What should a person do?

[bignick29]

Hello, I'm new here and I've got a question. I've read a lot of the posts( not even half way through yet), and am wondering about something. I live in an area that has a lot of old homes torn down for one reason or another, an a lot of history has happened. I am interested in getting into this hobby and I have found an old detector in the closet. It looks like a real cheap one like from Wal- Mart or something. Are these accurate or will I just be setting myself up for disappointment? Should I go ahead and buy a new one (thought about the ace250) before I try or what? I do know it works, I put batteries in today but have not had time to try it out good. Any advice is helpful, Thanks in advance... Oh yea mainly looking for coins and old tools like axes and stuff...

 

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[Likely Guy]

Hello, I'm new here and I've got a question. I've read a lot of the posts( not even half way through yet), and am wondering about something. I live in an area that has a lot of old homes torn down for one reason or another, an a lot of history has happened. I am interested in getting into this hobby and I have found an old detector in the closet. It looks like a real cheap one like from Wal- Mart or something. Are these accurate or will I just be setting myself up for disappointment? Should I go ahead and buy a new one (thought about the ace250) before I try or what? I do know it works, I put batteries in today but have not had time to try it out good. Any advice is helpful, Thanks in advance... Oh yea mainly looking for coins and old tools like axes and stuff...

I haven't done a lot of detecting either but do you have a friend (or local club) that has a newer MD that you could compare it with?

P.S.: Nick, welcome to T'Net!

 

[Libralabsoldier]

I find things just fine with my old MDs. You should use them to get the feel for it, and for practice with pinpointing. Fundamentals is fundamentals, you know?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

25 or 30 yrs. ago, the immediate answer would've been that anything bought at Walmart, Big 5 Sporting goods, or radio-shack type things, were junk, a toy, or whatever. But as with all technology, pretty soon, the price comes down, and pretty soon, the cheapie junk can actually find coins. Naturally, you won't catch a pro. using anything but the latest/greatest, but still, some of the cheap ones can actually do ok. It will depend on how competitive you want to be, who you're working behind, etc... Like, you may not be able to find stuff that expert users missed in a hard-worked area, but you CAN get stuff where pickens aren't necessarily difficult.

You need to post a pix of the machine, or the entire brand, model, etc... for someone here to make a more educated appraisal. There's a lot of different machines being sold in places like hardware stores, walmart, etc... nowadays. Some may still be truly junk, others may be ok for easy sites.

 

[Felinepeachy]

If I were you I would give it a test run. Bury various coins at different depths and give your detector a try. Happy Hunting!!

 

[gleaner1]

Step One: Go take a good long look in the mirror.
Step Two: Understand that the easy pickins are long gone.
Step Three: Go hog wild and spend at least $500 on a detector. No less.
Step Four: Go take a second, good long hard look in the mirror.
Step Five: Go out and prove to the world that there is something left to find.
Step Six: Understand that old axe heads are not commonly found, but if you really want to find them, you probably wont find any.
Step Seven: Keep trying to find something good.
Step Eight: Prepare to become a drooling, babbling fanatic about metal detecting when you find your first nice piece of silver or gold.
Step Nine: After finding a nice piece, go take yet another good long serious look in the mirror and try to resist the immediate urge to buy a much more expensive detector.
Step Ten: Purchase a new $1000+ detector.

 

[mlayers]

It dosn't really matter what brand the detector is. If is is only a few years old and it came from Walmart it could be a Bounty Hunter. If it is a Bounty Hunter they make decent machines. Take the machine out and give it a try. Work a yard pretty good and see what you find. If you decide to get a new machine you can work the same yard and see if you miss anything. Never know until you try....Matt

 

[Seamuss]

The Ace250 is really good for someone new to detecting. If you do decide to buy it, you would really enjoy it.

 

[olepossum]

hey go for it go to the torn down sight and dig everything that puts off some sound clean it up take some pics and post thats all i can say. i use a bounty hunter dx a whites coin master 6/db a whites dfx 300 and yes a ace 250 .go man go DIG you never know what you are going to find untill you hear the first signal and turn over that dirt and see what you found. oh also order a garretts propointer pin pointer for finding the item after you dig the whole .if you buy a new ace 250 for a little extra you get the propointer a shovel find bag and a few little books on metal detecting and coin collecting amd a brass probe for digging the coin out of the clod so you dont scartch it.

