First Day Out After Years

[Mac Tools Dude]

Hi Everyone,

Well after about 15 years I finally got back in the saddle. I had a Garrett GTX1000 back then and really had no one to hunt with and after trying to teach myself the hobby and struggling, I got discouraged and put it down.

I recently came across a friend who had about 5 detectors and sold me a lightly used Whites DFX for $250.00. I did a quick lookup on Ebay and it was a "no brainer". To me this is a much more powerful machine than what I had and has many more features. I was also pleased to see that you can now purchase a "pinpointer' . Wow...how many times did I wish I had one of those back then. I am also pleased with the fact that you can also get rechargeable battery packs. I purchased a NMh battery pack for the DFX today. It's amazing to see how much the hobby has and hasn't changed in 15 years. The one great thing now is the availability of maps online. Wow.

Well after playing around with the DFX in my front yard last week, I decided to go out today to a small town incorporated in the late 1700's. It was as hot as HE** but I was determined to move forward and dig.

A couple thing I've noticed when hunting today in both 3Mhz and 15mhz modes as well as correlate (dual frequency) modes:

The area had been hunted before (holes). The ground was about 2 to 3 inches of dirt with a HARD Red Clay base. And I mean HARD. It was mixed with white quartz rock.

I noticed the detector registering .50 pieces and .25 and I'd pull up aluminum. I found a bunch of trash including nails, door hinges and other junk that did register as pop tops or nails. Most of these signals were never solid and did bounce around between negative and positive numbers. Some of the aluminum did give a solid signal and came out of the ground from about 3 inches. I found one 70's penny that was a solid and unmistakable signal. I logged this into my memory bank.

One thing I appreciated today was that when I went from a single mode to a dual mode, much of the trashy signals seemed to be discriminated out. I guess this is a good thing. I was so used to digging everything with the Garrett and now the frequency ranges and software seem to be much better at helping us keep from digging trash.

I understand that I need to spend lots of time with the machine to learn it. I also see that the DFX has TONS of controls for customization and adjustments of the software. I'll have to spend lots of time to learn this. I found some Whites videos online that explain the software and I think this has been and will help me to learn the machine.

I'm curious and need to ask a few questions?

1. What percentages of "bouncing tones" do you dig?
2. How do you make the decision to dig it?
3. What mode do you hunt in when looking for coins or jewelry?

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm glad to be back in the game and looking for some hunting buddies in the Columbia. SC area. Mentors would be appreciated as well.

 

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[jwelch66]

Glad to see you back into it! I wish I could help you, but I do not know anything about Whites. The best way to learn is practice,practice, and more practice. Listen very closely to your sounds. If you are someplace really old I would dig up everything. Aluminum can read in any catergory. Depending on the size. Good luck and dont give up!

 

[mlayers]

Glad to hear that you are back detecting after 15 yrs. I also have the White's DFX. When I am out hunting I normally hunt in the coin mode. I will normally dig everything. The reason for this is my gold wedding band will register as foil +11 to +14. So if I do not dig up the foil reading I would miss the gold rings. Yes the aluminum wll register different depending on the size of it. You will have to made your own decision on what you want to dig......Matt

 

[deepskyal]

Had a DFX for a couple years. Havent been detecting at all this year, but prior to the last couple years, I was always out.

When I'd come across a bouncing signal, I'd check it from multiple angles. I'd rather spend the time analyzing a tone than digging...but that's me.
If it's real "crackly" at a few angles, I pass it by. If the numbers bounce, but bounce at a couple good solid points, curiosity would get the best of me and I'd dig.

You have to keep in mind that places where coins and jewelry were dropped, junk too was dropped. So that coin or ring could be sitting right next to a piece of foil or pulltab.

When hunting for coins or jewelry, it all depends on the location on how I have my detector set up. In remote, old areas where digging lots of holes won't be a problem, I'll hunt all metal. I just feel I get better depth and have a better chance of finding oddities that might not fit the normal readings on the vdi.
In manicured lawns or parks where you are watched like a hawk, then I'd use the coin/jewelry mode. I might miss some things but I'm always welcomed back.

One of the few times I got out last year with my Vision I was in a parklet that was very well maintained. I had a great signal, dug down about 6" and found 3 quarters. But I had to keep enlarging the hole as there was some space between. A fellow was mowing the lawn and was nice enough to actually mow an area for us so we wouldn't be in each others way.
I was still getting signals but stopped digging. I just didn't want to mar the lawn with a huge crater, especially when the groundskeeper was so friendly.
Tomorrows another day...that signal will still be there...and I'm still welcome back.

Al