discouraged tenderfoot

[fantum]

Hello everyone- I purchased the ace 250 the day before yesterday- it was dark by the time I watched the dvd & read the lil book. I was too excited to wait until daylight tho- so me & boyfriend went out into yard with flashlight & tried it out. We found a 1974 nickel & an old Coors can within minutes. I was encouraged by this because we actually found a coin...not that old of 1- but it was a start... 214.95 more to go & I will have pd for my detector! We made plans to go out the next day to a site where I know a train wreck happened in the mid 1800's. There was so much junk & trash everywhere you couldn't go a foot w/o the thing going off. We ignored most of it because we'd still be there. We ended up finding an old rail, spike & some kind of bolt that I think could of gone to train. I know I have the right spot- but the amount of trash is so extreme I am really discouraged that I spent 215. to be a trash digger. I hope I can figure out how to tell the differance soon- or can ya ever? I can't tell the differance in the sounds of the differant metal yet & I'm supposed to keep it on all-metal till I know. We had trouble finding the object a lot of the time- another problem I'm kinda worried about. We spent a lot of time digging & it would be a small bit of an aluminum can- shreds everywhere-& a lot of them were pretty deep-- some things we never found. I am very discouraged by all the litter & I have to say I am very disgusted with people for trashing our beautiful earth. How could they Anyway, I think we're going to try to find places not so littered, (are there any places left?) How will I know if I go to the trouble of digging deep- its not gonna be a damn can, bit of wire, car part, etc. I thought the md would be easier to read as to what's down there....I hope I get better at this...I know I'm kinda impatient. I'm trying not to be discouraged but it's kinda hard with all the trash. I see myself digging an 8 ft hole & finding a metal hog house....& the part about rocks having bits of metal or lead... what if I dig & dig & get a damn rock....how do I know if it's a rock? I totally don't know what I'm doing...it'd be easier if there was a beach with sand nearby-- instead of hard, rocky clay!... I guess I'm looking for encouragement & advice!

 

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[swingman]

I think it's best to first get used to your machine, by finding places with a fair amount of targets where it's easy to dig...like beaches or playscapes (with wood chips).
That RR site sounds real tough, but it might have some good stuff - I don't know the 250, but if you can, adjust the discrimination so that only the right half shows. That should eliminate some of the trash response, though cans can be a problem with any detector. Temper your expectations for now..though I realize you're excited. Keep the excitement - sometimes patience is required, too. Good luck - this is a GREAT hobby!

 

[fantum]

Thankyou for responding... the ace 250 has the discriminater but I was afraid I might miss something good- I'm afraid I have a LOT to learn! I guess I'll try again tomorrow....

 

[SC_hunter]

Don't get discouraged...first and foremost. I have had my ace 250 a little over a month and am still getting used to it. I agree with Swing...You might start out at playgrounds with the wood chips and I have had great luck at school yards, especially the open areas where the kids gather. Pinpointing can be a bit tricky but I have found with mine...that when you find a target...move to the right or left and then push in the pinpoint mode and move back across until you get the full bar..then..right about where the little notch is in the center of the coil..right at the shaft is where the target is located. Another thing, I know they all recommend using it in the all metal mode, but I have been practicing just trying to find the coins and their sound..that will notch out a lot of unwanted materials but then again...you could miss some jewelry....but that is the chance I am taking right now...I was like you..i wanted to find something besides the trash..lol Again, no matter how good you are you will dig trash..just a fact of life. But think of it this way..that is one less piece of trash you will dig later....HH and don't give up....You will do "gud".
Randy

 

[slowreaper]

Hang in there!
It does get frustrating at times, picking out what you have hopes of being a good site then spending hours picking up the trash. But when you start finding those treasures all the trash just becomes a bad memory.

What I would suggest ( I do this every spring) My partner and I each take $5 in coins and plant them in a clear area. Then we hunt each others plants, the one who comes up with the least has to buy a beer for the other.

Anyway don't give up after just a couple times out.

