Clearly Im doing something wrong here.

[trillionagesprout]

Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

Okie, I'm starting to get kind of frustrated here.

I took my metal detector out for the first time the other day, and I've been using it every day since. The problem is that, well, I can't seem to be able to dig up whatever my detector is picking up.

I take my detector out to the backyard(it's an ace 250 for reference), and I hear a bell sound. So I go over the area several times with the detector, to make sure that there's actually something underground, and I point at the spot from different directions. And when I figure out where the center of my coil's pointing at and, presumably, where the cash in question is, I get to dig.

And I dig, and I dig, and I dig... and there's nothing there! Nothing! I spent a freaking hour digging up the last thing I picked up, and didn't find a thing!

I did manage to find some things, two weird trash items and this penny I buried out there so I could figure out how to use my detector. When I think about it, whenever I dug the holes, the items in question were always just outside of the hole, if you get my meaning -- I pulled one trash item out of the side of one hole I dug. Because of that, I'm not necessarily sure if it's me or not.

So, umm, any help?

 

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[JACKOJohn Stanwix]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

Trillion--- Don't know how big your coil is?? But, rule of thumb especially for us nugget hunters is mark you spot like you have been, then dig a hole alittle bigger than your coil. After digging the service dirt, and it's a way from hole, test hole again. do this until the signal is out of the hole. Then check your pile.
Don'[t know whate type of pick or what your digging, but I use a hodan pick that has a 30" handle makes it easier to dig deeper. Put a strong magnet on the flat part of the pick and it's pick up most iron objects.
If the object is very large, sometimes your detector will pick it up before you over it. It will cause the detector to over load. You can't miss the sound. these are hard to pin point unless you have a whites detector.

Jacko

 

[omnicognic]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

The best solution is to plant a "coin garden". take a handfull of change and bury each coin at various depths and practice pinpointing their locations, if your md has an all metal mode use this for finding the exact spot to dig. Hunt normally, when you get a "hit" switch to all metal and criss cross up and down and left and right(like you said you were) this should give a much better idea of the target location. The key is all metal for pinpointing and lots of practice! May you never dig a pop-top! Good luck! Happy Hunting! 8) omnicognic

 

[Vingamel]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

I did out a plug with my knife, set the plug next to the hole, and then sweep my coil to see if the target is in the plug, or still in the hole. If it's in the hole, see if you can figure out which side it's on, or if it's right in the middle of the hole (using the cross-hatch method). If it's in the plug, cut it in half, then check both plugs. Keep splitting the plug in half until you find the target.

 

[hollowpointred]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

i just recently got an ace 250 as well. all i can say is read the owners manual on pinpointing. there is also some VERY usefull info in another thread on the forum regaurding pinpointing with the 250. it takes some practice and i am not an expert by any stretch but i have been sucessfull in finding most of my targets with just one plug being dug. it seems to me after a couple of times out with the ace that it is a rather quirkey machine that is going to take some practice to learn what it is trying to tell me. it seems to be very sensitive but i think you have to develop a feel for the machine. read the book and keep practicing! it seems to be working for me!

 

[sgoss302]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

I also have an ace 250. I have been going out for the past two days and have recovered a pocket full of coins and a hotwheels car. I am using the relic and coin mode. I have notched out the foil and pull tabs. I use a $0.97 cents plastic garden trowel from Wal-mart. When I am on a coin my detector goes be-ding be-ding be-ding real fast. I kneel and place the detector on knee and scoop material and wave under the coil if the object is there i hear be-ding if not throw it to the side and repeat. The only problem I have is small pieces of metal or can lids or cans will show under the coin settings.

Yesterday I recovered several pennies and dimes. well that gets old quick and today I was rewarded with 2 quarters about three feet apart.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

I saw a demo of the 250 by a club member. It appeared to pinpoint fine. It was a little off the center of the coil. Closer to the stem. The key was to use good pin pointing technique. Raise the coil until the signal is gone then slowly lower again until the signal returns. Make an x and note the position of the coil when you hear sound. Keep trying and remember how far of the object is to the point you choose. As you get better you should dig smaller and smaller holes. A electronic pin pointing probe and brass probe will help you learn to pin point.

