Anyone here can help with this garrett question?

[Larsmed]

hey my fellow detectorists!!

I have a question for any of you who use garrett detectors. I have an ace 150 and everytime I get a coin signal, it is either a bottletop or a piece of metal, not a coin. It has worked with coins, but it keeps picking up other metals instead when I set it for coin hunting. It also has trouble discriminating with foil.

Am I doing something wrong here or is it my ace 150 is just cheap or do other garrett detectors operate the same way?

thanks

Larry

 

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[John-Edmonton]

Hi Larry...I am having some sympathy and laughing at the same time reading your post. What you are experiencing is quite normal. Nearly all metal detectors are designed with some coin hunting in mind, and have them set to respond to the same conductivity as the penny, nickel dime etc. Having said that, a lot of other items also respond to the same conductivity. It's not the detectors fault, nor the operators. That's just how it is. Now, as time goes on, you will soon discover that a pulltab and nickel don't sound the same. Tinfoil usually also has a unique sound too. If you were to notch out that nickel, you would miss a high "K" gold.

Realistiacally speaking, we all dig lots of junk. We just don't post it because it looks ugly, and just posting the good finds makes you look like a hunter who is so good that he only digs treasure..... NONSENSE! The best hunters are the ones who dig nearly all the targets. And they really know their machine well, to the point where they can tell what is under the coil, not the other way around.

Is there something you can do to increase your junk to coin ratio? Absolutely. Location location location! Hunt areas where lots of people congregate every day. Sports fields, playgrounds and parks. Dig lots of targets here and you will get more coins and you will really learn what your detectors is telling you after you put around 100 hours on it. Learning your metal detector is like learning a musical instrument.

If it makes you feel any better, below is a pic (from one hunt) from late this past summer. I was looking for gold rings, found no rings but just 5 coins. I still went home happy, rested and slept like a log

 

[aa battery]

The older ace 100 does the same thing but after awhile you will get use to it. I got my 1st gold ring with the 100.

 

[Keppy]

Well ..Larsmed.. if you are going to run a metal detector junk & trash is something you have to get use to. I have a Garrett Ace 250 it does the same thing and i have a Garrett GTI 1500 and i dug a lot of trash with it also.But now i have a ..Minelab Sovereign.. and do not dig much trash unless i run in all metal.So Welcome Good luck and have fun...... ==Jim==

 

[ivan salis]

learn the sounds you machine makes when it find various metals --- run various items under it like a iron nail --a silver coin --a gold ring --- listen very carefully --- do it untill you feel you can do it blind folded --- even better turn your back and have a "freind" run the items in front the coil as you listen try to ID the item by sound --- this is called "ear training" by me ---(the visual id stuff helps but can sometimes be lead astray by similar conductivity -- so using the visual Id and your ears together can cut down on you digging junk greatly --- once you learn your machines sounds well enough to trust your skills, you will find your find rate inproving as long as you in a good spot that is ) ---your machine is "talking" to you via the sounds it makes telling you what type of metal it has found --- learn its language and the vault doors will open for you ---less time spent digging junk means more time digging good signals and thus better finds and more productive hunts in general ---(remember the "golden rule" of metal detecting --- to get gold rings and nickles you will have to dig pull tabs ---sorry but that the way it is ) Ivan

 

[Larsmed]

Guys

Hey thanks alot!! You have helped me gain a better understanding! Besides, now I am learning that if I do pass over non coin tones, I may be missing out completely! It may take some extra time, but maybe the more I dig, the better the treasure.

Happy Hunting people!

 

[melvin_it]

I think John hit the nail on the head. Practice a lot and dig a lot of spots to understand the difference between goods and junk..And there's a difference, sure. The ACE seems to love caps, and this is reported for high end Garretts too. They may cause good or erratic signals, but normally, when the high bell rigs at both the sides of the sweep you got a good spot. In very trashy area this could be not so easy if a multiple junk pieces "masks" the good target, i use to dig all the spots with at least one good signal per sweep.

Good luck.

M.