How do you calibrate your metal detector for general detecting?

[yorkiemiki]

Hi I just started detecting. I was curious as to the best way to calibrate the machine for use on beaches or parkways?

There's only 2 Knobs one labled DISC and another one SENS

DISC starts at "All metal"

SENS starts with "Power Off" and goes up from there

What should I calibrate it for coins, rings, gold/silver etc?

 

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[Treasure_Hunter]

Need to tell us the name and model of your detector.

I hope your not talking about salt water beaches.






American by birth, Patriot by choice.

I would rather die standing on my two feet defending our Constitution than live a lifetime on my knees......

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Pretty broad question. I set my discrimination low and my sensitivity as high as I can without getting a lot of chatter and false positives.

 

[relicmeister]

Calibration to me would be ground balancing- most (but not all) detectors have a provision for it so check your manual.

 

[airscapes]

turn it on.. swing.. if on beach in wet sand, push button marked "Beach Mode" .. swing, dig.. swing ,dig.. repete..

 

[yorkiemiki]

It is salt water. Is that ok?

It's a cheap model- Winbest Pro Edition by Barska

It only has 2 knobs. I used it today in Long Beach, CA, I picked up a few pennies that's it after a few hours of hunting.

 

[Msbeepbeep]

First --- Welcome to T Net!
If you have the owners manual re-read it, that should help. I'm not sure but it doesn't sound like it was meant for use on wet salt water beach, maybe you can use it in the dry sand part, I'm not familiar with that brand of detector. Hopefully someone on here can answer your question. GL. HH!

 

[airscapes]

find a flat spot 6x6 area in your yard or drive way. Go over it with the MD and make sure there are no targets there. Now put a coin of each type and jewelry as well out on the ground and go over it to see what your machine does. You can get an idea of how deep it will go buy lifting the coil a little at a time as you go over the item. Air testing is not accurate, the machines do better with objects in the ground. I would guess that machine will NOT work on wet salt sand so stay in the dry, keep the coil low and flat to the sand, swing slowly, not like the guys on TV.., overlap each pass by 75% to make sure you do not miss anything.. Good luck..

A quick google of the machine and just looking at it.. For beach you would start out in all metal mode, no discrimination, sensitivity as high as can be with out the machine chattering when just sitting there.. scoop any signal till you see how it works.. with a 6" coil you will need to go very slowly each sweep only 3" farther in front of the last or you will miss that area. The round coil projects a cone shaped field into the ground so at 6 or so inches below the coil the field is only maybe 1 inch wide.. it will be hard to find anything at dept without really going very slow and overlapping.

 

[DDancer]

What Charlie and airscape say

Your machine has a fixed ground balance so there is no calibration required. Just setting your disc low and sensitivity high then backing off sensitivity for a stable threshold is about all you can do. Increasing your disc will help knock down on lower conductivity items and falsing due to mineralization. Not a good machine for the beach as salts will play havoc the closer you get to the wet sands and black sands will knock your depth out. Parkways are a good place. As suggested practice with it first. Luck swinging

 

[yorkiemiki]

Great advie guys. More than my manual actually says lol. I can't even find it now... but I don't remember there being much. I will practice with a grid in the yard.

I actually have been out to the beach a few times. Got a lot of grainy dirty pennies and a nickle that look copper from weathering....Now... how to clean them hahaha.

A lot of time, but walking on the beach is nice. My arm is a bit tired. I assume if I keep doing this I'll have to upgrade my gear at some point as well...

 

[airscapes]

Great advie guys. More than my manual actually says lol. I can't even find it now... but I don't remember there being much. I will practice with a grid in the yard.

I actually have been out to the beach a few times. Got a lot of grainy dirty pennies and a nickle that look copper from weathering....Now... how to clean them hahaha.

A lot of time, but walking on the beach is nice. My arm is a bit tired. I assume if I keep doing this I'll have to upgrade my gear at some point as well...

Don't worry about upgrading..
You need to learn your machine to be efficient and that take time and digging of junk to learn what it is telling you.. Upgrading does not mean it will be magic and find stuff, same applies and with more expensive units the more complicated they are but not a lot different than what you have now.

To clean dirty clad coins that do not have value other than face value think about buy a rock tumbler. Harbor Freight has them cheap.
Use natural colored aquarium gravel, lemon juice (squeeze a wedge wroth in and about a cup of water.. add coin (No pennies) and tumble over night, rinse and spend.
Do pennies by themselves, save that gravel for pennies only or your other coins will turn copper color.

 

[DigIron2]

With a machine like that I would start by turning the discrimination nob mid ways.Turn your sensativity "on/off nob" full open as much as your ears want to hear.Take a peice of smaller iron "nail", Something copper, any kind of coin,something brass,space them out in your yard about a foot or two apart.Swing your machine over them turning your discrimination nob "up clockwise" until you hear everything except the nail or smaller peices of iron.Larger iron will probably sound off well too as they do with most machines.hope that helps some!good luck

 

[yorkiemiki]

With a machine like that I would start by turning the discrimination nob mid ways.Turn your sensativity "on/off nob" full open as much as your ears want to hear.Take a peice of smaller iron "nail", Something copper, any kind of coin,something brass,space them out in your yard about a foot or two apart.Swing your machine over them turning your discrimination nob "up clockwise" until you hear everything except the nail or smaller peices of iron.Larger iron will probably sound off well too as they do with most machines.hope that helps some!good luck

Excellent advice airscape and digiron2. THank you so much!