Good luck

Ed

 

[treasurekidd]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

I have an ACE250 as well, and love it! With pinpointing, I find it helps to also keep your eye on the pinpoint indicator on the screen, as it will show you the strength of the pinpoint signal. I have found most of the time, the pinpoint hotspot is the very top of the inner oval on the concentric coil. More times than not, that is where the target will be, not the center of the coil. This messed me up a bit the frst few times out, but I got the hang of it thanks to an excellent post on the ACE250 by KevFl here on the forum under "Tech Talk". Here is a link to it:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,8152.0.html

Good luck and keep practicing. Once you get the hang of it, the ACE250 is an excellent machine! HH!

 

[hollowpointred]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

couldnt agree more treasurekid! that is exactly what i have found as well. so far i am pleased with the ace 250. i need to get better at identifying targets (good stuff vs junk) but every time i go out i learn a bit more and develop more of a feel for what the machine is doing.

 

[archmjr]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

What type of machine do you have. False signals are a huge problem with sensitive machines and people new to this hobby. I have been trying to teach a large group of kids how to do this and it has been very frustrating at times.

The signal garden mentioned earlier should help quite a bit!

Arch

 

[mattjd]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

Get a White's Bullseye Pinponter. I'll be the best investment you'll ever make in TH'ing!!!!!!!!!!! Matt

 

[eathabs]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

JACKO, I am new to the hobbie and I have a whites classic ID, I'm just curious as to how pinpointing is different with the ace250 vs the whites machine. Also, do you use a pinpointer?

 

[paratrooper]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

Try turning the coil sideways to pinpoint the signal . Makes a smaller magnetic field penetrating the ground .

 

[Born2Dtect]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

I have a Whites Bullseye. It was giving false indications when I moved it. Contacted Whites and they instructed me to adjust the gain. Did this with no problem. However it still appeared sensitive to movement and only had a depth of 1/2". Has anyone had similar experiences?

Ed Donovan

 

[silverhunter/dowser]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

You might want to make shure that the shoes you are wareing are not stealtoed. Just a hint.

 

[Born2Dtect]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

I don't own any steel toed shoes. But like you said I've seen it drive more than one TH'er crazy.

Thanks

Ed

 

[mattjd]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

Hey Ed, if your getting false signals from your pinpointer try not moving it around so quickly as it is a very sensitive detector and will sound off if moved quickly. Hope this helps. Matt

 

[Born2Dtect]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

Matt,

Your not a Whites Representative are you? Just kidding. I will give it a try this weekend.

Thanks Ed

 

[lonewolfe]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

What type of machine do you have. False signals are a huge problem with sensitive machines and people new to this hobby. I have been trying to teach a large group of kids how to do this and it has been very frustrating at times.

The signal garden mentioned earlier should help quite a bit!

Arch

If you're getting "falsing" = false signals that make your detector "chatter and chirp" as you're detecting, which causes you to think there's something in the ground that's not really there, and you dig only to find nothing, or you try to pin-point and the detector doesn't pick up anything, you need to turn the "sensitivity and or gain down" depending on the type of detector you have, to correct this problem. It's caused by running your machine too hot with either the sensitivity and or gain too high (especially) where there's power lines close by, and or any other electrical interference of any kind, and or the ground mineralization is high. My suggestion is to run your sens/gain no higher than 7 (or 3/4ths of max) in good areas where no electrical interference or high mineral content is present (until you become very skilled) but, where there is power-lines and or mineralization causing interference - run it at the highest you can before it chatters/chirps/falses.

For those of you who do not know what sensitivity/gain is, it's basically the depth control (but) do not worry about how low you have to set the detector to stop falsing, and worry about losing depth (because) if you have the gain/sensitivity too high in areas mentioned above, you'll lose/skip over good finds. Look at it this way - would you rather stop all the falsing/chattering, have the machine run smooth and true and find things ( OR ) will you put up with the falsing/chirping, and miss good targets because you're trying to run the detector too high in places it can't operate properly?

Hope this helps some of you newer to detecting guy/gals,

HH

Lonewolfe

 

[trillionagesprout]

Re: Clearly I'm doing something wrong here.

Thanks for all the help and advice, you guys. It's really helped.