Caught the Bug

[Louherz]

Hello All,

I joined the site for the Native American Artifact Forum. I have a modest old U.S. Coin Collection also and checking out all of the posts on coin hunting really got me feinding to get out and give metal detecting a try. I'm going to visit family who live in a small town North of Cincinnati. It is an old settlement that started in the late 1700's. My question is this. I have a metal detector that I got years ago as a gift. It has never been used. It is a Fisher 1266x. It a decent detector to start out with? I'll keep you posted if I find anything.

Thanks,

Louis

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The fisher 1266 is a wwaaayyy squirelly sensitive metal detector. And you'll rarely find any soils that allow you to go very high on the sensitivity knob (except perhaps virgin clean white non-mineralized sand). Some people liked it (it's an old machine btw, perhaps 20+ yrs. old?) in-the-day. And for certain applications and soil types, it could be used. But for other types hunting environments and soils, it was just too noisy (snap crackle pop). Also the disc. sort of "hits a brick wall" after the first 6", and everything starts to sound the same after that (barring very very non-mineralized soil, perhaps). Forget using it in on the wet salt beach, for example. But as I say, some people liked it, and adjusted to the chatter.

 

[Louherz]

Thank you for the information. That is a bit discouraging. I might need to look at getting another one soon. I have access to a lot of land around my Parents house. It is out of the way and I don't ever remember seeing anyone metal detecting there. There is a couple old schools, general store, fire house, telephone switchboard station and other historic buildings. I hope to find some old coins.

 

[pjduff]

I am one of those people who love the 1266-X, it was the first detector I ever used and it is still my go to machine. I bought it used in 1990 and still use it on a weekly basis. I live in southern Indiana and use it at old homesites, parks, and in fields and have had no problems with depth. Over the past 20 years of detecting I have owned and used other detectors but still come back to the 1266-X, so in my opinion you have one of the best detectors out there!! Like any other machine you just have to learn it and practice with it!!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

pj-duff, yes it has a loyal following. So Louis, before you run out and buy something else, you can at least give it a whirl. Also do a lot of air tests before you head out. All different coins, tabs, foil, nails, iron, etc... sample-passed, various speeds and distances from the coil, various settings, etc... Also co-located targets (two targets held or scotch-taped an inch apart on an index card) in an air test, etc...... Then when you get in-the-field, you'll mentally recognize audio from your air tests (hopefully, although the ground skews things).

 

[treasurehound]

I know a few people that still use the 1266 and they love it. They mainly relic hunt and I have heard it is a great relic machine. You don't see too many for sale as a lot of people hang on to them. Personally I would keep it even if you get another machine.

 

[Louherz]

Thank you all for the information. I will get out and practice with it. Thank you for the advice on how to set the items out to listen to the tones. I am really excited.