Noob Detectorist in Colorado - Nailed It!

BrundleFly

Tenderfoot
Nov 5, 2018
7
19
Manitou Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Fisher F5 with 10" Elliptical Concentric Coil
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Assembled my new Fisher F5 (love the old-school, 'knobby' interface) over lunch, and slipped out for a quick swing at dusk in the back yard. First 4-5 hits were ringing in as iron - not too surprisingly since we just built an addition on the house that left a lot of construction trash behind. It was getting pretty dark and cold so I decided to just go ahead and dig one of these Fe targets. Sure enough, I was rewarded with a 2-1/4" box nail at 4" right where the pinpoint mode said it would be.

Speaking of pinpointing, freebies in the package included ye olde TX2003 pinpointer. It seemed to work reasonably, consistently detecting handheld coins at .5 to .75 inches. But 4 hours later when I turned it on as i headed outside, it wouldn't stop buzzing even with the sensitivity control turned full clockwise. I've read a bunch of reviews that were tepid at best, and saw the Youtube videos on how to juice up the sensitivity by tweaking an internal pot, but I didn't see this particular failure mode reported anywhere. It's a mystery.

On a sudden hunch as I was writing this, I went downstairs to see if possibly proximity to the WiFi router was causing the problem, and now the pinpointer is working perfectly again in the same place it was acting up before. Methinks some corollary to Murphy's Law is active here; works only when not needed. ;^)

Aaaanyway... just wanted to say hello, and report the thrill of my first find. Obviously this is not the best time of year to be starting this hobby, but I had a 10-year Glutton-For-Punishment bonus from my employer burning a hole in my pocket, and decided to follow through on all the time I spent researching mid-range detectors and watching treasure-hunting videos about a year ago.

I'm hoping our usually mild and frequently sunny late Fall into early Winter weather will leave the ground diggable for a while yet so I can practice a bit for next season, and looking forward to finding my first older copper and silver coins. There are no dimes in my small coin collection, so a Mercury, or even a silver Roosevelt, would be a joy to find.

Cheers,
Dave
 

Ogre1190

Bronze Member
Mar 31, 2015
2,063
2,408
Northern Illinois
Detector(s) used
MineLab E-Trac, MineLab Safari, MineLab Explorer XS,
White's 5000 D, White's 6DB, White's 5000 D GEB
Sunray X-1 for the ML's, Garrett PP for the White's and a Backhoe
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Welcome to the addiction from North Central Illinois. 🙋
 

A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
33,807
42,606
Ann Arbor
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Great to see one of the best choices you will ever make.
 

A2coins

Gold Member
Dec 20, 2015
33,807
42,606
Ann Arbor
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
3
Detector(s) used
Equinox 800
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Welcome from MI Tommy
 

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BrundleFly

Tenderfoot
Nov 5, 2018
7
19
Manitou Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Fisher F5 with 10" Elliptical Concentric Coil
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Thanks for the welcomes. Checked out your collection photo, Tommy. Nice! You're just a big a Shinedown fan, or have some involvement with the band?
 

vpnavy

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jun 15, 2008
35,087
18,579
York County, PA (USA)
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
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Welcome Aboard Dave! Take a look at Forum: Colorado for information (i.e., clubs, etc.) directly related to your state.
 

diggingthe1

Silver Member
Feb 11, 2015
2,508
5,841
Victor, CO...City of Mines
Detector(s) used
Minelab EQ800, Ex2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You live in a great town to hunt, I keep thinking of asking permission at some of those old historic places. 80 historic spots came up when I googled Manitou. There seems to be construction going on all the time. I would be looking for those outhouse pits also. I love those Manitou bottles!!! Happy Hunting!!!
 

devldog

Silver Member
Mar 9, 2012
3,632
6,312
Georgia
Detector(s) used
Whites MXT ALL PRO, Minelab Safari
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
A Big Welcome to you to the TQ Forum from Georgia.
 

Oct 5, 2014
31,886
35,424
Massachusetts
🥇 Banner finds
1
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett: AT Pro, AT Gold & Infinium; Minelab: Explorer SE, II; Simplex; Tesoro: Tejon & Outlaw; White's: V3i
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Welcome to the forum! :occasion14:
 

Rookster

Gold Member
Nov 24, 2013
29,382
111,597
Detector(s) used
XP Deus, F75Ltd., AT PRO, Garrett pointer
Primary Interest:
Cache Hunting
Welcome to Tnet from Mississippi.
 

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BrundleFly

Tenderfoot
Nov 5, 2018
7
19
Manitou Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Fisher F5 with 10" Elliptical Concentric Coil
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
You live in a great town to hunt, I keep thinking of asking permission at some of those old historic places. 80 historic spots came up when I googled Manitou. There seems to be construction going on all the time. I would be looking for those outhouse pits also. I love those Manitou bottles!!! Happy Hunting!!!

Thanks. Yeah, lots of construction. My timing is a little off because in the last year I missed searching:

- A bunch of our c. 1900 property that's been covered up with an addition, bricked patios and paving the driveway.
- The full tear-out of our street.
- The tear-out/renovation of Manitou Avenue that's nearing completion (but there might still be opportunities).

Still, I'm optimistic about the opportunities in this area, and many interesting sites within an hour of here.

I hit our property again for a little while over lunch today. Dug a 4"x4"x1/4" steel plate that overloaded, a smaller piece of galvanized sheetmetal, and a very small piece of aluminum trash (part of a screw cap?). It didn't help that the cheap pinpointer was acting up again - constant buzz at all settings. Was going to ask Santa for one, but don't think I can wait that long with this one not working at all. :sadsmiley:

Need to get out in a park where the ground is flatter and easier to dig. Should be able to do that tomorrow before the snow moves in on Sunday.
 

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BrundleFly

Tenderfoot
Nov 5, 2018
7
19
Manitou Springs, CO
Detector(s) used
Fisher F5 with 10" Elliptical Concentric Coil
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
tn_md.gif
Welcome Aboard Dave! Take a look at Forum: Colorado for information (i.e., clubs, etc.) directly related to your state.

Thank a lot, vpnavy. That Caverna del Oro thread and the linked PDF just cost me an hour of my life. :laughing7: An hour, well-wasted, actually.
 

Possum

Bronze Member
Nov 22, 2017
1,912
2,477
Southeast Louisiana
Detector(s) used
Minelab CTX 3030 and Equinox 800, XP Deus, Shadow X5, Shadow X2, Fisher F44, Whites Coinmaster, and Tesoro Compadre'
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
:hello: Hello and welcome to T-Net from Southeast Louisiana..."D"
 

Javadroid

Silver Member
Jul 6, 2017
2,501
2,838
Northwest Arkansas
🏆 Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Garrett AT Pro, Fisher F2
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
You've found a great place for information and fellow treasure hunters of all kinds -- welcome to our community!
 

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