Re: cant make the "X"!
I know I'm posting on a old thread. As a newbie too I've been having a hard time making the "X" I've been away from the hobby for over 20 years. My last MD was a Radio Shack and it had a solid "Coil" and a meter on it, all I would do was find a target then move the MD till the meter pinned it self then dig where the center of the coil was. I was real good with it my plugs were so small it was funny. Well last year I dug the old Radio Shack out of the closet late last summer and took it out in the yard. Time and dust had gotten to the "Dial Controls" and all it did was make cracking sounds everytime I tried to adjust it and would not hold a setting. So over the winter I camped out ebay watching Bounty Hunters Quick Draw II's (I was working with a small budget) Just got a deal on one last month $75 and missing a battery cover (Got a replacement from BH so now it's complete) So I take the BH out in the yard get a target and I wound up making a plug the size of my coil, I said to my self I can't be digging hole this size everytime. Well surfing on the web I found this site, and learned how to make the "X" but I still was having a hard time making small plugs.
Here is a technique I came up with that seams to work good for me I like to share. You will need two sticks (or something straight) something that the wind will not blow and your MD will not detect. Find a target buy making your "X". Now drop one of your stick on what you think is the center. Now take your MD and as the same direction as your stick is laying and scan just above that stick with the bottom of your coil and see if you get no hits. Now scan just below the same stick in the same direction with the top of you coil and See if you get no hits. Now if you have to move the stick up or down till you get no hit on the top or the bottom of the stick, the idea is to have the stick down and scan the top and bottom of it and have no hits. Go over the center of the stick now and make sure you get a hit.
Now turn your self at a right angle and do the same thing to make the second part of the "X" Lay the stick down over the other (Careful not to move the last one you just set) Scan and move the second stick until you get no hits moving the new stick if needed till you get no hit just like you did on the first stick you set.
So now you should have two stick on the ground that make an "X" Scanning above or below anyone of the two stick you do not get a hit. Scanning the sticks with the center of your coil in any direction and you get a hit on both stick......."X" marks the spot, take about a 4 to 5 inch plug and you should have it.
For targets that I only get in one direction I try to get somewhat of a angle on the second stick even if it's just a little and take a bigger plug, but for the most part all the targets I've dug with one stick have come up crap. Using this technique I was able to dig over $5.00 in clad at a prime site, making small plugs.
This is what works for me with my Bounty Hunter QD II, for the higher end model MD I don't know how good it would work because the coil may detect more of a area
Now the next question I have is Pinpointers. I know what they are, and I'm planning on getting one. But how are they used? Do you find a target with your MD then use the pinpointer and take a plug and scan it, or do you take a plug and then use the pinpointer. Pinpointer seem like a no brainier but would like to hear the technique on them.
Thanks in advance
the only thing i would do differently would be to set the sensativity as high as you can until it begins to false, and then back it down a notch or two until it stops. sometimes different soil conditions will require a different sensativity setting. 
