MickeyMaguire

Sr. Member
Apr 26, 2012
343
130
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT-Pro, Ace 300, Ace 250, PP-AT, PP II, F-Pulse
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I have been using either "coin" or "jewelry" on freshwater beaches. I also disc/elim the far left "iron" and "foil" targets. I have also taken out pulltabs, which resulted in finding no nickels. You can also miss rings if you block pulltabs. Some small gold objects might be missed if you block foil, too, but that's the risk you take.

The other option is run in all-metal or relic mode and maybe disc/elim iron only and see if that helps once you learn the tones. Remember, your target ID works in relic-mode while not making as much noise as in all-metal mode with the detectors default settings.
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
THanks for the tips i'll be trying it out again tomorrow at the beach. i'll let you know how it goes, thanks again!
 

Talon

Hero Member
May 18, 2012
633
165
NE Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac, Minelab Excal 800, Minelab Excal II, Tesoro Tigershark, Garrett ACE 250, Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I was out today with my 250 and I've found that the signals just jump around like crazy. I never seem to get a clear hit on anything. It'll jump from the coin end of the spectrum, back to iron, then to aluminum/gold and then to a coin signal. The cleanest signals I got were pull tabs. I was also dinging every other step in that same fashion, so I'm guessing it was mostly shredded foil wrappers. Any hints for the bouncing signals?
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
that is the same thing that happens to me, were you on the beach? maby the sand has alot natural metals in it or something lol
 

MickeyMaguire

Sr. Member
Apr 26, 2012
343
130
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT-Pro, Ace 300, Ace 250, PP-AT, PP II, F-Pulse
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
I was out today with my 250 and I've found that the signals just jump around like crazy. I never seem to get a clear hit on anything. It'll jump from the coin end of the spectrum, back to iron, then to aluminum/gold and then to a coin signal. The cleanest signals I got were pull tabs. I was also dinging every other step in that same fashion, so I'm guessing it was mostly shredded foil wrappers. Any hints for the bouncing signals?

Sounds as though you have a trash-filled site. You can set the disc/elim on the detector to get rid of a lot of trash and also set the sensitivity lower. Default is two bars from the top. Back it down another notch or two. Then, sweep the coil slower and also make shorter strokes to curb the number of false hits. Make sure you don't lift the coil at the end of your sweep, that creates false positives. If you set the machine to jewelry mode and disc/elim iron and foil manually, you will get fewer tones when sweeping over junk, but the arrows will still display the junk target.
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
thanks for all your help mickeymaguire i'll be trying again sometime today or tomorrow, but i will for sure go out in my own yard in about an hour, i have about an acre of land but i know its filled with alot of trash ( nails, random pieces of shrapnel) so i'll let you know how it goes.
 

Talon

Hero Member
May 18, 2012
633
165
NE Ohio
Detector(s) used
Minelab E-Trac, Minelab Excal 800, Minelab Excal II, Tesoro Tigershark, Garrett ACE 250, Pro Pointer
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Sounds as though you have a trash-filled site. You can set the disc/elim on the detector to get rid of a lot of trash and also set the sensitivity lower. Default is two bars from the top. Back it down another notch or two. Then, sweep the coil slower and also make shorter strokes to curb the number of false hits. Make sure you don't lift the coil at the end of your sweep, that creates false positives. If you set the machine to jewelry mode and disc/elim iron and foil manually, you will get fewer tones when sweeping over junk, but the arrows will still display the junk target.

Thanks Mickey, I was running the sensitivity too high. I also was at a hunted out site I think. I went to a place I know for sure no MD's have been and found 1.25 in change plus other goodies. Actually getting signals from a real coin affirmed my belief that a solid piece of metal should have a steadier signal. I think I was just picking up lots of foil before. Really appreciate the advice, tonight's outing really got me hooked on the hobby! I didn't want to leave, even though the sun was down. Thanks!
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
so i went out to the beach today and it wasnt very good, i picked up alot of tabs, aluminum slag and shredded cans. i tried all sorts of different modes and used custom to eliminate the 4 or 5 left notches and still picked up nothing but pull tabs but they were coming up as coins. idk maby im just doing something wrong.
 

MickeyMaguire

Sr. Member
Apr 26, 2012
343
130
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT-Pro, Ace 300, Ace 250, PP-AT, PP II, F-Pulse
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
so i went out to the beach today and it wasnt very good, i picked up alot of tabs, aluminum slag and shredded cans. i tried all sorts of different modes and used custom to eliminate the 4 or 5 left notches and still picked up nothing but pull tabs but they were coming up as coins. idk maby im just doing something wrong.

In that case, try relic mode and listen to the tones. Lower tones are produced by iron and foil targets. Try closing your eyes and listening to the target beeps if the target indicators are a distraction. I work one beach that is filled with foil gum wrappers and old lead sinkers. It has little remaining sand, lots of hard clay (like a brick), and rock. Digging junk on that beach is a pain, but, now and then I find something worth digging. It is close to home, though, and a pleasant atmosphere otherwise, so I go there from time-to-time. In that beach, I can get a lot of pulltabs that are difficult to dig. So, it forces me to be picky about what I dig. Yours may be a similar beach.
 

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mestiz0

Jr. Member
May 9, 2012
24
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
ok will try that later on today! i'll let you know how it goes.
 

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