hey all new to the site and to the hobby. santa just brought me my first metal detector and its the ace 250!!! in the process of learning. right now im detecting my back yard in long island. and other people here from long island? ?any one know of sum good places to hunt?
hey thnx yea so far found 2 clad dimes and 9 pennies in my yard and a lucky horshoe lol a big one at that lol. and if anyone has any advice with using this device (ace 250) sum helpful tips are greatly appreciated lol
Like you I got an Ace 250 for xmas, unlike you I havent been able to get out and use since the ground just froze pretty good. Hope we both find some cool stuff.
hey skoivu good luck i was able to hunt for 2 days but that was it then the cold came and now all the ground here is frozen but good luck again to you and everyone else. so far got 3.50 in clad lol and alot of garbage lol
I love my Ace 250. An expert with an Ace can compete with a novice with some of the higher end machines. I still use mine a lot in tight spaces and when I just need to give my shoulder a rest from my Excalibur. I found my first gold ring (which is on my finger right now) with my Ace 250 at a park about 8 inches down. It have a trashy pull tab signal that bounced all over the gold and foil range. DIG EVERYTHING until you are 100% confident in your machine, even after that, continue to dig everything in the gold/foil range. Don't get discouraged by the deep iron false signals that sound like silver, they are omnipresent and unavoidable, they even happen every now and then with the high end machines. In thick iron and trash areas will give you headaches at first, but once you are proficient, turn down the sensitivity and you may make some of your best finds in those trashy areas. Practice at tot-lots, get volume control headphones and learn pinpointing. A pro-pointer is a great addition for any detectorist as well. The other members suggesting youtube videos are dead-on. Youtube is a fantastic resource. I used mine for a few hours a week from April to August last year and it not only paid for itself, but for more than 50% of my Excalibur II.
Here are some simple suggestions on easy places to search and get good practice:
Playgrounds
schoolyards
parks (NOT STATE PARKS)
hiking trails
the beach (try for dry sand only at first with the Ace, wet sand is a nightmare)
yards of friends and family
the strip of grass between the sidewalk and road (city easement)
cmalo1985, you'll have plenty of fun with that machine. Now before you get too crazy, it's best to check out the laws in your area. I know that in NYC you need a permit to metal detect, and I'm not too sure about Long Island.. SO check. The permits are free anyway
oxbowbarefoot gave you a ton of good information too. I would also suggest hunting in the "All Metal Mode" and learn the machine from there. Also be glad you have the 250 vs. the 350, from what I understand the only difference is a higher price tag
You should also practice with air tests. Drop Pennies, dimes, nickles, quarters, rings and learn the different tones GRASSHOPPER Sometimes pennies will hit up as a dime, but that's life.. Like OXbow said, dig everything, the machine can only tell you if it's metal Win some, lose some, but it's always fun to see what you find. There are several members on here from your area, so you may get lucky and get a hunting buddy to further show you the ropes.
Please note, the author is not responsible for any ideas, facts, etc stated in his comments and does not constitute any liability for his dribble.
The ACE 250 is a GREAT machine! It's good right out of the box but soooooo much better after you've learned it.
If I were to make a second purchase it would be the Garrett ProPointer. It will drastically cut down your digging time. And...it will cut down the time you're searching through a dirt clod to find the target! Targets that are 2" or less will be "pinpointed" by your Propointer.
Next would be the cheapo Garrett headphones ($26) with dual control so you can 1. tone down the volume of the "bong" noise and 2. keep others from bugging you so much...some people won't bother you if you're wearing headphones (not all....just "some")!
At first you'll probably want to dig it all. No better or faster way to learn your machine than digging it all. A LOT of us put it in the JEWELRY MODE for 90% of our hunting.
When you get tired of digging it all (even in the jewelry mode) you may want to "cherry pick" which is just digging coins. Your face plate has 12 black blocks or segments (and I number them 1 - 12 from left to right). To cherry pick you "notch" out blocks 1 - 8. You'll pick up silver coins (dimes, quarters, etc) and copper pennies (made before 1982). I also leave block #4 to keep the nickels. Your ACE will still highlight all the targets, it just won't make the "bong" noise over them...they're NOT discriminated out, they're just "notched" out...there's a difference! If you wish, you can use your custom mode to put your cherry pick selections and just go from jewelry mode to custom mode.
Save your clad and other coins...mine paid for my sniper coil, headphones, and a Tesoro Vaquero that I use for relics. You'll know when it's time to upgrade...it will be when the "finds" from your ACE 250 pay for what you want!
Am enclosing a chart I made. If you have any questions about it just ask. Hope this helps! DAN
Forgot to mention....cherry picking is fun......but......it's mostly just coins and NO RINGS! That's why you'll get more by staying in the jewelry mode. And since Gold reads in the Foil areas it seems to me that I dig between 300 to 500 pull tabs for every ring I find!
Just for fun (and to help you learn your machine) use your rings and those from family and friends (you want variety) and lay them on the ground and see how they read. Keep notes...what "notch" did they read at? Then...lay a pull tab....a metal washer, nut, or nail next to them and re-test. Do it again with a bottle cap and clad (1982 and newer) pennies. Now, wasn't that interesting?! If nothing else, it will tell you why you should DIG IT ALL!
There's more but you'll pick it up....like overlapping your swings by at least 50%, keeping your coil ON the ground (every inch you're off the ground is an inch LOST in depth), swing slower, this ain't golf (and the recovery time on the ACE is long...like 3 seconds sometimes), etc.
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in the process of learning. right now im detecting my back yard in long island. and other people here from long island? ?any one know of sum good places to hunt?
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Originally Posted by cmalo1985
but good luck again to you and everyone else. so far got 3.50 in clad lol and alot of garbage lol
Sometimes pennies will hit up as a dime, but that's life.. Like OXbow said, dig everything, the machine can only tell you if it's metal 
