Ace 250

[USTiger]

Acording to the UPS Track and Trace i should resive my ACE250 tomorrow .. Monday July 10 .. so i would be happy for any pointers/tips you could give me .. i hope to find lots of coins ..

USTiger

 

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[TXKajun]

UST, you have one coin poppin' machine on its way! I've had mine for about 8 months now and LOVE it! In fact, this weekend, I hit all 4 of the fireworks stands here and found right at $4 in clad......and only one of the coins was a quarter! Most were 2" or less in the ground.

As for tips, hmmmmmmm, first thing is learn to differentiate between the sweet bell tone of a penny/dime/quarter and the blat of a pop top! Also, check what tone and signal indication you get using both a gold ring and a silver ring! They show up in the "poptop" range, so be careful not to overlook them! When you start to find nickels, that's a real good sign. This'll start you off with more good targets dug and less trash.

Second thing, get the big coil if you can.....I think it's what 9X12?? You can cover bunches more ground and don't lose sensitivity.

Next, plan on hunting your yard first, playgrounds second, schoolyards third and under bleachers at sports fields fourth. Anywhere kids play, especially kids under about 15 (seems like at that age, they actually become money conscious! LOL) and if adults watch them, that's a good thing too.

Next, practice pinpointing.....AND get a little inexpensive pinpointer. I use a TinyTec Deluxe....on sale now for $39, I think, and that thing is invaluable! Cuts recovery time by a bunch and you dig much smaller holes. But it's only good down about 1.5-2", so for deeper targets, you'll have to learn to pinpoint using your Ace. There's a great video on the Garrett site.

Finally, "GETRDONE!" I mean, get yourself and that Ace out and use it! USE IT! USE IT!!!! Did I make my point?? LOL The more you use it, the better you'll get. I could easily get a "better" detector (ie, more expensive), but for what I do.....coin shooting and jewelry finding......the Ace is the top of the line!

I haven't found anything real old, but I have found several wheat pennies, bunches of clad and lots of rings. So far, the rings are pretty much cheap stuff, but I just KNOW there's a $15,000 ring just waiting for me to find it! I run almost all the time in "Jewelry" mode at about 3 or 4 bars. Any more sensitivity and I seem to get false signalling, especially at the end of my swings.

Good luck and enjoy the addiction!!

Kajun

 

[Sandman]

Read all you can about detecting on the web sites of the manufactures, even the ones that aren't Garrett.

Those false signals some ACE users get is from not having a ground balance and at the end of the swings the coil is higher off the ground than right in front of them. You lose a lot of depth this way and alot of deeper old coins. Over lap at least by half too to cover the max. gound at depth.

don't hurt yourself on the staples in the box.

Sandman

 

[ringfinder]

Welcome to the world of metal detecting and the ACE 250. You just bought
a great machine.

First of all like TXK, said, use it, use it, use it. I myself have 7 different detectors.
But now that I have the ACE 250, I use it all the time now and use my Whites XLT, Fisher 1235,
Minlab Sovereign, and others as back up machines.

I like to run my machine in Jewelry mode. I also run low sensitivity, around 4 nothes showing.
If you can run higher do it, but if the machine seems to be giving you a lot of strange signals, turn
your sensitivity down.

I also use a probe. I use the SunRay Probe that attaches right to your machine. It costs almost
as much as your machine, but it will pay for itself in no time.

I dig most signals if they sound good and if they are deep. I'm talking 4,6,or 8 inches. I dig all
of those signals good or bad, and most of them are good items.

Make sure you dig in properly. Use your digger to dig the item after you have pinpointed it.
I always dig a U hole, just three cuts and flip the sod over. After you find the item, I like o use
a plastic bag, small one, to put the soil on and then check for the target, then put the soil back
into the hole and flip the U shaped plug back down and clean up your area.
The best time to hunt is in the spring, the wetter the better. In the summer you can leave
lots of brown spots in a yard and that is a no no.

If you would like to see some of the items I have found this year with my ACE 250, just look at
Today's finds Page. Look at past posts from Ringfinder. There are many and you may have to look as
far back as March or earlier.

