I have had an Ace 350 about 3 months now and I have about 100 hours on it. The first thing you should do is get to know the difference between bottle caps and coins. Once you have focused in on a target that keeps repeating in the quarter/dime bar slowly move the coil forward or backward and keep swinging side to side, as the rim passes over the target a bottle cap will give an iron signal, practice doing that a few times over a bottle cap and quarter and you will see the difference. I have tried all 3 methods of pinpointing and I think the best way is to keep making shorter and shorter passes over the target till your only moving the coil 2 or 3 inches side to side, continue moving side to side while moving the coil toward you and when the signal stops the target is about 1 inch in front of the coil right where it says Garrett. Another thing I have noticed is only zinc pennies will ring in the penny bar, copper pennies ring in the dime/quarter bar. Also remember the picture of the coils magnetic field in the manual, its long and narrow so when you get conflicting signals try side stepping and trying to pinpoint from different angles in trashy areas. Expect to dig a lot of crap and skill will come with experience.