Brad

 

[privet12]

Or you can do like I do sometimes if it a place that is easy to get to and I know that I can come back anytime I want. Go over the place and discriminate out most of the junk and see what is there and how old. Then if it looks like it will be worth the effort you can always go back over it later and dig it all. I don't know about your machine but with mine I can get all of the coins with the exception of a few nickels and rings but if it isn't a beach or someone's yard not too likely to get a hole lot of jewelery anyway.

 

[mgdigger]

I agree, you must get used to the machine first. it takes 50 or more hours to truly get the feel of the machine. start at the local parks and schools, try the different modes and settings. become one with the machine and then go after the big gold.

 

[Natman]

Hey, you just got the machine! Just wait 'til you go to the right place and start pulling up all kinds of stuff..don't forget to check the football/soccer fields and neighborhood yards as well, there's lots there just waiting to be found.

Nat

 

[txkickergirl]

I would suggest that you change modes when you are in a really trashy area like that, I would go with jewlery or coin mode. It helps tune out some of the trash, the icon will still show, but you won't have all the ringing noise. Gold rings on mine show up as nickels always. If you get a strong constant icon and sound then you got something, but if it keeps jumping around and not a solid ding every time in my experience when I dig it usually is a pull tab, foil, or can. It just takes practice. If you practice witht he pinpointing feature it will save you time searching for something. Good luck

 

[Gypsy Heart]

First ....dont get discouraged...but you probally picked the hardest spot to start with for your first time out! Even very experienced hunters will have difficulty discriminating all the trash out of a railyard.

Follow the others advice.....hit some easier places with less trash to start until you learn your machine.

We all get tired of digging trash no matter how many years we have been doing this...and we all come up empty on occasion.....just keep working it....this is a fantastic hobby ...and you will be hitting your first silver soon.....

I found a walking liberty in a railyard by discriminating everything else out.....look where the traina stopped and swept the cars out....usually up the yard a bit and there should be small piles of dirt mounds next to the tracks....I have found alot of great coins and tokens in these sweeping mounds .

 

[Dimeman]

I hope you stick with it.......
If you live in a house and it was built over 20 or 30 years ago, you might try hunting in your yard, to see if there might be coins there.
If you find some, then try asking some of your neighbors, if they have lost any rings or chains in their yard and can you try to find it for them.
You can try some of the playground parks in your area, hunting under the swings, the monkey bars, or near the slides. Of course you want to do that when there are not any kids around.

From what I have read the Ace 250 is a very decent detector for the price. You will find pulltabs,bottle caps and other trash,nickels and some gold rings are going to be in the same target ID as some pulltabs, so you should dig them, and in time, the silver and gold items will be found.

 

[Stormtrooper154]

As a new detectorist also, I can tell you this....You picked a very experienced site to hunt for your first. Try going to a local park and get used to your machine. A group of us detected near a set of tracks once and about 10 mins later we all looked at each other and said "New Site" Both the other guys have been swinging for years but found the tracks we were at to be a hard place to detect!

Stick with it, learn your machine in a park and then start going to the "harder" sites once you have become familiar with your machine!

 

[garbage digger]

Stick with it you will learn to love it, but MD'ing can not be learned in a couple days. I have been detecting for a while and with every new machine comes a little bit of a learning curve. I can tell you that with the ace 250 you may want to consider purchasing the 4.5 sniper coil. The stock coil can be a pain to pinpoint with if you don't understand the various techniques. This sniper coil makes it much easier to pinpoint you're targets and is much smaller so you won't pick up as many targets at once providing all that mass confusion. Another thing you might want to consider is starting in you're very own yard where you know there is no trash and then proceed to bury you're own targets that way you will get a better feel for the way the objects sound and do yourself a favor and practice pinpointing until you're blue in the face that way even if you are digging trash you can do it quickly. The biggest advice I have for you is not to expect to go out and find tons of treasure you're first few time. The ace 250 is a decent machine to learn on, but like all detectors it takes some getting used to. Hang in there tenderfoot