Hope this helps you out. HH, Ringfinder

 

[Silver Striker]

Hello, new poster here. First off, let me say that I live in Melbourne, Florida, near the treasure coast. The idea of finding 1715 Fleet treasure is the ultimate dream, but I'm willing to work my way up to that goal, slowly. Right now I'm thinking about dry beach hunting on the treasure coast and I also would like to go to the Northern Georgia/Alabama gold belt and hunt for nuggets, eventually. I'm not sure how quickly I'll get discouraged though, if I don't find anything descent in the first few outings, so I don't want to go crazy and buy a high-end gold detector just yet. Would the Ace 250 be a good choice for a beginner, who's kind of wishy washy, to find some gold jewelry or pirate booty on the treasure coast beaches or nuggets up in Georgia? I don't want to invest a whole lot of money yet, as this may just be another of my many passing fancies. I've read a lot of stuff online that leads me to believe that metal detecting and especially panning are lots of work and the rewards (especially for beginners) won't pay your rent, so I'm a little skeptical about the entire venture. I've also heard that to have a realistic chance of finding lots of gold, you have to get your feet wet, be pretty experienced and own lots of equipment. But I do hear great things about the Ace 250. Has anyone found any serious gold with it yet? What about silver? How much (in total value of all types of coins, jewelry, nuggets, etc.) can I expect to find (in the Georgia gold belt and/or the treasure coast of Florida) per say 10 hours of metal detecting on dry land? Will the Ace be sufficient or do I need to get my feet wet and invest in pans, picks, pinpointers, etc. Thanks in advance, Silver Striker

 

[Dick from IA]

I've used the Ace 250 on dry ocean sand near Jensen Beach FL, which is not far south of you, Silver Striker. My Ace worked just fine in my opinion, not experiencing any falsing unless touching wet sand. No serious finds, just clad and some kid's sand toys.

The Ace has automatic ground balance, so I'm sure a detector with manual GB capabilities would be better; but I was satisfied.

Something else to think about; if you're getting into this to make a living, it ain't gonna happen (unless you make a miracle find somewhere). For most of us, recovering $5 in coins on a hunt is a very good day; it's a hobby, that's all.

DFIU (Dick from IA)

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I've read a lot of stuff online that leads me to believe that metal detecting and especially panning are lots of work and the rewards (especially for beginners) won't pay your rent, so I'm a little skeptical about the entire venture.

I'm sorry, this one made me laugh. This is the wrong attitude. No, it will NOT pay your rent, and you should not expect it to. You have to enjoy it as a hobby. Most of us enjoy history and old relics or coins, and we do not usually sell our finds unless we really get desperate. The chance of finding something big is always there, but will only happen with super good luck or hard work.

 

[Silver Striker]

Thanks guys. Now I know not to empty my life savings to buy a high-end metal detector in order to try to make a living off of this. $5 in change doesn't interest me in the least. Not even worth my time. I'm thinking gold jewelry and nuggets, diamond rings, etc. Yes, I'm in it for the payoff, not the excercise or hobby aspects of it. Maybe I'll invest a little more and go for a Tesoro Cibola or Vaquero instead. They seem to do better on wet beach sand and are better at finding gold, according to the reviews. Of course they cost more too, but you get what you pay for. Eventually, I will be forced to make a living off the land, by fishing and gold hunting, so I hope that it's possible, with some experience, persistance and the right equipment and location. Like I said, I do live right near the treasure coast in Florida and plan on visiting Nothern Georgia (Nuggetville). Has anyone found any dubloons on the Treasure Coast lately? How about treasure chests full of gold and jewels? lol I guess not.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Here is an old post where someone asked the same question.
http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,42183.0.html

 

[Captain Trips]

I'm in it for the payoff, not the excercise or hobby aspects of it. Maybe I'll invest a little more and go for a Tesoro Cibola or Vaquero instead. They seem to do better on wet beach sand and are better at finding gold, according to the reviews. Of course they cost more too, but you get what you pay for.

