I think you made a wise choice. It is a good machine. Now take the time to learn the machine. That is probably worth more in terms of success than the machine you chose. Set up a test bed. This will allow you to use all your junque (see I remember) for a purpose. Try and take some of the most common items you will encounter and need to know how they sound: Pull tab with and without the ring, pop top, bottle screw cap rusted and new, beer bottle crimped cap rusted and new, nails (old rusted iron ones, new galvanized ones, new ones, short ones, long ones, bent ones, straight ones), pieces of wire straight and coiled, rusted steel cans, pieces of aluminum beer cans cut up by a lawnmower, crushed aluminum beer cans, old rusted tools picked up at a flea market, a wheat penny, a copper/zinc penny, a corroded penny, a Jefferson nickel, a silver nickel, a clad and silver dime, a clad and silver quarter, a clad and silver half, a silver dollar, a new US dollar coin, a gold ring, a silver ring, some costume jewelry and some gold/silver jewelry, paper clip, bobby pin, paper staple, thumbtack, key, key ring, and other stuff you find. You can glue them to things like tongue depressors or strips of rigid plastic cut to the length you want to bury the item. Leave the top flush with the top of the ground so you can easily retrieve it. I like to push in a top to a milk container with the identity written on it so I can know what it is as I listen. I can them move stuff around and turn the milk top over so I can practice without knowing at the time I scan but I can immediately know by turning the top over.
To get the stuff you will have to buy, go to a coin dealer and buy the coins that are not worth more than scrap value (no date, no details, etc) they are cheap but the detector can't tell the difference. Go to a pawn shop and try and find rings that are again worth no more than scrap (rings with no stones, bent or broken rings, etc.) they will be one of the more expensive things but will be worth it in the long run. Gold coins are extremely hard to pick up and will require some practice to get to know their "signature." For your purpose, they don't actually need to be coins. They can be flat gold disks. Locate a goldsmith in your area and ask them if they will make you a "coin." The easiest thing is for them to take some scrap gold (they have bits and pieces) and melt it, pour it on a charcoal block to cool as a "button" of gold and then run it through the rolling mill to make it appear as a coin. I don't think you can get one much cheaper and it is something you really need to practice on.
You've spent a lot of money on the detector, now spend a little more to learn what the sounds mean.
My 2 cents worth again.
Daryl
) and I've found the Tejon to be better than any other brand I've owned. 