 

[BIG61AL]

Even a low end detector can find good targets......don't cheap out on a pin pointer, that little pin pointer kept from giving up the hobby......oh yeah cover your holes and post pictures no matter even if it's just junque or not....a post with out a picture is just a story

 

[Keppy]

I go with ..Tom_in_ Ca tell us what brand of detector it is you know what make or post a picture of it other wise all you will get is uninformed answers that mean nothing like you have been getting...................Can not give you a answer unless we know what make & model detector it is............ so you see it could be a real junk detector ..Or .. it could be one of the older good detectors.. I don't know what you have......................

 

[kando]

I go with ..Tom_in_ Ca tell us what brand of detector it is you know what make or post a picture of it other wise all you will get is uninformed answers that mean nothing like you have been getting...................Can not give you a answer unless we know what make & model detector it is............ so you see it could be a real junk detector ..Or .. it could be one of the older good detectors.. I don't know what you have......................

I go along with Tom_in_CA and Jim_K we gotta know what you are useing.....

 

[bignick29]

Sorry it took me so long to get back on here. The only marking or words is on the top, and it says,
V L F Treasure Detector. I took some pictures, but still haven't figured out how to load them up. It also has a dial that is numbered. But as I have been testing it, even with a quarter or something on top of the ground it only hits a 1.5 or 2. I hope this helps a little, I will try to get pics on here when I can.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

yeah, that still doesn't tell us what brand it is. "VLF" simply means very low frequency. Tons of machines use that. And there is vlf all metal and vlf disc. Some early vlf were only all-metal, before the advent of vlf-disc. And some vlf's made by some could be cheap junk, while others are great. So you'll need to provide more info. Maybe if you opened up the battery tray, there might be some writing on the inside that says manufacturer name?

 

[woodwizard]

nothing wrong with wal-marts,I got a BH202 there yrs ago and its still finding stuff.Even those high dollar stores get stuff from china As far as ace its a good machine but so would the one you have if you took the time to learn it-then upgrade

 

[greydigger]

I got a book about metal detecting written by a fellow who started making them in the 1950s and 60s.
Cannot find it now but his company is still in business and there is a quote that I remember.
If a metal detector makes a noise it means there is metal there.
My son gave me a "cheap piece of Chinese junk" and I started finding metal.
All kinds of metal. Some I gave up digging after 8" or so because finding a pull-tab deeper was sad.
And I learned that a 1958 Desoto automobile at 8' can sound like a dime at 2".
Did find gold and rings and coins along with hairpins and nails. Mostly the later. Very mostly.
So if it beeps, dig it. I earned enough to buy a fancy one that told me what kind of metal (mostly).
Cover your holes. Be nice. Watch out for stray dogs that are hungry. Have fun.

Grey

 

[john09]

BUY A WHITES METAL DETECTOR ?

 

[bignick29]

Thanks for all the input. I have tried it out and have found a lot of beer lids and nails. It seems to do pretty well, I can start from here, and so far I do enjoy it a lot. I appreciate all the comments and I think this is a good site, so far everyone is more helpful than I could expect.... If I do find something good, I will be sure to take pics and let everyone know about it. Thanks again......

 

[Curious The George]

Look, what is your time worth?

Torn down houses means nails, pieces of plumbing pipe, roofing nails, parts of gutters and down spouts, old window screen and screen hanging hardware. Without discrimination you are going to get very tired of digging junk, very quickly.

Go for that Ace 250 machine. In the long run you will be spending your time more productively. In the big picture they are not too expensive. Once you learn all you can about that machine then upgrade to that $500 plus unit as you will have some experience to guide you.

Check and see if there is a MD club in your area and join it also.

 

[kando]

I hate to say this but i think you are pulling our leg .. I don't think you have a detector you can not find any name inside or out no pictures. You said on your finds you will put up pictures but will not put one up of the ghost detector....I am not wasting my time on this post any more it's a bunch of ..BS...