Ha, ha, ha. If you had the money for a higher end machine, I would suggest using it to set yourself up in a "real job" situation. If you are paying three times as much for an Ace, you may actually manage to find twice as much (though I doubt it would be that high.) So, your return-on-investment would actually be lower.

Listen to what people are telling you here. One does not take up metal detecting as a source of income. Yes, there are tales of those finding "the big one" but those are vastly outweighed by those who don't. Just like olde-tyme gold prospectors -- a few made it rich, most didn't even make back the investment they made to become prospectors.

This is a hobby where a few people get lucky. As a means of living, though, well, I hope your van is comfortable and you like eating out of dumpsters. (Do I sound extreme? Well, I may be exaggerating here, but I doubt that it's much exaggeration to say you won't make a living with a metal detector.) If you can currently afford a high-end md, save your money, buy a low-end one (the Ace 150 or 250 ARE good choices) and get yourself a part-time job which will give you plenty of md time. And if you do get that big find, more power to you. But don't expect to do so consistently.

Good luck. I mean that. It will take very good luck to make a good living at it.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

As you should know, you really cannot sleep in a van in the South Florida summer. :P In the winter OK. You maybe could get a cheap room in the summer, being the off season. 8)

 

[Silver Striker]

Ok guys, I get it. SS

 

[Captain Trips]

Ok guys, I get it. SS

But don't let that put you off of the hobby -- it can be great fun. And a great way to meet girls, I've found. When the lovely ones come up to you wearing only bikinis and smiles, and ask what you've found, well, that is a great way to "break the ice" -- which I would gladly follow up on, but then my wife would wonder where I was. And she's made it clear -- I'm only allowed to flirt when she's around to watch. (And maybe flirt a bit herself!)

Have fun, and I hope everything else comes together for you.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

But don't let that put you off of the hobby -- it can be great fun. And a great way to meet girls, I've found. When the lovely ones come up to you wearing only bikinis and smiles, and ask what you've found, well, that is a great way to "break the ice" --

Nice to be young. I had so many plans and ideas....

 

[Silver Striker]

No, I'm not discouraged at all, Captain Trips. In fact, I'm going to break in my Garrett GMH CX3 on Sunday. I'm sure I'll figure out, soon enough on my own, that I can't make a living off of it. I have some savings to fall back on though, so I can probably do this for about 3 months, before I'll have to get a job. SS

 

[DANGLANGLEY]

I have got myself out of a few jams in the past by selling what I found MD'ing but that was from years of keeping what I found for just such an emergency. Getting into this for the money would be a pipe dream for about 99% of us. Good luck to you though. You might just be the 1% thats left.

 

[ztzzt]

I don't agree with the folks that say buy a Ace 250 or comparable to get started. I wish I had gone to the top end to begin with and spent my time learning a top end machine. You WILL want to upgrade. Like everything else I have done, and learned the hard expensive way, just buy the best one and get it over with.

 

[WinnGoldDigger]

If I were in your shoes, and not MD'ing for the pleasure of it, I believe I'd forego getting a high end detector and probably a low end detector also. I'd probably take the cash I have on hand and sink it into some nice technology stock, or possibly even drop it into the gold market. I believe you'd see a greater return on your money that you will by walking the beach with an ACE 250. As everyone has said before, there is great enjoyment to be had by metal detecting, but not alot of profit unless you are one of the very lucky few.

 

[Wabash]

Hey SS: If I were you, I'd give the m.d. option a shot if you have someone to wash your clothes, fill your belly, put a roof over your head, give you haircuts, pay your dentist, buy your gas and pay for insurance, replace run down batteries for your unit----just for a start. By all means buddy, go for it!

 

[Willy]

A goodly chunk of my income comes from MD'ing.. which includes nuggetshooting. A few years ago I spent 2 months in Eugene, Oregon, camped out in my RV ('56 bread truck kitted out) and kept myself in food and gas with the change I found detecting with the Gold Stinger I had at the time. A buddy of mine knew a woman that travelled the U.S.A. and supported herself with her detecting finds. It can be done.. if you're not one to follow the herd and have a great deal of 'stick to it'ness'. ..Willy. ps. you also gotta be thrifty.