 

[fantum]

Thank you all for good advice. I am going to try somewhere differant. My land (4 acres) had a few old cars on it when I bought it-turned out he used to have about 100 old cars here before he put it up for sale( a junkyard), & the old farmer who owned it was known to bury junk- old hog houses, etc., on what is now my property. I have been here 14 yrs & still find car parts coming out of dirt- tore up a few lawnmowers. I figured -unlike most yards- this would be the worst place to hunt. There is a wooded area in front I'm gonna chk out today. & I'll go bk to the railroad when I'm much more experienced.... I'll keep ya'll posted. Thanks again!

 

[moonshine]

i agree with what everyone else said. those types of extremely trashy spots would overwhelm anyone. a spot like that is not a good place to begin learning. you have to walk before you can run. definitely try a different area for now.

 

[Stacylee926]

I can help, hopefully!

I upgraded to my new ACE250 and have had it for a week - been out about 4 times. The first day I really got out I went to a new place - an old homestead (house now long gone) on the river. I thought "FANTASTIC" - wrong.... the place was so full of trash my ACE went off every step - just like you. I was definitely discouraged but didn't give up hope.

Typically I have been detecting elementary schools because as a newbie they are easy, and right now there are no kids anywhere. Last night I went to a school - was there for just over an hour and found $1.47 in clad and I didnt even do a third of the tot lots!!

I started in all metal, but it was too much. Now I hunt in jewelry mode, because that eliminates iron. I still dig trash, but I can now tell the coin sound. I would seriously consider going to an elementary school to practice with the tones for several hours. Since there are alot of coins in the tot lots you will get a good feel for the signals. Also, digging and pinpointing in wood chips is easy. Dont give up yet!! I plan to go back to that old homestead AFTER I have my ACE all figured out.

 

[Jeff G]

That's about what I would expect from a train wreck site. Lots of odd iron trash, some of which might be cool. A lot of people walk train tracks, the winds tend to dump trash along the rail lines since they are usually raised. They are kind of a "trash collector". Now if you can find areas where there were old train stops with grassy areas, places where the passengers could take a break while the trains watered back up etc. you could end up with some real finds...

 

[jangles]

Another thing I would suggest is to make a test garden, a nail, pulltab, penny, dime, quarter, small lead shot, bullet shell etc. bury about 4" down in a row about 2 feet apart and write on a piece of paper what's what from left to right. MAKE SURE there is no trash in the area where you bury your test items. Then start listening to what your machine is telling you
HH John

 

[treasurejack]

Metal detecting is just like any other hobby and there are few shortcuts. The more you do it the better you will get. Just keep at it and things will come around for ya.

 

[hollowpointred]

trashy sites are something we all have to contend with quite often. its probably the most common reason people miss stuff. i agree with the others that perhaps you should start with another place and then return to the rail site when you have more experience. keep in mind that there will be days that you dig a lot of trash. its inevitable. gold rings sound like pulltabs, crushed cans sound like coins. in time you should be able to tell subtle differences in the way your machine behaves, but even then you will get fooled sometimes. one good thing about trashy sites is that goodies can (and probably are) hiding under that junk. if a coin is under say, a piece of iron, a lot of times the machine will only see the iron. its only after you remove the iron that the machine sees the coin. a trick for trashy sites is to get a small "sniper" coil for your ace. it is a small 4" coil that can get between some of the trash and can be really useful in situations like this. they usually don't go very deep, but they are great for finding a coin laying next to a can! if i were you i would go to a school yard and try detecting there for a while. a school should have a good mix of trash and coins so that you can learn what your machine is trying to tell you. at first dig everything until you can predict most of the time what the target is before you dig it. then you can make the decision whether or not you want to dig those low tones or not. i usually dig everything except for iron. i do dig a lot of crap but i don't miss much either. remember, detecting is like a marathon, not a sprint.go slow, take your time and overlap your swings. if you do this i promise the good stuff will start to find its way into your pocket! hang in there! it gets better!