New to MDing and discouraged

captinharry

Jr. Member
Sep 30, 2006
32
1
Houston, Texas
Detector(s) used
Forked Stick
Re: New to MD'ing and discouraged

I just ran my A250 around San Louis Pass & Surfside, 20 miles south of Galveston with out any problems, set sensitivity @ 3 & go, chatters a bit when coil is in or close to water but if you move up the beach a few feet its ok. Cold with the wind off the water you may want to wait for a sunny day.
 

Ramapirate

Hero Member
Jul 5, 2006
679
21
Charlotte
Detector(s) used
Primary detector is a Garrett AT Pro
Also have a Garrett Ace 250
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: New to MD'ing and discouraged

I stayed out of the water with mine and had a ball! Right down to the wet sand and was still finding stuff. Just keep it out of the "big pond".

HH,
Ramapirate
 

TheTreasureAddict

Hero Member
Mar 14, 2007
620
42
FLOR DI DA
Detector(s) used
ACE 250, EXCALIBUR 1000, EXPLORER SE, E-TRAC, GTI 2500, V3, PI PRO
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: New to MD'ing and discouraged

Hey, they ACE 250 works great in wet sand. I detect all day in it! last week I pulled atleast 8 gold rings 4 silver and a necklace out of the wet sand. Dont let anything get to u, try it urself. The problem may be with depth, I never get a signal below 6". I dig more than 6 somtimes but thats just trial and error. You should also read up on the 250 on how to pinpoint and locate items before digging the beach is tricky! Hope this helps!!!


DIGGER
 

Murph

Full Member
Jul 19, 2004
197
0
sarasota
Detector(s) used
Sovereign GT
Re: New to MD'ing and discouraged

For me;

Dry sand no problem

Wet sand a lot of false singles in the nickel range but they wont repeat unless an object is really there. This slows down coverage as I double back to check on the chatter but I still make decent finds in wet sand.
 

dahut

Hero Member
Nov 6, 2004
809
54
Lee's Tavern Road
Detector(s) used
21 years behind a coil

Fisher F70
Bounty Hunter Lone Star
Tesoro Tiger Shark
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: New to MD'ing and discouraged

There WILL be some issues with the wet salt and the ACE, as it is a preset VLF unit with no "tricks" built in to overcome these things. Depending on conditions, it will vary in its severity.
However every beach is different, being of differing compostioin. A beach in Mexico is mostly calcate and coral with almost no minerals, while one in Oregon may be loaded with minerals.
Too, there will be iron effects in two main forms:
1. Discrete ferrous chunks, bits and "whatsises"
2. Decomposed iron in the the form of "black sand." This can be severe and will trip up the unwary.
Any and all of these in combination will tend to blind your detector, then you add the effects of conductive saltwater to compound matters.

But, Garrett did a good job with the ACE 250. It works well almost everywhere. What you will likely notice most is that depth is affected, more than farther ashore. Your little Ace will have a hard time seeing through all the clutter and the net effect of these things will be a lessening of depth.
It may also chatter and give spurious signals in the wet stuff. Actually, this is likely. Start low on the SENS and work up to see if it is a problem. If it happens, reduce SENS until it diminishes. The ACE is pretty sensitive and I predict you wont get much above mid scale. Whatever - do what you gotta do.

Of course, in the dry sand, there are no worries. Crank er up there and have at it. In case you were wondering, here's a list of places to hunt in the dry sand:

+ Watch the weekend or holiday activities and begin in these areas.
+ The cheap beach where the guy with six kids and an old Ford visits may be better. it seems that there are more coins on these beaches.
+ Look for hot dog and other concession stands where folks walk away juggling their snacks - with a hand full of coins.
+ Watch the trails and paths that people walk. People seem to either walk along the waters edge or higher in the sand more or less in the same paths.
+ Look for stairways or entrances to the beach. Everywhere that there is a stairway or entrance to the beach is good. These are called "funnel points."
+ Lifeguard stands are good. Search under and around them.

The very best place to hunt is about twenty five feet above the high water level. This is what is called the "towel line," where the majority of beach goers stake their spot. Too far away from this area and the finds drop off rapidly.

+ At the back of the beach in the deep dry sand look for flat rocks, logs etc. where people either sit or lay their valuables while they swim.
+ Another "back of the beach" spot is around showers. Look especially under railings, benches and other places people plop or hang their clothes and stuff while they rinse off.
+ Hunt in very low DISC - All Metal mode, if you can, and dig everything.
+ If you do not find coins on the beach then forget jewelry! They go together and the presence of coins will indicate whether to hunt or not. When you hunt a new beach, look for pennies. If you at least pick up pennies fairly frequently, keep at it. Try another beach if you don't.
+ Keep a record of finds on each segment of beach. You will notice that there are certain stretches of beach where you will find the goodies. Continue to return to these places until the crowds stop coming.
+ If it is very hot, hunt at dawn or late in the evening - even at night. At these times, the crowds are gone and you may beat the other guys that hunt the beach to the punch.
+ Anywhere that anyone can sit down may be a place to look for jewelry because I think it is when they are rubbing on the sun tan oil that they loose the rings and earrings. Look around areas where there is evidence where people have been sitting or laying down like cigarettes or paper trash.
+ If you are the first to the beach in the morning look for wadded up paper money. At night people sit along the beach and the wadded up money falls out for the enterprising treasure hunter to find in the morning.
+ The beaches that are farther from the highways and frequented by many locals (as opposed to the vacationers who go to the beach in front of their hotel) are sometimes better for jewelry.
+ The best way to recover targets is with a sand scoop with 1/2 inch galvanized wire.
+ If the sand is packed by either very high tide or rain showers then NOTHING will be lost. The beach must dry out and the sand become loose again before dropped valuables disappear out of sight into the sand.
+ For the best beach hunting be at the beach just before dawn after a weekend or holiday and only hunt the best beaches.
+ When you get a reading of a foil target, lift the coil a little to see if it disappears quickly; most foil bits will fade right off.
Thanks to www.thegoldenolde.com for these tips.
 

Sandman

Gold Member
Aug 6, 2005
13,398
3,992
In Michigan now.
Detector(s) used
Excal 1000, Excal II, Sovereign GT, CZ-20, Tiger Shark, Tejon, GTI 1500, Surfmaster Pulse, CZ6a, DFX, AT PRO, Fisher 1235, Surf PI Pro, 1280-X, many more because I enjoy learning them. New Garrett Ca
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: New to MD'ing and discouraged

Dahut covered it well.
However every beach is different, being of differing compostioin. A beach in Mexico is mostly calcate and coral with almost no minerals, while one in Oregon may be loaded with minerals.
All locations are different on the way a detector will act there. It doesn't mean someone lied to you about it working or not at some place. Black sand amounts may vary every couple feet and this will effect the operation in the wet sand. Your car isn't the best off road, but that doesn't make it a POS.

Norm is gone, but his site, The Golden Olde lives on http://thegoldenolde.com/ You will learn a lot about treasure hunting from this site.
 

gallileo60

Hero Member
Apr 30, 2007
971
84
Gulf Coast, Texas
Detector(s) used
AT Pro, Bounty Hunter Land Star, Ace 250, Garrett 1350
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Re: New to MD'ing and discouraged

Betoxyz68 said:
I live in Houston and I just purchased an Ace 250 and was looking forward to go to Galveston to hit the beach and find lost treasures ;) but I was informed by a Garrett rep. that this unit does not do well in wet sand due to the salt minerals. Any advise will be greatly appreciated.

BH

Im in the Seabrook area, give me a holler sometime, when you go down to the Island...
 

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